Kudos—Achievements And Awards In The World Of Westchester Business, June 3, 2015

Yonkers Picked As “Hippest Town” in Hudson Valley

The City of Yonkers was recently declared the “hippest town” in the Hudson Valley by a popular vote on The Journal News’ website, lohud.com. Yonkers beat out seven other towns, villages, and cities over the last month, taking the title by winning over Peekskill in the final round. The online voting competition bracketed readers’ top choices into eight towns and cities. Those were whittled down into four “elite eight” pairings, which gave way to two final four brackets. Voters eventually chose their top two towns—the City of Peekskill and the City of Yonkers. In celebrating the win, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano noted, “We always knew Yonkers was the hippest town and the place to be. Yonkers has everything from our beautiful waterfront and bustling business districts to an emerging arts community and growing population of millennials to our top-notch shopping and dining.”

MSK West Harrison Nabs LEED Gold Status

Memorial Sloan Kettering’s newest outpatient cancer treatment facility in West Harrison recently earned a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold rating from the US Green Building Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainability in the design, construction, and operation of buildings. The MSK West Harrison facility, which opened in fall 2014, aims to give residents of Westchester and Fairfield counties and the Hudson Valley easier access to the expert cancer care of Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Photo courtesy of MSKCC

The LEED designation indicates that the facility has met or exceeded the USGBC’s standards in several categories such as integrative process, location and transportation, materials and resources, water efficiency, and neighborhood pattern and design, among others. The benefits for LEED recipients, according to USBGC, include a decrease in energy costs, a healthier indoor environment for occupants, and a reduction of the negative impacts on the environment.

PR Firm Named Westchester’s Most Digitally Forward-Thinking Business Harrison Edwards Public Relations & Marketing recently was recently named the “most digitally forward-thinking business in Westchester” at the third annual Westchester Digital Summit. The award, one of three 2015 Chester Awards given out at the Summit, was given to Harrison Edwards for its innovative and original use of digital marketing across multiple platforms, specifically its ice dam campaign for RTK Environmental Group.

The ice dam campaign sought to publicize the potentially devastating effects of ice dams prevalent in many homes in the northeastern United States after this year’s devastating winter weather, all while promoting RTK’s industry-leading testing services. This campaign included a “Biggest Icicle/Ice Dam Ever” photo contest, an infographic on ice dams, video, social media advertising, and several related blogs and email marketing pieces, among other things. The firm employed digital analytics to test ideas and refine each platform as the campaign progressed, resulting in tens of thousands of social media impressions, likes, shares, and profile visits, and hundreds of new Facebook fans. A 35 percent increase in mold inspection bookings for RTK was achieved in less than one month’s time.

Ossining Music Store Is One of World’s Top 100

Mike Risko Music in Ossining has been named one of the world’s Top 100 musical instrument and product retailers for the second year in a row. The global association for the music products industry, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), will formally present Mike Risko Music with the top 100 honor during the industry’s upcoming trade event, Summer NAMM in Nashville. The top 100 designation recognizes a demonstrated commitment to exceptional customer service, proven community advocacy and support for music education, an exemplary retail experience worth returning for and recommending to others, merchandising and marketing tactics that encourage repeat sales, sound planning for future success, employing marketing and training initiatives, and engaging and effective use of web and social media. A panel of independent judges scores each entry to determine the top 100. Dubbed the ‘retail Oscars’ by Music Inc. magazine, NAMM’s Top 100 Dealer Awards spotlights the industry’s best music product retailers.

St. Christopher’s Inc. CEO Given SmartCEO Deals of Distinction Award

 The Executives’ Association of New York City recently honored Robert Maher, CEO of St. Christopher’s Inc., a Dobbs Ferry-based organization that provides residential programming for teens with emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities, with the SmartCEO Deals of Distinction Award. The award honors innovative business leaders and dealmakers from the Greater New York City region who have unique stories that have made a significant impact on their company and its success.

Finalists and winners were chosen by an independent panel of local business leaders and assessed based on the details of their partnership, and how it positively affected the organizations involved, the industry or the business community as a whole. Maher and the other winner and finalists will be profiled in the May-June issue of SmartCEO magazine.