People
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Christy Joyce |
Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, a 238-bed community hospital in Sleepy Hollow, has appointed six new members to its board of directors. They are Christy Joyce, MD, of Ossining, senior attending physician in internal medicine at Phelps since 1992; Briarcliff Manor residents Richard Peress, MD, director of the department of surgery at Phelps, and Louis Wachtel, chief executive officer and founder of Spectrum Realty Capital, Inc.; Kenneth Miller of Chappaqua, an attorney with the firm Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, P.C., in Manhattan; Diane Potter of Irvington, consumer marketing director for the Bonnier Corporation; and Rebecca Srole of Sleepy Hollow, senior vice president with Chase Healthcare Banking. Says Keith F. Safian, president and CEO of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center: “We filled six vacancies on the board that were created due to term limits. Phelps is headed into a period of enormous growth, highlighted by the launch of our new Family Medicine Residency Program this year. We have elected four people who can provide us with particular expertise. Louis Wachtel is an expert in real estate, Rebecca Srole’s background is in healthcare financing, Diane Potter will help us with marketing, and Kenneth Miller is an attorney with particular expertise in finance. We are also happy to welcome Dr. Richard Peress, who is a renowned spine surgeon, and Dr. Christy Joyce, an outstanding internist who has been on the staff at Phelps for twenty years.”
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Kathleen D’Agostino |
Kathleen D’Agostino of White Plains recently was appointed area director of business development for The Westchester and The Galleria at White Plains by the Simon Property Group, Inc. D’Agostino will be responsible for selling on-mall media and event sponsorships and managing cross-promotions for the two properties. She previously held business-development positions at Cablevision and the Journal News. Janice Levy of Scarsdale, who previously held D’Agostino’s new position, was promoted to national director of business development for Simon Property Group, Inc.
New Businesses, Relocations, and Operations
West Elm, a national furniture retailer, will be opening its first Westchester store in Scarsdale on Thursday, June 28. West Elm has teamed up with ArtsWestchester, a nonprofit arts council, to offer shoppers a pre-opening, 10-percent discount shopping night on June 27; 10 percent of sales that night will be donated to ArtsWestchester. “Our store loves to collaborate with artists, especially emerging artists,” says Abigail Jacobs, West Elm’s vice president of brand marketing and public relations. “We did local research and that led us to choose this organization.” Asked why West Elm chose to open in Westchester, Jacobs answered, “Our company used Internet traffic and buying research to pick the site for the new store.”
Cross County Shopping Center will again be holding its summer concert series. “We hold the concerts during the week to drive traffic to the Center on less busy days,” says Senior Marketing Manager Liz Pollack. “Retailers have seen mid-week sales increases ranging from five to twenty percent.” Ridge Hill, also in Yonkers, seems to have picked up the beat with its own music series to attract shoppers. The free concerts take place on Ridge Hill’s Town Square and include a variety of Westchester artists, including a band led by former Yankee Bernie Williams. Says one Yonkers arts professional, “Ridge Hill can be a ghost town during the week. Entertainment is always a great way to draw crowds.”
Kudos
The Advertising Club of Westchester feted more than 40 agencies at its annual Big W Awards Gala and Banquet at Tappan Hill Mansion on June 6. “We had forty-three percent more entries and thirty-three percent more winners than in years past, and it was the largest attended event in recent years,” says Cathy Pinsky, event chair and board member of The Advertising Club of Westchester.The winners were determined by a group of 12 industry-related judges who reside in the tri-state area. What has changed since the 1960s is the advent of new media, as evidenced by 34 Big W awards going to the Ruby Media Group, many of them for social-media campaigns and blogs. Co-Communications picked up the “Best of Show” award for the third straight year for its marketing campaign for the Westchester Children’s Museum.
A Scarsdale resident built a multi-million-dollar business cleaning a variety of Westchester businesses, including ADT Security Services, Inc., in Elmsford and many of the County’s luxury car dealerships, like White Plains Jaguar and Big Dee Volvo. Over the past three and a half decades, Servco Industries, an industrial cleaning company based in the Bronx, has grown to generate $10 million in gross revenue annually, and its owner, Charles Cestaro of Scarsdale, has “traded up” from washing the floors of a Ferrari dealership to driving a red 360 Ferrari Spider. What was his toughest job to date? Cestaro says it was cleaning a commercial facility at the Hunts Point Terminal Market with more than 70 bathrooms used by truck drivers. Says Cestaro, “Building a business like mine takes a lot of work, sweat, and coordination.” He has replaced mops and buckets with propane machines, autoscrubbing, and ultrasonic blind cleaning to save time. His company also serves national giants like Sears Holding Corporation, Kmart, Sports Authority, Waldbaum’s, and A&P. This is literally a “rags to riches” tale!
W@tercooler of Tarrytown, a 1,650-square-foot co-working space where members can rent workstations and offices by the hour, day, week, month, or year, just celebrated its first year in business. Co-working is hardly a new concept, but when W@tercooler opened its doors in Westchester a year ago, it put a new spin on its space, modeling it after hip co-working spaces in Manhattan and attracting a diverse client base. According to Deskmag, a website dedicated to co-working, the co-working movement has doubled in size each year since 2006, and, as of February of this year, has grown to 2,150. W@tercooler has attracted 82 members since opening and has held more than 50 workshops for its members. Seventy-two percent of co-working spaces become profitable after two years, reports online co-working magazine Deskmag.com Says Jennifer Ross, founder of W@tercooler, “My first-year gross revenues were fifty-thousand. We plan to turn a profit by the close of 2012.”
Biz Buzz
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Photo by Andrew Vitelli |
Camera crews flew into Heineken USA’s corporate headquarters in White Plains on Saturday, June 14, to shoot scenes for a French film called Bird People. Says Darren Goldberg of Atlantic Pictures, the movie’s US producer, “The renovations recently completed on the Heineken offices have provided for an exquisite set with views that represent America in its best light.” More than 150 films have been shot in Westchester since 1965.
A new branding campaign titled “Meet Me in Westchester” was launched this week by County Executive Rob Astorino. Tourism in Westchester grew 8 percent in 2011 to $1.7 billion, returning to pre-recession levels. The total spent on the branding campaign is about $300,000. “It’s important to note,” says a representative for the county executive’s office, “that Westchester County Tourism and Film is funded entirely by a portion of the hotel-occupancy tax—so there is no cost to taxpayers.”
Hot Properties – 914INC.’s Commercial Real Estate Showcase
Property: Retail space at 94 Kraft Ave, Bronxville
Brokered by:
Admiral Real Estate Services Corp.
Jonathan Gordon
(914) 779-8200, ext. 115
jgordon@admiralrealestate.com
Availability: Retail space for lease, comprising a 5,500-square-foot ground floor, an 800 square foot office (mezzanine), and a 3,000 square foot basement; 25-foot frontage and 18-foot ceiling height.
Selling Points: Affluent area; directly across from busy Metro-North railroad station and next to Bronxville Cinemas; high ceilings and column-free.
Downside: Residential entrance in the middle of storefront.
914Datebook
WEDNESDAY, 7/18
The Westchester County Association will hold its Annual Summer Networking Reception and celebrate the Blueprint for Westchester County’s first anniversary. The Blueprint is a private-sector-led economic-development initiative. The event is at Tappan Hill Mansion (81 Highland Ave, Tarrytown) and costs $100. RSVP at http://www.westchester.org/eventregister.php?event=212.
MONDAY, 7/23
The 6th Annual Erin O’Connor Memorial Golf Outing takes place on Monday, July 23, from 10:30 am to 8 pm at the Salem Golf Club in North Salem and benefits Friends of Karen, a children’s charity based in Purdys. Eileen and Michael O’Connor initiated this event to honor their daughter, Erin, who died of a brain tumor at age 13. Friends of Karen is the only organization that provides emotional, financial, and advocacy support to families of children with life-threatening illnesses, from diagnosis through treatment. Sponsors of the event include Entergy; NE Moves Mortgage, LLC; Travelers Insurance; Rockingham Motors; and Park Ford of Mahopac, Inc. Full golfer package: $225. Cocktails, dinner, and networking only: $75. Hole sponsorship: $100. For info or to make a reservation, go to https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=fad519.
TUESDAY, 7/31
Cruise and network. The Business Council of Westchester is setting sail on the Hornblower Hybrid, the newest yacht in New York Harbor, to the Statue of Liberty. There’s complimentary food and a cash bar. Reservations are required. Rain or shine. Fee is $95 for Business Council members and $125 for future members. Register at http://events.westchesterny.org/sbaweb/events/events.asp?&id=1&wpid=-101&details=true&cale_id=548&newsession=FALSE&sid=399637947.
The Young Professionals Group of the Westchester County Association partners with the Blueprint for Westchester at 5:30 pm at PepsiCo Headquarters in Purchase on a special event to discuss issues to improve county civic centers, corporate campuses, transportation hubs, and more. The event is in cooperation with Project for Public Spaces. Register at http://www.westchester.org/article.php?a=213
Do you have tips, scoop, or gossip concerning business in Westchester? If so, our INComing blogger, Nancy, is all ears. Please e-mail her with a short pitch to 914incoming@gmail.com.
Upcoming events should be submitted no later than Sunday, July 1, to be considered for the July 10 edition. Please submit business events only; no fundraisers or consumer events.
