Know of an outstanding small business in Westchester, or own/work at one yourself? Nominate your community-fixture retailer, quality local service provider, or hands-down favorite firm for one of 914INC.’s first-ever Excellence in Small Business Awards by this Friday, May 31!
REVOLVING DOOR
PEOPLE
Mamaroneck resident Yves Cochez has joined Webster Private Bank as senior vice president and chief investment strategist. Cochez will manage the Private Bank’s portfolio management team, as well as set the overall direction of investment management for its high net worth clients. Most recently, Cochez served with GBS Finance, LLC as partner and chief investment officer. Prior to that, he held a number of senior investment positions across the globe with Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management. A native of Belgium, Cochez earned his bachelor’s and MBA from the Université libre de Bruxelles in Brussels. He holds Series 7 and 66 licenses and is fluent in three languages.
Webster Private Bank also added John Habermann as market manager for Westchester and lower Fairfield County, Connecticut; he is based in the bank’s White Plains office. Most recently, Habermann served as senior vice president, relationship manager at Hudson Valley Bank. Habermann earned his bachelor’s from Washington College and his MBA from Iona College. Habermann serves on the board of directors of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, the board of members of the Bronx YMCA, and the board of directors of the Bronx Initiative Corporation.
Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla has named Scott M. Klein, MD its new chief medical officer and chief of pediatrics. Klein replaces Joelle Mast, PhD, MD, who has become Blythedale’s chief science officer, responsible for expanding the hospital’s research program. Klein, 43, of Roslyn, Long Island, comes to Blythedale with 10 years of experience at Maimonides Infants & Children’s Hospital in Brooklyn, where he served as vice chairman of clinical services, associate medical director, and director of the pediatric critical care unit. For the past two years, he served as CMO for hospice and palliative care at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Klein is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric critical care medicine, and pediatric hospice and palliative care medicine.
The Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center has announced the appointment of Jamieson Asselta of Mamaroneck as the hotel’s new director of sales. With 12 years of hospitality industry experience, Asselta previously served as director of global accounts at Omni Hotels & Resorts in Manhattan. He also served as group and catering sales leader at the Marriott Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Office in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and senior account executive at the Orlando World Center Marriott. He has worked with the New York Marriott Marquis in Manhattan, the Boston Marriott Quincy in Massachusetts, and the Ocean Place Conference Resort in Long Branch, New Jersey.
CPA, tax, and consulting firm O’Connor Davies, LLP welcomes several new managers at its Harrison location. Samuel Alleyne, CPA, joined as a senior audit manager in the healthcare practice. Alleyne has more than 14 years of experience with various non-profit and healthcare organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Accounting from Mercy College and is a resident of Dobbs Ferry.
Lourdes Andrade, CPA, joined as an accounting manager in the Family Office and Business Management Group. Andrade has more than 16 years of accounting and business management experience and previously served as the controller for Fifth Street Finance Corporation. She holds a BS in Accounting from Ramapo College and is a resident of Somers.
Laura Boyd, CPA, joined as an audit manager in the commercial practice. Boyd has more than 13 years of audit and accounting experience, having previously served as the vice president of finance for Maverik Lacrosse and as a manager at a “Big 4” accounting firm. Boyd holds a BS in Accounting from Boston College and is a resident of New City, New York.
First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. has named Jeanneen V. Griffin first vice president and team leader for commercial real estate lending for the bank’s New England and tri-state regions. Specifically, Griffin will manage a sizable commercial real estate loan portfolio and lead an experienced team of CRE lenders focused on developing business with middle market and institutional owners/developers throughout Connecticut, the New York metro area, Westchester, and Northern New Jersey. Griffin brings more than 28 years of experience in debt and equity financing in both middle market and institutional lending. She joins First Niagara from People’s United Bank, where she served as a senior commercial lending officer.
Friends of Karen, a North Salem-based charity that provides comprehensive services to families caring for a child with a life-threatening illness, announced the addition of three staff members to its Family Support Services team. Sarah M. Coakley, LMSW, has worked with children and their families throughout her 10-year career. Most recently, she was a social worker at The Hallen School in New Rochelle, a private school for students K-12 with special needs.
Natalia Echeverri, MSW, has experience in curriculum development, play therapy, and crisis intervention, among other skills. She has worked with children and their families in a variety of settings, most recently at Premier Health Care and Project Grow/Project Grown Up, providing clinical services as well as ensuring regulatory compliance and performing quality assurance reviews.
Randi Glassman joins as a family support case manager, managing the intake of families. Before joining Friends of Karen, Glassman was the family liaison for Embrace Kids Foundation, affiliated with The Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, where she worked closely with social workers, counselors, and child life specialists.
Scott de Savoye has been appointed general manager of The Crowne Plaza White Plains. De Savoye has been with IHG for five years, most recently as general manager of the Holiday Inn San Francisco Civic Center. A 20+ year hotel veteran, de Savoye has been a GM at luxury, upscale, and mid-scale hotels in Canada and the US with Crowne Plaza, Hazelton Hotels, and Fairmont Raffles Hotels International in Canada.
KUDOS
Harrison’s O’Connor Davies, LLP has been ranked 36th in Accounting Today‘s list of 2013 Top 100 Firms, a ranking of US accounting firms. The firm was also named a “Leader in Audit and Accounting,” and a “Top Firm in the Mid-Atlantic Region.” In 2012, O’Connor Davies was ranked 39th on the list.
Leading global education consultancy The School Choice Group (SCG), headquartered in White Plains, celebrates its 15th anniversary this spring with events in London, Hong Kong, and New York. Founded in London in 1998 by Elizabeth Perelstein after her family’s move there from the United States, the company now has more than 125 consultants in 50 locations worldwide, with offices in New York, Hong Kong, and Washington, DC.
The YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester held its fifth annual In the Company of Women benefit luncheon on May 10 at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook. Sheryl WuDunn, the first Asian American individual to win the Pulitzer Prize, received the Social Justice Champion Award at the benefit. Marge and Bob Feder of Cuddy & Feder LLP received the Community Champions Award. Honorable Andrea Stewart-Cousins received the Leader of Distinction Award, and Kenneth R. Theobalds of Entergy received the Corporate Champion Award. Ruth Mahoney of Key Bank was the honorary corporate chair. Nearly 500 people attended the event.
The Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester (BGCNW) announced that Elizabeth Stephenson has been selected as the 2013 Youth of the Year, the highest honor awarded by the Club to a member. The National Youth of the Year Program, a Boys & Girls Clubs of America initiative, honors Club members for developing superior leadership skills, overcoming personal challenges, achieving academic excellence, and performing outstanding service to the Club and the community. Stephenson is a senior at Fox Lane High School in Bedford. A 15-year member of BGCNW, Stephenson has shown an outstanding dedication to the Club and her community. She has volunteered more than 300 hours since 2011 and remains active in her church and school.
The Mental Health Association of Westchester’s (MHA) 2013 5K run/walk and one-mile kids’ race held at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park in Yorktown was attended by 450 people on May 5. The event raised more than $45,000 for MHA’s programs and services.
NEW BUSINESSES, RELOCATIONS, OPERATIONS
Hartsdale’s Connie Tejeda, vice president of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at CenterLight Health System, presented at the May 15 meeting of Women in Health Management of New York, a not-for-profit organization that supports education, mentoring, and networking opportunities for women in the healthcare field. The program explored disaster preparedness best practices among healthcare providers. Tejeda outlined CenterLight’s emergency response to Hurricane Sandy, including the organization’s challenges and ultimate success when the Department of Health turned to the nonprofit to house and care for 200 individuals forced to leave two flooded adult homes in Brooklyn following the hurricane. CenterLight operates facilities in White Plains and throughout the New York metro area.
For the 11th consecutive year, leaders from across the nonprofit sector gathered at the sold-out Not-For-Profit Leadership Summit XI at the Doubletree Hotel in Tarrytown. Presented by the United Way of Westchester and Putnam in partnership with the Westchester Community Foundation, this year’s event welcomed 700 guests, who participated in breakout sessions led by experts covering a wide range of platforms, as well as an address by two nationally renowned keynote speakers. Keynote speaker Seth Godin, a world-renowned bestselling author and marketer, spoke enthusiastically about rethinking success by embracing failure, while Ilir Zherka, a lifelong advocate of human rights and the executive director for the National Conference on Citizenship, discussed advocacy strategies and how to strengthen communities by strengthening civic health.
Elder law attorney Anthony J. Enea, managing partner at Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano, LLP in White Plains, recently addressed the critical importance of long-term planning for seniors in a panel discussion at the 2013 Spring Forum of the Financial Planning Association New York Chapter. Currently the chair of the New York Bar Association’s Elder Law Section, Enea advises seniors to take a proactive role in planning for their future.
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BIZ BUZZ
OUR BUSINESS BLOG
IBM EARNS HIGH MARKS
PLUS: Medicare reveals huge hospital-fee discrepancies; new app gives black-owned businesses a boost; and it’s game on for a new sports and entertainment establishment in Greenburgh (finally).
IT analyst firm International Data Corporation has named Armonk’s IBM Corporation one of the best data providers in its 2013 vendor analysis. The study found IBM to be the most capable among all providers in innovation. Analysts likewise cited IBM as the most capable at helping them transform their businesses, expand into new markets or geographies, manage risk, and improve efficiency. The company was also noted for operational factors such as integrating with clients’ teams and providing functional, technical, and industry insights. This distinction follows IBM’s board raising its regular quarterly dividend by 12 percent to 95 cents and approving a plan to repurchase up to $5 billion of its stock. The technology company says this is the 18th consecutive year that it has raised its quarterly dividend. According to the company, the stock buyback authorization supplements $6.2 billion that remains from the previous buyback.
A healthcare industry database revealed that hospitals in New York billed Medicare vastly different fees for the same treatment in 2011. It revealed the 100 most common reasons people are hospitalized, including chest pain, pneumonia, and lower-joint-replacement surgery. It likewise covered hospital-specific charges for the more than 3,000 hospitals that receive Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System payments, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The federal agency said the data covers almost 7 million patient discharges during fiscal 2011.
In Westchester County, average covered charges for a patient discharged after treatment for chest pain was $12,743 at White Plains Hospital and nearly double, at $23,048, at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. In Rockland County, the charge for a chest pain admission at Good Samaritan in Suffern was $20,717 versus $15,890 at Nyack Hospital, a 30 percent difference.
The average charge for treating pneumonia and pleurisy, among the most common ailments senior citizens on Medicare are treated for, was at least $30,000 at six hospitals in the New York metropolitan area. At two upstate hospitals, the average charge for treatment was less than $6,000. The average charge to replace a joint or reattach a lower extremity without complications at Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor was the state’s highest: $93,647. The average charge for the same treatment at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, less than an hour’s drive away, was $18,594.
The African American Chamber of Commerce of Westchester and Rockland Counties is offering a tech-fueled boost to African-American-owned businesses. The chamber rolled out its Around the Way smartphone app on May 23 in the New York Power Authority Building on Main Street in White Plains. The app helps consumers find nearby black-owned establishments, presents directions to those businesses, and, with a finger tap, offers the ability to share the information on social platforms like Facebook. The app first identifies the user’s position using the phone’s GPS technology, then pinpoints participating businesses nearby.
The Town of Greenburgh announced the sale of the 6.9 acre foreclosed property that was formerly the site of Frank’s Nursery at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road to Game On 365 LLC for $3 million. Game On 365 plans to turn the property into the Westchester Fieldhouse, a $6.9 million indoor sports facility. The Town said Game On will pay the full property tax levy, and assume responsibility for environmental cleanup and remediation. The Town was considering an offer from Elm Street Sports Group L.L.C. for $3.5 million. Elm Street Sports runs the House of Sports, which opened in Ardsley last year. The Town intended on leasing the property to Game On 365 last year, and a voter referendum approved the lease. Elm Street Sports sued, claiming the lease was illegal, and Game On 365 countersued. Elm Street Sports dropped its lawsuit when the Town announced its intention to sell the property.
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HOT PROPERTIES
914INC.‘S COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SHOWCASE
Property: Red Oak Professional Building, 25 Red Oak Ln, White Plains
Brokered by: Garry Klein, Houlihan Lawrence, (914) 328-8400 ext. 388, houlihanlawrence.com
Description: Newly built classic brick office building offers a professional image and suburban office atmosphere within minutes of downtown White Plains.
Availability: 2,000 square feet; $2,500/month to rent
Selling Points: Located less than one mile off of Exit 9 of I-287, I-684, and the Hutchinson River Parkway. Includes 25 parking spaces.
Downside: Located outside city center
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914 DATEBOOK
UPCOMING BUSINESS EVENTS
FRIDAY, 5/31/13
W@tercooler Turns Two
W@tercooler, 21 N Broadway, Tarrytown; 8 pm – midnight. W@tercooler, a shared co-working space in downtown Tarrytown, is marking its second-year anniversary by channeling the ’70s. The event will take place at the loft-like shared workspace. As they approach the close of their second year, plans are in the works to expand to additional locations in Westchester and to make the W@tercooler brand the poster child for boutique co-working in the suburbs. Learn more at watercoolerhub.com.
MONDAY, 6/3/13
PWW Summer Sizzler Networking Event
Morton’s The Steakhouse, 9 Maple Ave, White Plains; 6 – 8 pm. Professional Women of Westchester hosts this Summer Sizzler #Networking Event. Mix, mingle, and create new relationships to help grow your business. Cost is $15 for PWW members and $20 for non-members, which includes appetizers; cash bar. Guest must pre-pay to attend at professionalwomenofwestchester.com.
TUESDAY, 6/4/13
Child Abuse Prevention Center Benefit
Ardsley Country Club, Cricket Ln, Ardsley. Golfers and tennis players will play to benefit the Child Abuse Prevention Center of New York at the 25th Pierre Larouche Invitational/Jim Smith Memorial event. The tennis and golf invitational, named for former NHL great Pierre Larouche, who played for the New York Rangers between 1983 and1988, includes brunch, scramble golf and round-robin tennis tournaments, lunch on the course, and dinner with auction and awards. The entry fee for golfers is $500 per person and $2,000 per foursome, which includes one caddy per foursome. Tennis players can enter for $100 per person. For more information or to register, visit preventchildabuse.golfreg.com.
FRIDAY, 6/14/13
One Fund Boston Benefit
The Digital Arts Experience, 170 Hamilton Ave, White Plains; 7:30 pm. Asidesmusic.com presents an evening of indie, pop, and alt-rock featuring White Plains band Emily Angell & The MK47s and New York City bands Owel, Ionia, and Bearbones. Proceeds go to the One Fund Boston, in support of families impacted by April’s Boston Marathon bombing. Tickets are $15 via 914for617.eventbrite.com; email asidesmusic@gmail.com for more info.
Do you have tips, scoop, or gossip concerning business in Westchester? If so, our INComing blogger, Lisa Cesarano, is all ears. Please e-mail her with a short pitch to 914incoming@gmail.com.
Upcoming events should be submitted no later than Sunday, June 3, to be considered for the June 11 edition. Please submit business-related events only; no fundraisers or consumer events.
