Inside Long Island Business
Get the latest news and trends on Long Island companies and the people behind them.
Flushing Financial to combine savings, commercial operations
Lake Success-based Flushing Financial Corp. said it would combine its Flushing Savings Bank and its commercial banking subsidiary, to reduce costs.
“There’ll be no discernible impact on the consumer, said John R. Buran, president and chief executive. “We’ll still be offering the same products to consumers and businesses as we did the day before we announced it.”
Flushing has 17 branches,...
Read more »LI high school opens retail shop for student vocational training
Photo credit: Chris Ware
"The Stable” is one of the newest small businesses on Long Island, and it's entirely run by high school students.
The small shop, which had its grand opening Tuesday, is located within the corridors of Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick and sells various trinkets — including smartphone cases, jewelry, school merchandise, etc.
The Stable will be staffed entirely by students,...
Read more »Voxx's sales rise, but miss expectations
Photo credit: Newsday, 2010 / Audrey C. Tiernan
Voxx International, the Long Island-based maker of car stereos and other electronics, said on Wednesday that its second-quarter sales increased 21 percent, to $191 million.
But the company’s stock price fell 10 percent, to $6.52 a share, in after-hours trading as the jump in revenue during June, July and August fell short of analysts’ expectations of hitting $204.5 million.
Profits also...
Read more »Report: Oheka Castle unable to refinance mortgage
Photo credit: Newsday, 2008 / Audrey C. Tiernan
The owner of Oheka Castle Hotel & Estate was not able to refinance the property’s $27.9 million mortgage when it came due in August, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
The Huntington hotel’s owner, Gary Melius, said he was negotiating with the loan’s special servicer to delay the loan deadline by as much as five years, according to the Journal. Melius said the hotel made on-time mortgage...
Read more »LI consumer confidence dips in third quarter
Photo credit: AP File
Consumer confidence on Long Island dipped during the summer but remains near the record high recorded last spring.
The Siena College Research Institute Wednesday said its confidence index for the July-September period was 70.2 points, off 3.3 from the spring.
The local index was 61.8 points a year ago. Readings below 76 indicate the number of people who are pessimistic about their economic...
Read more »LI housing nonprofits receive $150G in grants
Photo credit: Handout
Six Long Island nonprofits that focus on providing aid in housing have received a combined $150,000 in grants from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
“In the last year or so, we have focused initiatives on certain segments,” said Bob Isaksen, president of the Long Island offices of Bank of America. “We’re focused very much as a foundation on . . . providing support for jobs,...
Read more »Study: NY has the worst tax climate for business
Photo credit: iStock
New York State has the worst tax climate for businesses in the country, a nonpartisan think tank said Tuesday.
In a 56-page report, the Tax Foundation in Washington said New York ranked last among the 50 states because of high taxes on personal income and property and unemployment insurance charges for employers.
New York ranked 49th in last year’s study and has lost ground in the past...
Read more »LGBT-focused publication to debut on LI
Photo credit: Patken Photographer
Living Out, a new publication from the Long Island GLBT Services Network focusing on Long Island's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, will be coming to newsstands next month.
A project that has been a year and a half in the making, Living Out will be the first publication that will have comprehensive and broad focus on local GBLT life on Long Island, said David Kilmnick, the...
Read more »LIFT receives $455G SBA grant for rails program
Photo credit: Steven Sunshine, 2011
The Long Island Forum for Technology was awarded a grant from the Small Business Administration to continue developing the Long Island Rail Suppliers Alliances. The program, which is barely a year old, is being spearheaded by LIFT and designed to help local small businesses come together to compete for federal contracts on rail and transportation projects.
The grant award this year was $454,545....
Read more »Deloitte & Touche expanding LI office
Photo credit: Handout
Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche is in the beginning stages of a two-year expansion on Long Island, a company official said.
Since May, the company has hired 26 more employees, growing its local workforce to 185 employees. Deloitte's Long Island office is in Jericho. The company is headquartered in Manhattan.
The Long Island growth is planned to continue for the next year and a...
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