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Inside Long Island business

Get the latest news and trends on Long Island companies and the people behind them.

1-800-Flowers.com hires with a special flair

Drew Pinsky

Photo credit: Getty Images

Carle-Place-based 1-800-Flowers.com has joined the Putting America Back to Work initiative of television show host Dr. Drew Pinsky by hiring five workers and taking part in a feel-good moment that aired Monday.

The three-months-long recruiting process brought together several companies with job seekers and culminated in an emotional episode of  Pinsky's show on The CW, "Lifechangers."...

Melville MRI maker's stock soars on profit report

Fonar MRI machine

Fonar Corp. of Melville, a maker of magnetic imaging machines that allow patients to sit upright instead of lying down in a tunnel, had a breakthrough on earnings Tuesday that sent its stock price up 30 percent in the first hour of trading.

Fonar shares rose to $2.53, up 59 cents, with 2.1 million shares changing hands in the first hour of trading Tuesday. The stock's 3-month average daily...

Satellite-clock maker buys N.J. firm

A Block IIR GPS Satellite, one of the

Photo credit: Lockheed Martin illustration

Frequency Electronics Inc., based at Mitchell Field, said Monday it plans to acquire all shares of a New Jersey engineering and manufacturing company, Elcom Technologies Inc.

Frequency, a maker of precision timing devices for satellites, already owns about a fourth of Elcom's shares, and said it has entered into an agreement to buy the rest.

The deal is expected to close later this week.

Elcom,...

LI experts to lead social-media event in NYC

Facebook quot;likequot; logo

Photo credit: Handout

Several Long Island business experts will be among those leading a social media educational event Thursday in Manhattan.

General admission, including breakfast and lunch, is $99; students pay $39.  Register online at smac2012.com.

The session is titled Social Media Action Camp, where attendees can learn what it means to Like something on Facebook, for example. It's set for the Roger...

Profit edges upward for Amityville lockmaker

Richard L. Soloway, chairman, president and secretary, Napco

Photo credit: Newsday, 2005 / Michael E. Ach

Napco Security Technologies Inc., of Amityville, said Monday it increased its sales slightly in its most recent quarter, and improved its profit margin, while reducing expenses and paying off debt.

Napco, a maker of locks and fire and intrusion alert systems, had net income of $309,000 on net sales of $17,617,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to income of $157,000 on sales of $17,608,000...

Poll: How much government regulation does Long Island business need?

Poll question: How much regulation do businesses on

Photo credit: Photos.com

Each week, the business section of newsday.com asks readers to take a poll on a financial question and leave comments. Each Sunday, Newsday publishes the results of the poll and some of the reader comments. Join the conversation.

This week's question: What's the right amount of government regulation of business and finance on Long Island?...

Chyron debuts social-media TV graphics system

Chyron logo

Photo credit: Chyron

Melville-based Chyron, a graphics system maker for the TV industry, says it premiered a new product, Social Media Editor, during coverage of last month's Screen Actors Guild awards.

The TNT and TBS networks employed the Chyron system during a couple of hours of programming just before the SAG awards ceremony began Jan. 29. The product is used for pulling and monitoring tweets from any feed...

Pall Corp.'s new filter for nuclear power plants

Pall's Ultipor GF Fine filter for nuclear power

Photo credit: Handout

The Port Washington-based filtration maker Pall Corp. this week said it has created an advanced product that it says is "a major advance in nuclear power plant filtration" and can improve safety for workers at nuclear plants.

Pall, in a Thursday news release, said "the new Ultipor GF Fine filter is the only disposable filter in the world to be rated at 0.05 microns at 99.98...

Nassau agency adds two directors

nassau county seal

Photo credit: Handout

The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency will be getting two new board members.

County Executive Edward Mangano has nominated Tim Williams, a vice president at the Spanish-owned Sovereign Bank, and John Coumatos, owner of B.K. Sweeney's Parkside Tavern in Bethpage, to fill two vacancies.

Williams has already been confirmed by the county legislature.

Jeffrey L. Seltzer and...

Pharmaceutical sales lift LI company

Aceto, led by chief executive Albert Eilender, said

Photo credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz

Aceto Corp., the Port Washington specialty chemical supplier, reports a turnaround in profitability after a shift in corporate strategy toward finished pharmaceuticals. Much of the improved financial performance came from Aceto's manufacturing subsidiary, Rising Pharmaceuticals.

The company reported after Thursday's market close that its net sales increased to $110.7 million in the quarter...