Biz Buzz

LONG ISLAND

Suffolk IDA marketing on tap

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency hopes this summer to roll out a promised marketing initiative by Anthony Manetta, its new executive director. The agency's board of directors recently approved spending up to $10,000 for website design and $12,000 for production of brochures. Manetta will select the contractors but was urged to use local companies. Board members will approve the material before publication. Manetta said he hopes to have the project completed by mid-August. "We need to showcase the IDA and the services we provide. The marketing materials will be used to retain companies in Suffolk County and to recruit companies to come here," he said. A year ago, the Nassau IDA had its website, nassauida.org, revamped by Development Counsellors International of Manhattan, as part of a $115,000 contract. -- James T. Madore

Sponsors on board at Engeman

North Shore-LIJ Health System and Bethpage Federal Credit Union are the newest corporate sponsors at the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport. Engeman owner Kevin O'Neill announced the new sponsorships, which together amount to about $300,000 annually, at a news conference Tuesday with North Shore president Michael J. Dowling and Bethpage chief executive Kirk Kordeleski. The theater opens its sixth season July 5 with "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." North Shore-LIJ becomes official sponsor of the theater's main stage productions for the next three years. Part of its sponsorship goes to a community give-back program in which the theater writes a check to an eligible community organization based on how many tickets it generates. Bethpage becomes the official sponsor of youth programs for the next five years, including children's theater, performing arts classes and summer camp. Bethpage will also underwrite reduced-price matinee productions for schools. -- Steve Parks

NATION

'Cheese' to revamp its rodent

Chuck E. Cheese has been given the pink slip. The company that operates the chain of children's pizza restaurants is retiring the giant rodent's outdated image -- and the man who voiced its character for nearly two decades. CEC Entertainment Inc. says it plans to launch a national ad campaign Thursday with a revamped image of Chuck E. Cheese as a hip, electric-guitar-playing rock star. It's the latest makeover for the 35-year-old mascot, as Texas-based CEC struggles to revive sales at its more than 500 pizza restaurants.

Netflix logs 1 billion Net hours

Netflix says its subscribers watched more than 1 billion hours of online video last month as the advent of high-speed Internet connections and high-powered mobile devices change people's viewing patterns. The milestone is the latest sign that the Internet video service may be starting to reduce the amount of time its 26.5 million streaming subscribers spend watching advertising-supported entertainment bundled in more expensive cable-television packages. Netflix service costs $8 a month.

WORLD

Man. U. soccer to kick off IPO

Manchester United plans to go public. In the United States, to boot. The record 19-time English champions filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday to hold an initial public offering of stock and become a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange. While the stock price and the number of shares were not listed, the registration statement said the club hoped to raise a maximum of $100 million -- a place-holding figure that could change before the offering becomes effective. The team has been valued at $2.24 billion by Forbes magazine, ranking it as soccer's most valuable club for the eighth year in a row. -- AP