Biz Buzz

LONG ISLAND

Hispanic help on mortgages

Two Latino nonprofits will partner with the Nassau County Bar Association at its monthly home foreclosure prevention clinics. Starting next month, the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre and La Fuerza Unida of Glen Cove will send Spanish-speaking loan modification counselors to the bar clinics, where borrowers can get details on how to lower their monthly mortgage payments by applying for loan modifications, which are changes to the mortgage contract terms, such as lower interest rates or extended contract periods. Nassau County Bar officials have been providing speakers on site or over the phone in various languages, from Haitian Creole to Hindi, because some people are more comfortable discussing complex issues in their own languages. The next clinic is set for 3-6 p.m. July 11 at the bar's Mineola headquarters at 15th and West streets. Reservations are required; call 516-747-4070.-- ELLEN YAN

Social media seminar today

The big buzz these days is on how businesses can use social media sites -- Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and others -- to raise their quotient of hipness to connect with clients and customers. But what to do when employees make social media blunders? That situation and how businesses can avoid it are to be discussed at a session today at the Hauppauge Industrial Association's Workforce Development Conference at St. Joseph's College, Patchogue. The seminar -- Tweet, Tweet, You're Fired -- is to be presented by representatives from Syosset-based Portnoy, Messinger, Pearl & Associates, a human resources consulting firm. Among the day's other topics? Mixing and managing different generations in the workplace, health care reform, leadership, attracting and retaining key talent. For a link to learn more, visit newsday.com/1.2992215 -- PATRICIA KITCHEN

Old Navy collects for troops

The nine Old Navy clothing stores on Long Island are collecting soap, sunscreen, flip-flops, T-shirts, underwear (and other basic items) for U.S. troops and their families, and for hospitalized veterans. The stores are part of an Old Navy program nationwide, including about 1,000 stores, in support of Operation Troop Donation. It starts tomorrow and extends through Independence Day on Monday. Armed service volunteers will pick up the collected items, which will be sorted, packed and shipped. Last year, the company said, it shipped 240,000 pairs of shower shoes to Iraq, Afghanistan and large military bases in the United States, and nearly a million Old Navy trademarked Flag T-shirts to large military bases in the United States. Old Navy customers who participate by making a donation, in products or cash, will get a 10 percent discount off their entire in-store purchase that day. -- JOSEPH MALLIA

LI real estate units combine

Geoff Matherson of Coldwell Banker Matherson in West Islip and his 16 real estate sales associates have joined Coach Realtors, the Northport company announced this week. The 17 will continue to work from their current offices at 463 Montauk Hwy., West Islip. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

NATION

MySpace site sold for $35M

News Corp. has sold struggling social networking site MySpace for $35 million, mostly in stock, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal values MySpace at a fraction of what News Corp. paid for the site six years ago. The buyer is online advertising network operator Specific Media, and News Corp. will maintain less than a 5 percent stake in the company. News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, but users and advertisers have fled the site for other hotter social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

-- AP