Category Archives: News

New York: Gainful Employment

February 1, 2016NewsNYBusDist

Getting a job in New York might just be becoming a little easier. According to 2015 reports, there has been a significant increase in private sector jobs in the state of New York; the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said that it actually broke records. Indeed, even though the job count increase was a mere 0.2 percent (resulting in an addition of 13,200 jobs), this was a record high for the state. It puts 7,880,000 people in jobs there. And, further this was indicative of an “upward trend.”

Of the regions in the state of New York, New York City encountered the highest growth (an addition of 2.3 percent), followed closely by Orange-Rockland-Westchester (at 2.1 percent). However, year-on-year three metro areas lost private sector jobs (Binghamton Dutchess-Putnam and Ithaca).

To elucidate this phenomenon, according to Greg David, in an article in Crain’s:

“New York City added 100,500 jobs in 2015 (using the annual average of nonfarm employment), the second consecutive year the city has generated six-figure employment gains, after 120,700 jobs were added in 2014. This is important because it is the first time that has happened since reliable statistics began being collected. Halfway through the new mayor’s term, it is time to call the expansion that began in 2010 the ‘Bloomberg-de Blasio Boom.’”

Some of these job expansions have come due to the escalating tourism industry. In 2015, a staggering 13,000 new jobs were created in New York City in response to the tourism boom.

New York Employees to Get Paid Parental Leave

January 2, 2016NewsFed employees, parental leave, The Nation MagazineNYBusDist

A very small amount of American employers offer paid parental leave to its workers. The figure – 12 % – is even less for public sector Federal employees who actually are not entitled to any paid leave following a birth or adoption.

However, this might change and New Yorkers are set to benefit should the bill that has been put before Congress becomes law, in the new year. Indeed, starting yesterday, the City of New York will add 20,000 city employees to the list of government employees who will be able to take time off (6 weeks) following a new child and get paid. Indeed, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent announcement, New Yorkers will be able to get paid for up to 12 weeks (with the additional accrued sick and vacation time owed) whether they are foster parents, adoptive parents, biological mothers or fathers.

It seems like it might be the thing to do these days anyway. Marc Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, also recently announced that he was taking off two months from work to be with his newborn daughter. In addition, some large tech companies throughout the nation (like Adobe, Microsoft and Netflix) are “stepping up their paid parental leave policies.”

In addition The Nation magazine will be offering four months of paid parental leave, having just recently reached an agreement with its workers union on the matter. This will be for both mothers and fathers and was put into effect yesterday.

It is interesting to note that America is currently the “only industrialized country that does not guarantee it [paid parental leave].”

New York: Food is the New Fashion

December 24, 2015NewsOrganic Food Incubator, Richard MadonnaNYBusDist

We reported in last week’s post that the fashion industry in New York is suffering due to unseasonably high temperatures, rendering winter clothing less attractive. So what – if anything – is replacing this? What are consumers spending their money on in the Big Apple now?

It seems food is becoming the next best thing, or, at least, it’s trying to be. Food entrepreneurs in Queens are trying to get their organic recipes to become household names. At the Organic Food Incubator (and other such places), gluten free bread, hot sauces, and various tonics are being created and bought to cafeteria’s like those at Facebook’s HQ, located just south of Manhattan.

Indeed, one might even go so far as to say that “food is as hot as tech right now,” which were the words that came from the mouth of Organic Food Incubator’s founder, Richard Madonna. He developed this institute to help food entrepreneurs get their start in the business.

Last year, it was documented in NYC that there was a total of 1,078 food manufacturing companies employing 16,356 workers. This was an increase from figures in 2008 in which there were 940 companies and 14,284 workers.

10th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Award Winners

December 15, 2015News10th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards, Canaccord Genuity, David Fergusson, Geoff Richards, Geoffrey RichardsNYBusDist

In recent news, M&A Advisor announced the winners of the 10th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards in the categories of Restructuring of the Year, Transaction of the Year, Refinancing of the Year, Sector Deal of the Year, Firm of the Year, Turnaround Product/Service of the Year and Professional of the Year. The nominations, representing over 200 participating companies, were judged by an independent panel of industry experts.

Canaccord Genuity, where Geoff Richards is the Head of US Debt Finance & Restructuring, was selected as the winner in two categories. They won the Distressed M&A Deal of the Year ($50 million to $100 million) and Healthcare and Life Sciences Deal of the Year. Both awards were in recognition of their work on behalf of PhotoMedex Inc.

The awards will be presented at the Awards Gala on Thursday, January 28^th, 2016 at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. As David Fergusson, the co-CEO and President of the M&A Advisor said, “The award winners represent the best of the distressed investing and reorganization industry in 2015 and earned these honors by standing out in a group of very impressive candidates.”

New York Shopping: Go Online

December 1, 2015NewsDangdang, Shenzhen Publication and Distribution Group, Yin ChanglongNYBusDist

It seems that shopping online is the way to go these days. At least in New York, over the most recent holiday period.

No longer are people killing themselves and each other to line up for Macy’s and Target on Black Friday. There is no need for one to leave their Thanksgiving dinner early to camp outside their favorite stores. Instead, shoppers can get their deals on line.

Indeed, according to the National Retail Federation, while more money was spent by shoppers at the real store, there were more shoppers visiting the online versions this year. Yet in total, there was a drop of retail sales from last year (4.1%) at 3.7%.

Given these figures, this news in China came as somewhat of a surprise. A retail giant in China – Dangdang – recently announced that it would be building one thousand actual bookstores within the next three years. This, at a time when many bookstores are facing bankruptcy. But Shenzhen Publication and Distribution Group GM, Yin Changlong believes there is a different reason for this. He explains that it is due to “the failure of business strategies rather than the fall of brick-and-mortar bookstore industry itself. The biggest challenge for traditional bookstore lies in its single form, which makes it hard to build strong ties with customer. As such, bookstore operators need to be more creative.”

Perhaps with this dedication to keeping book stores alive, it will curb people’s online addiction. As a recent Adobe campaign found in its survey of 400+ over 18-year-old US-based white collar workers, people are “practically addicted to email, checking it around the clock no matter where they are or what they’re doing. In fact, more than half of millennials check email from the bathroom!”

While the Internet has its place very much in society, the bathroom should probably not be a part of it.

Empire State Building Deliveries

October 26, 2015NewsEmpire State Building, Starbucks CorporationNYBusDist

Starbucks is going to be making deliveries from downstairs to upstairs…at the Empire State Building. If you happen to be one of the 12,000 individuals who works in the Empire State Building, and don’t want to make the trip down to the lobby (where there is a Starbucks in operation), you can order “takeout” and they will deliver it to you…for a fee of $2.

That fee may seem quite high but the time it takes to get an elevator, make your way down to the lobby and line up for a cuppa Joe might just make it financially viable. In addition, the fee is the same for up to 15 different items (so the fee for a group order really comes out quite cheaply when divided equally between all the customers).

Starbucks is making a commitment also in this case to ensure that the beverage or food one orders will be delivered within a half an hour to a drop-off area, like the reception desk where one works.

Starbucks Corporation said that it is making this service available in conjunction with its business model of trying to make things as convenient as possible for its customers.

NYC: Making a Business out of Coffee

September 16, 2015NewsClassPass, Cups, Gilead Rotem, matcha lattesNYBusDist

Truthfully, with the right smarts and the perfect timing, and perhaps a bit of financial backing, one can make a successful business out of anything. And perhaps that is why Cups is thriving.

Everyone loves coffee, right? That is what Gilead Rotem, co-founder and CMO of the firm, figured when he launched Cups back in September 2012. CUPS is basically a subscription-based coffee app that allows independent coffee shops to compete with the big bucks, aka, Starbucks, etc. to get coffee rewards.

This is particularly good for a city such as New York City. Today New York lovers of coffee are not just restricted to Starbucks for their cuppa joe. No, indeed, thanks to CUPS their cup is overflowing with possibilities as it were. Nitro brews, mochas with artisanal chocolate, pour-overs and matcha lattes to name but a few can be found at a whole array of coffee stores in the city that work with the app so one does not need to break the bank while sipping their drink of choice.

In terms of business, CUPS is actually representative of a valuable marketing platform. As Rotem noted, “it’s a chance to get discovered in the city, and get more customers coming in,” based on experience of CUPS that’s user base has quadrupled over the past three months. Today it has tens of thousands of customers.

CUPS pays the coffee store a percentage of the listed price on every beverage ordered. So while store owners may lose a very small margin on sales, the added amount of customers make up for it…and more.

CUPS is based on a similar model to ClassPass. ClassPass – first called DabbleNYC – originated in New York in 2014. Initially a startup with seed funding of $2m, today it is valued at over $200m.

Uber Dominating NY Taxi Market

August 27, 2015NewsMcGuiness, New York, Taxi, UberNYBusDist

It seems that Uber is destroying the taxi market, especially in New York City. There are tons of abandoned taxis pulling up on Brooklyn streets and lots of drivers moving over from taxi companies to Uber. This is creating a huge loss for taxi companies such as McGuinness Car Service, in Brooklyn. Hossam Yossri, one worker there said that drivers keep quitting to move over to Uber.
But the question is, is Uber really so much better? Watch this video and you can see why it is not all so clear cut and that Uber doesn’t necessarily have all the right answers.

New York’s Celebrity Assistants

August 17, 2015NewsNYBusDist

In 1996, New York Celebrity Assistants (NYCA) was established. Since then the organization has come a long away and the assistants who are part of it get a lot of “assistance” themselves in dealing with their celebrities.

Working for a celebrity – while sounding quite glamorous – can often be extremely challenging with demanding clients and high expectations. Thus, grouping together for support and help is rather a good idea.

The assistant of course, is in addition to the agents, managers, publicists and cosmetic unit! There is so much to do and that is where the assistants come in. Their role is to plan meetings, book flights, organize parties and other such things.

With the aid of the NYCA, assistants find their jobs easier. One of the founders, Bonnie Low-Kramen explained: “It’s a win-win situation to help your colleagues with resources.” It makes the job easier, more efficient and better for the client.

It’s a lot of networking. If one assistant needs to get in with a particular florist, another assistant might be able to do them a favor. And then that assistant can call in the favor at a later date. Low-Kramen even has a book about it called Be The Ultimate Assistant, but at the end of the day it is the NYCA to which she turns, calling it her “powerful secret weapon.”

At the end of the day, if one is going to work for celebrities in New York, why not get some assistance, while assisting?

Parking in the City Just got Easier

July 31, 2015NewsNYBusDist

It could be said that one of the biggest problems of living in New York is trying to find a place to park. This soon could be a thing of the past, thanks to Luxe. A start-up invented by Curtis Lee, the company employs a slew of 30 blue-jacket-wearing valets to park your car for you in The Big Apple.

Lee developed the business concept when he and his girlfriend were trying to find parking in San Francisco. It was so bad they almost missed their dinner reservation. It immediately inspired him to develop the concept of the business, then and there.

Today Luxe does the following: before you leave home put the address of your destination into your phone. The app will then track your journey and approximately 10 minutes before arrival, fixes you up with a Luxe valet attendant. You can even check out how he looks on the phone to make sure you are not getting someone who is not connected to Luxe.

You can even tell the guy to fill up your tank or get your car washed at any one of the places Luxe has a deal with. The app is currently available in Williamsburg and Manhattan between 57th Street to 96th Street.