Business Beat

In your rush to unload that boat or gas-guzzling SUV, you’re wise to put on the brakes if a would-be purchaser wants to send you a check and then have you wire money on to a third party, say, to someone who would pick up and deliver the item.

In all likelihood, it’s a fake check scam, one of the top five fastest-growing consumer complaints, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Consumer Federation of America, National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and North American Consumer Protection Investigators.

Such scams are certainly preventable "if consumers know how to recognize danger signals," said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America. "If someone wants to give you a check or money order and they want you to wire money, this is a scam, no ifs, ands, buts about it."

To learn more about these scams, consumers are directed to FakeChecks.org, created by the National Consumers League.

The survey results are based on input from 39 state and local consumer agencies, including the Nassau County Office of Consumer Affairs and the New York State Consumer Protection Board. For the most part the findings reflect complaints lodged in 2007.

Other fastest growing complaints are related to:

--home improvement/construction

--internet sales

--mortgage fraud/foreclosure

--credit/debt collection

--Patricia Kitchen

Be nice, even if you have to fire an employee. A new Five O’Clock Club survey shows that managers often do the opposite during the termination process.

-82 percent of the job seekers surveyed by the Manhattan career-coaching and outplacement firm received no positive feedback about their time at the company, even those workers who had been with the company for five years or more.

-Based solely on their exit interview, 69 percent of the respondents said they wouldn’t recommend their employer to other job seekers.

-74 percent said that managers could have treated employees more equitably and kindly during an exit interview.

“Managers,” said chief operating officer Richard Bayer, “often forget to have a human touch - feedback about performance, both positive and negative, and being able to say a kind word. If you have to terminate an employee, why not leave their dignity intact?”

The Five O'clock Club suggests the following exit interview strategies:

-Be honest and tell the employee what when wrong.

-Be positive. “Yes, a kind word helps.”

-Be compassionate. Let them have some control over how and when they leave.

-Be pragmatic. Have ready written summaries of severance benefits.

-Seek closure. “Discuss other issues such as professional references, so the employee can formulate a strategy to move forward.”

-Help them move on: Provide employees with outplacement services.

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

In anticipation of lively workplace discussions as the presidential campaign heats up, attorney Larry Pearson of Jackson Lewis’ Melville office has offered up tips on how to keep political conversations from imperiling workplace civility and productivity. Here is the list from Pearson, who represents employers:

-Employers have the right to control how employees express themselves on the job, and may discipline or terminate employees who act unprofessionally or create disturbances in the workplace, even if the topic is politics.

-Employers should restrict political activities, to the extent necessary to maintain a productive work environment.

-They should limit restrictions on employees’ political activities to the workplace so they don’t violate employees' off-duty rights under various federal and state laws.

-They should make sure their policies on non-solicitation, Internet usage, and employee decorations are up-to-date and broad enough to cover political content. And a company should respond quickly to any breaches.

-Employers should ensure that the company’s non-solicitation policy is drafted to prohibit broad types of solicitations rather than focus on the activities or solicitations by or for a specific group. Companies should ensure all employees are aware and have received a copy of the employer’s non-solicitation policies.

-They should respond promptly to complaints about managers or coworkers retaliating against or harassing employees based upon political affiliation or beliefs.

-They should give employees time off, if necessary, to vote, and should inform workers of their right to that time. In New York State, employers have to give employees up to 2 hours off to vote in any election, unless the workers have four consecutive nonworking hours while the polls are open. The company can choose the time employees take off to vote and doesn’t have to pay for that time. Eligible employees must request the time off at least two days in advance of the day of the election.

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

Money man Bruce Bent can be a bit prickly about one of his progeny and how "clean" it is.

After all, as the chairman of The Reserve, an asset management company, he was the first user of a debit card tied to the 401(k) plan, a program he rolled out, one that lately has been getting excoriated by AARP, Sen. Charles Schumer and others as an avenue for workers to fritter away their nest eggs on "impulse" spending, as Newsday reports.

His ReservePlus debit card loan idea got its start about seven years ago, after he encountered resistance while trying to persuade employees around office to join the company's 401(k) plan. Participation at his company was only 35 percent back then, he said.

"What do you mean you can't afford it?" the boss said he asked his employees. "You're giving away money. If you put in four dollars, I'm giving you a fifth dollar. It's a 25 percent return on your investment. Personally, I wish I could get a 25 percent return on my investment."

So there he was, the man who in 1970 pioneered the money market mutal fund -- trillions of dollars in it now -- but who couldn't get his employees to invest the price of a fancy cup of Starbucks in their own retirements.

When Bent pressed workers, he said, they finally told him, "In case I need the money, I can't get the money."

So Bent and his company researched the problem, crafting a service that lets employees put 401(k) savings in a separate money market fund, which they can borrow from whenever they want, with servicing and other fees on top of the interest rate.

Right before ReservePlus was offered to businesses as an option on retirement plans, the chairman tested out the card. In fact, he defaulted -- and he's proud of it. He took out $1,300 and spent it fast.

"I personally defaulted on the loan to see what were the statements we were sending out, what were we doing to encourage people to repay the loan and all the mechanics of it," said the Manhasset resident, 71, who lost the 2001 Nassau County executive race to Thomas Suozzi.

What did he spend it on?

"Wine, women and song," Bent joked. "The best things, right? Maybe I went to Americana and bought myself Ferragamo shoes or an Escada blouse."

Well, it's just what the critics expected.

-- Ellen Yan

While home building on Long Island is taking a rest during the mortgage crisis, commercial building seems to be alive and well.

“It’s hard to explain that, except there are certain businesses that are doing well,” said David Scro, president of Melville-based Country View Properties, a residential builder.

The advice for stock investors to diversify seems to work for local home builders also as office space leasing rates remain stable and businesses try to start up here to support family lifestyles.

Scro, a second-generation builder, has been immersed in constructing business space to put food on his table.

“I wish I started it a while ago,” he said.

Once, Scro put up 50 to 60 homes a year, but this year, he’s barely dabbled in the residential field.

He’s been tied to an 8-acre plot he bought four years ago in Nesconset. Scro recently finished developing 60,000 square feet of business space - a 39,000-sq-foot New York Sports Club, a swimming safety school and a developmental disabilities training center. He expects to get permission to build 30,000 square feet more for a child daycare center and medical offices.

The commercial project has cost him about $9 million so far and probably won’t be as lucrative as raising dozens of homes.

But at least it’s a job until the housing market recovers, Scro said: “It will give us an income stream so we’ll survive the downturn.”

As U.S. Commerce Department data show, construction starts for one-family homes are at a 17-year low, Newsday reported this week.

--Ellen Yan

Starbucks has now announced all 600 stores to be closed in the United States between now and the middle of next year. For the full list, click here.

Earlier this week, Starbucks said that in the metro area stores in Central Islip and Southold would close, plus one on Staten Island.

Now the 12 additional Long Island Starbucks to be closed include the following locations:

426 Central Ave., Cedarhurst

2330 Hempstead Tpk., East Meadow

1946 Jericho Tpk.., Elwood

123 Fulton Ave., Farmingdale

385B Broadway Mall, Hicksville

1750 Veterans Hwy., Islandia

106 Old Country Rd., Mineola

1441 Jericho Tpk., New Hyde Park

1 Railroad Ave., Roslyn Heights

20 North Highway, Southampton

467 Old County Rd., Westbury

1504 Old Country Rd., Westbury

The Queens closings are at:

242-02 61st Ave., Douglaston

and two in Glendale, at 8989 Union Tpk. and 8000 Cooper Ave.

The Brooklyn store closing is at 8414 3rd Ave.

In Manhattan, the stores closing are at:

1675 Broadway

400 Madison Ave

1600 Broadway

565 Fifth Ave

340 Madison Ave

and 151 W. 34th St.

The closings are in 44 states and Washington, D.C., and include 88 in California and 59 in Florida.

--Noel Rubinton

The median closing price for the spring house hunting season went up .1 percent from the same time last year for most of Long Island and Queens, according to the second-quarter report commissioned by Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

The $445,450 median is not only a slightly higher than $445,000 median closing price for last year, it’s also higher than the $435,000 median closing price for the first three months of the year. That’s no surprise, considering housing sales warm up as the weather grows warm too.

It’s not clear if that year-over-year increase is a blip. The Multiple Listing Service of Long Island has been consistently reporting drops in median closing prices compared to a year ago.

The quarterly report, prepared by Manhattan-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc., does not cover North Fork and Hamptons sales, which are done separately.

--Ellen Yan

IndyMac Bank is the latest addition to the failed bank list from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the fifth collapse so far for 2008.

With the mortgage crisis deepens, this year could be the latest banner year for bank and savings and loan failures as defaults and foreclosures rise due to bad lending, economic jitters and greedy investors and homeowners who took risks without thinking.

In the past eight years, 2002 has been the banner year for its 12 failed institutions, according to the FDIC.

That’s when Sept. 11 woes and the dot com bust caught up with the banking sector, said Ross Waldrop, a senior banking analyst at the FDIC.

The FDIC rates banks on a 1 to 5, with higher numbers indicating higher risk of failure.

The agency’s list of problem institutions grew from 76 at the end of last year to 90 in the first three months of the year, an 18 percent jump. Those 90 institutions represent $26.3 billion in assets, according to the FDIC’s latest quarterly report. It’s the sixth consecutive quarter that the number has grown since a historic low of 47 at the end of the third quarter in 2006, Waldrop said.

The list of who’s good and bad is confidential, the analyst said, because the FDIC does not want good ratings to be used as a marketing tool and bad ratings to further sink the institution.

“We strive not to do anything that would harm public confidence or lead to problems for an institution, other than enforcement-type action,” Waldrop said.

It’s what California-based IndyMac and the Treasury Department’s Office of Thrift Supervision feel happened after Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) publicized a June 26 letter to regulators warning of IndyMac’s possible collapse. That sent throngs of depositors to IndyMac branches to demand all their money, and more than $1.3 billion were withdrawn in 11 days, federal officials said. It stressed out an already-financially-unstable bank, suffering from its focus on subprime and no-documentation mortgages.

IndyMac has two Long Island retail loan offices but no bank branches.

“This institution failed today due to a liquidity crisis,” OTS director John Reich said in a statement Friday, when the government took over the bank. “Although this institution was already in distress, I am troubled by any interference in the regulatory process.”

In his defense, Schumer said the company had been in trouble for months and that regulators were lax in taking action to protect consumers from a possible failure. “The regulators should have done more sooner,” Schumer said in a statement last week before the takeover. “The home loan bank system, for instance, should not bankroll abusive lending. Going forward, the regulators should consider ways to implement stricter oversight over the lending system so that there isn’t another IndyMac.”

--Ellen Yan

When the going gets tough, the tough should find ways to recession-proof their careers. A new report from Jobfox, an Internet job site, says the best way to do that is to consider today’s recession-proof professions.

The site’s list of the top 20 hot careers includes:

1. Sales representatives

2. Software designers/developers

3. Nurses

4. Accounting and finance executives

5. Accounting staff

"During this critical period of economic slowdown, these are the professionals who have been least affected by six consecutive months of job losses in the United States," said Rob McGovern, chief executive of Jobfox.

For the complete Top 20 list go to:

www.jobfox.com/Site/Employer/pdf/TopJobsJuly08.pdf

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

The closings of 600 Starbucks stores in the U.S., announced earlier this month, are starting to come into view. The first 50, closing by July 31, have been identified and they include two on Long Island and one in New York City.

The company has not been specific about why certain stores would be closed, but has said that it will be looking for underperforming outlets. The rest of the closings will be revealed on a monthly basis through the middle of next year.

Here are the local locations closing by the end of this month, as described in a Starbucks news release:

CENTRAL ISLIP TOWN CENTRE
101 S RESEARCH PL
CENTRAL ISLIP, NY

SOUTHOLD
53345 ROUTE 25
SOUTHOLD, NY

FOREST PROMENADE
1756 FOREST AVE
STATEN ISLAND, NY

For the list of the other stores being closed around the country this month, click here.

--Noel Rubinton

For Long Island restaurant owners who want to add a little flair to their business but can’t afford any extras in this tough economy, a local contest may provide some help.

Painted Pieces Art & Design Studio in Huntington Station is offering to gussy up an inside or outside wall or window of the business who wins its essay contest.

The top prize is limited to $5,000. It requires contestants to write an essay of 500 words or fewer on why their retaurant needs a makeover. Runners up get a free consultation from Painted Pieces.

To enter the “Revive Your Business” contest, email your essay to info@hjmt.com or snail mail it to Revive Your Business Contest c/o HJMT Communications, 1025 Old Country Rd., Suite 302, Westbury, 11590. You must include a photo of your restaurant.

The deadline is Sept. 15. Winners will be notified within two weeks of the contest deadline. For more information call 516-997-1950.

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

Beware of on-the-job saboteurs.

That’s the message from a new survey in which a majority of respondents said a co-worker tried to make them look bad on the job.

In a national survey developed for the Creative Group, a California staffing agency specializing in marketing, advertising, creative and Web professionals, 50 percent of the 250 respondents said a current or former co-worker tried to make them look bad at work.

The survey results reflect the views of 125 advertising executives from the country’s 2,000 largest ad agenices and and 125 senior marketing executives from the largest companies.

Seventy percent said the best way to respond to the trouble makers was to confront them directly. But that approach carries some risks.

“While you don’t want to come across as a pushover, you also don’t want to overreact,” said Creative Group executive director Megan Slabinski.

For more on the survey go to:

http://www.creativegroup.com/pressroom

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

Carpooling is cool again, and ClearVision Optical in Hauppauge is trumpeting a recent award for its program encouraging the practice.

The company has won a 2008 Regional Commuter Choice Innovator Award from the New York Metropolitan Transit Council, a public-transporation advocacy group. ClearVision was one of several Long Island honorees, which also included CA and Suffolk County.

ClearVision, which has more than 120 employees, offers them carpooling incentives that include a monthly $50 gas card, preferred parking spaces, guaranteed emergency rides for carpoolers and quarterly raffles.

“I am very grateful to be recognized with this award,” said David Friedfeld, ClearVision’s president. “I hope that it will inspire other Long Island companies to offer their employees alternatives to combat the high price of gas and improve the environment.”

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

Long Island Business News continues to collect views about what the Cablevision-Newsday combination (is that a quadruple play?) will mean. The deal, according to various accounts (though there's no formal word), is about four to eight weeks from closing.

In this week's issue, LIBN does its "Two minutes with" feature with Ron Edelson, partner and co-founder of the Zimmerman Edelson--the Great Neck-based advertising and public relations agency.

The last question is about what difference the mega-media deal will mean, including to ad rates. Edelson's reply: "A lot of people are concerned about that. The jury's still out. It hasn't changed anything yet. Do I think there will be changes? Yes. It might even become somewhat beneficial. You might get package deals."

--Noel Rubinton

If you can't get enough of the buzz about Starbucks and its announcement of 600 more store closings this week, the starbucksgossip blog is the place to go. People contribute from all over--many are company employees, others are customers. The reaction to the closing news, and the decline of Starbucks in general, ranges from frustration to downright joy (hopes of particular people being among the 12,000 employees expected to lose their job).

There's still no list of the stores to be closed starting later this month, and no clear sense of whether there will be an advance list. But this blog provides some real emotion and information.

--Noel Rubinton

We all know what’s plaguing small businesses today - high health insurance and fuel/energy costs.

But what’s not a problem? A new survey says: Exporting products or services, access to high-speed internet and getting loans.

They were the least of 75 issues rated by 3,500-plus businesses across the country, according to a new survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a policy and lobbying trade group headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The survey, sent out during the first quarter of this year, is done every four years, and it may reflect much of what Long Island business faces. Here, about 96 percent of companies have 50 or fewer workers, according to the Long Island Association, a leading business group.

Getting foreign business has been the bottom issue since the 1986 survey, according to the federation.

“Even with federal and state/local programs to promote exporting, small business owners show little interest,” said the report, Small Business Problems and Priorities. “Most small businesses are local. Their market is the town or community in which their business is located and the immediate environs. Growth means expanding to the region, not going overseas. Plus, the economy has been strong. There is plenty of business, if not locally, then somewhere in the United States. So, why bother with the hassle of trying to sell abroad? Matters could change. A weak dollar, more interactive Web sites, and a slowing U.S. economy could entice more small business owners to find export markets.”

Also noteworthy, it seems that the mortgage crisis and tighter credit market haven’t sunk the dreams of small businesses, survey results show. Borrowing money even fell in ranking as an issue over the years. Long-term loans, considered five years or more, ranks 73rd in the current survey, down from 68th in the last survey, in 2004. Short-term borrowing, defined as less than 12 months or revolving loans, was No. 72 on the survey, down two notches from the last survey.

“Small business owners have generally been able to obtain adequate debt financing for many years, albeit more expensive at times,” the report said.

--Ellen Yan

In what might be the lowest loan rate around, 2 percent fixed-rate mortgages are being offered to Section 8 voucher recipients.

New York state and federal officials hope their new program will not only allow low-income renters to buy homes but also free up resources of nonprofits that give out home-buying grants. Section 8 is the government program that helps pay housing costs that exceed 30 percent of recipients’ household income.

“Our new voucher home ownership mortgage initiative will promote sustainable affordable home ownership, which is our agency’s mission,” said Priscilla Almodovar, president and chief executive officer of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA). “It helps voucher recipients transition into home ownership. And it enables public housing authorities and non-profits to help more Section 8 recipients achieve the American dream of home ownership.”

Under the "SONYMA Section 8 Voucher Homeownership Mortgage Program”, the rent vouchers will be turned into home ownership vouchers, which would go toward paying off a SONYMA-approved mortgage lender. That voucher money will be combined with nonprofits’ grants to help Section 8 participants buy homes.

SONYMA will finance up to 99 percent of a home sale and also offer loans without purchases of points and a $400 limit on bank fees.

"Our families are hard workers who contribute to the local economy,” said Marianne Garvin, president of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island. “They have the financial skills to achieve healthy home ownership, but they need an appropriate mortgage to turn the dream into a reality.”

There’s also the option of borrowing up to $5,000 to pay for closing costs or 5 percent of the SONYMA mortgage, whichever is higher – but certain home owners won’t have to pay back such aid. There are no monthly bills for the closing cost loan, and those who keep up with mortgage payments will have their closing cost loan “forgiven” after 10 years. Payments on closing costs kick in if the home owner falls behind on mortgages or lives in the house less than 10 years.

In high-cost areas such as Long Island, loans on closing cost could go up to $10,000.

SONYMA-approved nonprofits and housing agencies determine whether the applicants are financially self sufficient enough to keep homes for the long term. The applicants must also complete home owner counseling courses and meet credit criteria.

The home ownership voucher program is also being sponsored by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Details are available at nyhomes.org or 1-800-382-HOME (4663).

--Ellen Yan

With the growing number of people living older and healthier lives on Long Island, blending the concerns of various generations has become increasingly important. Now Dowling College has given those issues a home on the Island.

Dowling, in partnership with Hauppauge-based Intergenerational Strategies, is launching a center that will include courses, seminars and research. “The Center for Intergenerational Policy and Practice is dedicated to the promotion of policies, programs and coursework that bind generational groups together as well as intergenerational practices that reduce age stereotyping and discrimination,” said Dowling president Robert Gaffney.

The center's first director, Susanne Bleiberg Seperson, said, “The Center will be multi-disciplined, offering not only an academic studies program but also a leadership development initiative directed to age 50+ adults who are looking for second careers in public service work. In addition, the Center will offer seminars and an annual conference.” Intergenerational Studies courses are expected to begin next spring.

Paul Arfin, president and CEO of Intergenerational Strategies, a non-profit group, spent many months working towards the center's establishment. He said, "The Center’s public policy agenda will concentrate on generational equity issues challenging those that would pit one generation’s needs against those of another generation. We will recommend and promote policies that see each generation having assets to contribute to the common good."

This summer, Dowling’s website will include information about the Center for Intergenerational Policy and Practice. In the fall, the school will distribute a directory of intergenerational programs and best practices.

On September 19, the center has scheduled a seminar with Dr. Robert Butler, president and CEO of the New York-based International Longevity Center. It will be an unusual Long Island speech by one of the top speakers and researchers in the field. On November 7, a conference is plannind on “Intergenerational Policy and Programs: From Vision to Practice.”

--Noel Rubinton