Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the
January 9, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights
reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
If you worry whether abused and neglected children
are being taken care of properly, consider the work of an agency new
to Mercer County, CASA: Court Appointed Special Advocates. Last year
Lori Morris opened Mercer’s chapter of CASA in the office of the
United
Way on Princeton Pike.
In court, her agency advocates for abused and neglected children.
To make sure the child is safe and getting needed services, one
volunteer
takes the case of one child — visiting the child, the foster
parents,
and the relatives, and making a report to the judge. The goal: To
find a permanent home for each child.
Volunteers get a 30-hour training program plus 12-hours of in-service
training per year. Volunteers commit to a minimum of one year and
generally serve from three to 15 hours a month. An open house for
the next volunteer orientation will be Thursday, January 24, at 5:30
p.m. Call 609-637-4910 for the location and to make a reservation.
A native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Morris went to Smith College, Class
of 1982, and earned a doctorate in sociology at Northwestern. When
she and her husband moved to Princeton Junction, she worked at
Educational
Testing Service and volunteered for the Child Placement Review Board,
an agency that helps the family court and the Division of Youth and
Family Services decide where children should be placed. “That
started my interest,” she says.
Morris left ETS to be a consultant at Rutgers on a project studying
the work of CASA. Then she co-founded the Mercer chapter with Carolyn
Miller and John Catalano. CASA has just completed its first volunteer
training session, and Judge Gerald Council has initially assigned
them seven cases from Mercer County Family Court.
CASA: Court Appointed Special Advocates, 3131PrincetonPike, Building 4, Suite 113, Lawrenceville 08648. Lori Morris,executivedirector. 609-637-4910; fax, 609-895-1245. Home page:www.casamercer.orgTop Of PageExpansionsAmerican Lung Association of New Jersey, 29 EmmonsDrive, Building A-20, Princeton 08540-2006. Shirelle Dover-Jones,program director. 609-452-2112; fax, 609-951-9237. Home page:www.lungusa.orgOn January 29, the five-person Princeton office of the ALA willconsolidatewith the Toms River office and move to a 2,800 square foot space inCranbury. The new eight-person office will be at 109 South MainStreet,Suite 18, Cranbury 08512, 609-918-0313; fax, 609-918-0314. The stateoffice is in Union, and there is another regional office in Fairfield.It offers education programs, workshops, and support groups regardingtobacco and lung health for both corporations and the communityHopewell Valley Community Bank, 3800 QuakerbridgeRoad, Hamilton 08619. Thomas E. Guckin, vice president. 609-586-0600;fax, 609-586-0837. Www.hvcbonline.comThe local commercial bank, based in Pennington, has opened its secondbranch. It has $65 million in assets, says James Hyman, presidentand CEO. Branch manager Thomas E. Guckin has his banking roots inHamilton; he was formerly with CoreStates New Jersey.The Rutledge Center Inc., 2681 Quakerbridge Road,Suite A-2, Mercerville 08619. Richard Politi, president. 609-587-4252;fax, 609-587-4007.The corporate training and marketing firm moved from 2109 PenningtonAvenue in Trenton to 2,000 square feet on Quakerbridge Road. It wasfounded in 1979.Selective Insurance Company of America (SIGI),1395 Yardville-Hamilton Square Road, Box 7950, Trenton 08650-7950.Edward F. Drag II, vice president & branch manager. 609-890-2200;fax, 609-588-5031. Home page: www.selective.comThe insurance company moved from 1 AAA Drive to Hamilton-YardvilleRoad but is keeping the same phone and fax. It is based inBranchville,New Jersey.Top Of PageManagement MovesAllstate New Jersey Insurance Company, 177 FranklinCorner Road, Suite 1-A, Lawrenceville 08648. Martin Fimiani, exclusiveagent. 609-896-4844; fax, 609-896-1095.Upon the retirement of Hugh Fallon, an Allstate agent at this address,Martin Fimiani took over Fallon’s client list and as of December 3is now the exclusive Allstate agent here. Several months passed afterFallon retired before Fimiani was able to reopen the office. Fimianiwas formerly a lab technician at RCA in Somerville but has been anAllstate agent for 34 years. A resident of Jackson, he also has anoffice in Old Bridge. The phone is the same, but the fax is new.Montgomery Cultural Center, 1860 House, 124MontgomeryRoad, Skillman 08558. Nancy Coffee, program director. 609-921-3272;fax, 609-921-8455. Www.1860house.orgNancy Coffee has been named the new position of program director at1860 House. A Lawrenceville native, Coffee has a bachelor’s degreein ceramics from Colorado State University. She has been a programadministrator at a community arts program in Colorado and has workedin K-12 educational programming and development of supplementalinstructionalprograms.The position of executive director, previously filled by KatharineVaucher, has been eliminated.”Programs are the life blood of our organization, and the additionof Nancy Coffee to our staff will have great impact on ourcommunity,”says Larry Shiller, board president. The Montgomery Cultural Centeris a non-profit cultural arts center for visual, literary andperformingarts.Top Of PageName ChangesRay J. Barson, 350 Alexander Street, Princeton08540. 609-921-1100.Ray Barson has closed his practice and is now a partner withSzaferman,Lakind, Blumstein, Watter, Blader, Lehmann & Goldshore PC on GroversMill Road (609-275-0400; fax, 609-275-4511. Home page:www.szaferman.com He focuses on real estate matters.Computer Sciences Corporation, 101 Grovers MillRoad, Quakerbridge Executive Center Suite 202, Lawrenceville 08648.John Easter. 609-799-6100; fax, 609-716-5650.Formerly known as Policy Management Systems Corp., this insurancesoftware company has officially changed its name.Top Of PageDown-SizingPHC/Aetna U.S. Healthcare (AET), One PrudentialDrive, Cranbury 08512. Joe E. Salsberry, service center head.609-708-3000;fax, 609-708-2347.The national service center expects to lay off about 1/6 of the 1,100employees at this location for a total of 6,000 people nationwide,or 444 in New Jersey. Aetna lost 1.8 million plan members this year.Half the cuts will come in the service sector, but cuts will alsobe made in IT and HR. About 5,000 jobs were taken last December, halfthrough attrition.Paytrust Inc., 2572 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville08648. Ed McLaughlin, president and CEO. 609-720-1818; fax,609-720-1819.Home page: www.paytrust.comPaytrust Inc. has moved its corporate offices from 26,000 square feeton the third floor of Quakerbridge Executive Center to the locationof its call center at 2572 Brunswick Pike, where it has 50,000 squarefeet. About 50 people work here plus 250 more workers nationwide,including at a call center in Sioux Falls.”We had the extra space, and the two locations were less thanfive miles apart,” says Laurel Cecila, the spokesperson. “Allthe people on Quakerbridge moved to Brunswick Pike.” Theelectronicbill paying and presenting service received its sixth round offinancinglast August.Paytrust, also known as Secure Commerce Services, had been subleasingfrom Computer Sciences Corporation (formerly Policy Management SystemsCorporation). CSC now has that space — 26,000 square feet —available for sublease through Robert Bull of the Studley Corporation.This Internet service enables consumers to receive, review, approve,and pay all bills electronically.Top Of PageLeaving TownCroda Adhesives Inc., 200 Upper Ferry Road, Ewing08628. 847-481-2600.Sovereign Specialty Chemicals purchased the adhesives manufacturingdivision of Croda and, last summer, moved the business to ArlingtonHeights, Illinois.Top Of PageOut of BusinessPrinVest Corp., 3 Princess Road, Lawrenceville08648. Rudolf A. Tervooren, president. 609-844-9828. Home page:www.prinvest.comThis company was dissolved as of December 31, says the person whois charged with closing the books. She declined to provide moreinformation.Founded in 1990, the company owned its building here and at one pointhad 50 employees (U.S. 1, July 6, 1994). It was an asset-based lenderfinancing small and middle-market companies and offered customfinancingprograms.Top Of PageDeathsJane E. Kochis, 65, on December 17. She was a broker atWeichert Realtors in Princeton and West Windsor and Plainsboro.Denis James, 54, on December 16. A sixth degree blackbelt, he owned James Karate in Ewing.Lillian Brobst, 62, on December 19. She was a registerednurse who had worked for Donald F. Smith and Associates on PrincetonPike (now Rue Insurance).Russell W. Snedeker, 75, on December 19. He had workedat Princeton University and RCA.Rosemary Allen Little, 63, on December 23. She was thepublic administrator of politics and law at Princeton University’sFirestone Library.Denise Durso Moreno, 50, on December 28. She was afinancialplanner at Sarnoff Corp.Umberto “Bert” Roberto, 70, on December 29. Heowned Hinkson’s office supply on Nassau Street from 1960 to 1997.Giuseppe Spera, 74, on December 31. He owned Pizza Starat the Princeton Shopping Center and Rosa’s Pizza Star in Hamilton.Alexander F. Wojciechowicz Jr., 62, on January 5 in aplane crash in Puerto Rico. A Princeton Township resident, he ownedtwo medical device companies in Farmingdale. Also killed in the crashwere his daughter, Katherine Angrick, and her husband, son, andmother-in-law.His wife, Carol, has been active in Princeton charitable and civicorganizations.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
