Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox were prepared for the September 29,
2004 issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
On the Move
Kathie De Chirico had been long eying a setting like Rob Lyszczarz’s
Orchard Road office/farm (see page 45), as a spot for Visionary
Marketing and Management Strategies, her one-year-old branding and
licensing firm for fashion apparel. “My vision was that we would work
in an environment that allowed us to work intuitively,” she says. “It
was such a positive energy environment, and I kept thinking what a
great place it would be to have an office.”
In May she moved from Princeton Forrestal Village, where her husband,
William D’Arienzo, has his own company, WDA Marketing and Management,
at HQ. Her new quarters is the 1,500 square-foot carriage house. “We
can be very hectic and since we are by ourselves, our creative area
can be a mess. We also have the opportunity to move into additional
space next door, for support staff.”
De Chirico and her husband (who was her supervisor in their previous
jobs) have a son who is doing a film internship in Manhattan and a
daughter who will graduate this year from Montgomery High School. A
big plus for De Chirico’s new office is its proximity to the school,
so she can maximize her time with her daughter’s during her last year
at home.
“And Rob has been an incredible landlord,” she says. “Over the summer
he would invite our company on Thursdays, and he would cook on the
grill.”
A 25-year veteran of the fashion industry, she grew up in Piscataway,
where her father was the chief of police and her mother the
transportation supervisor. She went to Douglass College, Class of
1976, and has worked for such companies as Macy’s, Basic Elements, and
Kids Headquarters.
A previous project for the firm had paired Jaytex, a Canadian firm,
with Union Bay, a junior and young men’s company. Her current project
is to do lifestyle branding for department stores for the singer,
Carlos Santana, and his wife. The market, she says, is men and women,
ages 25 to 44. “We are in the middle of launching a fragrance license,
and have in place a successful shoe license by Brown Shoe.” These high
fashion style shoes for women are sold in New York City as “impulse
buys,” she says, “for the woman who is a leader, not a follower, and
very self confident. It is high fashion styling for the price point.”
De Chirico puts herself in that category. Asked to inventory her
outfit working “in the country” on the day of this telephone
interview, she said she was wearing a denim Gap jacket, a sleeveless
Banana Republic teeshirt knotted at the waist, a DKNY black skirt with
pleats at the end, and pink and black mesh Carlos Santana shoes with
very high heels. Never mind comfort; fashion must prevail. “I would
wear this in the city, too,” she says.
Visionary Marketing and Management Strategies, 88 OrchardRoad, Skillman 08558. Kathie De Chirico. 908-281-3833; fax,908-281-3834. Home page: www.visionarymms.comTop Of PageStart-Up PlannerLisa H. Jantorno has opened a fee-only comprehensive financialplanning and financial management office on Emmons Drive. With boththe comprehensive financial planning and chartered financial advisordesignations, she is on the board of the National Association ofPersonal Financial Advisors.Jantorno, whose maiden name was Fullhart, grew up in Hopewell, whereher mother sold advertising for the Trenton Times and WPST, amongother media. After graduating from George Mason University inVirginia, Class of 1986, she worked for Bank of Mid Jersey (a smallbank in Burlington County that is now Fleet Bank) while earning herMBA from Rider. She and her husband, a home builder in Wrightstown,have two daughters and a son.”I was pregnant with my eldest child when I started the CFP programhome study course,” she says. “By the time I took the two-daycomprehensive exam, I was six months pregnant with my second child.”Jantorno felt frustrated by a previous job in the trust/new businessdevelopment department at United Jersey Bank. “I wasn’t very good atit. I was supposed to hand off the new client to the portfoliomanagers. But I had established relationships with the clients, andthey would call me to solve their problems.” Taking time to do thiswas detrimental to making her “new client” numbers. So she moved tothe financial planning arena and worked at a “fee only” office inPrinceton.As a fee-only practitioner, clients pay by the hour for her expertise.This eliminates any conflict that might arise from selling products,she says. “I don’t have any minimum fee,” says Jantorno, “because Idon’t want to dissuade anyone from seeing a financial advisor. Theinitial consultation is free, and we talk about our services to see ifit is a match.”Jantorno Financial Advisors LLC, 29 Emmons Drive, SuiteC-40, Princeton 08540. Lisa H. Jantorno CFA CFP, president.609-919-0006; fax, 609-919-0220.Top Of PageContracts AwardedBattelle Ventures LP, 303 Carnegie Center, Suite 200,Princeton 08540. Mort Collins. 609-921-8896; fax, 609-921-8703.Www.battelleventures.comBattelle Ventures led a $16.4 million Series C financing round for aCalifornia-based developer of gene expression analysis technology.Genospectra Inc. develops products and technologies for ParallelQuantitative Biology and supplies QuantiGene branched DNA geneexpression analysis technology. Battelle focuses on commercializingseed and early stage technologies, particularly those from the U.S.Department of Energy National Laboratories.”Genospectra’s combination of proprietary, innovative technologies,and a management team that delivers is a winning one – for bothinvestors and the life sciences community,” said Battelle Ventures’Ron Hahn in a press release. “As a rapidly growing company withproducts already in the marketplace, Genospectra has successfullycommercialized important products, demonstrated exceptional focus andrapid growth, and targeted critical unmet needs with its futureproducts.”The company hopes that Hahn, who will serve on Genospectra’s board,will help it gain early access to what it calls “important externaltechnologies, including opportunities to accelerate our productdevelopment programs.”Medarex (MEDX), 707 State Road, Princeton 08540. DonaldL. Drakeman, CEO. 609-430-2880; fax, 609-430-2850. Www.medarex.com.Medarex announced an important collaboration with Pfizer on Monday,September 20. In a deal worth a possible $510 million, Medarex willhelp Pfizer develop up to 50 antibody products over 10 years. Toreceive the maximum, all 50 products would need to obtain regulatoryapproval.Pfizer will pay $80 million in cash and buy $30 million in Medarexcommon stock at a premium to the market price. The remaining moniesdepend on research milestones. The two companies have also agreed tocross-license some patents relating to their anti-CTLA-4 antibodyprograms.Earlier this month Medarex announced it would continue a collaborationwith diaDexus, based in South San Francisco, to develop antibodiesagainst three novel cancer targets outside of the original agreement,which focused on lung cancer.Intellisphere, 666 Plainsboro Road, Suite 300, Plainsboro08536. Michael Hennessy, CEO. 609-716-7777; fax, 609-716-4747. Homepage: www.mdnetguide.comIntellisphere LLC has partnered with a new medical education firm,Scinexa LLC, to provide crossover services for physician audiences.The firms will share access to each other’s markets without violatingany regulatory firewalls.Founded five years ago, Intellisphere has both a publications groupand a market research division with access to more than 400 hospitals.Its flagship publication, MD NetGuide, explores the intersection ofhealthcare and technology and – with a print journal, a bi-weeklyE-newsletter, and a website – it offers a map to medical informationon the Internet. Reaching 250,000 physicians, it has ninepractice-specific editions and a waiting room magazine.Intellisphere’s alliance with Scinexa, a content developer, willprovide useful resources. Scinexa, for its part, is seeking ways toreach additional doctors.Top Of PageName ChangesNorfolk Bank, Route 27 South, Franklin Towne Center,Franklin Park 08823. 732-821-6633; fax, 732-821-7916.The Trust Company of New Jersey changed its name to Norfolk Bank inMay, 2004.Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (OPY), 302 Carnegie Center,Princeton 08540. Lawrence J. Rubenstein, branch manager. 609-734-0400;fax, 609-734-0939. Home page: www.opco.comWhen Fahnestock bought Oppenheimer last year, it took Oppenheimer’sname. Now this New York-based firm has 1,600 financial advisors, 11 atthis location and nearly 100 branches. Its clients are high net worthindividuals, particularly those who need corporate and executiveservices.Top Of PageNew in TownSonal Sportswear, 1095 Cranbury-South River Road, Suite4, Jamesburg. Peter Kamani, distribution manager. 609-409-3333. Homepage: www.sonalsportswear.comSonal Sportswear, an importer of women’s clothing, opened a warehousein Jamesburg in early fall. The headquarters is at 1385 Broadway,Suite 711A.Top Of PageManagement MovesAmerican Repertory Ballet, 80 Albany Street, NewBrunswick 08901. Graham Lustig, artistic director. 732-249-1254; fax,732-249-8475. Home page: www.arballet.orgBarry C. Hughson is the new executive director of American RepertoryBallet in New Brunswick and the affiliated Princeton Ballet School. Hewill assume his duties Oct. 1 and plans to move from New York City toNew Brunswick after the first of the year.Hughson, 36, studied ballet at the Nutmeg Ballet in Torrington,Connecticut, and danced with Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C.Forced to give up professional dancing by chronic tendinitis, heearned a certificate in arts administration from New York University.He has been executive director of the Warner Theatre in Torrington,and executive director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York.Thomas Edison State College, 101 West State Street,Trenton 08608-1176. Dr. George A. Pruitt, president. 888-442-8372;fax, 609-984-8447. Home page: www.tesc.eduThomas Edison State College has reorganized and created seven schools,each led by a dean. The schools include applied science andtechnolgoy, arts and sciences, nursing, professional and continuingstudies, social and behavioral sciences, and the graduate school.Mary Ellen Caro is the new dean of the newly created School ofBusiness and Management, which offers four degrees – an Associate inScience in Management, a Bachelor of Science in BusinessADministraiton, a Master of Science in Human Resources Management, anda Master of Science in Management.Caro was a mathematics and sociology major at the College of St.Elizabeth in Morristown, and she has a master’s degree in appliedstatistics from Rutgers and a master’s degree in management fromStanford, where she was an AT&T Sloan Fellow. After a stint as aresearch associate at Mathematica Policy Research on Alexander Road,she had a 25-year career at AT&T, where she was most recently a vicepresident of AT&T Business Services, managing a portfolio with $1billion in revenue. She was one of the founding managing partners andorigitnal architects of AT&T Solutions.At the college she will oversee curriculum development, recruit andlead subject matter experts who will function as mentors, developlearning outcomes assessment, and establish relationships withcorporations and organizations.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
