Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox and Kathleen McGinn Spring were
prepared for the September 4, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All
rights reserved.
Remembering 9/11/2001
After having a year to think about it, most companies
in the greater Princeton business community are still struggling with
how to handle the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks of
September
11, 2001. When U.S. 1 called three dozen firms last week, two out
of three companies had not yet made their decision.
What is appropriate? Should employees be allowed paid-time off?
Experts
talk about the “anniversary effect,” that at anniversaries
emotions run high. But they also can be a time for healing.
Management needs to acknowledge the fact that the 9/11 anniversary
will not be a typical workday in terms of productivity, says Bruce
T. Blythe, who was quoted in a newsletter issued by
Blythe is CEO of Crisis Management International (CMI) and author
of “Blindsided: A Manager’s Guide to Catastrophic Incidents in
the Workplace” (Portfolio, Penguin Putnam, August 2002).
Headquartered
in Atlanta, CMI has a network of more than 1,300 mental health
professionals
and former FBI agents who specialize in the human side of crisis and
threat of violence preparedness, response and recovery.
Though he does not expect much will be accomplished on September 11,
Blythe does not suggest giving everyone the day off. Rather than
encouraging
employees to be absent and isolate themselves, instead they should
come to work to be part of the activities. Whatever is decided, the
day’s actions need to be appropriate and meaningful for all involved.
He offers these alternatives:
Acknowledge personal loss . If any lives were lost withinthe company or families of employees, at a minimum, the CEO shouldwrite a letter or distribute an E-mail (depending on corporateculture)to everyone in the company acknowledging the day’s significance andoffering sympathy for their losses.Organize a memorial. “Management should considerholdinga tribute or memorial to give employees a chance to come togetherin remembrance of the events of 9/11. One option is to solicit inputfrom the employees in advance about what they want to do — planta garden, contribute to a victims’ fund, or participate in a communityevent.”Utilize crisis counselors. “Companies that weredirectlyimpacted by the attacks should provide trained crisis mental healthprofessionals for the employees. The company should publicize theeffort to employees, but not make any sessions mandatory.” Theseopportunities could be critical stress debriefings for groups, withoptional signups, or individual consultations.From Blythe’s experience working with more than 200 companiesin the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, he says that “it isapparent that there is no simple answer for what every company shoulddo to commemorate the day. A company’s actions should vary dependingon the corporate culture, degree of direct impact and geographicallocation. However, for everyone in America September 11th will bea difficult day.”Several of the companies contacted last week are compiling lists ofarea memorial services to post on the firm’s intranet bulletin board.A preliminary list of memorial observances has been compiled by U.S.1 and is printed on page 38 of this issue. It is also availablethroughthe events directory at www.princetoninfo.com Here are some of theplans from companies and institutions:BusinessesJohn P. Phelan, CEO of American Re Corporation,the re-insurance firm with 1,000 employees on College Road East andCollege Road West, will be sending a company wide voice-mail message.Covance , the area’s largest contract researchorganization,is reserving conference rooms at its Carnegie Center offices for thosewho wish to watch the memorial services on television.CEO Chris Kuebler plans to send a company-wide E-mail messagerecappingwhat the company has done to raise money for the victims. “Thecontract research organizations in our industry — Quintiles, PPD,PharmaNet — put together a relief fund, and whatever the employeescontributed, the company matched,” says Laurene Isip, seniordirector,corporate communications.Covance’s human resources staff also will circulate through itsCarnegieCenter building, where it has 850 workers. It will remind its 7,200employees worldwide that a confidential Life Balance hotline isavailable.Elan Pharmaceutical (ELAN) , “Company wide, we aregoing to have a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.,” says VincentLiotti, HR director. Elan has 130 employees of the former LiposomeCompany at the Forestal Center, plus another 20 people at the formerDelsys.Fleet Bank New Jersey . All the branches will be open forbusiness, but employees will join their counterparts in New York Cityin observing the moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. The bank iscontributingto the cost of the ceremonies at the trade center site and the fiveboroughs and dedicating volunteer activities during the month ofSeptemberto the memory of the attacks,” says Steve Lubetkin, spokesperson.Fleet employers get two paid days annually for volunteer activities.Harris Interactive (formerly known as Total Research),basedon Independence Way, will observe a moment of silence. The companydesigns, applies, and interprets advanced statistical techniques forstrategic and tactical business decisions.Holiday Inn Princeton , formerly Novotel. “In themorning,at the time this mishap happened, we are going to gather all theemployees— and the guests may join us if they wish — and we willobserveone minute of silence. We will put an open invitation to the guestsin their rooms if they would like to join us,” says Farrukh Mirza,general manager of the hotel on Route 1 North at Independence Way.The restaurant, Cafe Nicole, will be the gathering place.Johnson & Johnson is joining Channel 13 to sponsor thetelecast of the New Jersey Symphony concert of Verdi’s Requiem atLiberty State Park.James McCaffrey, owner of McCaffrey’s Supermarkets , willdonate $10,000 on behalf of McCaffrey’s employees to voluntary serviceorganizations such as emergency squads and fire departments in thefour towns where his stores are located.Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. will observe the moment ofsilenceat its New York City offices at 8:45 a.m. and broadcast thatnationwide.”It affected us deeply,” says spokesperson Selena Morris.”We lost three employees, and they will be remembered.” Themarket is opening at 11 a.m. that day, she notes. Merrill Lynch hasadditional commemoration plans that will be announced midday onWednesday,September 4.Prudential Financial on Lenox Drive, a 30-person office,will be audio-conferenced in with its regional headquarters at 1 TowerCenter in East Brunswick to observe a moment of silence at about 10:30a.m., the time of the tower collapse. One of the agents who used tobe a member of the clergy will lead a short memorial service andinviteanyone to mention the name of someone they knew.Roma Federal Savings Bank will shut everything down fora minute of silence. “Whoever happens to be in the branch at thattime will observe the minute with us,” says Nancy Faherty, thebank’s marketing consultant. For security reasons, the time will notbe announced.Roma Bank is also arranging for its employee volunteers to participatein a blood donation program, as it did last year. It is working witharea hospitals and the Community Blood Council on this project.Sensors Unlimited Inc. , the fiber optic company atPrincetonService Center, will have its moment of silence at a lunch meetingit will hold for employees in recognition of the day. This 50-personcompany was among those that closed early last year.Nonprofitsd>McCarter Theater Center has realigned itsproductionschedule so its employees can stay home on September 11. Many of theactors and production workers live in New York City. “We wereaware that people wanted to be with their families, so we have electednot to perform, to allow employees, performers, stagehands to be withtheir families and to attend memorial services and events,” saysJeff Woodward, managing director of McCarter Theater.Previews of “Loot” that normally would normally run on aTuesday,Wednesday, Thursday schedule, September 10 through 12, are now runningSunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, September 8, 10, and 12. “ManyBroadway shows are not happening on the 11th, so we are by far notalone. Next year we will go back to normal, because we also believethat a terrorist act should not affect our schedule,” saysWoodward.On September 11 last year, realizing many of its performers were notgoing to be able to get out of New York, the theater canceled itsperformance of “Romeo & Juliet” early in the day, but didopen on September 12. “It was the first time we have been thankedfor being open,” says Woodward. “At the opening night dinnerparty, the conversation was all about the terrorist act, but at thereception following the play, the conversation was all about the play.With one of the great plays of all time, in 2 1/2 hours, we were ableto transport people out of the immediate trauma into somethingcompletelydifferent. It confirmed our hunch that the show must go on.”Educational Testing Service will distribute rosemary plants toits 2,000 employees, have an intranet message from President KurtLandgraf, and build a memorial garden with bench and plaque.At the Medical Center at Princeton a prayer service willbe held at 11 a.m. in conference room B. Rev. Deborah K. Davis, themedical center’s chaplain director, will offer prayers, music, poetry,and the opportunity to present special intentions in written form.Naomi Vilko MD, of Vilko Corporate Consulting on North HarrisonStreet,will facilitate two catered lunches (sponsored by a pharmaceuticalfirm) for Medical Center employees on how to cope with the aftermathof September 11. “Any employee who is dreading facing that daycan make reservations for the lunch,” says Kathleen K. Kasprzyk,spokesperson for the medical center.Princeton University is reaching out to the communityto hold a commemorative service for students, faculty, and communitymembers. It is scheduled for September 11 at 7 p.m. on Cannon Green,with the University Chapel as the default site in case of rain. Theservice will include music, reading, and reflections, including amessage from President Shirley Tilghman.The State ResponseState employees who lost an immediate family memberin the September 11 attacks get a paid day off if they notify theirsupervisors in writing. Immediate family member can include in-lawsand other members of the employee’s household.About one-quarter of the total number of people who lost their livesthat day were New Jersey residents — 691 of them by the lastcount.”By allowing state employees who lost an immediate family memberto take the day off, we are respecting their individual need to grieveand observe the day.” said Governor James McGreevey.The governor is creating a Family and Survivor Memorial Committeeto develop a permanent September 11th memorial in New Jersey. TheOffice of Recovery and Victim Assistance will appoint the committee’sdirector, and a non-profit corporation, the Family Advocate ManagementCorporation, to help obtain the funds to build the memorial.In a decree that all flags will be flown at half staff, McGreeveyissued this statement: “As the banner of hope for a free America,the flying of the American flag sends a message both throughout ourneighborhoods and all over the world that we are part of a greatnation.”For a schedule of other observances seewww.princetoninfo.com/200209/20904p05.html— Barbara FoxTop Of PageFrom Mercer CC, Go GlobalMercer County Community College can give business peoplethe world — literally. Its International Business Certificateprogram prepares both corporate employees and owners of smallbusinessesto pursue opportunities around the world.”There is a need for people who are in global business to havesome foundation in how to conduct business internationally,” saysLynn Coopersmith, associate dean for corporate and communityprograms. Students, she says, come from the area’s largest companies,including ETS, and from mom and pop operations. The program, withcourses that begin as early as Thursday, September 12, is gearedtowardstudents who are already doing business abroad — or whoseorganizationsare getting ready to do so.A reason for the two-year-old program’s success, according toCoopersmith,is the partnerships it has forged with the Mercer County Divisionof Economic Development, the New Jersey Commerce and GrowthCommission,the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the U.S. Departmentof Commerce, and area chambers of commerce, among other institutions.To earn an International Business Certificate, students must completefive courses: Export Readiness and International Sales Potential;Intercultural Business Communication; Sources of InternationalBusinessInformation; Operational Issues of International Business; and theInternational Business Plan.The price for the first four courses, each of which meets for twoconsecutive Thursdays, is $48. The last course meets four times, alsoon Thursdays, and costs $96. The first course, Export Readiness andInternational Sales Potential, begins on Thursday, September 12, at7:10 p.m. Call 609-586-9446 or visit www.mccc.edu.That same contact information is good for accessing Mercer’s fallsemester of courses that include many close-to-home business subjects,all being held at the school’s West Windsor campus.To help sort out all the possibilities, the college hosts a freecareernight Monday, September 9, beginning at 6 p.m. Among the other eveningcourses on tap for the fall:Starting Wednesday, September 4 : “Successful ProjectManagement,” James Moore, five sessions. $240.Monday, September 9 : “Web Design and Development.”$420.Tuesday, September 10 : “Starting Your Own Business:The Business Plan,” Nunzio Cernero, director, Center for Trainingand Development, MCCC. Three session course. $135.”Effective Business Writing,” Ellen Benowitz, MCCCfaculty.Six session course. $150.”Integrated Marketing Communications Principles andPractices,”Jean Kondek, Princeton Communications. Four session course. $180.”Developing Borrowing Relationships,” Kenneth J.Horowitz,CPA. $45.”Managing Individual Performance” series. Topics includeThe Basic Principles of FrontLine Leadership, Giving ConstructiveFeedback, and Taking Corrective Action. Ten-session course. $335.Wednesday, September 11 : “Foreign AccentReduction,”Ellen Benowitz. 10 sessions. $150.Thursday, September 12 : “Certified Financial Planning:Orientation for the Fall 2002 Semester.” $20.Saturday, September 14 : “Certificate in OracleDatabase.”$1,050.Tuesday, September 17 : “Certified PayrollProfessional,”Dennis Danilewicz, CPP, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Ten sessions. $300.Wednesday, September 18 : “Unix SystemAdministration.”$240.Top Of PageFocusing on NetworkingIt’s fall, not officially maybe, but in the hearts andquickened spirits of former schoolchildren everywhere. Sure, it’shard to say good-bye to summer, but there is an excitement in startinga new business year.GetContactX, a for-profit networking group, is using the post-LaborDay lift to provide loft for its next event. On Thursday, September12, at 5 p.m. GetContactX takes over the second floor bar area ofthe Rusty Scupper for an evening of networking. Cost: $15. Call610-718-9810or visit www.getcontactx.comDespite an unusually languorous summer, coming along partway througha year of sickening stock slides and a recession that shows few signsof clearing out, GetContactX increased its membership rolls nearly10 percent since June, to about 300. This according to SteveSroczynski,who provided this information via cell phone while driving to visita client in north Jersey.GetContactx is far from the only place to network this fall, andSroczynskiknows it, volunteering before he is even asked that every chamberof commerce is his competition. And, yes, he admits, so is everyindustryorganization and statewide industry support group like the New JerseyTechnology Council (see story, page 45).In the beginning, GetContactx was a bricks and mortar, or at leastfluorescent lights and cubicles, kind of place. In the year 2000Sroczynskiset up his headquarters at 3100 Princeton Pike. But he outsourcedmuch of his business from the beginning and soon he was virtual,operatingfrom Pottstown, Pennsylvania, so that he could be close to home (U.S.1, October 31, 2001).”We are without borders,” he says of one advantage his grouphas over some others. Now concentrating its seminars and networkingevents in the sea-bound strip running from Delaware through New YorkCity and its suburbs, GetContactx has lined up a manager in Atlanta,plans to be in Virginia before long, and is taking aim at 36 citiesor regions in all.The advantage for members, says Sroczynski, is that regionalcross-pollinationbrings business. As an example, he says that Alan Brooks, the NassauStreet design firm, is sponsoring the upcoming networking event. Asa sponsor, Alan Brooks, which specializes in corporate branding,appearsprominently on the electronic meeting announcement. A Philadelphiapatent attorney, Sroczynski recounts, clicked through to Alan Brooks’site, liked what he saw, and set up a meeting to look intocommissioningwork from the firm.Actually, that story also illustrates what Sroczynski says isGetContactX’ssecond advantage over the competition: It’s heavily E-dependent. Mostmembers hear about, and register for, meetings online. Theorganization’snewsletter, eSpin, is distributed via E-mail, and contains not onlyarticles written by the GetContactX staff, but also news releasessubmitted by its members.Individuals are welcome to join GetContactX, but nearly all membersare companies. Non-members are welcome at networking meetings likethe one being held at the Rusty Scupper. Attendance, says Sroczynski,tilts heavily toward vice presidents and business owners. Twenty-fivemembers have registered, and given past attendance, he expects a groupof about 100, all ready to make new contacts — or should we saycontactx?.Top Of PageGrowth with Fund>Rich McLaughlin moved his six-year-old consultingpractice, the McLaughlin Community, from Chicago’s Oak Park suburbto Lawrenceville in June (609-434-0210; fax, 609-434-0212; E-mail,richmcL@comcast.net). “I enjoy helping organizations find simplerways to get things done,” he says. “This might include helpingcompanies tap into people in ways that promote both business resultsand personal growth in an atmosphere of fun.”With more than 20 years experience in the consulting and organizationdevelopment area, McLaughlin has facilitated leadership and teamworkprograms from plant-line to executive levels. He has worked for ArthurAndersen/Andersen Consulting, Square D Company and Baxter HealthcareCorporation. Other clients have included Novartis, Osteonics,Dade-Behring,Chicago Board of Trade, Heller Financial, Accenture, and Dean Foods.McLaughlin grew up in Collingswood, where his father was inconstruction,and majored in education at the College of New Jersey, Class of 1982.He has a master’s in training and development for business from OhioState University, and currently teaches at the University of NotreDame’s College of Business. He and his wife, Ann-Marie McHugh, whoworks in film production and directing, have one preschool child,and they moved east to be close to their families.One of his “wins” was getting a department of 70 engineersto take ownership for their own decision making. “Like a lot ofcompanies, the people who were not top managers were accustomed towaiting for their marching orders and feared taking initiative orrisk. First I had to get the trust of management, telling them theirpeople were ready to accept more responsibility. Then I took theengineersoff site for a couple of days and put responsibility squarely on theirshoulders.””`If you are not happy with the way things are run, make thechanges,’I said. They did. And then I had to persuade management to acceptchange.”McLaughlin learned how to take care of his own problems, not run tohigher-ups, when he was growing up. He had four older brothers andone younger sisters, and his parents took a hands-off policy tosiblingrivalry. “They realized they couldn’t fight all of our battles,so we were raised to fend for ourselves, to either do something aboutit or keep our mouths shut,” says McLaughlin, remembering thetime he complained about his older brother’s harassment.His father’s reply: “If you don’t like it, punch him in themouth.””That wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but it worked,”he says. Managers who try to solve all the problems themselves areineffective, he believes. His advice: “If something is going onin your area, don’t wait for management to fix it. They may make theproblem worse instead of better. It is easier to ask for forgivenessthan wait for permission.”Top Of PageParticipate, PleaseThe New Jersey Department of Labor sponsors aProfessionalService Group for job-hunting professionals. The group receives tipson landing a job and the use of desk space, phones, faxes, computers,and the Internet to help them do so. The price of admission, saysDavid Milkes, a technical writer in search of a job, is fourhours a week of volunteer work. Some volunteers trouble-shootcomputers,others call employers to turn up job leads, which they post for thewhole group to see.Milkes is on a committee that is drumming up employer interest inthe group’s upcoming job fair. Taking place on Tuesday, September17, at 7 p.m. at the East Brunswick Library, the free job fair isan opportunity for employers to meet skilled, highly motivated jobseekers, many with substantial experience. Call 732-937-4514.While employers of every kind are welcome, Milkes says those withIT jobs are especially welcome. “Half of the group are ITpeople,”he says. He had been employed by Systems Document Inc., a SouthBrunswickcompany, and he would like to be an employee again. Some members ofhis group are leaning toward starting their own businesses, but Milkessays most others look forward to becoming employees once again.Most of the opportunities for technical writers in New Jersey arewith pharmaceutical companies, Milkes says. He is taking a coursein writing standing operating procedures — SOPs — to preparehimself for an opening in the pharmaceutical field, but would welcomea job doing what he had been doing, writing software manuals, usersguides, and online help scripts.Smart employers know good workers boost their bottom lines, and alsoknow that labor is cyclical. There are lots of good workers on themarket now, but they would well be snapped up in a flash when theeconomy turns. Now is the time to line up top talent, and a job fairorganized by motivated volunteers is one place to find it.Literacy Volunteers of America need your help —urgently.Last year, tutors provided over 7,000 hours of free, confidentialtutoring, assisting 350 adult students. This year 80 students arewaiting to be matched with a tutor.According to the Literacy Volunteers, an estimated 60,000 MercerCountyresidents read below sixth grade level. The group is committed tohelping these adults improve their skills and the quality of theirlives in the workplace, community, and family. Call 609-393-8855.Top Of PageCorporate AngelsPNC Bank has contributed $25,000 to the Princeton AreaCommunity Foundation over the past year. The foundation hasdistributedthe money to a number of non-profits, including HomeFront, thePrincetonHousing Authority Camp, Stony Brook Watershed Foundation, PassageTheater, and Trinity Counseling.Zany Brainy donated $25 gift cards to each of the 62youngstershonored by Trenton’s Kidsbridge Children Museum for outstanding actsof kindness, compassion, and civility. The awards occurred duringKidsbridge’s 2002 Kidfest. Among the other top level donors supportingthe event were Yardville National Bank, Pisauro, Levy andPalumbo,Need2Know, Triangle Your Creative Center, MerrillLynch,and the NJ Commission for Holocaust Education.Commerce Bank and the New Jersey Economic DevelopmentAuthority have provided a $1,150,000 financing package toEducationWorks,a non-profit promoting the development and educational achievementof children. The EDA made a $250,000 direct loan and provided a 50percent guarantee on a $700,000 loan by Commerce Bank. EducationWorks,with headquarters in Lawrence, was founded in 2001 to support andpromote programs of the National School and Community Corps, anorganizationwhose main focus is keeping children safe when schools are not insession.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
