Trade Mission to South America
Conference on Learning Disabilities
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Teena Chandy and others were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper
on March 17, 1999. All rights reserved.
Women in Politics
Not satisfied with staying at home or merely holding
a job, more women are seeking positions of strength and leadership.
They are bringing a new perspective to the once male-dominated world
of politics, lobbying, and public relations, and changing the face
of power and influence.
Nancy Becker will reflect on these issues in her talk, “Government
Relations: Is it a business for a woman?” on Wednesday, March
24, at 7:45 a.m. at the Nassau Club, 6 Mercer Street. The talk, sponsored
by the Princeton YWCA, costs $20. Call 609-497-2103.
And the Mercer County Women’s Political Caucus will showcase Bonnie
Watson Coleman (Assemblywoman D-15th District) and Cathy DiConstanzo,
(a Republican, Mercer County Clerk) on Thursday, March 25, at 7 p.m.,
in “Conversation with Our Elected Women Leaders.” The meeting
is scheduled for Lawrence Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike. Call Eileen
Thornton at 609-586-2741 for information.
Women bring different qualities and perspectives to every issue, according
to Becker, and that leads to success both for the women themselves
and for the field of government relations:
Multitasking ability. Becker has seen many women effectivelyjuggle many tasks, a quality she feels is extremely helpful in politics,public relations and lobbying. Women — in their roles of caretakers,mothers and wives — have been training their whole lives to keepseveral balls in the air at once.Real life experience. That the majority of women waitto enter politics until they have real life experience adds to hertheory. Becker notes that for example, men start holding elected officein their 30s, and sometimes younger, at the ages before or at thebeginning of starting a family. Women, on the other hand, tend tobe coming in later, in the 40s, and with families already established.Balancing skill. Multitasking and organizational skillstranslate well into an area where an advocate needs to balance allaspects of the big picture. “It’s like playing three-dimensionaltic tac toe,” says Becker. “You need to be cognizant of everythingaround a particular issue.”Cognizance also means being well informed, and the best wayto do that is to read the newspaper every day. “You can’t operatein a vacuum,” she says, and reading three or four helps to collectall the necessary information. Becker admits reading at least threeherself every day.Becker, a Princeton resident for almost 30 years, has both of herdegrees in English. In 1962 she graduated from the University of Michigan,and in 1971 she received her master’s at Manhattan College in NewYork. Immediately after college she worked at a public interest organizationfor four years. In 1977 she started her own firm of lobbying and publicaffairs, Nancy Becker Associates. She was one of the first woman lobbyistsin New Jersey, and her firm was the first woman-owned of its kindin the state.To take the initiative, Becker has found, will take you further onthe road to success. “Don’t wait for them to woo you,” shewarns. Once you have decided that you have a passion for politics,the next step is getting off your duff and getting involved.For those just starting in politics, Becker recommends working witha local legislator as a good way to see the process and get a feelfor the business. Women can volunteer, or start to work on a campaign.The more women understand about the political process, the more effectivethey can work in government relations, says Becker.Public relations showcases another important quality women possess:”Women are better communicators,” says Becker. They are ableto be clear and direct. Many of them are good writers, an essentialskill. Tied in is the female sex’s famed agility with interpersonalskills.Of course, having Christie Todd Whitman sitting in the most powerfulseat in the state has made a huge difference for women in politics,says Becker. First, it creates an environment for women to open doorsfor other women. Second, it makes it acceptable for women to be inthe government and its related fields such as lobbying. And third,more women are involved in and around the state government since Whitmantook office.But couldn’t these things be accomplished with a sympathetic malegovernor?”It might happen,” says Becker. “But not as clearly.”Any governor is a conspicuous role model and a male role model isjust not as influential as a woman is when it comes to bringing womeninto politics.Today more women are doing lobbying or in politics and governmentrelations than when Becker started in the 1970s. Where she was oncea rarity, Becker now estimates the field is about 30 to 40 percentfemale. The change in numbers stems from a change in attitude on bothsides. “The field is much more open than it used to be,” shesays.Although she does not think anything was lacking before women enteredthe scene, the climate has certainly benefited. “Women and minoritieshave a different perspective,” on issues, says Becker. “Andthat helps legislators make better decisions.”– Monika J. GuendnerTop Of PageTrade Mission to South AmericaGovernor Whitman’s 10-day trade and investment missionto South America is the largest ever led by a New Jersey governor.About 100 business leaders from throughout the state are now accompanyingthe governor on this trip to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile that willrun through Friday, March 26.The businesses represent small to mid-sized corporations and Fortune500 companies including two Princeton area companies, Nedamco NorthAmerica Corp., and Summit Bancorp. The companies form a broad varietyof industries including pharmaceuticals, banking, telecommunications,environmental technology, and medicine.The Business Owners Institute and Pegnato International will sponsora workshop for presidents and CEOs whose companies export goods andservices overseas, on Thursday, March 25, at 10 a.m., at the BusinessOwners Institute. Call 908-526-1500.”New Jersey is among the top 10 states in exporting,” saysBeverly Pegnato, president of Pegnato International. “Howevermany export companies don’t cash in on the windfalls offered by theFederal government or by foreign governments.” She adds that thereare many incentives available for companies that sell and export goodsto Europe, Latin America, South America, and Asia. “Governmentsare extremely interested in foreign trade and offer incentives,”says Pegnato. “But you have to apply for them.””I applied and got accepted,” says Eric Converse ofNedamco, a silicon sealant broker based at Princeton Forrestal Village.He says that he got involved with the trade mission late and had toarrange his contacts in Brazil. However, the chamber of commerce arrangedmeetings for him in Argentina and Chile. Converse says he is lookingforward to getting an entry into South America.MERCOSUR, a customs union of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay,with two associate members, Chile and Bolivia, is the world’s thirdlargest trading block after the European Union and the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement. New Jersey’s exports to MERCOSUR exceed $1 billionand support approximately 14,000 jobs in New Jersey.In South America the governor will meet with presidents and otherheads of state. The members of the trade delegation will participatein a series of meetings with South American business leaders to discusstrade and investment opportunities.Top Of PageStart-up StudiesAnyone with an entrepreneurial spirit is being encouragedto participate in the Entrepreneurial Training Institute, sponsoredby the New Jersey Development Authority (NJDA) for Small Businesses,Minorities, and Women’s Enterprises. Graduates of the program areprime candidates to qualify for monies from a revolving loan fundestablished by the NJDA. More than 350 people have graduated fromthe training program in the past six years.Courses start this month at 10 locations around the state and coversuch topics as business planning, financing, and marketing. In thisarea sessions will be conducted at Human Resource Development Instituteat 200 Woolverton Avenue in Trenton, starting Thursday, March 25,at 6 p.m., and also at the Burlington County High-Tech Incubator onRoute 38 in Mt. Laurel on Wednesday, March 24, at 6 p.m. Other coursesare in Lakewood and Asbury Park. The three-hour classes run for sevenweeks and cost $165 including a textbook, “Business Planning Guide”by David H. Bangs Jr. Call 609-292-9279 or E-mail to cld@njeda.com.Though the NJDA operates under the supervision of the NJEDA, the NJDAhas its own funds derived from casino revenues. It offers loans forstart-up and micro businesses to spend on real estate, fixed assets,and working capital. For fixed assets and working capital, the samepool can provide loan guarantees.This year the Entrepreneurial Training Institute has a new curriculum,devised by Paul Belliveau (908-232-6480) and Ronald Cookof Rider University. Belliveau has a 20-year-old consulting business,is an adjunct professor at Rutgers’ Graduate School of Management,and gives seminars at the Small Business Development Centers of Rutgersand Kean University. Cook is an associate professor in Rider’s Collegeof Business Administration, where he teaches courses in entrepreneurship,venture planning, family business, and small business consulting.He also directs the Small Business Institute at Rider.Belliveau and Cook will teach selected classes and work with the instructorson the program. And yes, there will be a final exam. All studentswill develop a business plan, and these plans will be subjected toa “panel review” by lawyers, bankers, and accountants on thelast night. And in this course, an “A” might represent a start-uploan of from, say $20,000, all the way up to $100,000.Top Of PagePC in the HandRoad warriors know how important it is to keep in touchwith the home office and clients, but until recently doing so viaE-mail required carrying a laptop to access E-mail accounts. Now variousfirms are offering hand-held PCs based on Microsoft’s Windows CE operatingsystem and capable of connecting to external modems for E-mail access.One of the newest entrants in the field boasts an even slicker connection– via a wireless modem. The product is the BlackBerry Mobile E-mailSolution and it is being marketed in New Jersey by Trellis NetworkServices at 105 College Road East, which is hosting a breakfast Tuesday,March 23, at 7:30 a.m. to demonstrate the new technology and offerfree trials. The breakfast is free. Preregisterat https://www.trellisnet.com/club or call Danny Mooney at 609-987-0660.Developed about six months ago by Research in Motion (RIM) in Ontario,Canada (https://www.rim.net), the BlackBerry is “a little bit biggerthan a pack of playing cards,” says Michael Cook, productline specialist at Trellis.The BlackBerry, a 5-ounce device that is worn on the hip just likea pager, is “a wireless handheld PC that securely and wirelesslydelivers access to your Microsoft desktop, as well as a few otherE-mail clients,” explains Tyler Nelson, a University ofOttawa graduate, Class of ’88. He notes that it is “wirelesslyenabled,” thanks to “the world’s smallest RF two-way modemand operates on the Bellsouth Intelligence Wireless Network, a packetdata network covering 93 percent of the major urban business populationin the U.S. The handheld device talks to that network, contains securityencryption, and allows you to send E-mail from your desktop so thatthis device becomes your Microsoft Exchange/Microsoft Outlook desktop.”Nelson says that for a flat-rate monthly air time cost of only $39.99,customers receive as much transfer of data as is needed and seamlessroaming throughout the U.S. and Canada. “There are no ceilingsor variability in billing,” states Nelson. And beginning in abouteight weeks, a basic paging service will be bundled in that base monthlycharge. “The device will be addressable by a 1-800 number,”says Nelson. “It’s going to be a value-added feature at no extracharge.”– Catherine J. BarrierTop Of PageCareers:Clinical ResearchWhen you count the 950 employees at Covance at 206 Carnegie,more than 14,000 people are employed in 13 pharmaceutical contractresearch organizations (CROs) in the Princeton area. CROs shepherda drug through its clinical trials. Once a product has proven effectiveon animals, it must be tested — with impeccable accuracy in recordkeeping — on human beings. People able to do this work are inshort supply.Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is offering a new certificateprogram in Clinical Research and Drug Development. The program hasbeen designed with the help of Covance. The cost of attending theprogram, including books, is approximately $900 per student, and thereare 25 to 30 seats available.Rose Nini, dean of corporate and community programs at MCCC,says that the program was a direct response to the industry’s growingneeds. Representatives from major companies like Covance and Bristol-MyersSquibb, together with the faculty at MCCC, identified the shortageof trained professionals in this field.”The pharmaceutical industry is growing 15 percent a year,”says Raul Valentin, vice president for human resources at Covance,”and development services organizations are growing 20 to 25 percenta year.”Of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies, 17 have significantoperations in New Jersey, employing about 60,000 people and generating$8 billion in economic activity. Covance cut a wide swath in the Princetoncommunity and achieved a first at the Carnegie Center — its nameon its own building. Covance has more than 7,200 employees in 17 countriesworldwide.What makes this program unusual, says Nini, is that you have to havea baccalaureate degree in nursing, chemistry, pharmacy, medical technologyor a related area to be eligible to apply. The college plans to offerthree additional certificates — specializing in Data ManagementInformation Sciences, Auditing and Monitoring, and Site Management– for those who complete the program. The earning potential inthese fields is $35,000 to $50,000 annually.The college will host career nights on Thursday, March 25, and Thursday,April 8, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Members of the faculty and representativesfrom the industry will be present. For more information, call Niniat 609-890-9624 or E-mail: nini@mccc.edu.Top Of PageDouglass & the ScoutsDouglass College at Rutgers University in New Brunswickand the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. aim to expand opportunities forhigh school girls across the country interested in careers in scienceand technology. On Tuesday, March 23, at 2 p.m. at the Bunting CobbResidence Hall, they will unveil a partnership funded by the ToyotaUSA foundation. Douglass College has the nation’s first residencehall exclusively for college women majoring in math, science, andengineering.Top Of PageYear 2000 KitUse standard inventory procedures and business-analysistasks to help you estimate the size of your Year 2000 challenge, saysIrene Dec. As Prudential’s Year 2000 program manager, she willspeak to the Essex chapter of NJAWBO on Tuesday, March 23, at 6 p.m.Cost: $40. Call 973-744-5533.Dec will bring worksheets to the meeting, but anyone can tap this”Year 2000 Kit for Small Businesses” by linking to Prudential’s website throughhttps://www.technologynj.org.Top Of PageConference on Learning DisabilitiesThe Newgrange Educational Outreach Center and Recordingfor the Blind and Dyslexic is hosting a full-day conference “TheImplications of Brain Research on Reading and Learning Disabilities”on Friday, March 19, at 8:30 a.m. at Princeton University’s RichardsonAuditorium. Cost: $75. Call 609-924-6204 for more information.Barbara Keogh Ph.D., from the University of California at LosAngeles department of psychiatry, and Maryanne Wolf Ph.D., directorof the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University,will examine the latest brain research on the neurobiology of thosewith learning disabilities and the impact of this research in bothschool and family settings.The Newgrange Educational Outreach Center, located in Princeton, offersworkshops, seminars, training, and referral services to educators,literacy tutors, parents, and others concerned with learning disabilities.Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic is a national nonprofit organizationheadquartered in Princeton that provides taped and computerized textbooksfor students who cannot read standard print effectively because ofa disability.Top Of PageEntrepreneur AwardsErnst and Young, the Iselin-based entrepreneurial servicesfirm is seeking nominations for New Jersey based entrepreneurs aspart of its 12th annual New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year awards.Company owners who are primarily responsible for the growth of theircompany are eligible for the award.The companies must have been operating for at least two years andif the company is publicly-held, the founder must be an active memberin top management. Nominations must be received by April 9. The awardrecipients will be announced on Thursday, June 17, at the Hilton EastBrunswick and Towers, and will be eligible to compete for one of severalnational award categories, including the 1999 National Entrepreneurof the Year. For nomination firms call Ted Gullo at 732-906-3431or go to https://www.ey.-com/entrepreneur.eoy.Previous nominees include Alain and Katherine Kornhauser ofALK Associates on Herrontown Road, Herbert M. Greenberg of Caliper,and Thomas Gray Jr., founder of the former Carnegie Bank (nowSovereign). Martin D. Levine of MarketSource Corporation atExit 8A won an award in 1997 and was a judge in 1998. Past nationalaward winners include Michael Dell of Dell Computer Corporation,Steve Case of America Online, and Howard Schultz of StarbucksCoffee.Top Of PageRisking DisasterThink of the worst: a fire, a flood in the building,a burst pipe, or damage to your hard drive. If your company dependson research, and you lose your R&D data, you have lost your crownjewels.Richard Allen Maloy Jr. will help present a New Jersey TechnologyCouncil seminar on “what can go wrong, what can we do about itso that it doesn’t go wrong, and how do we pay for it if it does gowrong.” Entitled “Risk Management and Environmental Issues”the seminar will be Thursday, March 25, at 5 p.m. at the ForrestalHotel and Conference. Maloy Insurance and St. Paul Fire and MarineInsurance are co-sponsors. Cost: $50. Call 609-452-1010.Other speakers will be Ken Zuerbliss, CFO of Enzon; RichardSheldon, director of industrial facilities and risk managementof Kemper Environmental; and Frank Jankowski, president of CorporateEnvironmental Services Inc. They will give tips on dealing with disastersand recovery to chief financial officers and risk managers of variousindustry groups, including medical device, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticalcompanies.”We will be looking at how do you recover data and what happensif it does go down,” says Maloy, vice president of Maloy Insuranceat 228 Alexander Street and a board member of the New Jersey TechnologyCouncil. “Also, if you have a major facility with expensive labequipment and the entire facility has a fire and burns all of thelab equipment plus all of the data that’s there, how do you get itback? Do have a contingency plan? Have you put in some disaster recoverymethods?”We want people to be thinking about what can go wrong, how itcan be fixed, and how to plan for a disaster recovery team.” Beforea disaster occurs:Do proper computer backups. All of the research and developmentdata should be in some type of disk format. Make sure that it’s documented,backed up, and in multiple copies. Also make sure the system is backedup every night and that you have off-site storage of tapes and thebackups, so if data is destroyed it can be replaced easily.Identify a company or companies where — in the event of disaster– computers can be rented in order to get back up and runningright away.Compile manufacturer lists. Laboratories may contain sophisticatedequipment that could take months to duplicate. Compile a list of manufacturersor distributors that make it. They, in turn, may know businesses thatcan get companies operational again.Make sure alarm systems are active and viable.Do an audit of all machinery to determine that there areno worn parts. Bring in thermography cameras that look at all themachinery and equipment in the plant. The camera will pick up hotspots in the machinery that will tell companies when a part couldbreak down or cause fire and loss.Store chemicals in fire proof cabinets and keep researchanimals away from flammable areas and well cared for.Insist on use of safety goggles in medical facilities.The companies should issue complete rules on laboratory procedures.If it is a larger company with a major product, the FDA requires it.However, some of the younger companies may not have stringent ruleson something as simple as wearing protective eyewear when workingaround chemicals.Have emergency shower facilities ready in case someoneis contaminated by chemicals. Smaller companies way not feel thatthey are able to do it, but they may be out of compliance with FDAregulations.Investigate the risks and exposures even before signinga lease for a space. Be sure the space will allow you to be in compliance.Protect the integrity of telephone lines and copiers.Because they are driven by computer chips, you need to install surgeprotectors. Also set up a telephone service plan that can reroutecalls in the event of a disaster.Maloy tells the story of a company that tried to save moneywith a plain vanilla insurance policy (as opposed to a policy froma specialty insurer) but instead lost money when it had a contaminationdisaster.”The refrigeration unit with bio material inside was damaged andcontamination leaked out the door and into ground water. The contaminationleak was not found for about a month, and it was just seeping outinto a creek. The EPA got wind of it, and they came down and put theclamps on them.”The EPA wanted the company to do a full cleanup, but the policythey had purchased was very limited for pollution clean-up coverage.They had this huge loss, and they wound up paying about $300,000 outof pocket because they had to do a full remediation.””Had we had the pollution clean-up policy, or had gone in withthe thermography camera, we could have seen the hot spots and thepotential damage. We could have restructured the policy correctlyso at least they would have had better protection,” says Maloy.”We might have been able to prevent that loss all the way around.– Ernie JohnstonPrevious StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
