Corrections or additions?
These articles by Melinda Sherwood and Barbara Fox were published
in U.S. 1 Newspaper on August 25, 1999. All rights reserved.
Y2K Countdown
This is the final warning for manufacturers that still
believe Y2K is a "computer" (in the strict sense of the word)
bug. The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP) is still
finding problems where manufacturers dared not look, says Robert
Loderstedt, president of the NJMEP. "Unfortunately, a lot of
people think it’s about the computer," he says. "In reality,
the issues are back on the factory floor." In packaging lines,
refrigeration systems, boiler flow controls, security systems, and
other "mission critical systems" central to the operation.
"What we are finding is the average number of devices in a mission
critical system is 14, and that 40 percent are noncompliant or
suspect,"
says Loderstedt. "Most of the machinery is so old that the
manufacturer
is not able to ascertain whether it is compliant."
Fortunately, it’s not too late to prepare, even if that means major
surgery between now and December 31. Many companies can ship Y2K
compliant
replacement equipment in a matter of weeks, and the SBA is offering
loans to buffer expenses (800-8-ASK-SBA). And at no out-of-pocket
costs, the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program will come into
factories and assess for Y2K readiness using a database that contains
compliance/noncompliance information on over 110,000 manufacturing
devices. "The company conducts the inventory on mission critical
systems, we run it through the database, and then we get back to them
with the report; it takes about six hours," says Loderstedt. Call:
973-642-7099 or visit http://www.njmep.org.
The NJMEP has already initiated a massive telemarketing campaign to
offer the service to every manufacturer in the state. "Our goal
is to contact all of the 13,000 and put them in one of the two buckets
— compliant or noncompliant," says Loderstedt. The NJMEP will
then oversee what Loderstedt feels is a cost-effective solution either
through a public or private sector organization.
Nearly 3,000 manufacturers in the state have been contacted so far.
"About 50 percent claim compliance," says Loderstedt. A former
business owner himself, Loderstedt is skeptical. "We press them
and say tell us what is compliant," he says. "You have a
built-in
mechanism that sends off red lights in the head of manufacturers
because
everyone is trying to help you but that means you’re going to spend
money. When you run a business, you don’t want to spend any money.
I suspect that of those people who tell us they’re compliant, 25
percent
are not.
If it means pay now or pay more later, why do so many manufacturers
resist preparing for it? For some hands-on manufacturers, Y2K may
just be too abstract. "Think about Y2K: can you touch it? Can
you feel it? Can you eat it?," asks Loderstedt. "I ran a small
business; you’re busy, you’re putting out fires all the time. You’re
supposed to be strategic but you’re not. You’re like I’ll get to it
tomorrow."
He may empathize with small businesses, but Loderstedt says he will
only push so hard: "We don’t make any money doing this, but we
think it’s almost a no-brainer." A Wells Fargo study estimates
that 10 percent of businesses will disappear as a result of machine
error on January 1. "That would mean 1,300 businesses in New
Jersey,"
Loderstedt estimates, "but you have some people who just want
to bury themselves in the sand."
Another take — but certainly not the last one — on the Y2K
problem will be Thursday, September 9, at noon. Christine Zervos,
president of Bucks County Technology Partners, speaks at the Small
Business Survival Group at the Daily Plan It, 707 Alexander Road.
Her subject: "Y2K Problem: Five Steps to SmallBiz Compliance."
It’s free. Call 609-419-9094.
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The Book on Unions
The unthinkable is taking place. Riled by changes in
their pension plans, mid-career employees at IBM in New Jersey and
elsewhere are talking union. The Communication Workers of America,
long a staple elsewhere, is reportedly active in companies that had
long resisted organization. Where to find the various chapters of
the various unions? Call your favorite reference librarian or buy
the book on unions from Florham Park-based Resource Communications
Group (RCG at 800-331-5076 or fax 512-458-2059).
Priced at $49.95, "New Jersey Labor Unions" offers the name,
address, local number, and telephone number of more than 1,000 unions,
indexed alphabetically and by town and county. The disk version is
$199, and has an additional piece of information — the number
of members in each union — and includes a copy of the print
version.
Other directories by RCG include the New Jersey Media Guide ($94.95
or $295 on disk), Directory of New Jersey Libraries & Media Centers
($79.95), Networking in New Jersey ($49.95), Business to Business
Small Business Directory, $275 or $245, New Jersey Grants Guide
($159.95),
New Jersey’s top Decision Makers (disk version) $259.
RCG’s staple, the New Jersey Business Source Book, has the state’s
largest employers and trade and professional associations.
Pre-publication
price (now) is $94.95. If you order two titles and are a Princeton
Chamber member, you get a $15 discount.
Is the Internet making directories obsolete? Not yet. The union’s
website (http://www.cwa-union.org.) is not user-friendly for
non-members. Phone calls still work better, even though — starting
with national headquarters (202-434-1100) — it took three calls
to get the right information: Yes, CWA is working to organize IBM-ers,
and the person doing it is Ed Sabol, district organizer in
Avenal,
at 732-750-5580.
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High Tech Scorecards
This award and a dollar bill will buy the CEO a cup
of coffee at Wawa. The New Jersey Technology Fast 50 Awards, presented
on August 18, feature many of the Princeton area companies already
in the news for receiving lucrative grants and prizes. But even
without
a cash purse, the results of this race make excellent fodder for press
kits. As Maxine Ballen of the New Jersey Technology Council
points out, they "celebrate the achievements of the state’s
technology
companies."
And these awards also indicate just where growth is taking place.
Though Central New Jersey can’t brag about having the biggest
companies
in New Jersey (most of those are up north), it has its good fair share
of growing high-tech firms — 13 or about one-fourth of the top
50 named. In the last three weeks, this newspaper has mentioned
statewide
awards and grants involving 79 companies and institutions — 26
of them have been in the U.S. 1 circulation area.
Five of the U.S. 1 area Fast 50 make computer or telecommunications
equipment, three are biotechs, three are software or computer
consulting
companies, and two are pharmaceutical service/Internet agencies.
Virtually
all of them have been covered by U.S. 1 and have had stories archived
at http://www.princetoninfo.com.
To qualify a company had to have had revenues of at least $50,000
in 1994, be headquartered in New Jersey, and fall into one of these
categories: manufacture a technology-related product, be
technologically
intensive, use unique technology in problem-solving, or devote a high
percentage of effort to research and development of technology. The
fast-growing companies include the following:
Biotechs
Cytogen Corporation (CYTO), 600 College Road East, Joseph
Reiser,
president and CEO. 609-987-8200; fax, 609-452-2975. Home page:
http://www.cytogen.com. Targeted delivery of diagnostic and
therapeutic substances directly to sites of disease.
William
P. Moffitt, president and CEO. 609-443-9300; fax, 609-443-9310.
Home
page: http://www.i-stat.com. Diagnostic blood analysis
equipment
manufacturing.
Princeton
Forrestal Center, Charles A. Baker, chairman and CEO. 609-452-7060;
fax, 609-452-1890. Home page: http://www.lipo.com.
Advanced liposomal drugs for the treatment of cancer and infectious
diseases, also at 600 College Road and 4 Corporate Drive at Exit 8A.
Computer Hardware
Ariel Corporation (ADSP), 2540 Route 130, Suite 128, Jay H.
Atlas, president. 609-860-2900; fax, 609-860-1155. Home page:
It does engineering, development, and manufacturing of digital signal
processors.
Commtech Corporation, 2555 Route 130 South, Frank Fawzi, owner.
609-655-2277; fax, 609-655-2292. Home page:
Computer modem manufacturer.
Research Park, Vladimir Ban, president. 609-924-7979; fax,
609-924-7366.
Home page: http://www.pd-ld.com. Fiber coupling and packaging
of fiber optic devices.
Gregory H. Olsen, president. 609-520-0610; fax, 609-520-0638. Home
page: http://www.sensorsinc.com. Compound semiconductor
technology
for sensing and imaging applications in near infra-red spectrum.
president. 732-247-0022; fax, 732-247-4622. Home page:
Design, manufacture, and repair of microwave power amplifiers and
subsystems for military and commercial applications.
Computer Software
HexaWare Technologies Inc., 5 Independence Way, Second Floor,
Avi Lele, president. 609-951-9195; fax, 609-951-9638. Home page:
http://www.hexaware.com. IT consulting firm for Y2K, Euro,
E-commerce, maintenance outsourcing, consulting, and enterprise
resource
planning (ERP).
Suite 270, Carl Van Dyke, president. 609-419-9800; fax, 609-419-9600.
Home page: http://www.multimodalinc.com. Software for the
railroad industry.
Road, Neil Bhaskar, CEO. 609-588-5500; fax, 609-588-5577. Home
page: http://www.novasoftinfo.com. E-commerce, migration and
outsourcing
applications, year 2000 conversions, and training.
Pharmaceutical/-
Internet
Lambertville,
Debra Newton, president. 609-397-9500; fax, 609-397-2111. Home
page: http://www.nrg-i.com. Healthcare communications specializing
in digital media for healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.
David Reim, president. 609-252-9090; fax, 609-252-9170. Home page:
http://www.simstar.com. Digital media design and engineering firm
servicing healthcare clients with Internet, intranet, and CD-ROM
products.
National Bank, the Nasdaq-Amex Market Group, New Jersey Technology
Council, Regional Business Partnership, and University Heights Science
Park. Joe Allegra of Princeton Softech chairs the New Jersey
Technology Council.
Top Of Page
Energy Harbinger
In what may be the beginning of a trend, one utility
company has rushed over the New Jersey border and opened an office.
Allegheny Energy Supply Inc., the electric generation arm of Allegheny
Energy Inc. in Hagerstown, Maryland, has leased space at 993 Lenox
Drive in Lawrenceville, a strategic location for the utility
company to develop markets in New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and
Pennsylvania. The office won’t be staffed until early this fall.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities granted Allegheny a license
on August 19 to sell energy to the residential, commercial, and
industrial
fields. In January, the company started selling energy in the newly
deregulated Pennsylvania market at rates as low as 4.1 kWh. "The
same competitively priced, reliable generation that made Allegheny
Energy Supply the choice of Penn State University, Appleton Papers
Inc., Sprint, and other customers in Pennsylvania will serve us well
as we look for commercial and industrial customers in these new East
Coast markets," said Peter J. Skrgic, president of the
company,
in a press release.
Allegheny Energy Supply is one of over 20 companies licensed to
compete
for customers under New Jersey Energy Choice (U.S. 1, July 28).
Consumers
will be able to take advantage of the competitive energy prices later
in the fall when the shopping credit is announced. If you have
questions,
call the Board of Public Utilities consumer hotline (1-877-655-5678)
or visit the consumer education website at
http://www.njenergychoice.com.
Allegheny Energy Supply’s main number is 800-255-3443. Website:
http://www.alleghenyenergy.com.
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Nominations
The Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce is
accepting nominations for the "2000 Community Leaders of
Distinction"
award, which honors corporations or individuals who have demonstrated
outstanding leadership in their communities. Typewritten nominations,
submitted with the award form, must be into the Chamber by Saturday,
August 28. Call 732-821-1700 for a nomination form.
Top Of Page
Donate Please
The MSM Regional Council, newly renamed the Regional Planning
Partnership,
is seeking advertising sponsors for its annual Resource Book, a
reference
guide with valuable maps and information. Sponsors also get seats
at the MSM Annual Dinner, scheduled for Thursday, November 4.
Donations
between $100 and $2,500 are being sought before the Friday, September
24 deadline. Call 609-452-1717.
Top Of Page
Charity Golf
The end of summer, the last week before Labor Day, and
there is still time for one more summer fling. Choose from two charity
golf tournaments on Monday, August 30 at 11 a.m.
The American Cancer Society holds its 14th annual Golf and Tennis
Classic at Hopewell Valley Country Club. Among the sponsors are
Sovereign
Bank, Trenton Savings Bank, Olden Carpet, KPMG LLP, University of
Pennsylvania Health Systems, and the Jingoli Organization. Qualifying
foursomes can compete in the state tournament on Monday, September
27, at Forsgate Country Club. The cost is $175 for tennis; $300 for
golf. Call 609-895-0101.
Haldeman Dealerships is sponsoring the hole-in-one contest for
Community
Options, the Farber Road-based non-profit that helps people with
disabilities.
The organization’s seventh annual Golf Classic will be held at the
Trenton Country Club on Sullivan Way. The fee of $225 for a single
golfer includes one hour at the driving range, lunch, 18 holes of
golf, and the banquet; the dinner alone is $75. Call Elise
Gambino
at 609-951-9900.
"We are looking forward to seeing everyone at this event that
will benefit Community Options," says Greg Hritz, general
manager of Haldeman Ford.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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