Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 34

DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE 10D NESSPEOPLE BUS MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005 DemocratandChronicle.com ROCHESTER, NEW YORK i i I "i I I I I I v- iw ir- -tr I 7 I If I j-. -V -t -isiMik 1 Utthtiim1 iif i fcift iiiiwr viii Hi 'liWriit iiifflinwwiifWllitliiiWIiiMHmiiiii ittntM Mlfwirtf i ni( 1 1 "fWrntflfY hii i in iiiapMHSItmii naiilwitMi' nTMrtiMUttilr TiilTi i twrft" -t SMALL BUSINESS NEWS Top 100 luncheon, RBA meeting Nov. 8 Rochester's annual Top 100 luncheon will be at noon Nov. 8 at the Riverside Convention Center. The Top 100, sponsored by the Rochester Business Alliance and KPMG, includes Rochester's fastest-growing privately owned companies based on revenue over a three-year period.

The luncheon coincides with the RBA's annual meeting, which will include an annual report from Chairman Brian Hickey, regional president of Bank, and President and Chief Executive Sandy Parker. For more information, go to www.rochesterbusinessalliance.com or call (585) 263-3653. Grant Writers to hear foundation director Ruth Fleischmann-Colgan, executive director of the Marie C. Joseph C. Wilson Foundation, will be the featured speaker at the Rochester Grant Writers Network's October meeting, at 6 p.m.

Tuesday in the downstairs meeting room of Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave. August networking group meets tonight The August Group will have its next networking meeting at 5 tonight at Hawthorne's Restaurant, 3500 East Ave. Minnesota company buys sprinkler business Davis-Ulmer Sprinkler Co. has been acquired by APi Group, a construction services company based in St. Paul, Minn.

Davis-Ulmer, a 60-year-old company, is based in Amherst, a suburb of Buffalo, and has a staff of 225 throughout western and central New York, including Rochester and the Southern Tier. APi is a family-owned company with more than 6,000 employees and annual revenue of $900 million. Providium Consulting expands to Buffalo area Providium Consulting Group, a Fair-port-based employee benefits consulting firm, has opened a Buffalo-area office in Williamsville. Robert DiGiore, owner of DiGiore Financial Services, has merged his business with Providium and been named a partner of the organization. 'Next Step' to publish Latino college edition Next Step Publishing will produce a bilingual pullout edition geared to Latino students and their families who are planning for college.

The Latino edition will be distributed in The Next Step Magazine's MayJune issue to more than 21,160 high schools in 50 states. Extra copies of the special edition will also be distributed at Latino college fairs and by counselor request. The Next Step Magazine Latino Edition will feature financial aid information, tips for parents and students, Latino scholarship opportunities and first-person success stories. A Latino advisory board will counsel the magazine on its editorial choices. WILL YURMAN staff photographer Ardeth Adams of Greece, left, confers with Nick Cavicchioli, an interior designer at Bayles LeatherHouse, during a shopping trip last week.

The Victor furniture store has added contemporary European styles to its inventory since reopening two weeks ago. Bayles reopens and retunes a Leather furniture store, shut down by flooding, adds contemporary lines. showroom with brown leather traditional sofas and love seats that have been popular for the past decade. The contrast intrigued Beverly Mclnerny, who was shopping last week with her sister, Janet Yeaton. "I've been looking for two nice leather chairs," said Mclnerny, after trying out some of the chairs at Bayles Leather-House.

"I do think the quality is good." Mclnerny decided to shop a few more stores before making some things we wanted to do," Parker said. "We're looking at it as a positive opportunity." The partners brought in some new lines of contemporary furniture. Rochester, once a traditional furniture market, has evolved to appreciate more contemporary lines, Parker said. The new furniture at the store reflects changing consumer preferences. Since the store reopened two weeks ago, European-style orange sofas and blue suede chairs now sit in the same ered $500,000 in inventory sitting in two to four inches of water.

"We were devastated," said Brandt, co-owner of the leather furniture specialty store. Brandt and Parker sprang into action to save the business and improved it in the process. "It was an opportunity to make some changes and do MARY CHA0 STAFF WRITER Bayles LeatherHouse has reopened after rebuilding everything. Three months ago, a broken waterline flooded the store in Victor, Ontario County, with 200,000 gallons of water. When Alan Brandt and his partner, Jim Parker, walked into the store the next morning, they discov BAYLES, PAGE 9 BUSINESS PEOPLE Now is time to plan holiday parties JOYCE M.

ROSENBERG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK The holiday season often seems to creep up on all of us. Suddenly Thanksgiving arrives, and tasks such as planning a staff party and gifts for customers have gone undone. The result is often last-minute panic and spending too much out of desperation. Savvy business owners have already put together a to-do list, so these sometimes sensitive agenda items can be taken care of thoughtfully. Take a holiday party, for example.

First you need to figure out what kind of party you can afford and whether you want to have one for your employees, one for customers, or both. If your business is doing well enough for you to afford a party away from the office, you need to book it now. And if you're concerned that it will be too expensive, now is the time to see whether one of your customers or suppliers wants to hold a joint party with your company. If you have only a few employees, you might decide to take them out for lunch or dinner. Again, make your reservations now.

And you might want to think about an event early in December rather than later, when employees start taking time off. You also should think about whether you want to give your employees a gift. If you do, you should select a gift with sensitivity; employees want to feel valued, so forget mugs, pens and baseball caps with your company logo. Giving something personal a book, CD or article of clothing can seem thoughtful, but unless you are sure of your employees' tastes, you're taking a big chance. Many owners have found that gift certificates are best to a bookstore for the office bookworm, to a music retailer for the Sheryl Crow fan.

Cash is likely to be welcome, but so is time. You might want to give your employees extra days off during the holiday season; everyone is likely to be quite appreciative. And in a year that has seen great tragedy in this country and places including Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, all devastated by natural disasters, you might find that your employees will appreciate donations to charitable causes rather than gifts. You might even ask each person to choose a charity. For gifts to clients or customers, again, forget the little doodads that will likely land in the trash in a few weeks.

You can follow some of the same guidelines as you would on gifts for employees. Or you can offer them discounts; whether you deal with the public or other businesses, everyone wants to save some money. Another matter that needs to be carefully considered is holiday bonuses for your staff. If you're going to give bonuses, you need to decide whether you're going to give everyone the same amount or whether you want to award the money based on performance. The earlier you start planning, the better idea you'll have of what you can afford, and, in the case of performance-based bonuses, how much you want to pay each worker.

IE HIGHLAND HOSPITAL Sandy Duell, registered nurse, has been appointed nurse manager for the Acute Care for Elders Unit. She has 28 years of experience I Duell Glick Hajecki Alexander Dailey in ner neld. sne graduated from Monroe Community College and previously served as floor administrator at the Fairport Baptist Home. INFO ADVANTAGE INC. Todd Glick has been promoted to project manager for the field services group of technical support team.

He has been with the company for more than five years, serving as systems engineer. Steve Dailey has been promoted to support manager for the IT support team. He has been with the company for more than four years as a systems engineer. Matta Magin AVERY ENGINEERING LAND SURVEYING ASSOCIATES Kip Finley has been hired to lead business development, marketing and site engineering projects. He has more than 20 ill Finley years consulting experience, most recently planning site improvements for the Army National Guard Aviation Support facility at the Greater Rochester International Airport.

JAY ADVERTISING Chris Hajecki has joined the company as broadcast traffic coordinator. He is a graduate of St. John Fisher. Sarah Alexander has been added as creative assistant and receptionist. She is a communications major from St John Fisher College.

Alexander previously worked for the Victor YMCA. Christine Matta has been promoted to senior account executive. She joined Jay as an editorial assistant and was recently promoted to broadcast producer. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo. Sean Magin has been promoted to production coordinator.

He previously served as creative assistant and receptionist. Before joining the company, Magin worked in a supervisory role at the Country Club of Rochester. Tesler Nov. 2 seminar to give update on labor law Jaeckle Fleischmann Mugel will present its annual seminar on recent developments and trends in labor and employment law at 7:45 a.m. Nov.

2 in Rochester. For more information, or to register, call (716) 843-3801 or e-mail jhummelljaeckle.com. Tech Entrepreneurs to get business-plan help The 2005-2006 Tech Entrepreneurs Seminar Series will have its fall 2005 event, "Building a winning business plan," at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Lennox Tech Enterprise Center's MultiMedia Center, 150 Lucius Gordon Drive in Henrietta.

The cost is $25. To register, go to www How to send us news and useful information Send us news about your small business or information for small-business owners. Contact us by fax at (585) 258-2583 or e-mail reporter Amy H. Wu at AWUDemocratandChronicle.com. Coming up State's employment update on the way The state will release New York and local employment figures.

In Friday's Democrat and Chronicle PRIDE SIGNS INC. Craig Tesler has been added as account manager. He specializes in banking, home furnishings, communications and real estate development ONONDAGA SCHOOL OF THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE Karen Stevens has joined as director of admissions. She previously served as service writer and sales consultant for Van Bortel Motorcars Inc. 2 Stevens markets.

Tesler has Baranes more than 15 years of experience in the sign and identification industry. Laura Donovan-Baranes has been hired as account manager and specializes in automotive, restaurant, wholesale and retail markets. She has more than 20 years of sales and office management experience in her field. Nelson Baranes has joined as an account manager with a focus on retail, automotive, gaming and mall development sign projects. He has more than 15 years of sales experience in the sign and identification industry.

JPMORGAN PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES Larry Rabinowitz has been added as vice president and trust adviser. He has extensive experience in trust administration and financial planning and most ADVANTAGE PROFESSIONALS Tammy Brei has been promoted to vice president of the financial contract staffing division. She has been with the company for nine years and is a gradu Rabinowitz Brei ate of State University College at Geneseo. recently served as senior vice president of trust and investment management at National Bank of Geneva. FOREIGN EXCHANGE U.S.

dollar Currency in In currency U.S. dollar Foreign currency .4461 1.7689 PARIS-KIRWAN ASSOCIATES INC. Kevin Curley has been named partner. He has more than 21 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. TED COLLINS TREE LANDSCAPE Paul M.

Skeels has joined as controller. He previously owned an outsource accounting service for three years and worked in accounting for the DiMarco Group. .8431 Business People This feature reports on new hires and promotions at area businesses. Send your information and photos to: Jeanette Perez Colby, 55 Exchange Rochester 14614 or e-mail: jcolby OemocratandChronicle.com Inside a look at more business people on the move 9D 2.2415 .5653 1.1861 .8270 113.92 8.0892 10.8900 Brazilian real British pound Canadian dollar Euro Japanese yen Chinese yuan Mexican peso A 1.2092 .008778 .1236 .091827 Skeels Curley 1,.