Day: June 5, 2008

Two local companies have been named to the second annual list of World’s Most Ethical Companies, compiled by the Ethisphere Institute. Paychex Inc. and Xerox Corp. each made the list of 100 companies for the second time.
Jonathan Judge, Paychex president and CEO, said the honor reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to the values on which it was founded.
“Paychex was founded on a set of core values that emphasize innovation and exemplify commitment to the highest professional and ethical principles—and those same values and principles guide us today,” Judge said in a statement. “We are incredibly honored to again receive this tribute recognizing our uncompromising standards.”
Ethisphere praised Paychex for its innovative actions that forced competitors to follow suit and for “truly embodying the notion that ethical business practices are more profitable in the long run.”
“We applaud Paychex. They are among the companies honored this year because they have developed impressive and meaningful ethical business practices, making them true standouts within their industries,” said Alexander Brigham, executive director of the Ethisphere Institute. “They go well beyond legal minimums, opting instead to bring about innovative ideas that contribute to the public well being.”
For Xerox, fostering ethics means having a credible, respected message that resonates with employees.
“When everyone focuses on tone from the top, you can have somebody standing there, yelling and shouting, but if they’re not respected, or if the message isn’t properly received, or if the environment is one that is contrary to what the words from the top are, it’s not going to be effective,” David Frishkorn, director of business ethics and compliance for Xerox, told Ethisphere. “The real test of the tone from the top is that it’s received well and that the employees commit to the program.”
Researchers and analysts reviewed more than 10,000 of the world’s leading companies on six continents to determine the finalists.
The list will be featured in the upcoming issue of Ethisphere Magazine.

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Paetec Holding Corp. plans to spend $100 million to $150 million to build its new headquarters at the Midtown Plaza site, officials said Thursday. The demolition of Midtown and city support for business relocation will cost an additional $68.5 million.
Meanwhile, Paetec chairman and CEO Arunas Chesonis said Providence, R.I.-based Gilbane Inc. has been selected as project developer. Founded in 1873, Gilbane is among the nation’s oldest builders.
Fourth-generation members of the Gilbane family today lead the company, which has annual revenues topping $2.5 billion and more than 25 offices nationwide.
Most of the funding for the demolition will come from the Empire State Development Corp., which is contributing $55 million for asbestos abatement and demolition.
The city of Rochester will invest $12.67 million, including $5.9 million to purchase the property, $5.5 million to help Midtown businesses relocate, $900,000 to manage, operate and maintain Midtown properties, and $300,000 for professional services and consulting, officials said.
The city closed on the purchase of the Midtown site May 28.
Midtown businesses are scheduled to leave the complex by July 31, when the plaza will close to the public. The underground parking garage will close Sept. 30.
The demolition is scheduled to begin in June 2009 and be completed by October 2009. Construction of Paetec headquarters is slated to begin in September 2010.
Paetec, a Perinton-based telecommunications firm, plans to build a 50,000-square-foot structure on the property and move some 600 employees downtown. The company expects to add 400 workers.
In addition to housing Paetec, the Midtown property will also include “mixed use urban space,” officials said.
Information on the development will be available online at www.MidtownRochesterRising.com.

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M&T Bank Corp. chairman and CEO Robert Wilmers was named to lead Empire State Development Corp., in an overhaul of the state’s economic development efforts announced by Gov. David Paterson here on Thursday.
In addition, Daniel Gundersen, hired by disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer as the first upstate chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., has resigned, Paterson said.
Gundersen, head of the upstate office in Buffalo, has been praised by business and economic development leaders for bringing a greater focus to issues affecting the upstate business climate.
Gundersen’s future has been in question in recent weeks after Paterson announced his dissatisfaction with the two-pronged ESDC set-up initiated by Spitzer.
The agency’s downstate chairman, Patrick Foye, announced in March that he would resign, shortly after Spitzer left office in the wake a call-girl scandal.
Gunderson praised Paterson for including $700 million in this year’s budget for upstate economic development initiatives.
“It has been a privilege to serve first under Gov. Spitzer and then under Gov. Paterson,” Gunderson said in a statement issued by Paterson’s office. “As I have said before, I agree completely with Gov. Paterson that New York needs to be unified to compete in the world today. Having an organizational structure for ESDC that makes sense is the most effective way to ensure the greatest level of success for both upstate downstate.
“The creation of an upstate ESDC office will help to ensure that upstate remains a priority, and I applaud Gov. Paterson’s support for adding new resources to the Buffalo office to enable that office to manage upstate deals from end to end.”
The Unshackle Upstate Coalition quickly praised the selection of Wilmers, a longtime coalition supporter.
“(He is) a passionate advocate for upstate and the New York business community as a whole, has the expertise and experience to change, for the better, the path of economic development in New York State,” the group said in a statement.
“Wilmers’ appointment demonstrates Gov. Paterson’s willingness to back his support of upstate with substantive action. The coalition thanks the governor for his pledge to headquarter ESD in upstate and increase staff to maintain the focus on the region.”

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Shareholders approved a name change for Ultralife Batteries Inc. to Ultralife Corp., a move that will better define the company as a communications accessories and systems supplier rather than a battery producer.
Management had asked for the change because of the Newark firm’s changing business model, which now provides customers with more complete products, as well as design and engineering services for systems. The results of the vote were read at the firm’s Wayne County headquarters as part of its annual shareholders’ meeting.
John Kavazanjian, Ultralife president and CEO, said at the meeting Ultralife has logged record-breaking revenues, due largely to its expanded business. The firm has acquired several firms over the past few years that have moved it past being solely a battery manufacturer. The new name better incorporated the company’s offerings, he said.
In fiscal 2007, Ultralife logged sales of $137.6 million, a 47 percent increase over 2006 sales of $93.5 million. The rise was led by Ultralife’s non-rechargeable products, which logged sales of $80.3 million, up from $67.8 million. Net income was $5.6 million, compared with a net loss of $27.5 million in fiscal 2006.
Last week, Ultralife raised its quarterly and annual guidance. The company expects quarterly earnings in excess of $75 million. Ultralife previously said second-quarter earnings would be $60 million to $70 million. For the full-year, the company forecasts revenue of at least $250 million, up from an earlier forecast of $238 million.
Shares of Ultralife (Nasdaq: ULBI) were trading midday at $13.22, up 2 percent from Wednesday’s close of $12.92.

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Robert Ulin has been named the dean of Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Liberal Arts, officials announced Thursday.
Ulin, who begins his duties at RIT Aug. 1, is the chairman of the department of anthropology at Western Michigan University and an international expert in the theory and anthropology of work.
He replaces Glenn Kist, a history professor named interim dean in 2006.
“Dr. Ulin’s teaching, administrative and scholarship record, as well as his approach to liberal arts, is a great fit for the College of Liberal Arts,” incoming Provost Jeremy Haefner said in a statement. “I am very appreciative of the hard work that the search committee put into this process.”
At Western Michigan, Ulin focused on enhancing the national reputation of the department and increasing interdisciplinary ties with other academic units. This included collaborating with the school’s department of history to create a joint graduate certificate program in ethnohistory. Ulin previously served as chairman of the department of sociology and anthropology at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., from 1993 to 1998.
Ulin has written three books and lectured and written widely on the topic of the wine industry in various cultures. He is a fellow of the American Anthropological Association and a member of the Fulbright Senior Specialists Roster, a collection of leading scholars chosen by the Fulbright Foundation and the U.S. Department of State to lecture abroad and pursue cooperative programs with foreign universities.
“I am very excited about assuming the position of dean of the College of Liberal Arts because the college has an outstanding faculty that already has in place innovative programs and an interest in building new programmatic ties to other colleges at RIT,” Ulin said. “I am eager to work with liberal arts faculty to implement their strategic plan and to develop a stronger profile for the college in terms of both interdisciplinary programs and programs that have a focused global direction.”

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The Rochester Regional Health Information Organization and Brighton-based eHealth Global Technologies Inc. have signed a two-year contract to have eHealth Global provide image-exchange services.
RHIOs are being developed nationally with the ultimate aim of creating a national medical information network that would give doctors instant access to patient data such as prescription drug information and individual medical history. The local RHIO, which serves the nine-county Rochester region, eventually plans to connect to counterparts in other New York regions and to regions in other states.
The new eHealth Global service for the first time links doctors in the local RHIO network to area radiology providers. The connection gives the physicians online access to patients’ imaging studies and links the Monroe County Department of Public Health to imaging studies it uses to track tuberculosis and other diseases.
The eHealth Global service connects the local RHIO’s information exchange software with Carestream Health Inc. picture-archiving and communications systems at up to eight local radiology providers.
“Rochester RHIO is excited to add (this) service,” RHIO executive director Ted Kremer said. “EHealth Global provides an option we believe will be sustainable well into the future.”

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Harris Corp.’s RF Communications division in Rochester has been awarded $118 million in orders from the U.S. Marine Corps for its Falcon II multiband, manpack radios.
The orders are part of a new $350 million contract that will help the assist the military with its equipment modernization program, the company said.
Under terms of the contract, the Marine Corps almost will double its quantities of the AN/PRC-117, a widely deployed manpack radio that delivers multiband/multimission secure voice and data communications in a single package. RF Communications said the radios provide extended frequency range, significant reductions in weight and size, waveform upgradeability and interoperability.
“We’re pleased to help the Marines address their expanding mission requirements,” said George Helm, RF vice president and general manager, U.S. Government Products, in a statement. “Harris is committed to providing our customers with a family of radios that not only meets the operational challenges faced by troops in the field today but also provides the ability to transition to the networked force of tomorrow.”
As part of the contract, Harris will provide three technical service personnel who will work with Marine maintenance companies.

(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Harris Corp.’s RF Communications division in Rochester has been awarded $118 million in orders from the U.S. Marine Corps for its Falcon II multiband, manpack radios.

The Rochester Regional Health Information Organization and Brighton-based eHealth Global Technologies Inc. have signed a two-year contract to have eHealth Global provide image-exchange services.

Robert Ulin has been named the dean of Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Liberal Arts, officials announced Thursday. Ulin, who begins his duties at RIT Aug. 1, is the chairman of the department of anthropology at Western Michigan University and an international expert in the theory and anthropology of work.

Shareholders approved a name change for Ultralife Batteries Inc. to Ultralife Corp., a move that will better define the company as a communications accessories and systems supplier rather than a battery producer.

M&T Bank Corp. chairman and CEO Robert Wilmers was named to lead Empire State Development Corp., in an overhaul of the state’s economic development efforts announced by Gov. David Paterson here on Thursday.

Paetec Holding Corp. plans to spend $100 million to $150 million to build its new headquarters at the Midtown Plaza site, officials said Thursday. The demolition of Midtown and city support for business relocation will cost an additional $68.5 million.