Rochester Business Journal Leading source of business news and information in Rochester, N.Y.

In 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rendered its decision in Alice v.  CLS Bank, creating significant ambiguity as to when computed-implemented inventions (e.g., software, programmable logic) are patentable in the United States. Last month, the United ...

In today’s consumer atmosphere of Google Wallet™, Venmo™ and Zelle™, people can settle payments and bills quickly and efficiently with the touch of a few buttons. This mindset is now starting to trickle over to the business-to-business side and treasury ...

The fossil fuel industry, that one guy at work, and your Uncle Larry can say whatever they want about climate change impacts, but the grapes don’t lie.  Climate change is causing physiological changes in grape vines, increasing pest and disease ...

Tagged with: environment Suzanne Hunt wine

My microfiche research back in 1991 had unearthed very little about Thomas Edison Alston, other than to tell me what I already knew—that he was the “first Negro to play for the Rochester Red Wings and St. Louis Cardinals.” But ...

Tagged with: On Sports Scott Pitoniak

It’s a familiar scenario: As he is about to retire from a large, multinational corporation, a 60-something gentleman is faced with important financial decisions. Annuity or lump sum? He accepts the “lump sum” option and decides that he will need ...

Tagged with: Patricia Foster The Informed Investor

Early in this 2019, Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce is reflecting on the past while planning strategically for the future. A great deal has changed here since the Industrial Management Council merger with the Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce formed ...

Tagged with: On Business Robert Duffy

The wintry air had turned his cheeks rosy red. An ear-to-ear smile creased his face. As Gates Orlando skated around the outdoor rink at Frontier Field that chilly eve six Decembers ago, he felt as unencumbered as he had on ...

Tagged with: On Sports Scott Pitoniak

The implications of voice-enabled technologies really hit me when I watched my extended family first interact with Alexa. Half of the people in the room grew up long before there were computers; they are not early adopters of technology. My ...

Tagged with: Heidi Trost technology

“I’m having some difficulty managing a staff member who seems to be taking too long on projects. He tends to be late with deliverables. When pressed about it, he says he needs more time to make it right. One of ...

Tagged with: Kathleen Driscoll Managers at Work

Nurses are the backbone of hospitals and nursing homes. They have direct contact with patients – implementing doctor’s orders, dispensing medication, using medical equipment, and ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. For 15 consecutive years, nursing has been ...

Tagged with: health Travis Heider

Some Super Bowl leftovers and other sports morsels as I look forward to the start of spring training and dread the blizzard of NFL mock drafts about to bury us: Let’s move the Super Bowl to Saturday. This would increase ...

Tagged with: On Sports Scott Pitoniak

“Benefits Corporations,” referred to herein as “B Corporations,” can trace their origins to a 2006 agreement between three friends, Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy, to launch a nonprofit corporation they dubbed “B Lab.” In doing so, their ...

Tagged with: Business Ethics Jim Nortz

The Los Angeles Rams are all set at tight end, but a blast from their past will be ready just in case. “I got about four plays left in this 43-year-old body,’’ Roland Williams jokes. “And no blocking plays. Just ...

Tagged with: On Sports Scott Pitoniak

The District of Columbia attorney general sued Facebook in December in connection with the well-publicized Cambridge Analytica scandal, alleging the company violated the District’s consumer protection statute by failing to protect user privacy. The action is the first significant state-level ...

Tagged with: Jeremy J. Wolk law

Employee engagement has been a popular topic in recent years. But what does it mean in your company? What does it look like? How do your “engaged” team members feel and behave? Motivation is the first thing I think of ...

Tagged with: great workplaces Lauren Dixon