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

Summing up Joe Altobelli’s remarkable life in just a thousand words is akin to getting a hit off Clayton Kershaw with a twig rather than a Louisville Slugger in your hands. Near impossible. We’d need a book. Or a movie, ...

The Buffalo Sabres recently announced they will begin allowing fans to attend home games at KeyBank Center, starting with the Boston Bruins visit on March 20. Which begs the question: Will anyone want to go? Through the first third of ...

There’s no arguing with the fact that downtowns have been hit exceedingly hard by the pandemic. Hotels, restaurants and establishments that depend on in-person transactions have experienced significant pain, and their comeback will be difficult and prolonged. At the same ...

With the New York state budget season underway, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce is laser focused on the advocacy and legislative priorities for Finger Lakes regional businesses. As I’ve stated in previous columns, our method of advocacy differs from ...

Business owners and executives have long been debating whether or not to hire an internal marketing team or partner with an agency. On one side you’ll hear, “I don’t want to pay the agency fees, let’s start our own internal ...

Life as we knew it changed in 2020, so it’s no surprise tax legislation has continued to evolve for the 2020 tax season as well — and genuinely for the better, for many. While the enhancements may not be as ...

I couldn’t help but smile when the slide popped up on my laptop screen during the annual Rochester Community Baseball shareholders’ Zoom meeting last month. The graphic depicted a face mask. Across it, were written the words: “I’m getting tired ...

Last year at this time in this space, I started my column with this sentence: “Innovation is top of mind for business leaders today.” A year later, while innovation is still on our minds, a lot of other issues we ...

“Socially responsible investing” has become a big business in the investment world. As it has grown in popularity with investors and become more available through an increasing number of funds, the terms we use to refer to this investment approach ...

The Cooperstown shopkeepers I spoke with two summers ago could barely contain their enthusiasm. The summer of 2020 was going to be their most profitable ever, thanks to the induction of Derek Jeter into the Baseball Hall of Fame on ...

The general consensus is that New York will legalize adult use of marijuana in 2021. Indeed, shortly after the new year, a marijuana legalization bill was introduced in both houses of the New York state Legislature, and a few weeks ...

“I received a call from someone looking for a reference for a recently departed employee. I’m ducking the caller because I don’t know what to do about this situation. The problem is that my former employee has seriously exaggerated his ...

Super Bowl commercials are often a reflection of society at a point in time, and that was definitely the case this year. Participating brands couldn’t afford to ignore the collective cultural mood. And many used common approaches to navigate the ...

A half-century ago this week, a seed was planted in the mind of a 6-year-old white kid from suburban Rochester who knew not a lick about Negro Leagues baseball. Doug Brei was an inquisitive lad, and already a voracious reader ...

2020 was a disrupter of a year, and the unpredictability will continue well into 2021. Just as every person on the planet has had to adapt, brands were also forced pivot to remain relevant when people are changing their behavior ...