Brooklyn's Progress
October/November 2007

Borough Hall Hosts Tanzanian Delegation
The Tanzania Trade Mission to the United States made a stop at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall when they came to New York in September. Borough President Marty Markowitz hosted the group and talked with them about the myriad business opportunities available in the borough for international trade and investment.

One of the issues on the table was the possibility of a sister city agreement between Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and Brooklyn.

Other partnerships and support for the delegation came from Congressman Edolphus Towns, the Empire State Development Corporation, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The New York Transit Museum.

Regional Economic Review’s Joel Naroff Wins Award
The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) named Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Champion Commerce Bank’s Chief Economist Dr. Joel Naroff as the recipient of the 2007 NABE Outlook Award.
NABE gives the award annually to the most accurate forecaster on the NABE Outlook Panel, and is based on the best forecasting of the quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) and 10-Year Treasury Bond Note between November 2006 and May 2007.

The award, which was presented at the organization’s annual conference last month in San Francisco, is just the most recent in a long list of awards and accolades Dr. Naroff has received. He has been MSNBC.com’s Champion Forecaster, as well as one of Bloomberg Business News’ top five economic forecasters in America, and named one of the top ten economic forecasters by USA Today.

Dr. Naroff provides expert economic commentary to numerous leading financial publications, including, among many others, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and American Banker.
In addition to being Commerce Bank’s Chief Economist, Dr. Naroff is the President of Naroff Economic Advisors. NABE is a business economics professional association and uses the latest economic data and trends to advise sound business decisions.

Dr. Naroff is a contributing author to this newspaper’s Regional Economic Review.

Ridgewood Savings Bank Acquires Yonkers-based Financial Corp.
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Member Ridgewood Savings Bank announced recently the completion of its acquisition of City & Suburban Financial Corporation, and its subsidiary City & Suburban Federal Savings Bank, based in Yonkers, New York.
With the City & Suburban acquisition completed, Ridgewood Savings Bank now has approximately $4.1 billion in assets, $2.5 billion in loans and $3.2 billion in deposits and has expanded its presence to 35 branches in seven counties (Bronx, Kings, Manhattan, Nassau, Queens, Suffolk, and Westchester). The transaction has added 12 branches and approximately $678 million in assets, $480 million in loans, and $580 million in deposits based on June 30, 2007 financial data.   

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and The Kafafian Group served as Ridgewood Savings Bank’s financial advisors and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Members Cullen and Dykman LLP and Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP served as Ridgewood Savings Bank’s counsel.

Chamber Members Named to Inaugural Inc. 5,000 List
Eriksen Translations, a leading language services provider of multilingual services in over 100 languages, including translation, interpreting, typesetting, project management, Web localization, and cultural consulting, has been rated one of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the U.S. by Inc. magazine.

The Inc. 5,000 list features the top privately-owned businesses helping to shape America's future business environment.

"We are proud to be recognized by Inc. for our company's continuing growth," said Vigdis Eriksen, president and CEO of Eriksen Translations, which has been a Member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce since 1994.

"Our goal has always been to build our business by focusing on offering a broad range of professional, high-quality language solutions while tailoring our services to the individual needs of our clients. It is a testament to our entire team's efforts that we are able to expand while maintaining the same rigorous standards."

Nominations to the list are based on the rate of revenue growth over the last three years. Having grown 136% in that time, Eriksen has increased both its capacity and the breadth of its language service offerings to stay on pace with the quickly expanding localization industry.

National Grid Completes the Acquisition of Brooklyn’s KeySpan
Late last month, the New York State Public Service Commission unanimously voted to approve the acquisition of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Member KeySpan by the UK’s National Grid, allowing the merger proceedings between the two energy giants to conclude.

KeySpan CEO and Chairman Bob Catell, who now becomes chairman of National Grid USA, commented, “We will soon become a larger company, but I’m determined to make sure that we use our size and scale to continue to enhance customer service and continue to play an active role in the local areas that we serve. These are exciting times for our company and our customers.”

Once the acquisition is complete, National Grid will become the second largest utility in the Unites States, delivering electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers and natural gas to approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. The company will also provide power to more than one million customers on Long Island and supply around a quarter of New York City’s electricity needs.

SBA and U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Enhance Disaster Response and Recovery
The U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will pool their resources to more effectively respond to major disasters, paving the way for faster recovery in affected communities.

The SBA’s alliance with the Chamber’s Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) is part of a continuing effort to broaden the agency’s response capacity in catastrophic disasters.

Per the agreement, SBA will provide information about its disaster recovery program and the agency’s resource partners (including Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, and Small Business Development Centers) to BCLC and local chambers of commerce.  In addition, SBA will share situation analyses with BCLC and local chambers’ during pre-disaster and recovery periods, and share needs and capability assessments in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

To bolster SBA’s initial response and post-disaster recovery capacity, the agency will work with BCLC to obtain volunteers who can support the agency’s disaster assistance process.  SBA will also work with BCLC on research studies on post-disaster economic recovery.

BCLC will contribute to the alliance by providing timely information and on-site updates to the SBA, and helping bolster SBA’s disaster assistance capabilities through its members and networks.  In addition, BCLC will also work with SBA’s resource partners, providing recovery assistance information to the local business community and details on how to prepare for disaster before it strikes.           
                                       
For the latest news and information on SBA’s Disaster Assistance program, visit the Web site at http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/index.html. For information on BCLC and its disaster assistance and recovery program, visit www.uschamber.com/bclc.

Chamber Member Real Estate Executives Honored
Timothy D. King and Brian T. Leary, of Massey Knakal Realty Services, and Elan Padeh and David Behin, of The Developers Group, will be honored by Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers’ The Judge Robert J. Wilkin Commitment to Community Award at its 101st Anniversary Casino Night Gala on Thursday, October 4.

Mr. King opened Massey Knakal's Brooklyn office in 2003 on 86th Street in Bay Ridge as its first managing partner and is now a senior partner.

Mr. Leary joined Massey Knakal's Brooklyn office when it opened in 2003. Mr. Leary is currently the managing partner of the firm's Brooklyn office and Staten Island division. In 2004, he was named the 10th partner appointed to the company since it was founded in 1988. In 2003, Mr. Leary received Massey Knakal's Stephen B. Seigel Brooklyn Salesman of the Year Award and its Richard Marcinko Award for Tenacity and Loyalty in Pursuit of Excellence.

Elan Padeh is CEO, president, and founder of The Developers Group. Prior to founding The Developers Group, Mr. Padeh established and operated the development division of The Corcoran Group, Brooklyn.
David Behin, Esq., is executive vice president of business development and general counsel for The Developers Group.

Mr. Behin helped found The Developers Group in April of 2003 and works directly for developers, architects, and designers to determine and implement the highest and best use for each site.  With an in-depth knowledge of the Brooklyn and tri-state region, he helps clients choose the proper location, research the neighborhood and potential customers, develop the proper mix and unit layouts, and formulate a unique marketing plan to ensure the highest number of sales.