In today’s economy, it is more important than ever for employers to draw upon the skills of the 54 million Americans are living with a disability. This innovative and often underutilized talent pool as a potential source of employees. Likewise it’s essential for employers to consider the growing number of consumers with disabilities as a potential market. Implementing inclusive workplace practices and offering disability-friendly service benefits everyone and can help businesses succeed.

At The Business Council we hope that you will find Disability.gov as a valuable resource for finding answers to questions about disability-related programs, services, laws and benefits.

On this site employers are connected to thousands of national, state and local resources on topics such as tax incentives, tips for recruiting and interviewing a person with a disability, workplace accommodations and how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) affects businesses.

Mark Weiner of the Syracuse Post-Standard writes - “Reva Electric Car Co., the Bangalore, India-based electric car maker whose partners want to open an assembly plant in Central New York, agreed Wednesday to sell a controlling stake to a larger firm that could inject new capital into the company.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. will acquire 55.2 percent of Reva, and the company will be renamed Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Co., the companies announced.
Full financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mahindra & Mahindra manufactures compact trucks, and plans to begin the first exports of Indian made vehicles to the United States in December.”

To read more click here.

On May 20, Kolmar Labs Group inked an agreement with Empire State Development Corp., Orange County and the Office of Community Renewal to stay in New York.

The Port Jervis employer has been in western Orange County for nearly seven decades, but was deciding to say farewell to New York until the ESDC stepped in to keep Kolmar on the New York side of the border.

In addition to $4.5 million in working capital for machinery and equipment upgrades from ESD for its Port Jervis facility, the company received $250,000 as a result of Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther’s and others’ political intervention, as well as $250,000 from the Office of Community Renewal.

The company announced will invest an additional $23 million in expanding its manufacturing and research and development operations in Port Jervis. It will also retain its 400 full-time employees.

Gilroy Kernan & Gilroy of New Hartford has been named the top small business to work for in New York State. The award was presented in April by a consortium of organizations that include the New York State Society of Human Resource Management, the Best Companies Group, and The Business Council of New York State.

The groups that made the rankings say they did so through an extensive two part survey, evaluating each company’s practices and philosophy. There are approximately 535,000 businesses in the state of New York. The goal of Best Companies to Work for in New York is to raise the bar among the state’s employers and create excellence and employee satisfaction in the workplace that will attract talented people for years to come.

To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:
- Have at least 15 employees in the state of New York;
- Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business or government entity;
- Be a publicly or privately held business;
- Have a facility in the state of New York; and
- Must be in business for a minimum of one year.

This year in addition to first place winner Gilroy Kernan & Gilroy, five other Business Council members were among the forty companies honored. They are for large companies; Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan Inc. (ranked 13th ) and small companies; Urban Engineers of New York (ranked 9th), Veramark Technologies (ranked 13th), Sports Physical Therapy of New York (ranked 15th), and Silicon Carbide Products, Inc. (ranked 21st).

For a complete list of all forty companies and to find to how your company can compete in Best Companies 2010 click here.

David Shepardson and Robert Snell of the Detroit News report - “GM will announce Tuesday that it is investing about $890 million to upgrade five North American factories as part of its small-block engine program, a person familiar with the matter said today.

The investment includes $32 million in its Bay City plant; $400 million for its Tonawanda, N.Y. plant; $235 million for GM’s facility in St. Catharines, Ontario; $115 million for Defiance, Ohio; and $111 million for its Bedford, Ind. plant.

The investments are to build GM’s next-generation engine for its full-size pickups. The upgrades will create 1,600 jobs in North America.”

To read more from the Detroit News click here.

Mark Weiner reports for the Post-Standard - “A Long Island company seeking to open the Northeast’s first all-electric car plant in Central New York has passed a key milestone in its effort to gain federal financial aid.

Bannon Automotive, of Freeport, says the U.S. Department of Energy has accepted as “substantially complete” its application for a loan to help it open a plant with exclusive rights to assemble and market Reva electric cars in North America.

Reva Electric Car Co., of Bangalore, India, the world’s largest manufacturer of all-electric plug-in vehicles, agreed to the deal in October. Bannon has since selected a plant site at the former Ball Corp. plastic bottle factory in Radisson Corporate Park in Lysander. Bannon wants to begin production by the last quarter of the year. But its project has been delayed as the company seeks a combination of local, state and federal financial incentives.

New York state has already agreed to provide $6.76 million in incentives that include a grant, and wage and tax credits. Now the deal hinges on $52 million in loans and loan guarantees the company seeks from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency, according to sources familiar with the application.”

To read more click here.

Neil Irwin and Dina ElBoghdady of the Washington Post write -”Americans’ incomes and spending levels rose in November, while new-home sales dropped, according to data released Wednesday that suggest the economy has continued a steady but unspectacular expansion as the end of the year approaches.

Personal income rose 0.4 percent, the fifth straight month of increase, and consumer spending rose 0.5 percent, the Commerce Department said. Those numbers were lower than expected, but nonetheless suggest that Americans were becoming more confident about spending money as the holiday season began.”

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Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post writes -”The weak dollar has made it easier for U.S. manufacturers of parts for appliances, automobiles and other equipment to compete globally on price and is helping them win back business lost to overseas competitors, a shift that economists say should help the country’s economic recovery.

Last year, as the financial crisis hit a crescendo, investors poured money into U.S. Treasury securities, long considered one of the safest places to invest. That caused the dollar’s value to skyrocket, putting U.S. companies with heavy export businesses at a pricing disadvantage compared with competitors abroad.

More recently, as the global economy has shown signs of a turnaround, investors have been spreading their risks and putting money into stocks and bonds around the world. That strategy has pushed the value of the dollar back down and has helped U.S. manufacturers compete with producers in Asia and Europe.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Jeff Aaron writes on today’s Stargazette.com -”Corning Inc.’s strong balance sheet and the ongoing recovery of the LCD supply chain are allowing the company to withstand the nagging effects of the national recession, the company’s top executive said Thursday.

Corning CEO and Chairman Wendell Weeks, while addressing the Corning Rotary, also said that while the Twin Tiers’ largest employer is on pace to surpass its revenue goals for 2009, overall results remain down year-over-year and the company still faces economic uncertainty.”

Read the rest of the story click here.

Business Council member Travelers has been named a top Military Friendly Employer by G.I. Jobs magazine.

Ranked 28 out of 100 companies, Travelers was selected for the list out of a pool of 5,000 eligible companies (minimum of $500 million annual revenues). Criteria for the rankings include assets dedicated to military hiring, Reserve/Guard policies, percentage of veteran new hires, veteran training programs and the company’s previous three years’ rankings. The Top Military Friendly Employers List will appear in the December issue of G.I. Jobs.

“We find the skills, technical knowledge, and values that individuals possess in the armed services are very applicable to the Travelers environment,” said Doreen Spadorcia, Travelers Executive Vice President & CEO of Personal Insurance and Claim Services. “Transitioning military personnel bring qualities of dedication and discipline to their roles, and we value that they readily seek and accept responsibility and challenging work.”

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