The BNI Founders are proud to announce that Dianne Minogue of Houlihan Lawrence has earned her SRES Designation and is now certified as proficient in serving clients ages 50 and over.

Dianne Minogue of Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate

When looking for a real estate professional that will respond to your specific, 50+ real estate needs, look for a Seniors Real Estate Specialist Designee. Dianne Minogue will provide a customized approach to your real estate needs.  Dianne has the knowledge and expertise to counsel you through major financial and lifestyle transitions involved in relocating, refinancing, or selling your family’s home.  As an SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist, Dianne has received extensive education on topics such as tax laws, probate, real estate planning, and equity conversion strategies.

The success of any chapter of BNI is dependent upon the quality and commitment of the members in the chapter.  Dianne has consistently been an asset to the BNI Founders and is a vital part of the BNI Founders success as a chapter.  Dianne is a leading Dutchess County Realtor and a lifelong resident of the Hudson Valley.  The members of our chapter trust Dianne not only with their homes but also with the homes of their families.  Dianne sets the standard for professionalism in her field and continually delivers on her commitment to excellence.

Another Beautiful Listing From Dianne Minogue

Another Beautiful Listing From Dianne Minogue

Philip Yalanis of A-Pro Pest Control

The BNI Founders are proud to welcome their newest member Phillip Yalanis.  Phillip is a commercial and residential sales associate for A-Pro Pest Control, “The Pro’s That Care.”  Phillip works out of the office is located in Saugerties NY, but he works throughout the Hudson Valley.  He also holds pest control licenses in New York and Connecticut.

Phillip has been happily married to his wife Christine for 5 years and they have a wonderful 2 year-old daughter named Kara.  Phillip also happens to be numismatist, which means he enjoys collecting coins.

If you need to protect your home or business you can trust Phillip & A-Pro Pest Control to provide professional pest control service.  You can reach Phillip at his office at (845) 246 6446 or you can find A-Pro Pest Control on the web at  http://www.apropestcontrol.com/

Annie Kaftan - Cutco

Annie Kaftan, member of the BNI Founders and sales professional with Cutco Cutlery, spoke on the necessity of thinking strategically about gift giving regardless of what business you’re in.  At some point we’ve all given a gift to a client or to an employee.  We often put a great deal of thought and effort into the gift only to have it quickly be consumed, which is the case with a gift basket or a bottle of wine.

What if we all thought more strategically about the gifts we give in business?  What if we were to give a gift that not only greatly benefited the recipient offering a lifetime of value and use, but also gave a gift that would continually call to mind the part we shared in the recipient’s life?  Annie spoke to all the members of the Founder’s Chapter on giving gifts that have lasting value as a marketing tool.

This is especially the case for realtors that Annie deals with.  Normally a closing gift would be that aforementioned bottle of wine or gift basket, which is quickly out of sight and out of mind.  Realtor’s that work with Annie give beautiful gift sets of Cutco Cutlery with their name and their agency’s name engraved upon the blade.  Every time that knife is used in the kitchen the name of the realtor is fixed again in their minds.  Every time a guest uses the knife they’ll see the name and doubtless ask a question or two about the gift.  As an added benefit Annie stated “As long as it is engraved with [the agents name and company] logo and personal info [or] website, it is a legal form of advertising and is 100% tax deductible when given as a gift.”  For questions or general information contact Annie Kaftan.  If you’re a Cutco user or if you’ve worked with Annie please post a testimonial here or on the BNI Founders Facebook page (if you’re not a fan now is the time to become one).

Cutco: The World's Finest Cutlery

Imagine as a building owner being able to invest $100,000.00 in your building to upgrade the heating plant, install photo-voltaic panels, replace outdated expensive CFL lighting with ultra efficient LED lighting, and upgrade the insulation; yet, only having to spend $25,000.00 out of pocket.  You the building owner would only pay $00.25 for every $1.0o spent!  Would that be a worthwhile investment?  Trevor Hults, Outreach Coordinator for the Housing Conservancy, spoke at the BNI Founders chapter about how he and the The Housing Conservancy make this a reality to building owners looking to reduce their spend on utilities and maintenance while increasing their property value and the comfort of their clients.

As per Trevor, “people often misconstrue green technology such as photo-voltaic panels and LED lighting as an expensive solution reserved for those with environmental concerns; however, thats a profound misunderstanding of the cost savings that can be realized over the life of the investment.  If you could drastically cut or reduce your electric bill by installing photo-voltaic panels and LED lighting, which uses about 80% electricity than standard lighting solutions and is rated to last about 20 years why not make the investment?  It all comes down to dollar and sense.  We need to think strategically about our energy consumption knowing that every dollar we save on utility bills and maintenance is a dollar back into our pocket.”

"Putting Green Technology In You Grasp"

The Housing Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, based in New Paltz, NY, providing  energy services to not-for-profit and for-profit affordable housing providers to assist them in using energy more efficiently while providing savings and increased comfort to  residents. Whenever possible, these choices are designed and financed to help create socially just and environmentally responsible communities.

The Housing Conservancy prides itself in bringing a level of empathy and a commitment to service that can increase the range and effectiveness of energy programs, especially to financially challenged residennts.

The Housing Conservancy is working with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, under its Weatherization Assistance  Program (WAP), to increase the energy efficiency of multifamily affordable housing serving low income families.  It is doing so with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (often referred to as “stimulus” monies).  Typical energy reduction measures include ceiling insulation, heating plant  improvements or replacement, improvements in lighting and air sealing.

For more information contact Trevor Hults at The Housing Conservancy at 845.256.6469 or trevor@housingconservancy.org

The Housing Conservancy in Gardiner NY

On Thursday February 4th the BNI Founders Chapter held their Visitors’ Day.  Dr.

Dr. Richard Gennaro

Richard Gennaro, of Gennaro Family & Sports Chiropractic spoke with passion about his 14 year tenure with the Founder’s Chapter and how critical BNI has been to his success.

Dr. Gennaro also spoke on having a farmer’s mentality, which means constantly tending the soil, planting seeds, and nurturing one’s crop.   To be a success in BNI you need to be a success in your relationships and that takes time, patience, and passion.  Finally, Dr. Gennaro spoke on the necessity of Power Teams within each chapter of BNI.  Typically 70% of the referrals a member receives come from within their power team, i.e. the more complete a power Team the more referrals generated for each member of the Power Team.  The BNI Founder’s would like to the thank all those who made Visitors’ Day a success, especially the visitors.  Many thanks to John Rizzo of John Rizzo Photography, Helena Williams of Locks That Rock, Phillip Yalanis of Pro Pest Control, Fred Zimmer of Zimmer Masonry, David Norton of David Norton Auto Repair, Michael Schultz of Millbrook Electric, Eric Rotger of NEC General Contracting, Ralph Byond of Byond Enterprises, Dee Richter of Ralph V. Ellis Insurance, Bill Hull of Arbor Ridge of Brookmeade, Jorge Castellanos of Aztlan Lawnscape, and Jennifer Covey of Frilly Covey Creations.

Visitors' Day

Annie Kaftan: "Other Knives Just Don't Cut It!"

The BNI Founder want to help Annie hit her goal!  Annie Kaftan is an invaluable member of the Founders: that rare combination of a highly motivated yet personable sales person.  Annie’s goal is to finish the year at $150,000 in sales having her best year ever and she’s only $1800 away!

The fact is everyone needs to eat and most everyone cooks, which makes Cutco the perfect gift!  Whether you’re looking for yourself or someone else Cutco is practical, used everyday and guaranteed forever so you know it’ll be worth the money!

“Don’t miss out on my great deals where you can save anywhere from 10%-30% off your order!  Everything is on sale, individually or as a set!  Check out my website www.mycutcorep.com/anniekaftanfor all products and prices. Contact me before Monday 12/28 and I’ll be sure to give you the best deal and beat the other prices out there.  Thanks and Happy holidays!”

If you love to cook or know someone who does, but are a little perplexed about which knives to buy check with Annie or  check out what Chef Tyler Florence has to say…Chef Tyler Florence Talks About How To Buy Knives

"Is That You Santa?"

The Children’s Home is the grateful recipient of not only support, but also a gift from the The BNI Founders of Poughkeepsie.  The BNI Founders have been privileged to partner with the Children’s Home for many years.  This year the BNI Founders donated $2,100 to purchase 70 gift cards in the amount of $30 so that each child would be able to purchase the gift of his or her choice.  The cards were presented by Larry Johnson, a long-time member of the BNI Founders, at the annual Children’s Home Christmas Banquet.  After an evening filled with dinner and dancing the youth had their pictures taken with Santa Claus, which Larry Johnson was gracious enough to dress as.

Many thanks to the staff of the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie for the dedication and devotion to the youth of the Hudson Valley.  Many thanks to the members of the BNI Founders that played an integral role in making this holiday season special for so many youth.  Happy Holidays.

“Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of the prophet, what you need is not a scepter but a hoe.”  – Bernard of Clairvaux

The Agony of Data Loss

Whether you realize it or not you are dependent on your data – all that information stored on a hard drive somewhere with everything from invoices and contacts, to designs and proposals.

Yet, all too often I’m confronted with tale after tale of disaster.  I hear things like “I accidentally over-wrote my most recent backup with an old backup” or “I arrived at the office this morning only to find that the server crashed last night and nothing was backed up,” or even “we didn’t know we needed to backup our data and now everything is gone.”

I could fill blog after blog with stories of data loss that resulted at best in inconvenience and long hours trying to recreate what was lost and at worst the implosion of a successful business that simply never recovered from losing their data.

So, you’re left with the question “How important is my data?”  Imagine you’re the business owner walking in one morning to find all your data is gone, e.g. your payroll, your accounts receivable, your prospects lists, invoices, everything.

Where do you turn?  How do you recover?  Can you afford to lose a month, a week, or even a day?  Protecting your data is vital and everyone needs a backup strategy.  Traditional onsite backups are time consuming and in some cases complicated.  If multiple external hard drives are involved someone has to keep track of which hard drive is in use.  Someone also has to make sure to switch the hard drives.  If the strategy involves sending the data home with a staff member for off-site protection that person must remember to handle the storage unit with care.  More importantly, they must remember to bring the unit back at the correct time in the rotation.  These solutions waste valuable time; time that could be spent on revenue generating activity.

There are many great solutions out there for data protection.  Let’s look at one of best: the Versa R2000 Backup and Recovery System – a data backup and recovery system designed to be a stand alone system that includes 5 integral parts in managing data backup, protection, and imaging.  With the R2000 you’ll get complete nightly backup of your data at blazing gigabit speeds.

This enterprise level solution also provides for continuous real time data protection and easy file restoration.  When ever data changes on the network it is replicated to the R2000.  Point in time images of your network servers and workstations for immediate disaster recovery with bare metal restore.  Recovery of an entire system is easy and fast.  The R2000 Vault will backup critical data to secure off-site location, i.e. your data can be secured on the Cloud.  The R2000 replicator allows a primary R2000 to replicate secondary unit off-site at a Data-Center or remote office.

Your data is critical to every aspect of your business.  Gain piece of mind and access to an enterprise level data protection solution.  So, ask yourself, “what’s my data worth?”

-Trevor Hults is a technologist and Sales & Marketing Associate with Applied Systems Technology.  Have a tech question?  Ask Trevor at trevor@astusa.com -

Brad Weaver Presenting

As leaders, innovators, and business owners it’s crucial that we make the most of our time and focus on revenue generating activities and areas of strategic importance.  Still, we often find ourselves bogged down with tasks that, while necessary, have little to do with revenue generation.  Brad Weaver understands this and has 10 strategic reasons why everyone should outsource payroll and focus on what they do best.

Brad’s Top 10 Reasons to Outsource Payroll

10) Payroll is NOT fun. The odds are good (studies show, 100%) that you don’t like doing payroll. If you don’t like it…don’t do it! Let us.

9) Payroll isn’t your thing, it’s mine. Do YOUR thing! If you went into business to make pizza, make pizza! There is a reason you do what you do.

8) Doing payroll doesn’t generate $ for you or your business. You and your employees should be focusing on revenue generating activities. Do what pays the bills!

7) Outsourcing payroll makes you look good. You can offer your employees professional looking checks and even direct deposit. Trust me, they’ll like it.

6) No more software updates! You don’t have to keep up with the latest changes to payroll and tax laws. We’ll do that for you…

5) You aren’t tied to your “payroll person”. What if that person leaves? Do you know how to do it? The IRS will NOT give you time to learn or find a replacement.

4) Your accountant and plan administrator will appreciate it. We’ll include useful and easy to read reports. They will make everyone’s life easier. Worker’s comp audits are easier t00!

3) We’ll deal with the IRS. Many times, tax notices aren’t your mistake…if you get a tax notice, send it to us and WE handle it.

2) No Penalties and Interest. 40% of small businesses pay an average of $845 a year for late or incorrect filings (not if you’re with PrimePay).

1) We’re cheaper than doing it yourself! Whether you pay someone a salary to handle your company’s payroll or they spend a 5-10 hours a month on it, PrimePay costs less! Remember, if you have 5 employees or less, we will do your payroll, create your reports, and pay your payroll taxes for…

$58 a month!!!

Moving On Up Two Moving On Up Three by Steve Harney on December 10, 2009

Over the last couple of days, we have talked about real estate as an investment, financing costs (interest rates) and gave you reasons to buy now instead of waiting. It is important that we realize that this does not apply solely to the first time home buyer.

The opportunity that exists in real estate today is there for everyone.

However, the family that already owns a home might be looking at the fact that they can not get the same price for their house today that they could a few years ago. And that may cause them to believe that they can’t move-up to the home of their dreams. Actually, the opposite is true. This is the best chance a family has to buy up into the home that makes sense for them right now.

We must realize that whatever percentage of value we lost on our house was probably lost on our dream home. Let’s use the table below to clarify this point. (I understand that the prices you are dealing with will probably be different.  Let’s think about the concept.)

The family actually saves $20,000 making the move today. Plus, if you go into contract and close within the guidelines of the Home Buyer’s Tax Credit, you receive an additional $6,500!!

And, you pay a lower interest rate on the mortgage.

But, that’s not all!! If we project into the future when prices will again begin to appreciate, we can see an additional impact on a family’s net worth. Let’s look at the table below:

With the additional equity increase the larger home provides, the family net worth in total increases by over $42,000. Plug in the numbers that apply to your house and the home you are longing to buy and see what the bottom line turns out to be for you.

That is how wealth is built in this country. By purchasing real estate at the right time, at the right price and at the right terms.

Go out and find your family’s dream house and buy it! Ten years from now, you will be glad you did!

If you’re looking to create lasting wealth through real estate then speak with Dianne Minogue of Houlihan Lawrence www.dianneminogue.com