Touché! Fencers, PR Pros, and Landscapers, Oh My.
The following is a sample of our award-winning, bonus content Examiner+ Newsletter.
In the very early Examiner days, maybe in the fall of 2007 or the spring of 2008, I remember pounding the pavement in Mount Kisco, and coming across the offices of Co-Communications, a local public relations firm. I popped in to introduce myself, just to say hey and tell the company about the new newspaper in town.
I’ve never had an experience precisely like it. The moment I opened the door, there was this rush of unmistakable positive energy reverberating throughout the room. Seriously.
I wondered who owned the joint, fostering this culture of sunshine vibes.
Turns out it was the great Stacey Cohen, who I’ve gotten to know over the years as one of the savviest entrepreneurs in the region, with an incredible knack for introducing her vast network of friends and acquaintances to other people who can help them with this, that, or the other thing.
Over the years, Stacey has built her enterprise into an award-winning PR, marketing and design agency, now headquartered in White Plains with offices in Manhattan and Hartford.
Examiner digital editor Robert Schork caught up with Stacey recently to discuss her first book, “Brand Up: The Ultimate Playbook for College & Career Success in the Digital World.”
Stacey wrote the book to help teens develop strategies and tools to succeed in high school, college and their first job.
“With our lives playing out online and competition growing more global, personal branding can make all the difference,” Stacey told Robert. “Personal branding matters in college admissions, in nabbing a scholarship or job, internship. While college admissions may be the first major personal branding milestone, it’s hardly the last and holds true throughout your career.”
Here’s Robert’s Q&A with Stacey.
Robert also prepared a more offbeat quick hit feature item this week about Mikail Sankofa, a three time Olympian who has brought fencing to the Saw Mill Club in Mount Kisco.
“It improves focus, decision-making, awareness, mobility, timing and coordination,” Sankofa explained to Robert. “It’s great for both athletic and non-athletic types.”
Examiner Editor-in-Chief Martin Wilbur, for his part, reports this week in more detail about a story we’ve previously covered.
A bill to equip school buses throughout Westchester County with stop arm cameras has been introduced to the Board of Legislators, which would enable fines to be levied against motorists caught on video passing stopped buses.
BusPatrol is one of the companies in New York State that installs stop arm cameras on buses.
One appealing aspect is how no taxpayer money is laid out.
Once the cameras are operational, the company takes a portion of the fines that are ultimately collected.
Keep in mind the cameras are addressing a bigger problem than one might initially imagine.
For example, from the start of the current school year through the end of October, cameras caught an alarming 367 violations of drivers passing stopped school buses when discharging or picking up students in the Hendrick Hudson School District alone.
Here’s the latest from Martin.
Last up today, there’s an issue cropping up in White Plains that has popped up in many of our local communities.
As news editor Rick Pezzullo reports, landscapers came out last week to implore the White Plains Common Council to reconsider an ordinance that eliminates the use of gas-powered leaf blower equipment as of May 14.
“Gas powered equipment is critical to allow us to work efficiently and cost effectively,” said a landscaper who has been in business for 36 years. “The law is a hardship to lawn and landscapers professionally.”
City officials counter that phasing out of gas-powered leaf blowers is necessary to not only reduce noise but also to limit pollution and protect the environment.
Here’s that quick hit.
Have a great weekend!
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.