Lee Brice: Garth Brooks is my hero | Kurt's Country
Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
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Rangers Bounce Back with Game 2 Win at MSG
Executive Produced by Carousso Enterprises, LLC.
New York, NY — After a devastating triple overtime loss, the New York Rangers dominated the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on their home ice to even the series.
Derek Futterman takes you inside Madison Square Garden for NY2C’s On The Call. Watch the feature above.
NY2C’s On The Call is executive produced by Carousso Enterprises, LLC.
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Child Care Centers Struggle to Find Staff as Kids Return
By Neil A. Carousso and Joe Connolly
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — Child care centers are playing a critical role in the economic recovery for working parents, but many are facing staff shortages.
Enrollment at all six locations of Eladia’s Kids in Brooklyn is almost at pre-pandemic levels, but finding board-certified teachers has been difficult.
“I had challenges hiring because for our school, the teacher had to have a B.A. in early childhood or a master(‘s) in early childhood, and also, they had to be certified by the State of New York,” explained Eladia Causil-Rodriguez of Eladia’s Kids on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
Causil-Rodriguez employs teachers for math and science lessons and other staff to facilitate the social outlet children desperately need after two years in the COVID-19 pandemic. She told WCBS 880 she has had to raise wages to fill open positions, which will force them to raise tuition.
“(Parents) need the child care because they cannot be with the child at home at work,” said Causil-Rodriguez of how child care has changed with the adoption of remote work.
She said more parents have been sending their kids back to day care in recent months, despite COVID concerns, recognizing they cannot give their children full attention during the work day. Eladia’s Kids requires proof of vaccination among staff and eligible kids and deploys a rigorous cleaning regimen on all surfaces.
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce board member noted some key pivots she made to survive the pandemic, including “video classes” when parents were only allowed to drop-off their kids while remaining socially distanced.
“(The parents) could see how they were jumping in the bed, going to get the toy, all that kind of thing. It was really cute.”
Causil-Rodriguez was born and raised in Colombia. She is the youngest of 12 children and a mother of four. While teaching, she saw the need for child care services in other families and she offered to babysit and teach their kids. What started out as a small group became Eladia’s Kids.
“People might think that it’s not a glamorous job; it is for me,” she beamed. “Being a teacher, I think that if I can make a difference in the world of a child, I can make a difference forever.”
Eladia said she’s a child at heart and her day care center keeps her feeling young, but she is also a smart businesswoman. When she went to open her first location in Park Slope, she told the Small Business Spotlight, she presented her business plan for Eladia’s Kids to the building manager. Causil-Rodriguez said he told her, “I want to help you, but one day you want to be the one telling everybody what to do.”
“That was it. That was the start,” she said.
Watch the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
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Small Business Comeback Tour: Manny Stone Decorators
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
MANALAPAN, N.J. (WCBS 880) — This hard-hit business is making a comeback thanks to multiple pivots.
Manny Stone Decorators creates trade show booths for conventions at the Jacob Javits Center and other local sites. Running the business the last two years has been an “acrobatic act” for second-generation president Lloyd Stone.
“I decided I need to either prepare to go out of business or prepare for the new normal. And it was a parallel route,” said Stone on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G.
He downsized his production studio, and from there, Stone transformed his operations from custom-made booths to prefabricated ones.
“I call them ‘booth in a box,'” he said.
The “booth in a box” includes instructions, prefabricated materials and a floor plan. Stone also makes himself available to FaceTime his clients from the convention center.
“I would give them virtual direction by seeing how they’re doing it and instructing them on what the priority should be on how to fabricate things.”
Manny Stone Decorators, founded by Stone’s father Manny, has created booths for S’well, Mac Duggal, Micro Wheels and other popular brands.
“My whole concept is, ‘We will get you going. We’ll get you noticed,'” said Stone.
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Amid worsening supply chain issues, NJ uniform maker moves manufacturing in-house
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
ELMWOOD PARK, NJ (WCBS 880) — The supply chain woes appear to be getting worse.
Bergen County-based Turn 2 Sports, LLC makes sports equipment and uniforms for schools. Their production times have dramatically increased during the pandemic, and now, major brands such as Adidas and Nike are already placing orders for next year.
“In the old days, you could be able to order for next week and be readily available. Now, it’s order four to six months in advance and hope that you get it,” said Turn 2 Sports founder James T. Gregory on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
“We had orders that we placed in November that are due to ship in June and we’re being told that they’re going to be delayed until September/October,” he said. “So, the supply chain issues are 100 percent getting worse.”
Gregory said he has had to tell school officials to track down foul balls at baseball games because they do not have enough inventory to replace sports equipment.
“We’re trying to change our approach to if we see something available, you got to go out and get it. You can’t just hope that it’s going to be there in six months or even a month from now because somebody already went and picked it up,” he said.
The Turn 2 Sports owner told WCBS 880 he blames the supply crunch on steep competition against larger companies, labor shortages, and COVID-19 lockdowns in China that have crippled global supply chains.
“You have a lot of manufacturers who are trying to keep up with the demand just like every other manufacturer out there, but it’s just this domino effect. If you don’t have truck drivers to get product into warehouses, if you don’t have warehouse labor to unload those trucks, you can’t keep up with everything that’s going on,” said Gregory.
In an effort to cut out the middle man, Turn 2 Sports brought its manufacturing home.
“We brought in our own manufacturing to cut out the contracting that we were giving out,” he said.
Doing all embroidery and shirt printing in their Elmwood Park, NJ headquarters has streamlined their production process.
“It’s an investment into the business but I think for us to be able to continue to sustain our business and our growth, we had to bring in our own manufacturing and our own supply chain management.”
Gregory believes the short-term costs to produce clothing in-house will pay off long-term.
See the full story on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
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Small Business Comeback Tour: Sterile Space Infection Defense
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
West Orange, NJ (WCBS 880) — Sterile Space Infection Defense was ahead of its time, but it’s now in high demand at workplaces, childcare centers and schools.
“We go around and provide infection prevention, control, and eradication services,” said owner Irwin Stromeyer on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G.
Unlike a cleaning service, West Orange-based Sterile Space Infection Defense sprays an EPA-registered antimicrobial coating on all surfaces where germs can spread.
“If you could see the coating on a microscopic level, it would look like zillions of little swords sticking up and as that cell comes down, it gets impaled on the coating and the coating has an opposing electrical charge, which in essence electrocutes those cells so they are in essence rendered neutralized,” he said.
Stromeyer founded the business in 2013 at the time that his father, who was a physician, was struggling with numerous infections that ultimately took his life.
“Unfortunately when somebody said the word ‘pandemic’ in March of 2020, that really catapulted the business, but we were in business long before the pandemic.”
Before running Sterile Space, Stromeyer sourced and supplied surgical instruments and other medical equipment to hospitals and doctors’ offices.
“Forever, we have felt that if it looks clean and smells clean, it’s got to be clean and safe, which is so far from the truth, it’s not funny,” he said. “People get sick most often by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.”
With a focus on health during the pandemic, finding customers has become easier.
“It’s been mostly word of mouth,” said Stromeyer.
See more on Sterile Space Infection Defense on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour video above.
