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.
-
Ex-NYPD Commissioner Bratton on what businesses can do about NYC crime surge
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City’s crime wave is slowing the economic recovery and hurting local businesses.
Shoplifting is one of many so-called quality-of-life crimes that have been rising during the pandemic. There has been an increase in retail theft complaints since the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the NYPD, with 24,198 petit larceny crimes already this year compared to 17,599 arrests in all of 2021. (Petit larceny is generally theft of property worth under $1,000.)
“This is one of the crimes in which the (state) legislature is going to have to get its act together and understand this is not a minor crime, a quality-of-life type of crime,” said former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton in a WCBS Small Business Spotlight interview, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
“In many instances, it leads to stores closing because they can’t afford to stay open. They can’t afford security officers,” he said.
Bratton, who served two stints as the city’s top cop under former mayors Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, from 1994-1996, and Democrat Bill de Blasio from 2014-2016, said many large corporations and retail chains like Duane Reade and CVS are hiring off-duty police officers for security. For small and mid-size businesses that cannot afford the protection, he noted visible cameras have been a good deterrent and helps police track down brazen suspects.
“We’re seeing countless videos of even police officers being assaulted by so-called shoplifters,” he said.
FILE — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio attends his first news conference with police commissioner William Bratton at One Police Plaza on January 2, 2014 in New York City. New York City, and much of New England is preparing for a major winter snowstorm. Photo credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images In his most recent term as NYPD commissioner, Bratton implemented the team known as neighborhood coordination officers or NCOs who work as liaisons between the police and the community. He said business owners should contact their local precincts to work hand-in-hand with NCOs to prevent crimes at their doorstep.
“Every precinct now has four or five sectors and each of those sectors are several neighborhood coordinating officers whose role is effectively to be full-time in that sector, in that precinct, networking (with) the business community,” he said. “It is incumbent on business owners to effectively, through their precinct, find out who those officers are.”
Bratton also suggests business owners follow their NCOs on social media for important community alerts, be active on the Citizen app and post videos to bring awareness to crimes in their communities.
“Awareness leads to prevention and prevention leads to increased public safety,” he said.
FILE — NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton attends a press conference after witnessing police being retrained with new guidelines at the Police Academy on December 4, 2014 in the College Point neighborhood of Queens. Photo credit Andrew Burton/Getty Images Bratton is now executive chairman of risk advisory at Teneo, a firm based on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. He blames current bail reform laws for allowing what reform advocates have called “victimless crimes” such as graffiti, aggressive begging, drug dealing and public defecation to go unaddressed and unpunished.
“Well, there is a victim and that’s the neighborhood. And shop owners certainly understand how their neighborhood deteriorates,” said Bratton.
The former NYPD commissioner told WCBS 880 business owners should be politically engaged and reach out to their representatives in city and state government.
“They need to hear what business communities in New York are going through and how they’re suffering. They need to hear that message,” he said.
Watch Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso’s conversation with former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton above.
-
Small Business Comeback Tour: Campmor
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
PARAMUS, NJ (WCBS 880) — People are itching to get out.
Campmor, a one-stop destination for adventurous individuals and families, has benefited by the focus on health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Paramus retailer is now gearing up for its busy spring season.
“Outdoor activities became very popular, camping became very popular, and one of the things that really really became popular was car top carriers,” said Campmor CEO Daniel Jarashow on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G.
“We had people drive from all over to get to us to pick up these products and it became a big success for us and really helped us get going again,” he added.
Jarashow believes the pandemic demand for car top carriers has peaked, but he is seeing long-standing sales trends reemerge this spring. Active footwear, tents and camping equipment are top sellers.
He is also encouraged by the outdoor retailer’s strong digital growth. Revenue is now split 50/50 between Campmor’s store on Route 17 in Paramus and its e-commerce channels.
“We actually compete with most of our vendors,” said Jarashow of its growing online store. “Almost what really helps us stand out now is our unique selection in the store where people can touch and feel the product.”
See Campmor’s comeback story on the video above.
-
VIDEO: Fostering Effective Leadership Begins with Destroying Toxic Workplace Cultures
By Carousso Enterprises, LLC. and Newmanity, Inc.
Leadership begins with character.
It’s at the core of our client Newmanity’s purpose, which works with companies to improve workplace culture. Ridding businesses of toxicity is now paramount given the great resignation.
Newmanity founder and CEO Ana Reed spoke with Dr. George K. Simon, a world-renowned psychologist who is considered a leading expert on manipulators and disturbed characters. Simon is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including “In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People,” “Character Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age,” and “Essentials for the Journey.”
In the video above, Dr. Simon discusses character impairment and what makes a good business and political leader. Reed also references his “Ten Commandments” for developing and maintaining good character, which has been used by clinicians around the world.
Content for Newmanity is produced by Carousso Enterprises. Newmanity is a leadership consultancy firm that coaches and trains leaders to cultivate trust and integrity needed to build ethical, high-performing companies.
-
On The Call: Nets Fan Invades MSG for Knicks/Bulls Contest
Executive Produced by Carousso Enterprises, LLC.
New York, NY — The new kid walked into enemy territory.
NY2C’s Derek Futterman brings Nets fan Tyler Tierno to Madison Square Garden to take in the Knicks and Bulls late March matchup.
NY2C’s On The Call is executive produced by Carousso Enterprises, LLC.
-
Mentality of entrepreneurs during COVID: ‘Spirit of a pirate, execution skills of a Navy SEAL’
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Business owners have been improving manufacturing processes, supply chains and other sectors impacted by COVID-19, but it hasn’t been easy.
“Those people who would optimize their supply chains, who had done just-in time-manufacturing, had financial leverage. When they got hit by COVID, they didn’t know what to do and they basically went out of business. But, it was the entrepreneurs who had the spirit of a pirate and the execution skills of a Navy SEAL who seized the new opportunities,” said Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.
Aulet, who was an executive at IBM for 25 years before starting three technology companies of his own, said on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank, that change is a motivator for entrepreneurs who are always looking for new growth areas.
“Business people were told command, control, defeat whatever it is that you’re going to do, always control the resources you have. Yet, you know, entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunities with resources beyond your control,” he said.
To that end, Aulet is seeing more entrepreneurs today collaborating and sharing resources and areas of expertise within their networks. That community based way of operating has allowed companies to be leaner and focused on their strengths while fielding more referrals.
“Being able to have communities that you can get resources from to help you to realize opportunities is a fundamental third dimension of entrepreneurship,” he said.
Watch the Small Business Spotlight video with MIT Entrepreneurship Professor Bill Aulet above for ideas on streamlining operations and finding new opportunities in the post-pandemic economy.
