PR for People

Coming to America | Grandpa Joe Vaccarino from Sicily

Patricia Vaccarino

March 05, 2014

Fleeing fascism and corruption in Sicily, Grandpa Joe Vaccarino entered the US through Ellis Island. He lived on Mott Street in New York's Little Italy. Back in the day, Grandpa Joe hung out on the street. He played kick-the-can and bocce ball. Eventually, he moved to the Bronx and later to Yonkers. He was a money lender, a spalloni, one of those who moves money. A man of honor. La Stessa Cosa. Today, he would simply be called a hedge...

Startups

Jesper Vork | Business Intelligence from Denmark to America

PR for People Team

March 05, 2014

Danish born Jesper Vork was with Microsoft before founding Performance Partners Business Intelligence. PPBI is a reseller of Business Intelligence Software from the Australian-based Calumo and TimeXtender, from his native Demark to current users of mainframe computers, such as Fortune 500 companies. “Business Intelligence,” Vork explains, “in my definition, is to help businesses get the information they need and to make the right decisions...

Men

Romania Patent Lawyer Ted Weisz

PR for People Team

March 05, 2014

I was sixteen when I arrived with my parents to New York from Eastern Europe, via Italy. All our possessions filled two suitcases—we were not allowed to bring any money or jewelry with us. (Years later, I went for a vacation with my wife to Italy and the airline lost our luggage. I called up my mother and said to her jokingly, “Here I am again, back to having nothing just like when I was 16.”)

One of my first memories in the USA...

Small Business

American Economy Lures Blanca Mata to Life of Café Owner in Orlando Florida

Kindra Foster

March 05, 2014

Owning a successful business is the dream that brings more than one million people to the United States every year.* Blanca Mata, a Columbian-born American, is one such entrepreneur. She owns the bustling Arepas and More Café in Orlando, Florida. Her restaurant specializes in arepas, filled flatbread sandwiches prominent in Venezuelan cuisine.

With the sound of clinking dishes and cheerful conversation in the background and her...

Small Business

From Massachusetts | Swiss Immigrants Bake their Way to the American Dream

Kindra Foster

March 05, 2014

Thomas and Helene Stohr came to North America from Switzerland a decade and a half ago. They first lived in Canada with their two sons, then moved to New England. Their Swiss bakery in Massachusetts serves authentic, all-natural Swiss foods, just like those families in Switzerland enjoy.

The Stohrs began their bakery as a home-based business in 2006. They baked all day and Thomas delivered the ultra-fresh foods in the evenings....

Arts & Culture

From Russia with Love | IlyaMoshenskiy

PR for People Team

March 02, 2014

We call photographer Ilya Moshenskiy, “Ilya Luxury” because he has a special penchant for creating the most exquisite, stylized photos of people, places and things, at a price affordable to most individuals and businesses. Ilya is originally from Russia and brings over 30 years of experience to his work. He focuses on the luxury category (yachts, food and real estate) and exemplifies the highest standards in the industry. Ilya Moshenskiy...

Men

Toronto | Jim Janakievski DDS MSD

PR for People Team

March 01, 2014

Jim Janakievski’s grandfather came to North America from the former Yugoslavia. Born in Toronto, Canada, Jim recalls summers he spent vacationing at a cottage in the Georgian Bay area of Ontario, and going pike fishing with his father on Muskoka Bay. After he finished dental school at the University of Toronto, he did a hospital residency at Saint Clare’s Hospital, just outside of Albany, New York.

He practiced as a general...

Beauty

France by way of Morocco | Paule Attar

PR for People Team

March 01, 2014

“When I was a child growing up in Morocco, we had so many orange trees,” Paule Attar recounts in her gorgeous, husky French accent. “As a kid, I would eat oranges fresh from the tree.. . .Any time you rub the peel over your hand, smell it and it is pure heaven!”

Since 1988, she has been the president and the technical and creative director of the European-style Paule Attar Salon and Spa in Bellevue, Washington. Ms. Attar has also...