With American Homeowners less likely to move than at any time in 64 years, Miami-based Venetian Builders, Inc., South Floridas leading installer of patio enclosures and sunrooms, can help homeowners add new living space to their current homes without spending thousands of dollars in moving costs. The money saved can go directly toward purchasing new space.

Miami, Florida (PRWEB) October 24, 2012

Venetian Builders installs hurricane-proof patio enclosures and sunrooms in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach and surrounding areas.

In 2011, only 11.6 percent of American families moved from one home to another, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Thats the lowest percentage of Americans on the move since 1948. The decline is largely because Americans are less likely to move from one house to another in the same county, the census reported. Moves of less than 40 miles, the Census Bureau said, are usually related to housing issues, including a need for more living space.

Moving is expensive, said Chris Noe, president of Venetian Builders. It generates mortgage fees, closing costs, mover charges and possibly rental and storage expenses during the transition. According to Bankrate.com, the average closing costs on a mortgage of just $200,000 in Florida are $4,395. Worldwide ERC, the Workforce Mobility Association, calculated the average household moving costs of an American family in 2011 at $12,652.

Adding space with a patio enclosure or sunroom avoids all those expenses. That money instead can go directly toward new space. And Noe noted, An insulated patio room or sunroom costs nearly 40 percent less than what traditional construction does.

Roof panels with 3 to 6 inches of insulation keep heat out and, if desired, air conditioning in. Roofing on the addition can be made to match that of the existing home, using shingles, standing-seam metal or tile.

Insulated patio room knee walls also can be up to 3 inches thick. Expansive windows designed to stand up to Floridas hurricanes make the space bright; when opened, they let in refreshing breezes.

Finding new space means more than not having to make new friends or switch schools, Noe said. It also means not having to drive further to work, a savings that puts extra money in the homeowners pocket, especially as gasoline prices approach record levels, Noe said.

Venetian Builders offers free, detailed estimates of patio room and sunroom additions. For more information on expanded living space with an insulated patio enclosure in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Hollywood, Homestead and other South Florida locations, contact Venetian Builders, Inc., 866-596-2427.

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Home Additions Using a Venetian Builders, Inc., Insulated Patio Enclosure or Sunroom Can Save Homeowners Thousands in ...

CLEVELAND, Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Resilience Capital Partners, a Cleveland-based private equity firm focused on buying and improving lower mid-market companies in a broad range of industries, has announced the acquisition of Advanced Communications, Inc. through its newly-formed entity, Aero Communications, Inc. ("ACI"). ACI is a leading provider of telecommunications infrastructure services to businesses, individuals and governments. ACI is Resilience Capital Partners' first acquisition in the infrastructure services industry and its fifth platform investment in The Resilience Fund III, L.P.

"We are excited to partner with ACI, an established business partner to some of the leading telephone and cable television systems in the country," said Steve Rosen, Co-CEO of Resilience Capital Partners. "ACI has a well-established franchise, committed employees and valued expertise, providing a strong foundation from which to grow the business. We look forward to working with the firm's management and employees to help ACI become the very best company it can be."

Michael A. Falsetti, founder of Advanced Communications, commented, "ACI is looking forward to its partnership with Resilience, a firm with an outstanding reputation for reinvesting in, and strengthening, the prospects of its portfolio companies. We look forward to working with Resilience to take our operations to the next level."

Michael Cavanaugh, a Principal at Resilience Capital Partners, added that "ACI's forward-thinking management team, skilled technicians and efficient vehicle fleet provide our customers with unmatched resources to support their efforts to capitalize on the favorable growth trends in the communications industry. We plan to place our customers' needs at the very core of our corporate strategy and foster a strong culture of reliability, professionalism and customer satisfaction."

Doug Campbell, a Senior Vice President of Resilience Capital Partners' Operations Group who will direct the firm's investments in its new infrastructure services platform, stated "ACI is well positioned to take advantage of the vast amount of new infrastructure being built to meet increased consumer demand for greater speed and broader access to communication networks. Further, the trend toward bundling of voice, video and data services in the residential and commercial end markets provides ACI with a unique opportunity to strengthen our service partnerships with U.S.-based cable providers as the industry consolidates with fewer, larger service subcontractors such as ACI."

About Resilience Capital PartnersHeadquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Resilience Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm with a team of in-house operating experts that bring large company resources to the lower middle market. Founded in 2001 by Bassem Mansour and Steve Rosen, Resilience Capital Partners' value-oriented investment strategy focuses on acquiring companies experiencing a variety of special situations within a broad range of industries. Since its inception, Resilience Capital Partners has invested in 27 companies under 19 platforms, together representing over $2.5 billion in revenues and over 5,000 employees. Resilience Capital Partners manages multiple private equity funds with capital under management in excess of $320 million. For more information, please visit http://www.resiliencecapital.com.

About Aero Communications, Inc.Headquartered in Canton, Michigan, Aero Communications ("ACI") employs approximately 1,000 technicians, engineers, customer service and related support personnel in field offices throughout 12 states. ACI's scope of services includes end-to-end system design and engineering, construction, wiring, installation, maintenance and repair solutions, serving leading telecommunications and cable service providers such as Comcast, Charter Communications, Cablevision and TimeWarner Cable.

Contact Information

Steve Rosen

Michael Cavanaugh

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Resilience Capital Partners Acquires Advanced Communications

Window Genie is the leader in home services known to Clean Windows and a Whole Lot More! A whole lot more includes giving back to the community through the company-wide initiative, Windows 4 Wishes.

Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) October 23, 2012

Mike Boone, owner of Window Genie southwest Raleigh is contributing a similar effort to the Windows 4 Wishes program, collecting items for the Holly Springs Food Cupboard. "We thought what he was doing was a great idea and a good example of using Window Genie's resources to give back, so that inspired us," said Wallace.

We interact with different members of the community every day when we visit their home to do a cleaning, Wallace said, so we found this would be a great opportunity to spread the word about the Food Bank and collect as much food and supplies as we could with the help of our customers.

For more information about the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina please call 919-875-0707

Window Genie is a nationally ranked home service franchise that offers window cleaning, window tinting, pressure washing and more. To learn more about Window Genie of Raleigh please contact Rich Wallace at rwallace(at)windowgenie(dot)com or call (919) 647-4722. Also, visit his website for more information about services and seasonal specials.

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Erin McDermott Window Genie (513)541-3351 Email Information

Continued here:

Window Genie of Raleigh Gives Back to Local Food Bank

KALAMAZOO, MI In an effort to make neighborhoods in Kalamazoo a more attractive place to live and bring pride of ownership to homeowners, volunteers and police officers spent two days picking up more than 100 bags of litter and other trash.

Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Community Police Officer Fidel Mireles said people in the neighborhoods are appreciative of the cleanup efforts, and some have come out to thank the volunteers. The cleanup also has a positive effect on people that don't live in the area, he said.

"It's the whole broken window theory," he said. "If people from out of town come and see a bunch of trash on the ground, they'll think it isn't a clean and safe neighborhood."

This marks the fourth year the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo Public Services Department and the Community Planning and Development Department have worked together to focus on quality of life issues to help improve specific neighborhoods as part of the Community Policing philosophy.

Volunteers from the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program and members of the KPS C.O.P.S. Division hit the streets for two days.

Mireles said volunteers picked up around 70 trash bags full of garbage in the Edison Neighborhood on Monday and filled around 50 trash bags on Tuesday near Westnedge Avenue and North Street. They also picked tires and other items from vacant lots.

Brock Beilby, 22, of Allegan, said from picking up glass to make the sidewalks safe for kids, to hearing people yell thank you from their windows, the cleanup was a positive experience for him.

"It makes me feel good that I'm helping to clean up the neighborhood," he said. "Next time I finish a bag of chips or something, I'm going to think about this before I litter."

Rhea Burnett, 27, has lived in Kalamazoo her whole life and said she was happy to help both days.

"Somebody needs to do it," she said. "We did something good for somebody by cleaning up the neighborhood."

The rest is here:

Cleaning up Kalamazoo: Volunteers, government agencies team up to rid streets of trash (with video)

Some superheroes do truly super things, like surprise sick children with a friendly rappel down the side of their hospital building.

Spider-Man, suited up and headed down the side of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Kids at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis got a Spidey-size surprise last week when they spotted none other than Spider-Man rappelling down the side of the building, with Captain America in hot pursuit.

The superhero sighting came courtesy of a few real-life superheroes -- employees of the commercial window cleaning company American National Skyline who wanted to do something nice for the young patients. Rosetta Ford, an administrative assistant in the hospital's environmental-services department, suggested costumes, so Steve Oszaniec, his son Danny Oszaniec, and Jordan Emerson suited up superhero-style, secured themselves in their window-washing safety harnesses, and started their slide down the 12-story building.

The building's large windows overlook the downtown Memphis skyline and Mississippi River, giving the superheroes a scenic backdrop. As word got around the hospital of an out-of-the-ordinary happening, the kids flocked to windows in their rooms and the family rooms on each floor.

As you can see from this vid provided by the hospital, many patients captured the moment with smartphones (a good idea, since last time I told people I saw Spider-Man scaling a building on a Wednesday afternoon, they didn't believe me). And for a real awww, have a look at this closeup NBC News photo of a Le Bonheur patient-Spidey moment. It really says it all.

Some Memphis residents probably looked up and wondered why own their window washers suddenly seemed so ordinary.

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Spider-Man window washers cheer hospitalized kids

Published: Oct. 23, 2012 at 3:48 PM

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania window washing service sent a quartet of workers in superhero costumes to brighten windows and spirits at a children's hospital.

Edward Matuizek, president of Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. in Springdale, said the company did not charge the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for Monday's window-washing by Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and Captain America, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Tuesday.

"This isn't about us. This is about them," Matuizek said.

"It's a nice place to work, but emotionally it's a real tough place to work. You go home and pick your own kids up, and there's a lot of gratitude there," he said of the hospital.

Matuizek said the scheme was suggested by his wife, who read about a similar stunt at a British hospital, and was given the go-ahead by Children's Hospital facilities director Elizabeth Munsch.

The costumed window washers were Rick Bollinger, 46, and Mark Errico, 26, both of Harrison; Ed Hetrick, 36, of Springdale; and Jim Zaremba, 43, of Lower Burrell.

"The kids were loving it," said Errico, who wore the Captain America suit. "Everywhere we went, they were coming in from different rooms."

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Superheroes wash windows at Pa. hospital

Celebrities visit hospitals from time to time to cheer up the patients. In fact, they're fond of paying visits to children's hospitals in particular, to lift the spirits of the kids being treated. A fictional kind of celebrity visited a local children's hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and it has the Web talking.

Employees of American Skyline, a commercial window-cleaning business, had the ingenious idea of dressing as comic book heroes while doing their jobs at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Jordan Emerson, Steve Oszaniec, and Danny Oszaniec dressed as Spider-Man and Captain America, then secured their harnesses and began repelling down the sides of the building as they cleaned the windows.

[Related: NFL Players Surprise Kids at Local Hospital]

As word spread around the hospital, patients and their parents gathered by the windows to watch the superheroes in action. The children and their parents and caregivers had looks of pure delight and big smiles as they snapped photos with their cameras and phones.

There have been other instances of superheroes showing up to visit kids at hospitals. On Monday, another group of window washers, this time in Pittsburgh, pulled a copycat move. They also dressed as superheroes as they performed their window-washing duties. One of the men spoke on why the workers went out of their way to make the kids smile: "This isn't about us. This is about them." The man said that he would do it again, and it may in fact become an annual event to surprise the patients.

Last spring, a man dressed as Batman rolled up in an all-black Lamborghini to Maryland-area hospitals to greet the children and lift their spirits. The man became infamous when a picture of him being pulled over and questioned by police while dressed head to toe as Batman went viral. He was revealed to be a Baltimore businessman intent on uplifting the spirits of sick children.

[Related: Batman Becomes Hero to Kids With Cancer ]

Like us on Facebook.com/TrendingNow and follow Trending Now on Twitter: @Knowlesitall and @YahooTrending.

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Window-Washers Dress as Comic Book Heroes to Surprise Patients at Children’s Hospital

Scott Mantas retrieves a snow blower to be repaired at Pehrson's Power Equipment in Midvale on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012. The fall season will soon turn to winter, which means increased costs for gloves, coats, boots, snow shovels, snow blowers, snow tires, chains, anti-freeze and car checkups.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY As the mercury begins to dip week by week, it will not be long before Old Man Winter wraps his frosty arms around the Beehive State.

With snow already at higher elevations, it's not too late to start getting ready for the inevitability of winter in Utah, and that means people must prepare their vehicles, their homes and themselves for the cold.

A few well-placed preparations will save money and hardship in the coming months.

Preparing homes

At home, little things such as insulating wall sockets, changing regular bulbs to compact fluorescent or LED light bulbs, insulating windows and wrapping up water heaters can lead to savings on energy bills. Installing added insulation can save the average homeowner $50 to $100 per year, according to Questar Gas.

Also, insulate any water lines that run along exterior walls so the water supply will be less likely to freeze. To the extent possible, weatherproof the home by adding weather-stripping, insulation, insulated doors and storm windows or thermal-pane windows.

Those who plan to use a fireplace or wood stove for emergency heating need to have their chimneys or flues inspected each year to detect any buildup of soot. That can prevent a house fire. Also, those using a fireplace, wood stove or kerosene heater should install a smoke detector and a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector near the area to be heated. They should be tested monthly, and the batteries should be replaced twice a year.

"Get your furnace tuned up so that it's working at its peak efficiency," added Robert West, Home Depot sales specialist. "And change your furnace filter often every three months."

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Preparing homes, vehicles and yourself for winter can help save money

I really don't like the winter. In my part of the country its cold and the snowfall and ice make it treacherous to go to work or the grocery store. There are far colder locations in the U.S. in the winter, and I plan to stay as far away from them as possible. I follow several strategies to save money on my winter electric heating bill.

Winterize the Home in the Fall

I have written about my fall maintenance list in an earlier article, but performing some simple tasks in the fall help to lower my electric bill in the winter. Each fall I replace cracked window panes and caulk where the sash meets the trim on all of the windows. Install storm windows or plastic film covers over the windows to keep in the heat. The materials for these repairs are normally less than $20. I have baseboard heat, one of the most expensive and least efficient ways of heating one's home. I make certain to remove the panel on the front of the register and thoroughly dust the heating element so that it is clean before the season starts so it works more efficiently. Years ago I made window and door "socks" out of scrap material and sand and I layer these on the window sills and place them along the bottom of the doors to keep the cool air out and the warm air in.

Cut Down the Thermostat and Dress in Layers

Many people have probably heard this one before, but it is really not necessary to crank up the heat at the sign of the first chill in fall. I put a timer on our hot water heater years ago and swapped out the incandescent bulbs to CFLs and cut my electric bill by a third the first year of this change. I also turn off the heat and close the doors to rooms that are unused. Heating a smaller space reduces the electric bill. Many people have probably heard of these tips, but I do have a few more to resist turning up the heat when the temperatures drop.

Make Insulated Covers for Windows and Doors

While I do have curtains that I put up in the winter that have a special backing that works as insulation, one year I made an additional insulated hanging that I use over all of my windows and doors in the winter. You can use basically any heavy, thick material, but I used some fuzzy old blankets that had faded over time. I sewed a seam at the top so I could thread them through a spring tension rod, and I hung them at the top of the windows, and used a regular curtain rod to hang them over the entranceways into my home; this extra covering reduced my electric bill by an additional 10% the winter that I first made them. When I first made them, I didn't like the idea of mismatched patterns being viewed from outside my house, so I got some acrylic paint, some fabric paint fixative and a foam brush from the crafts section of my local department store. For under $5 I was able to paint over the designs and these insulating cloths resemble the cream colored sheers that I normally hang under my curtains, so no one notices the difference.

Dress in Layers, Including the Bed, and Make a Hot Toddy

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First Person: How We Save Money on Our Winter Electric Heating Bills

The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources today published a tender for the replacement of electrical hot water heaters with solar heaters in an energy conservation effort. The vendors winning the tender will replace 14,500 old electrical hot water heaters at homes across the country at an estimated cost of NIS 13 million.

The Ministry of Energy will subsidize 35% the cost of the solar powered hot water heaters up to NIS 900 (including VAT). Consumers will pay the difference in the price of the solar hot water heaters offered by the tender's winners and the ministry's subsidy.

The tender's winners will provide an eight-year warranty for the solar hot water heaters they install, and will dismantle and dispose of the old electrical heaters.

"This program is intended for homeowners with electrical hot water heaters who have no legal or planning impediment against the installation of a solar hot water heater in their apartment. The apartment must be within four floors from the roof," says the Ministry of Energy.

The Ministry of Energy estimates replacement of the electrical hot water heaters will save 26 million kilowatt/hours a year, and save an estimated NIS 260 million kilowatt/hours over the solar hot water heaters' 8-10 year lifespan. It also estimates that this will reduce households' electricity bills by NIS 1,000 a year.

The program to replace electrical hot water heaters is the Ministry of Energy's latest plan to conserve electricity, following plans for the replacement of old energy inefficient air conditioners, refrigerators, and light bulbs.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - http://www.globes-online.com - on October 17, 2012

Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012

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Gov't to subsidize replacing electrical water heaters