Here are 20 microbreweries throughout New York.

1)    The Peekskill Brewery
55 Hudson Avenue, Peekskill, NY
(914) 734-2337 ‎ · www.thepeekskillbrewery.com
What they are known for: vanilla bourbon stout · fish and chips · beer selection · beers on tap ·

2)    Brooklyn Brewery
79 North 11th Street, NY
(718) 486-7422 ‎ · www.brooklynbrewery.com
What they are known for: black chocolate stout · caramel · good beer · East India pale ale

3)    Heartland Brewery
35 Union Square W, New York, NY
(212) 645-3400 ‎ · www.heartlandbrewery.com
What they are known for: farmer Jon’s oatmeal stout · bar food · red rooster ale · Indian river

4)    Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
444 Saw Mill River Rd, Elmsford, NY
(914) 741-2337 ‎ · www.captainlawrencebrewing.com
What they are known for: liquid gold · rosso e marrone · golden delicious · smoked porter ·

5)    Heartland Brewery & Restaurant
1285 6th avenue , New York, NY
(212) 582-8244 ‎ · www.heartlandbrewery.com
What they are known for: selection of beers · bar food · oatmeal stout · beers on tap

6)    McSorley’s Old Ale House
15 East 7th Street, Manhattan, NY
(212) 473-9148 ‎ · www.mcsorleysnewyork.com
What they are known for: cheese plate · dark or light beer · crackers · two types of beer

7)    Sixpoint Brewery
40 Van Dyke Street, Brooklyn, NY
(917) 696-0438 ‎ · www.sixpoint.com
What they are known for: sweet action · mad scientist · cream ale · tiger IPA

8)    Blue Point Brewing Co
161 River Avenue, Patchogue, NY
(631) 475-6944 ‎ · www.bluepointbrewing.com
What they are known for: summer ale · blueberry ale · toxic sludge · island beer

9)    Coney Island Brewing Company
3006 West 12th Street, Brooklyn, NY
(718) 372-5159 ‎ · www.coneyisland.com
What they are known for: surf avenue · freak show · wonder wheel · statue of liberty

10)   Hyde Park Brewing Co
4076 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY
(845) 229-8277 ‎ · www.hydeparkbrewing.com
What they are known for: blues jam · scotch egg · open mike night · local breweries

11)   The Defiant Brewing Company
6 East Dexter Plaza, Pearl River, New York
(845) 920-8602 ‎ · www.defiantbrewing.com
What they are known for: little thumper · India pale ale · prohibition · tripel

12)   Keegan Ales
20 Saint James St, Kingston, NY
(845) 331-2739 ‎ · www.keeganales.com
What they are known for: old capital · milk stout · brew pub · brewing company · super kitty

13)   Amsterdam Ale House
340 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY
(212) 362-7260 ‎ · www.amsterdamalehouse.com
What they are known for: beer selection · bar food · sports bar · brunch

14)   BIRRERIA
200 5th Avenue, New York, NY
(212) 229-2560 ‎ · www.eatalyny.com
What they are known for: retractable roof · beer garden · pork shoulder · shitake mushrooms

15)   Waterfront Ale House
155 Atlantic Ave # A, Brooklyn, NY
(718) 522-3794 ‎ · www.waterfrontalehouse.com
What they are known for: beer selection · free popcorn · pub grub · Brooklyn beer · hot sauces

16)   Standings
43 East 7th Street, New York, NY
(212) 420-0671 ‎ · www.standingsbar.com
What they are known for: free pizza · beer selection · free food · sports memorabilia

17)   BrickHouse Brewery & Restaurant
67 West Main Street, Patchogue, NY
(631) 447-2337 ‎ · www.brickhousebrewery.com
What they are known for: blue point brewing company · open mic · crafted beer · fresh oysters

18)   Black Forest Brew Haus
2015 New Highway, Farmingdale, NY
(631) 391-9500 ‎ · www.blackforestbrewhaus.com
What they are known for: pretzel bread · German fare · potato pancakes · beer garden

19)   Bayard’s Ale House
533 Hudson Street, New York, NY
(212) 989-0313 ‎
What they are known for: bar food · sazerac · beer selection · shepherd’s pie · crab cakes

20)   Brewery Ommegang
656 County Highway 33, Cooperstown, NY
(607) 544-1800 ‎ · www.ommegang.com
What they are known for: Belgian style · Belgian ale · three philosophers

For more information on MHB’s Microbrewery Insurance program, call 914-737-3430.

Features
Benefits can include health care coverage, paid-time-off, retirement savings, life insurance and profit sharing. Employers such as Google go above and beyond to provide the best work life balance providing everything from a gym and a masseuse to meals and a bed. Employee benefits have been a positive moving trend in more recent year providing benefits such as on-site child day care, a fitness gym and recreational facilities a common norm.

Competition
Money is everything. Employers who offer good compensation benefits and stay competitive with local and national businesses can attract and retain employees.

Health
A healthy employee is a productive employee. Health-related benefits for employees and their families promote healthy lifestyles, which can relieve personal stress and increase productivity in the workplace.

Well-Being
Paid-time-off (PTO) endorses employee well-being. According to Expedia.com’s 2009 vacation deprivation survey, 53 percent of employees feel refreshed and more connected to their families after taking PTO. 34 percent employees feel better about their jobs and become more productive.

We know how important it is to you to have a strong employee benefits plan. It’s the single most critical factor in building and preserving employee health, morale and retention. Along with salary, it’s what potential employees look at most carefully before they agree to job offers. So you’ve got to do it right.

That’s where we our Peekskill insurance experts come in. MHB Insurance can help you acquire and retain better employees by working with you to create an especially attractive and affordable employee benefits program.

Your Peekskill New York employee benefits plan can include (but is not limited to) all of the following:

• Group health insurance
• Retirement
• Dental
• Disability
• Workers comp
• Disability
• Group term life
• Supplemental life
• Critical illness
• Family coverage

Plans may be employee or employer paid, with optional pre-tax payroll deductibles and IRS 125 setups.

Groups as small as three may qualify.

Let us help you design an employee benefits plan that fits your company’s needs and budget. Call or email us, or use this form in the Crompond, Buchanan, Verplanck, Montrose, Crugers, Lake Mohegan, Yorktown, Jefferson Valley-Yorktown, Shrub Oak, Lake Peekskill, Putnam Valley, or Peekskill Bay areas for additional information.

Give MHB Insurance a call today (877) 709-6761

1. Find a good training course. Plenty of corporations practice Lean Manufacturing, and there is an education market for it. Everyone from consultants to universities has been providing classes and workshops. When selecting a good training course, it is critical to learn from someone that has real world experience applying lean manufacturing principles.

2. Select your experts carefully and train. After finding a good course or two and learning the basic principles of lean manufacturing, enable a few individuals to become experts and share their knowledge with others.

3. Train all employees who are involved. Implementing lean manufacturing requires a large percentage of employees working together to discover non value added activities within the chain.

4. Learn by doing. Learn as much as possible about a concept, then begin to apply it. A good example is 5S. When 5S is implemented correctly, it not only provides order and improved housekeeping; it also enhances equipment and improves efficiency.

5. Hire an expert. Lean manufacturing isn’t something you can learn overnight. It is difficult to practice and requires years of study to master. This is the only option to go directly from course training to successful implementation. An expert has seen the every failure from implementation practices to staff. They will be able to continue to train and help guide the team through the roadmap on the journey to a state of lean even after the consultation is over.

6. Observe other successful lean implementations. It is easy to find companies that will allow you to see their lean implementation. The difficult part is finding a successful implementation. If the implementation wasn’t successful, they wouldn’t be hiring more professionals.

7. Learn from failure. There will be failures in a lean implementation.

Fortunately, our manufacturing insurance experts will sit down with you and assess your current situation. No two manufacturers are completely alike. Thus our goal is to set you up with only the coverage you really need to properly cover your business.

You might need coverage for your entire facility, including machinery, plant, loss of profit, and both public and product liability. In some cases, you’ll want to add additional coverage like employer’s liability, computer breakdown, employee theft or fraud, and general property protection.

Give MHB Insurance a call at 914-737-3430, our manufacturing specialists are standing by to answer your questions.

What is a Municipal Bond?

Definition (n): a bond issued by state, county, city, or town, or by a state authority or agency to finance projects. (1)

Yeah, well that helped….

Here is a breakdown of what a municipal bond is. It is an obligation of debt being issued by state, city, and local governments to raise money for the public funding of projects and services such as schools, roads, and housing.

In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often exempt from the federal income tax and from the income tax of the state in which they are issued, although municipal bonds issued for certain purposes may not be tax exempt. (2)

Municipal Bonds are very attractive to investors and are free to trade on the stock market. Investors and traders trade municipal bonds sometimes several times in one week.

Why do I need to insure them?

Insurance provides the investors with security that no matter the state of the government’s finances are in, the bond’s interest and principal payments will still be made.

However, there are risks involved with municipal bonds. The biggest risk is that of defaulting. If the bond defaults, meaning the government that supplied the bond doesn’t have the money to cover the principal and/or interest payments.

Municipal bonds are used to finance projects that the government needs funding for. Because the municipal bonds runs the risk of default, insuring the bond is basically guaranteeing the money you are suppose to get off the principal and interest payments. At MHB Insurance we are able to provide trained experts on this subject and can help reduce your financial risk.

Bonds that have a low default risk receive high credit ratings. This influences the market price of the bonds. Insured bonds receive higher credit ratings that non-insured bonds. Insured Bonds receive a rating of: AAA, the highest possible. The higher the credit rating the lower the interest rate is that bond issuer must pay when sold.

There are four major agencies that provide bond credit ratings. These agencies are the following:

• Moody’s Investors Service
• Standard & Poor’s Corporation
• Fitch IBCA, Inc.
• Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co.

Insuring the municipal bond increases the marketability of the bond and makes it more attractive to investors. Insurance can help small issuers who are unfamiliar and unknown to investors to be taken seriously.

If you have any questions regarding insuring these municipal bonds, give MHB Insurance a call. We cover:

• Workers Compensation
• Risk Management
• Safety Programs
• Public Officials Liability
• Departments Served
  • Fire
  • Park Rangers
  • Police and Correctional Facilities
  • Public Administration and Courthouses
  • Water Districts
  • Towns and Cities

We are happy to help. (877) 709-6761

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/municipal+bond

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_bond

These policies offer coverage for the property and also provide liability coverage in the event you injure another person or damage their property. Each one of these policies includes a limit that is the maximum amount that is paid out for a loss. If the limit is reached and it did not cover the entire loss, you become personally financially responsible.

Solution to being “underinsured”:

Purchase an Umbrella policy. The name says it all. This policy provides an “umbrella” of liability coverage and protection over each and all other included policies. If the limit of your one of your “underlying” policies is reached in any given loss, the umbrella policy steps in and pays to the limit of the umbrella policy, which far exceeds any one coverage limit.

Example: A race to beat a red light ended one side. The violator of the red light caused a collision with a tanker carrying molasses. Molasses spilled everywhere and the accident caused there to be a big mess of debris. The cost to clean and repair the road and truck was over $1,000,000 and the driver of the car who violated the red light (who was miraculously unharmed) was held responsible. The driver’s auto policy paid its property damage limit of $150,000 and since the driver had a $900,000 umbrella policy, that policy the balance. Without the umbrella coverage the driver could have lost all that he owned in an attempt to pay the damages.

An umbrella policy can also provide additional coverage not provided in the underlying policies such as worldwide auto liability coverage or coverage for slander and libel. If you are interested in more information or how to obtain this important coverage please MHB Insurance at (877) 709-6761

If the chances are so high, why would you even think twice about it? Covering yourself and protecting your income source isn’t something you want to risk. In this recession, we have noticed a larger amount of personal disabilities coming from personal lines. In the end, this means companies are less likely to provide you with the coverage you need.

Some employers offer and pay for disability insurance for employees, But it may not be enough for your situation.

One of the best ways to set up an affordable plan is to contact your local Disability Insurance Provider. If you are interested in a group policy, it will generally be less expensive and they often don’t require medical underwriting.

Two things to know about: If you pay your premiums out of pocket, your benefits will be tax-free. If your employer pays premiums, benefits are taxable. When you negotiate your benefits, make sure you take that into consideration.

The next step to selecting the proper coverage is to determine how much you need. Generally, have a maximum amount of coverage is based on your salary. As a benchmark, 60% to 70% of a year’s income will suffice. The CDA has a calculator on its website (disabilitycanhappen.org).

If your located throughout New York, make sure you contact MHB Insurance first. We specialize in Business & Personal Coverage Lines. Disability insurance is something you should never chance. Fill out the quick quote form above or give us a call at (877) 709-6761.

[1] Barry Lundquist, president of the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA)

Evaluate Property Damage Risks. Evaluate your property by thoroughly looking for potential problems.

• Inspect your water pipes by looking for small leaks and any cracks. Once these pipes become frozen, you will be left a bigger problem. One way to battle this is to constantly leave your water dripping. By doing so, it will allow water molecules to continuously move, making it harder to freeze.

• Observe for property damage such as cracks on the building.
  • Cracks in the exterior of the building could result in heat loss, which will run your electricity bill up.

• Check all sealant around doors and windows, replace if needed.

Calculate for Business Interruptions. Using a scale of a week or a month, prepare an annual budget. In this budget, calculate your operating costs and cash flows for the year, so you know how much is needed when a problem arises. It is also not a bad idea to occasionally order from a secondary vendor. Though it might be more expensive, it will diminish your overhead, so if your primary vendor experiences winter hardships themselves, you can turn to a secondary backup vendor. If possible, one of the best ways to be prepared for these situations is to build up a cash reserve.

Review your Insurance Coverage. Find out if you have the proper coverage. You may be over paying or over covered. MHB Insurance are leaders in the insurance industry that specialize in Business Insurance, more specifically Claim & Loss control, property & renters Insurance. We can provide you with the proper coverage for your business needs.

Build a Communication Plan. If the big storm does hit or if your business is experiencing problems caused by winter, make your staff, customers, vendors, and contractors know what’s going on. Establishing an email alert system is the first step to establishing a clear communication. Create a mail folder that you can access and send emails to everyone that would need to be aware of your current situation. Remember do not use this often, only for emergencies. Make sure you have primary and secondary email addresses for your employees, and everyone you do business with.  Use a Facebook Business page and Twitter to keep the public aware you’re still in business, and that you’re in the process of recovering after a disaster.

Work from Home.  See if working from home is an option. Tele-sales and online web sales can still generate income when your storefront is not open. Coordination of activities and what staff should do can be done through conference calls or online video chatting and followed through with email reports.

Now these tips won’t work for every business in winter but you can find successful ways to prevent your business from winter disasters. However one of the most important aspects against winter damage is proper insurance coverage. Don’t fail to neglect your current coverage, have MHB Insurance inspect your property and really make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Officer Sean Echols gave a presentation this past Monday to discuss the Office of Emergency Management or OEM. The OEM is a program that originally was created to deal with emergencies that related to the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. However in recent years OEM has extended their services to work with residential fires, large power outages and bad weather.

Echols, who oversees the OEM program, addressed his concern about the damage left by Irene claiming that it could cost millions of dollars for repairs, which he hoped FEMA would help with the financial aid. “There haven’t been any FEMA awards due to a disaster until recently,” Echols said. “Irene was awarded disaster status and we do have an application in and we expect to recoup quite a bit of the cost for that storm.”

It is OEM’s responsibility to coordinate the city’s emergency responders and departments during times of need. The Office of Emergency also prepares volunteers with proper training towards multiple disaster scenarios. Echols stated that preparing and educating their team for worst disaster scenarios before they happened paid off once Hurricane Irene hit.

Because of OEM, the department of public works was able to quickly respond to numerous problems. One major problem that occurred was a down tree, but because of the extra personnel and the water department they were able to quickly remove the issue. Echols said “The chipper was out and the roads were open for emergency services if they needed them.”

Mayor Mary Foster addressed her concern for the city residents on whether or not they are able to access FEMA disaster funds. Echols explained that FEMA officials had gone door-to-door to talk to residents on how to apply for FEMA aid.

Natural disasters and tropical storms will continue to occur, and the best way to protect our loved ones and prized possessions is proper coverage. Whether you are a business owner, homeowner or even just a vehicle owner, we at MHB Insurance understand how Insurance should be. This is our community as well as yours, and keeping it safe is in everyone’s best interest. We know times can be tough, so let us help you save money on your auto insurance, business insurance, and homeowners insurance. We know how it feels to have the unexpected happens, so make sure that you are properly covered.

Residents can apply for FEMA aid on its website

One of the most common questions regarding this area is, “Am I paying too much for my auto insurance?” There are several factors that determine this rate and it is not just age of the driver but several other inputs.

Premium rates for new drivers are typically high. You can count on spending on average near $1000 every six months on new drivers. Many agencies include a family plan where the new driver is covered under the parent’s policy. Customers have found this to be a significant amount of savings.

Factors to consider when looking over auto insurance coverage rates for your new driver:

1. Vehicle – The type of vehicle the driver will be driving primarily is the one the most important factors.  With high performance vehicles which are measured on engine size and the amount of modifications done to the car, you will see the highest rates. New cars also draw higher premiums because in most cases it is required to have a full coverage policy, where you are able to assign your new driver to a liability policy with a used car or a car that is already on the policy.  Think this logic, the smaller the car, the smaller the engine, the smaller the premium.
2. Gender – Believe it or not gender is a factor. Statistical data has proved that female teenaged drivers are safer and more responsible when compared to males. Typically, females have a lower premium when compared against males of the same age with the same make and model car.  Based off a study, studies have shown that teenage males account for 30% of injuries caused my motor vehicles annually because of the failure to indentify hazardous situations and are more likely to underestimate dangerous ones.
3. Safe Driving Records – You think of course my new teenage driver will be safe and has no traffic history however insurance agencies prepare for the worse. This does not last forever though. Customers have seen a large decrease in their premiums after 1-2 years of the teenage driving with a safe and clean record. With no claim on the new driver’s record the cost of premiums will drastically reduce.

There is no way to reassure an insurance agency that your new teenage driver will be safe and not be involved in a claim to save money on premiums. The only way is by understanding how the premiums are configured and what it takes to lower those. Shopping around for auto insurance in New York is hard, but a smart way to approach this is to go online and compare it to physical auto insurance agencies.  If you or someone you know has a new or soon to be teenage driver, we at MHB Insurance would love to look over your policy.

September 22^nd 10AM- Social Media & Employment Practices Liability. What employers need to know about creating and enforcing a social media policy to protect themselves from unforeseen use of the internet, email systems and social websites by their employees? Speaker Jason Plans USLI Insurance Company.

November 17^th 10AM- Easing your business’s cash flow using Exact Pay payroll deduct workers compensation, and CPP Payroll Services. Let us show you how you can avoid workers comp premium audits, and spread your payments out through CPP Payroll Services, and also save big on your payroll processing. Speaker Austin Fish CPP Payroll Services Inc.

January 19^th 10AM-Voluntary payroll deducted benefits that cost the employer nothing. In these tough economic times offer your employees valuable benefits that they need and want, at no cost to you. This seminar will discuss how simple, and easy it is to add valuable benefits like auto, home, life ,disability and more, on a payroll deduct basis at no cost to the employer. Speaker Mike Vanderwerker MHB Insurance and Steve Nichols Travelers Insurance.

March 15^th 10AM- Business Insurance 101. “what you don’t know can hurt you!” as a business owner you risk you capital every day to succeed. Learn ways you can reduce, transfer, and eliminate many of the risks you face doing business in today’s marketplace.  Speaker Mike Vanderwerker MHB Insurance and Carole Marolda, Hartford Insurance.

May 17^th 10AM- Insurance for you’re Non-Profit. Non-Profit’s are the life’s blood of our community, and benefit society in so many ways. Learn what you need to know to make sure your organization, its members, those you serve, and your board are properly protected. This seminar should not be missed if you’re a nonprofit.  Presented by USLI Insurance.