West Boca Chamber of Commerce: Blog Posts

Three weekly networking groups available to Chamber members only

barry epstein

West Boca Leaders are a referral network of business and professional people. Its purpose is to refer and do business with other members. Membership is made up of individuals of high integrity representing different fields of endeavor, limited to only one member from each field. Members are sponsored or solicited by other members, specifically selecting people who they personally have done or plan to do business with. Membership is a privilege with integrity and commitment expected of all members. Members are expected to be prompt and attend regularly for the hour, considering the meetings as a business appointment and can not be a member of any other local networking group in the area, as no other networking group memberships in the Boca area are allowed. West Boca Leaders I, II and II meet weekly at the Bagel Tree Restaurant, 9080 Kimberly in the Boca Hamptons Shopping Center on the southwest corner with Lyons between Glades and Yamato. WBL I meets Wednesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with a full breakfast for $400 annually, including breakfast every week, WBL II meets Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with bagels and coffee for $360 annually, including bagels and coffee every week, and WBL III meets Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m with full lunch for $180 quarterly, including lunch every week. Call 561.852.0000 to insure category availability.

Town Center Serial Killer - Sketch Updated

Jeff Horvath

In cooperation with the Boca Raton Police Department -- the lead investigative agency on the case -- and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, we are releasing the latest sketch of the suspect in the Nancy & Joey Bochicchio murders.

It's hard to fathom what happened to a mother and her young daughter as they wrapped up a holiday shopping spree at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall. Police are trying to unravel the mystery of their heinous deaths just hours after a fun-filled girls day out. Little Joey was just four days away from her eighth birthday.

The investigation for Boca Raton Police began minutes after mall prosecuting found the bodies of Nancy Bochicchio, 47, and her daughter Joey, 7 after midnight on December 13, 2007. They were bound and shot to death at point-blank range in Nancy's black Chrysler Aspen SUV.

Despite the time of the discovery, police believe Nancy and Joey were killed hours earlier in the afternoon of December 12.

Since then investigators have learned a whole lot about the murders. From mall surveillance video, they see Nancy and Joey enter the mall hand-in-hand at 2:19 p.m. Less than an hour later, the pair are seen leaving the mall at 3:11 p.m. carrying shopping bags. Police believe Nancy and Joey are carjacked in the parking lot minutes after getting into their SUV. Based on bank surveillance, detectives say Nancy was forced to drive to a nearby ATM and withdraw $500. During this time, she tried to call 911 but was disconnected before she could say anything.

At some point, Nancy and her daughter are bound with clear plastic zip ties and handcuffs. According to police, Nancy busted out of her handcuffs in an attempt to flee her abductors. But that bold action cost Nancy and her daughter their lives.

The murders eerily echo the case of Randi Gorenberg, a well known and affluent Boca Raton mother who was also killed by an unidentified attacker at the Town Center mall on March 23, 2007. She drove a black Mercedes SUV and was captured on mall cameras leaving in broad daylight. However, 30 minutes later, Randi was shot and killed while trying to escape her captors. Her case remains unsolved.

But another case Boca Raton police are especially interested in with regards to the Bochicchio murders is that of an August 7, 2007 carjacking and kidnapping at the same mall. Police say on that day a gunman attacked and held hostage a 30-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son in the same parking garage where the Bochicchios were murdered. This garage is located at the Southwest end of the mall. In the August 7 attack, cops say the gunman wasn't ashamed to point the gun at the toddler's head while he made the woman withdraw a large sum of money from a nearby bank. The gunman then forced his hostage to drive back to the parking garage, where he bound her and left her and the terrified child in the car.

Two violent attacks, involving a woman and child, at the same mall parking garage. In both cases police say the victims were bound. And in both cases cops say the victims were attacked at their black SUV's.

The Boca Raton Police have released a composite sketch of the man in the August 7 attack. They think the August 7 attack may be related to the Bochicchio murders, but they haven't ruled out other possibilities. The man in the composite is said to be a white man with a good tan, between the ages of 18 and 25. Police say he is between 5'10" and 6' tall, with a medium build. They also think he could have a ponytail.

The victim in that case, a woman we'll call "Cheryl", lives to tell her story of the worst day of her life. She also provided details of her attacker helping John McMahon, forensic artist for the Broward County Sheriff's Office, create a sketch of the possible killer/attacker.

AMS offers FREE Electronic Check Collection Services

Jeff Horvath

January 25th, 2008 - Barry Godofsky, President of AMS, Inc. (www.merchantservices-help.com) has announced a free value-added merchant service for AMS customers in collabortion with EZCheck Inc. of Houston, TX: EZCOLLECT Electronic Check Collections services, a free NSF check collection service for small businesses and medical practices. For a limited time, AMS is extending this free service courtesy to West Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce members as well.

By utilizing free EZCollect check collection services, merchants can forward (or have their banks forward) returned checks to EZ Check for free electronic collections on Non Sufficient Funds (NSF) items. Any checks that clear are reimbursed to the merchant for full face value. EZCheck also attempts to electroncially collect the maximum state allowed consumer returned check fee.

Benefits:

No special equipment to buy, lease , or program
No rates
No fees
No monthly minimums
No authorization hassles
A cost effective alternative to costly and complicated Check Guarantee Services

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is any equipment required, such as check readers, scanners, etc.?
No. No equipment or authorization is involved. The merchant accepts
checks however they wish in their business. They send their returned items to EZCheck for electronic collection.

What are the fees to the merchant?
Unlike Check Guarantee services, there are no fees, sign-up costs, or monthly minimums.

What returned checks are elligible for this service?
Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) checks only. Checks returned for any other reason are not eligible for EZCollect per banking regulations. If the merchant desires to send other types of returned checks for collection, Account Closed for example, EZCheck will accept these checks and work them as regular collection items. If EZCheck collects those items, the merchant is reimbursed 65% of face value.

When and how do merchants get paid?
Collected checks are paid monthly via ACH.

What happens after the merchant signs up for this service?
The merchant receives a welcome kit with their merchant ID, POS stickers, and instructions. There is no file to build or equipment to download.

Why should a merchant use a collection service instead of just collecting NSF checks in-house?
Customer retention is the first priority. When merchants have to contact customers about NSF issues, often the embarrasment factor ends the customer relationship. By letting someone else be the "mean bill collector", merchants win both the battle and the war by getting paid and keeping their customer.

How can AMS and EZCheck offer this service for free?
The service is free to the merchant. The customer pays the state allowed
consumer returned item fee which is retained by AMS/EZCheck.

Automated Merchant Solutions is a member of the West Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce and is located in Boynton Beach, FL They are a leading provider of electronic payment solutions and merchant services throughout Florida and the entire southeast USA. Please contact Barry Godofsky at (561) 736-1557, toll-free at 1-877-689-1691, by email at amspcs@juno.com, or visit their website www.merchantservices-help.com.

Radio advertising available to promote your business.

barry epstein

Now you can promote your business on the radio. "barry epstein live" has limited availabilities to be on a 50,000 watt station on Fridays at 10 a.m., sponsored by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Join barry along with Palm Beach Post gossip columnist Jose Lambiet, New Times investigative reporter Bob Norman, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Director of Player Development Henry Pisano, FAU Head Football Coach Howard Schnellenberger and other exciting guests. Contact barry epstein at 561.852.0000 for further details and start now to help build your bottom line!

Member to Member Discounts

Jeff Horvath

Members may list their exclusive offerings to other chamber members in this blog.