Johnny Rockets reopens at Destiny USA following renovation project

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SYRACUSE — Johnny Rockets, the 1940s-themed restaurant at Destiny USA, has reopened following a nearly weeklong renovation project. The eatery temporarily closed during construction on

State Dental Association elects Utica–area dentist as president

Health Care, New York News, Nonprofits, People on the Move, Regional News

The New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) has elected Utica–area dentist Dr. John Liang as its next president. Liang is slated to serve as the

Town of Tyre votes to support Wilmot Casino and Resort

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

TYRE — The town of Tyre in Seneca County last Thursday night voted to approve a resolution supporting the Wilmot Casino and Resort. The document

Time Warner Cable formally opens training facility in Clay

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Health Care, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Technology

CLAY, N.Y. — Time Warner Cable today formally opened its first training facility in the Northeast, located at 7890 Davis Road in the town of

Syracuse Hancock Airport to get Parisian-style café this year

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

SYRACUSE — Brioche Dorée, a chain of Parisian-style bakery cafés, has announced it has signed an agreement to open a location at Syracuse Hancock International

Cuomo announces sales-tax-free wine tastings, $350K for hops research

New York News, Nonprofits, Regional News, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

New York consumers can now enjoy sales-tax-free tastings at wineries that charge a nominal per-person fee and which are already exempt from paying a use

Binghamton Univ. sees surge in international grad-student applications

Health Care, New York News, Nonprofits, Regional News

VESTAL, N.Y. — Binghamton University’s Graduate School received a 26 percent increase in applications from international students over the past year, compared to 7 percent

Upstate, St. Joseph’s implement electronic medical-records systems, Crouse to follow

Health Care, Subscriber Only, Technology

SYRACUSE — Two Syracuse hospitals have launched electronic medical-records (EMR) systems and a third has plans to implement a system in 2015. Upstate University Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center partnered with Verona, Wis.–based Epic Systems as their EMR and practice-management application vendor. Upstate University Hospital’s Downtown (Syracuse) Campus on March 1 became the

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SYRACUSE — Two Syracuse hospitals have launched electronic medical-records (EMR) systems and a third has plans to implement a system in 2015.

Upstate University Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center partnered with Verona, Wis.–based Epic Systems as their EMR and practice-management application vendor.

Upstate University Hospital’s Downtown (Syracuse) Campus on March 1 became the first hospital in Central New York to fully implement a secured, electronic medical records (EMR) system, the hospital said in a news release.

Upstate on May 3 then launched the same set of applications at the Community campus, says Terry Wagner, chief information officer at Upstate University Hospital.

St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center on May 5 announced it launched SJLinked, an electronic health-record (EHR) system across its entire system, including the hospital, clinics, and the primary-care offices of St. Joseph’s Physicians.

Crouse Hospital is planning to implement the Soarian electronic medical-record system from Siemens. The work will begin this summer and conclude in 2015, the hospital said.

The federal government will penalize hospitals with a reduction in Medicare payments if they do not have technology in place for certified electronic health records by 2015, according to Upstate.

Upstate implements
Epic has a number of different modules. It’s all one system, but there are many different subspecialty areas that Epic supports, says Wagner.

“We had been using the system in all of our outpatient-clinic areas, so basically the doctor offices … and in our emergency department downtown since 2012,” Wagner says.

She spoke with The Business Journal News Network on June 9.

Upstate implemented the acute-care and billing applications for hospital purposes in the March 1 launch, she adds.

It included all of Upstate’s inpatient operations, pharmacy, and operating room, Wagner says.

“Many, many different applications that we hadn’t been managing under Epic before that,” she says.

Epic is a secure, paperless, digital and computerized-software system that integrates and maintains a patient’s medical profile. That medical history includes medications, illnesses, records of doctor’s office or emergency-room visits, and insurance information.

The patient, along with their health-care providers, can access their medical records online from any location to review the individual’s medical profile.

So far, half of the U.S. population has a record in an Epic system, according to Upstate.

Administrative functions such as scheduling, admitting, and patient billing are also handled on Epic.

Patients at Upstate’s Downtown Campus can access their records and create a free account with Upstate MyChart through Epic, says Wagner.

Upstate outpatients have had access to MyChart since 2012, she adds.

The secure, password-protected account is accessible “exclusively” to the patient at any time, the hospital said.

The information in MyChart is encrypted and is not intended for urgent medical issues or to resolve health-related issues.

A patient should contact their provider directly with those concerns, Upstate added.

SJLinked
SJLinked enables St. Joseph’s doctors and nurses to share test results, medication lists, physician notes, and other information across hospital units, ambulatory services, and in-transitions between care settings.

St. Joseph’s has used electronic records since 1999, but the system-wide EHR means all providers are on the “same screen, ensuring consistency and improving coordination of care,” the hospital said in a May 5 news release.

“The change to a single electronic-health record is an investment in our future, enhancing our ability to deliver patient-centered care that is seamless from the community physician’s office to the hospital,” Kathryn Ruscitto, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s, said.

At the same time, the hospital also launched My St. Joseph’s, which it describes as a “secure, online patient portal.”

It allows St. Joseph’s patients to access portions of their medical record, including their current medications, test results, immunizations, and allergies. They can also manage upcoming and past appointments through a computer connected to the Internet or a smartphone.

St. Joseph’s also collaborated with Epic Systems to design SJLinked. Nearly 200 employees from various units worked with Epic for about 18 months to build and test the customized EHR platform, St. Joseph’s said.

A total of 50 certified trainers at the St. Joseph’s training center led more than 4,500 clinical staff through courses in preparation to use the system.

Epic Systems services 297 customers, with 19 live or installing in New York, St. Joseph’s said.

SJLinked will be interoperable with HealtheConnections, Central New York’s regional health-information organization, which shares electronic health-care information with participating health-care providers in the community.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Traditions turns to the Senecas to run its proposed casino

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

JOHNSON CITY — On May 22, representatives of Traditions Resort & Casino, LLC announced the establishment of a strategic relationship with Gaming & Leisure Advisors, LLC, a New York state, for-profit subsidiary of Seneca Gaming Corp. (SGC). According to SGC spokesman Phil Pantano, Gaming & Leisure Advisors would be paid a management fee for “running

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According to SGC spokesman Phil Pantano, Gaming & Leisure Advisors would be paid a management fee for “running the gaming floor and associated amenities, including valet parking, restaurants, and retail.”

The fee would be determined on a percentage basis, but there was no disclosure of whether it was based on revenues, profits, or another benchmark. Neither SGC nor Traditions committed to stating the length of the agreement, other than it was “long-term,” but did say that at this point SGC has no equity position. William Walsh, the CEO of Traditions, says he had interviewed more than a dozen operators before choosing SGC.

Traditions Resort & Casino is owned by the Walsh family. The Traditions facility currently includes a golf course, conference center, hotel, and spa. Traditions

Resort & Casino is pursuing a gaming license from New York State, one of four available Upstate. Upon receipt of the license, the resort and conference center proposes to invest $150 million to build a casino and to make other planned additions. According to Walsh, the expansion is projected to create 1,100 jobs in the community in addition to hundreds of construction jobs. Details of financing the expansion have not been released.

Seneca Gaming Corp.’s scope
SGC is a wholly owned, tribally chartered corporation of the Seneca Nation of Indians. In 2002, the Nation entered into the Nation–State Gaming Compact with New York State, which granted the Nation the exclusive right to build and operate three, Class-III, gaming facilities in Western New York. In August of that year, the Nation chartered SGC to manage its gaming operations.

In 2002, the Seneca Nation also chartered the Seneca Niagara Falls Gaming Corporation, a subsidiary of SGC, which opened Seneca Niagara Casino on Dec. 31, 2002, and a 26-story hotel on Dec. 30, 2005. In August 2003, the Nation chartered the Seneca Territory Gaming Corporation as a subsidiary of SGC to manage the Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca (STGC). STGC opened the Seneca Allegany Casino on May 1, 2004, and an expanded casino and hotel on March 30, 2007.

The Nation chartered the Seneca Erie Gaming Corporation, another SGC subsidiary, in September 2003. In October 2005, the Seneca Nation acquired 9 acres of land in the Inner Harbor of downtown Buffalo and opened a temporary Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in July 2007. The facility was expanded in 2008 and 2010. In March 2012, SGC unveiled a re-designed, $130 million permanent casino which was officially opened in 2013. SGC also operates the Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course in Lewiston, N.Y.

Today, SGC, headquartered in Niagara Falls, employs about 4,000 people and operates about 6,500 slot machines; 150 table games; 1,000 hotel rooms; multiple restaurants; two multi-purpose, entertainment and special-event facilities; and related retail amenities, including a crystal outlet and candle shop in Niagara Falls.

“The [capital] investment is well over $1.2 billion to date, and SGC invests [on average] $30 million a year to upgrade its facilities,” says Pantano. He goes on to say that “the annual payroll is more than $133 million, and SGC spends in excess of $100 million a year with vendors in Western New York.” The Business Journal News Network estimates that SGC’s annual revenue is between $400 million and $500 million. The three Seneca properties attract about 15 million visitors annually.

Since April 2009, Seneca Gaming Corp. has been led by Catherine A. Walker, the company’s current president and CEO. Starting in April 2008, Walker had served as COO. Before joining SGC, her career included management roles at Trump Hotels & Casinos, Harrahs, and Players Lake Charles LLC. She began her career on the legal staff of the New Jersey Gaming Commission. David Sheridan was appointed CFO in July 2008. He formerly worked as the CFO of the Oneida Indian Nation, including responsibility for the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. Sheridan is a CPA who started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Syracuse. Kirstin Lowry Sommers was appointed general counsel at SGC in December 2011. Before joining SGC, she was a litigator whose work included complex commercial and securities matters.

SGC’s rapid growth was financed by $500 million of 7.25 percent senior notes, due in May 2012. The company refinanced its obligations in November 2010 through the issuance of a combination of a new $325 million in senior notes and a new $225 million senior-secured credit facility. The funds were used to retire the original debt including a $50 million, senior-secured line-of-credit. The initial blend rate was less than 7 percent, a reduction in the cost of SGC’s borrowing. The $225 million, five-year bank credit facility was completed with a syndicate of six banks. The 8.25 percent senior notes are scheduled to be retired in 2018. Tribal Financial Advisors acted as financial advisor to SGC on securing the financing.

A first
The agreement between Traditions and Gaming & Leisure Advisors is SGC’s first contract to manage a casino not owned by the Seneca Nation. But it’s not the only recent move by SGC. In March, the company spent $2.75 million to buy 32 acres of land in Henrietta, near Interstate-390. SGC says it has no plans yet to develop the area, but it is large enough to contain a gaming destination complete with casino, hotel, entertainment facilities, restaurants, retail, and other amenities. The Seneca Nation’s compact with New York state limits the tribe to three venues, which are already in operation. When asked whether the Seneca Nation was in contact with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to allow a fourth venue, Pantano responded with no comment.

Competition
Traditions and SGC are vying with two competitors for the gaming license. Jeff Gural, who owns Tioga Downs Racino in Nichols (Owego County), has also paid $1 million for the privilege of applying for a license. On June 6, he announced the “all-in” coalition of regional business and government leaders who support his bid. According to an article in the Ithaca Journal, Gural says he has support from 29 towns and villages, seven labor unions, 10 chambers of commerce and tourism councils, 22 economic-development organizations, and numerous businesses. Tioga Downs expects to invest $90 million in the project, including a 140-room hotel.

Rochester–based Wilmorite Corp. has also applied for a gaming license. The company proposes to build a $350 million facility in Tyre in Seneca County, with 2,000 slot machines, 100 gambling tables, and a 200-room hotel.

In a teleconference on June 9, Traditions Resort’s Walsh indicated that applications for the gaming license were due by June 30. He said that SGC had been a big help in completing the forms. He went on to say the oral presentations were set for the week after Labor Day and a final decision would be rendered no later than October. “If we are successful,” says Walsh, “Traditions is ready to break ground in a few days and open [the doors] within a year.”

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com

NFIB: Small-business optimism index hits highest mark since September 2007

Small Business, Subscriber Only

But it’s still “far below” regular expansion readings, group says The nation’s small-business optimism rose 1.4 points to 96.6 in May, the highest index reading since September 2007. That’s according to the National Federation of Independent Business’ (NFIB’s) latest index of small-business optimism released June 10. Even though May represents the third straight month with

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But it’s still “far below” regular expansion readings, group says

The nation’s small-business optimism rose 1.4 points to 96.6 in May, the highest index reading since September 2007. That’s according to the National Federation of Independent Business’ (NFIB’s) latest index of small-business optimism released June 10.

Even though May represents the third straight month with increased optimism, the index is still “far below” readings that have normally accompanied an expansion.

Similar gains in the past haven’t “panned out” in this recovery period, the NFIB said. Five index components improved, one was unchanged, and four fell, although “not by much.”

The four components most closely related to gross-domestic product (GDP) and employment growth collectively fell 1 point in May, William (Bill) Dunkelberg, chief economist at the NFIB, said in the news release.

The components include job openings, job-creation plans, inventory, and capital-spending plans.

It means that “soft” components, such as expectations about sales and business conditions drove the entire gain, Dunkelberg said.

“With prices being raised more frequently in response to rising labor and higher energy costs, it is clear that small businesses are unwilling to invest in an uncertain future. As long as this is the case, the economy will continue to be ‘bifurcated,’ with the small business sector not pulling its historical weight in the GDP numbers.”

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines bifurcate as “to cause to divide into two branches or parts.”

The NFIB’s news release also provided analysis on the index readings for the components involved, including labor markets, sales, and earnings and wages.

Labor markets
NFIB owners increased employment by an average of 0.11 workers per firm in May, a figure that is seasonally adjusted.

It represents the eighth positive month in a row and the best string of gains since 2006, according to the NFIB.

Seasonally adjusted, 11 percent of the owners (a figure that is down 2 points) reported adding an average of three workers per firm over the past few months.

The remaining 77 percent of owners made no net change in employment.

About 55 percent of the owners hired or tried to hire in the last three months and 46 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions.

GDP declined in the first quarter, but it didn’t result in reduced labor demand, the NFIB said.

Nearly one quarter (24 percent) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, which is unchanged and provided some “downward pressure” on the unemployment rate.

Another 14 percent reported using temporary workers, unchanged for several months.

Job-creation plans continued to “strengthen” and rose 2 percentage points to a seasonally adjusted net 10 percent, approaching “normal” levels for a growing economy, even with no growth last quarter, the NFIB said.

Sales
The net percentage of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reporting higher nominal sales in the past three months, compared to the prior three months, improved 1 point to a net negative 1 percent, “far better” than the negative 34 percent readings in 2009.

It represents the best seasonally adjusted reading since early 2012 when the economy temporarily reached a more normal growth path.

About 12 percent cite weak sales as their top business problem, the best reading since December 2007, the peak of the expansion.

Expected real-sales volumes posted a 5 point increase, rising to a net 15 percent of owners, the best reading since mid-2007.

Expectations for improved sales volumes have “strengthened substantially,” but this has not translated into strong demand for inventories or employees, the NFIB noted.

Earnings and wages
Earnings trends improved three points to a net negative 17 percent.

Rising labor costs are keeping “pressure” on earnings, but the NFIB is noticing, what appears to be, “steady improvement” in profit trends.

It represents one of the best readings since mid-2007 with the exception of a few months in early 2012 when the economy made an attempt to pick up the pace of economic growth.

Three percent of respondents reported reduced worker compensation and 24 percent reported raising pay, yielding a seasonally adjusted net 20 percent reporting higher worker compensation, unchanged and among the best readings since 2008.

A net seasonally adjusted 15 percent plan to raise compensation in the coming months, which is up 1 point, and represents the “strongest” reading since 2008.

The reported gains in pay are now solidly in the range typical of an economy with solid growth, the NFIB noted.

Although GDP growth in the first quarter was negative, the small-business sector continues to show signs of progress, “small as they may be,” the NFIB added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

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