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Syracuse company takes on arena lighting market
SYRACUSE — Syracuse Crunch fans may have noticed something new, bright, and flashy if they have attended any games in the new hockey season. Specifically, they have seen a newly upgraded LED (light-emitting diode) lighting system, featuring flashing and moving lights, installed at the Onondaga County War Memorial by Ephesus Lighting, Inc., a three-year old
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SYRACUSE — Syracuse Crunch fans may have noticed something new, bright, and flashy if they have attended any games in the new hockey season.
Specifically, they have seen a newly upgraded LED (light-emitting diode) lighting system, featuring flashing and moving lights, installed at the Onondaga County War Memorial by Ephesus Lighting, Inc., a three-year old company poised to take the arena lighting world by storm.
Ephesus installed the new LED system at the War Memorial prior to the 2012-13 season and has upgraded the lights for the 2013-14 campaign.
Ephesus specializes in LED lighting, providing light systems that are brighter and more efficient than their traditional counterparts such as metal halide lighting, says Joseph Casper, president of Ephesus. The firm’s systems can save clients as much as 60 percent to 70 percent over the cost of traditional lighting, while also allowing clients to up the entertainment value of their venues through the lighting, he contends.
“That’s the really cool thing, the entertainment aspect of it,” Casper notes. With old lighting systems, turning the lights on was a minutes-long process as switches were thrown and bulbs warmed up. That’s not the case with LED, he says, where lights can be turned on and off instantaneously and wirelessly. The lights can strobe, be used as a spotlight, and even include colors, making it more fun for fans, Casper says.
Ephesus’ money-saving and attention-grabbing lighting system is gaining notice from more than just spectators, he adds. A little over a year after completing its first install at the War Memorial, the company is now wrapping up its sixth arena project with several more projects on tap for the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2014.
The firm’s number of customers and projects has more than quadrupled, Casper says. Ephesus added five new employees this year, bringing its total to 14 people.
Casper credits the company’s success to several different factors, but notes that the lights really speak for themselves. He has taken many prospective clients into the War Memorial to show off the lights and walked out of the building with a new client in his roster. Other projects that Ephesus has completed include the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton and the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. Conn. The company’s most recent project is the Rioch Coliseum in Toronto. While the company does some marketing outreach, Casper says, as word spreads about Ephesus’ lights, arena operators are seeking the company out.
Another key to the firm’s success and ability to sell its system is its approach to lighting from an engineering background, Casper says. He has 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and has used that know how to help design the LED systems.
LEDs are solid-state semiconductors that started to take off as a lighting option around 2007, he says. Unlike more traditional lighting, no gas or filaments are involved. “It’s basically indestructible,” Casper says. With little to no maintenance requirements or costs, a lifespan of decades, the ability to operate at extreme hot and cold temperatures, and the ability to withstand a 100-mile-per-hour hit from a hockey puck, LED lights just make good sense for arenas that play host to sporting events.
That has been Ephesus’ primary target market to date, Casper says, and there are plenty of arenas out there to keep the company busy for a while. However, he’s not content to stop there, and Casper says his firm is already developing a comparable system for outdoor stadiums as well. The LED lighting market is a roughly $70 billion industry, but with little emphasis placed on the arena and stadium markets where Ephesus is carving its niche, he contends. That’s why the company plans to continue to strike while the iron is hot and competition is minimal. Casper is working now to get a foot in the door with the National Hockey League as well as Major League Baseball to provide lighting at venues that host those teams.
Ephesus (www.ephesuslighting.com), founded in 2010, also provides commercial and industrial LED lighting. The company worked with a number of New York universities to hone its technology including Syracuse University, Binghamton University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Cornell University. The company also works in partnership with several other New York companies, such as Anaren, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANEN), which provides wireless technology, and Ansen Corp. in Ogdensburg, which does all the manufacturing.
Ephesus declined to disclose its annual revenue.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
Harden Furniture plans technology upgrades
McCONNELLSVILLE — Harden Furniture recently landed a $600,000 New York State Economic Development Council grant that will help the company kick off a three-year, $6-million technology upgrade that expands upon technology innovations installed at the company’s McConnellsville furniture factory a year ago. Last November, Harden (www.harden.com) installed a new Holz-Her CNC machining center and replaced
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McCONNELLSVILLE — Harden Furniture recently landed a $600,000 New York State Economic Development Council grant that will help the company kick off a three-year, $6-million technology upgrade that expands upon technology innovations installed at the company’s McConnellsville furniture factory a year ago.
Last November, Harden (www.harden.com) installed a new Holz-Her CNC machining center and replaced a rough mill with a Weinig optimizing system. The new manufacturing technology was the first step in moving Harden from a batch manufacturer to a Batch One manufacturer, where pieces are quickly and efficiently produced one at a time as needed, Gregory Harden, president and CEO says.
In this next phase, Harden Furniture will improve its rough mill with new woodworking equipment, expand, upgrade its sawmill, and improve its IT system.
“As we start doing more Batch One process, we’ll probably be adding, at some point, more CNC machine centers,” Greg Harden adds.
While it’s taken the better part of the past year to fully integrate the machining center and get it programmed, Harden says he’s more than pleased with the machine and the changes it has already brought to the company.
At a time when many domestic furniture manufacturers are struggling, Harden Furniture is holding its own with steady sales and potential for growth, Harden contends. Furniture Brands International, Inc. of St. Louis — which owns the Broyhill, Lane, Drexel Heritage, and Thomasville brands — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September and plans to sell all of its lines, except Lane, to an asset-management firm. Many other furniture manufacturers have also faced financial troubles in recent years as the tepid economy and foreign competitors continue to batter the industry, Harden says.
However, new technology is giving Harden Furniture new sales and growth avenues that Harden is confident will help the company prosper. Along with freeing the company up from storing nearly finished pieces and components in inventory until sold, the new equipment helps Harden to offer custom furniture pieces such as a live-edge table. That option, while offered before, was labor intensive and costly. Now, Harden notes, it’s no more work to make a customized piece than a standard one. All the company needs are specs from the customer and a quick reset of the CNC machine.
Already, about 10 percent of Harden Furniture’s production is customized products, with anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of business in the company’s contract division moving to customized. Harden expects those figures to continue growing as word gets out.
“There’s really nobody in this country doing what we do,” he says. Competitors such as L. & J.G. Stickley, based in Manlius, provide an excellent product, but still utilize a batch process that makes customization difficult, Harden contends.
And customization seems to be where the industry is going. Harden Furniture’s ability to offer that customization quickly and at a reasonable price is already paying off with sales that are up for the year, Harden notes. He declined to provide specific revenue figures for the company. The 2013 Business Journal 500 publication pegged Harden Furniture’s most recent fiscal-year revenue at nearly $20.6 million, citing Hoovers data. The company has nearly 300 employees.
“As people look at us and see we’re being innovative and investing in the company, that really helps us from a business standpoint,” Harden says. He expects the technology upgrade project to wrap up in early 2015.
Headquartered in McConnellsville, Harden Furniture is family-owned business that was founded in 1844. The company says it’s currently the oldest furniture manufacturer in North America.
Harden Furniture says it gets most of its hardwoods, such as black cherry and maple, from trees grown within a 50-mile radius of its McConnellsville plant. It owns and manages its own forests.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
Computer-technology firm CCPlus plans move, more hiring
SALINA — CCPlus, Inc., a computer-technology company that provides outsourcing services for some of its clients, plans to move into new space in Salina in November and has plans for additional hiring. CCPlus is a firm that provides an information-technology (IT) staff for small businesses that need such a service, says Brian Clark, controller at
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SALINA — CCPlus, Inc., a computer-technology company that provides outsourcing services for some of its clients, plans to move into new space in Salina in November and has plans for additional hiring.
CCPlus is a firm that provides an information-technology (IT) staff for small businesses that need such a service, says Brian Clark, controller at CCPlus.
It also specializes in installing new computer servers, computer networking, building websites, and installing printers and telephone systems, he adds.
The firm has plans to move from its current 1,400-square-foot space at 5905 E. Taft Rd. in Cicero to a 2,300-square-foot location at 913 Old Liverpool Road in Salina.
CCPlus simply needs a larger space to accommodate its future hiring plans, says Clark.
“As our business continues to grow, we don’t have the current facilities to house the technicians and be able to provide the level of service we feel we can provide [without] having the right facility. The 1,400 square feet is not enough to employ and house additional employees that we would need to continue to service our customers at the level we’re growing at,” he says.
CCPlus plans to move into its new office on Nov. 1, Clark says.
Besides the need for more room, CCPlus also wanted a space that provides easier access from [Interstates] 90 and 81
“So location is another factor,” Clark says.
CCPlus has a database of about 10,000 clients in its history, but generally services between 30 and 40 clients on any given day, he says.
The firm services clients in the manufacturing and health-care sectors, along with professional offices, he says.
CCPlus spent two months locating the new space, a month negotiating the terms of its lease, and another month preparing the facility, according to Clark.
“The only thing that’s being done currently is our own work, which is the wiring. We’re 70 percent done with the wiring at the new location,” he says.
The firm is leasing the new space from Pinnacle Dental Group. That space is currently vacant, Clark says.
CCPlus worked with Nothnagle Realtors of Rochester to find its new space. Clark isn’t aware of any new tenant with plans to move into its space along East Taft Rd.
Kevin Phillips is the landlord of the company’s current location, a Cape Cod-style home, Clark says.
Hiring plans
CCPlus operates offices in Cicero, Auburn, Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo.
The firm currently employs 23 people, including 20 full-time workers. CCPlus hopes to add between two and four full-time computer technicians before year’s-end, Clark says.
“Most of our growth and expansion [and] hiring is going to be in the [new Salina] office,” he says.
The current Cicero location has nine employees, Rochester has 13, Auburn has one employee, and the Albany office has one full-time technician, according to Clark.
The company’s locations in Albany and Buffalo are satellite offices. CCPlus began staffing the Albany location last summer but is not currently staffing its Buffalo location but it remains operational as a satellite location, Clark says.
The firm doesn’t stipulate between its Rochester and Cicero locations as a headquarters, but the company’s payroll and financial reporting is handled in Rochester, he says.
Clark describes CCPlus as a “multi-million dollar” business, having generated revenue growth of nine percent in 2012 compared to 2011. The firm is also projecting about 20 percent growth in 2013, Clark adds.
“We’ve had over 22 percent growth in the last 12 months alone. We’re targeting to try to get at least another 15 percent growth in the next six to eight months,” says Clark.
Randy and Eileen Mayall co-own the company, according to Clark.
Randy Mayall previously served as an engineer at Eastman Kodak in Rochester. He started doing freelance work and eventually launched his own company, called Our Computer Guy in 1992.
Mayall expanded the business with the acquisition of JEF Computing in Auburn in 2009 and changed the name to OCG Computing.
A year later, Our Computer Guy acquired CCPlus of Cicero, which had been started by another group of investors in 2001, according to Clark.
Our Computer Guy remains the parent company name, which does business as CCPlus, Clark says.
Partners
CCPlus has secured “multiple national contracts,” Clark says, and they include companies that are listed as “partners” on the firm’s website.
The partners include Carestream Dental, LLC of Atlanta, a division of Rochester–based Carestream Health and a provider of medical and dental imaging information-technology products.
CCPlus is a national-service provider and is “fully trained and certified on all Carestream digital imaging and practice-management products,” according to its website.
Carestream requests service from CCPlus for “jobs all over,” Clark says.
In order to accommodate the requests, the company sends its technicians to Atlanta for a two-week training course to understand the equipment.
“Once they have successfully completed the testing, they are issued certifications that we have to have on file that they can service equipment, and we can not send any of our technicians that are not certified out on the road for those jobs,” Clark says.
CCPlus is also a business partner of Palo Alto, Calif.–based Hewlett-Packard Co., providing and servicing computer servers, desktops, laptops, and printers.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
New York manufacturing index slips in October
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 5 points to 1.5 in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Oct. 15. Despite the dip, the result indicates that business conditions “held steady” for New York manufacturers in October, according to the New York Fed. That’s because the survey found roughly a
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The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 5 points to 1.5 in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Oct. 15.
Despite the dip, the result indicates that business conditions “held steady” for New York manufacturers in October, according to the New York Fed.
That’s because the survey found roughly a quarter of respondents indicated that conditions had improved, while a similar amount of respondents felt conditions had worsened.
October’s result follows four straight months in which the general business-conditions index indicated that manufacturing activity in the Empire State grew “modestly,” the New York Fed said in the survey report.
“The steady condition is a good condition to be in versus a declining condition,” says Randall Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY).
The survey’s new-orders index rose five points to 7.8 in October, and the shipments index fell three points to 13.1, suggesting that both orders and shipments increased “modestly” over the month, the New York Fed said.
“If you’ve got new orders, then it results in additional production,” MACNY’s leader says.
The prices-paid index remained unchanged at 21.7, while the prices-received index fell six points to 2.4.
Labor-market conditions were also “steady” in October. The index for number of employees fell for a second consecutive month, but was slightly positive at 3.6, while the average-workweek index inched up to 3.6.
Price indexes pointed to a “steady pace” of input-price increases and “little change” in selling prices, according to the New York Fed.
The prices-paid index was unchanged at 21.7, and the prices-received index fell 6 points to 2.4.
Indexes for the six-month outlook continued conveying a “strong” degree of optimism about future-business conditions, according to the survey report.
The future general-business conditions index held near last month’s reading of 40.8, a “year-and-a-half high.”
The indexes for expected new orders and expected shipments remained at “strong levels.”
The future prices-paid index rose 6 points to 45.8 and the future prices-received index held steady at 25.3.
Future employment indexes indicated an expectation that employment levels and hours worked would be somewhat higher in the months ahead.
The capital-expenditures index and technology-spending index were “little changed,” at 15.7 and 12.1, respectively.
“People are basing everything from capital investments to employee investment on their outlooks,” MACNY’s Wolken says.
Supplementary questions focused on recent and expected changes in firms’ borrowing needs and credit availability. Parallel questions were asked in October 2012 and in earlier surveys.
As in earlier surveys, a majority of respondents to the current survey reported no change in borrowing needs over the past year and over the past three months.
When asked about changes in credit availability, the vast majority of respondents reported no change over the past three months and over the past year.
In contrast with last year’s survey, firms in this month’s survey reported increased borrowing costs, on net, over the past three months.
Earlier surveys indicated net declines in borrowing costs, according to the New York Fed.
The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.
MACNY is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) association representing almost 330 businesses and organizations across upstate New York.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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