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Oneida Healthcare names Parry new VP for operations
ONEIDA — Oneida Healthcare announced it has appointed Mary Parry to the position of vice president for operations. She replaces Paul Scopac, who retired on
A Region of Entrepreneurs: A chat with Andrew Farah
The action and optimism of 2013 has provided a great starting point for the year to come. We believe 2014 will continue to build exponentially on all of the entrepreneurial activity of the region. Upstate New York has truly become a hotbed of action. The tech start-up scene is more than gaining momentum — it
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The action and optimism of 2013 has provided a great starting point for the year to come. We believe 2014 will continue to build exponentially on all of the entrepreneurial activity of the region.
Upstate New York has truly become a hotbed of action. The tech start-up scene is more than gaining momentum — it is here to stay. Substantial real-estate development is evident in many areas and attitudes of the past have died a quick death.
Venture and angel funds have been created all across Upstate to help drive growth further. The future could not be brighter and more sustainable for the region, and many people are taking advantage of the positive activity.
We could not have made it this far without a true ecosystem being developed over the past 10 years. Those building blocks have provided the foundation for sustainability and substantial wealth creation over time. A great example of one of those building blocks is the tech start-up Rounded.
Rounded — a Syracuse–based firm that designs and develops web sites, apps, and products — is a great story of collaboration and a true example of how an entrepreneurial ecosystem can breed success. The partners of Rounded will tell you they couldn’t have garnered the success they have without the supportive nature of upstate New York.
Andrew Farah is one of those partners. We recently sat down with Farah to get his perspective on the region, to understand why he stayed here, and what he sees in the future.
Q: You have an interesting story that is becoming more commonplace than maybe people realize. You went to Syracuse University and stayed in the area upon graduation. You had other options. Why did you stay?
A: The four, initial founding partners of Rounded were all from different cities; myself included.
I stayed in Syracuse because two of my three business partners had a year left before graduation. Even under those conditions, the decision to stay was not self-evident. We also didn’t draw our conclusion by process of elimination. At the time, we believed there was only one option: Two partners would work remotely while the other two finished school. And we’d establish Rounded in another city (New York or Denver). After a month of city-to-city comparison: weighing potential market size, quality of life, proximity to family and friends, I remember it was my wife (a Texan native) who asked the question we had yet to consider, “What if we stayed in Syracuse?”
Somehow, living and working professionally in Syracuse had never even entered our calculus. In my opinion, this mindset is a major factor in the steady outflow of graduating talent today.
Q: If you were graduating from a regional university today, why would you stay in upstate New York to build a business?
A: Students can be given a litany of compelling reasons to stay in Syracuse — low cost of living, low startup costs, employers hungry for talent, a community eager to support, the chance to be a big fish in a little pond, outdoor lifestyle, surrounded by universities, no major commute, etc. — but if living here never even occurs to them and they are never asked, “What if you stayed?,” they will continue to leave.
Q: We think that the culture of upstate New York is changing for the better. Do you see that as well? Explain.
A: If you count my time at Syracuse University (SU), I have lived in and around this city for nearly nine years (four years as an undergrad, two in graduate school, and three years professionally). In the first four years, essentially, I was blind to the condition of the city. I had little engagement other than visits to the Warehouse owned by SU in Armory Square and the occasional trip to bars in Armory Square. During that period, I likely spent more time at Destiny USA, which was farther away, than I did in the heart of the city.
These last five years I have lived and worked exclusively downtown. I even own a home in Strathmore. At least within that sample time-period, the coffee is now better, the demographic is younger, there are more bicycles, more startups, more dogs, cleaner sidewalks, better-paved roads, new apartments, and at least one venue where you can buy a shot of wheat-grass. If that’s not transformation, I’m not sure what is.
Q: Rounded Development is located in the Syracuse Technology Garden. How has that contributed to the success of the company?
A: The Tech Garden is where I met my co-founders. It’s where I met my most trusted adviser, where I opened our first office, hired our first employee, and signed our first client. The people who work at/or with the Tech Garden and the iSchool at Syracuse University are uniquely generous individuals. And, the time they have given me over the last five years is a debt I’ll find very difficult to repay.
In short, the Tech Garden was instrumental in Rounded’s existence.
Q: There are a lot of social and entertainment outlets for entrepreneurs in upstate New York. What do you take advantage of when you’re not working?
A: I like to hike, fish, and study martial arts and aviation. Interestingly, Syracuse has a rather vibrant community for the last two activities on that list.
Q: In your opinion, what’s the most telling sign of the success that the region is realizing?
A: Measured from Rounded’s perspective, our company, while housed in Syracuse, employs a highly sought-after technology professional who hails from Seattle, the home of Amazon and Microsoft.
Q: What has entrepreneurship provided you that a 9-5 job wouldn’t?
A: I’m reluctant to assume that all lessons in a startup can’t also be learned at a 9-5 position.
However, there is one thing I have learned that I will never forget. As far as I can tell, the world was built by people no smarter than you or me. Once that’s understood, you’re free to realize that ambition is only yours to limit.
We want to thank you for continuing to read our coverage of the re-birth of upstate New York. The progress is great to see and it’s even better to think about what is to come. The more people that get involved, the more successful and sustainable the region becomes.
You can reach Rounded at www.roundedco.com
For more information about how to get plugged into the ecosystem, contact Upstate Venture Connect at www.uvc.org
For more information on the entrepreneurial ecosystem check out Victor Hwang’s book, “The Rainforest” at www.therainforestbook.com
Robert M. (Rob) Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO. Contact him via email at: rsimpson@centerstateceo.com. Kyle Blumin is a serial entrepreneur, with multiple business exits, based in upstate New York. He is passionate about driving personal and professional success through entrepreneurship. You can follow Blumin on Twitter @KyleBlumin.
SUNY Research Foundation awards presidential fellowship to ESF faculty member
SYRACUSE — The Research Foundation (RF) for the State University of New York (SUNY) has awarded a presidential fellowship to Preston Gilbert, a faculty member
SUNY Oswego announces $7.5 million donation, largest gift in school history
OSWEGO — The estate of Oswego County resident Lorraine Marano has donated $7.5 million to SUNY Oswego, the “largest single gift” in school history. That’s
Fake eye doctor pleads guilty to defrauding Medicaid, private health insurers
A Rochester man has pleaded guilty after he fraudulently billed Medicaid and health-insurance companies for more than $115,000 for optometrist and/or ophthalmic-dispensing services. Shamil Tadros
Cornell, Ithaca College, TC3 launch incubator project in Ithaca
ITHACA — Cornell University, in collaboration with Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, has announced plans for an incubator project in downtown Ithaca that could lead to incentives in the START-UP NY program. The incubator, to be located in the Carey Building at 314 E. State St. near The Commons, seeks to attract entrepreneurs
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ITHACA — Cornell University, in collaboration with Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, has announced plans for an incubator project in downtown Ithaca that could lead to incentives in the START-UP NY program.
The incubator, to be located in the Carey Building at 314 E. State St. near The Commons, seeks to attract entrepreneurs to the downtown area, Cornell said in a news release.
The entrepreneurs aren’t required to have an affiliation with any of the schools involved, Cornell added.
The schools want the incubator space to serve as a location where entrepreneurs can find help in their business pursuits.
The space is intended to attract programming and events that target the “local and regional entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Cornell said.
The space will also be the home of incubator-tenant companies that will have access to work space, mentoring, and resources.
The schools are working with the building owner, Travis Hyde Properties, to have the Ithaca incubator open for business in the summer.
Initial plans call for a remodeled second floor and expansion into a new third floor by early 2015, according to the news release.
The total cost of the renovation, furnishing, and future expansion of the Carey Building is estimated at $3.5 million. The colleges secured $1 million of the funding through the state’s consolidated-funding application process.
Travis Hyde Properties is investing the remaining $2.5 million, according to Cornell. The building owner is also supporting the Ithaca incubator through rent abatements.
The partnering higher-education institutions are handing the operational costs involved. The fees that tenants pay will partially offset those costs “over time,” according to Cornell.
The Carey Building will remain on the local property tax rolls, a requirement under the state programs, Cornell said.
Cornell has campuses, programs and relationships that extend around the world, but Ithaca is “our home. We thrive only if it thrives,” David Skorton, president of Cornell University, said in the news release.
“Taking up the governor’s challenge to help spur more economic activity in the region is a natural extension of our long commitment to this community and our land-grant mission, and we are particularly thrilled to be joining Ithaca College and TC3 to make this downtown incubator a reality,” Skorton said.
Companies will be evaluated for tenancy in the Ithaca incubator without regard to organizational affiliation and will be eligible for tax incentives through New York.
Upon graduation from an incubator, companies can take advantage of abundant available commercial and office space downtown, and many will qualify for additional tax incentive support through the new START-UP NY program.
START-UP NY is short for SUNY Tax-free Areas to Revitalize and Transform UPstate NY.
The provides incentives for businesses to relocate, start up, or expand in New York through affiliations with colleges, universities, and community colleges, according the website for START-UP NY. Businesses will have the chance to operate state and local tax free on or near academic campuses and their employees won’t have to pay any state or local personal-income taxes, the website says.
The Ithaca incubator also is part of the Southern Tier Innovation Hot Spot, a regional economic-development plan. The regional economic-development council in December awarded the Southern Tier plan annual funding of $250,000 over three years, according to Cornell.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Economist: growth in CNY should ‘modestly accelerate’ in 2014
SYRACUSE — Economic growth is poised to “modestly accelerate” in 2014 as the “drag” from housing, consumer deleveraging, global trade, and fiscal policy recedes.” That’s according to Gary Keith, regional economist for M&T Bank, the keynote speaker at today’s Economic Forecast Breakfast held by CenterState CEO at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter
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SYRACUSE — Economic growth is poised to “modestly accelerate” in 2014 as the “drag” from housing, consumer deleveraging, global trade, and fiscal policy recedes.”
That’s according to Gary Keith, regional economist for M&T Bank, the keynote speaker at today’s Economic Forecast Breakfast held by CenterState CEO at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter in Syracuse.
Keith presented an overview of trends in the national and state economies, and their impact on the region, according to a news release CenterState CEO distributed about the forecast breakfast.
“While service-sector hiring should maintain its upward momentum, the extent to which industrial job losses are stemmed, and reversed, will be key in the coming year,” Keith said.
At the same time, a “large majority” of focus-group participants expect the Central New York economy to improve in 2014, believing it is “slowly catching up” to levels not seen since before the economic downturn of 2008, Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO, said in the release.
“Businesses and the CenterState New York region as a whole will face an array of pivotal opportunities in 2014. Companies are preparing to embrace those opportunities head on by meeting the emerging demands of their industries, expanding their products and services to new markets, both domestically and abroad, and are looking for new opportunities through collaborations and partnerships,” Simpson said.
The forecast report identifies trends that affected the regional economy in 2013, and outlines opportunities and challenges for 2014.
CenterState CEO used input from 236 member-executives and community participants representing 12 counties, along with “exclusive” data and analysis from Manpower, to generate the forecast report, the economic development and chamber-of-commerce organization said.
For example, the report found 58 percent of respondents indicated an average growth rate of 15 percent.
In addition, respondents also indicated expectations for 2014. The report found 68 percent expect an increase in sales and revenue, 53 percent anticipate they’ll expand products and services, 49 percent expect a rise in profit, and 32 percent plan to increase capital investments this year.
The report also identifies “several opportunities and reasons for optimism” across sectors in 2014.
The “broad societal desire” for sustainability will create growth in areas such as alternative fuels and energy sources, hybrid technology, and recycling in 2013, the report found.
Exporting is also viewed as a “vitally important component” in sectors such as manufacturing and could serve as a “great engine” for generating revenue in the region, according to the report.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Bond, Schoeneck & King expands in the New York City area
SYRACUSE — On Jan. 1, the Manhattan–based law firm of Kehl, Katzive & Simon, LLP joined Syracuse–based Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC. On Feb. 1, the Long Island–based law firm of Kennedy & Gillen will also join Bond. Bond, Schoeneck & King currently has 15 lawyers in its New York City office on Madison Avenue.
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SYRACUSE — On Jan. 1, the Manhattan–based law firm of Kehl, Katzive & Simon, LLP joined Syracuse–based Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC. On Feb. 1, the Long Island–based law firm of Kennedy & Gillen will also join Bond.
Bond, Schoeneck & King currently has 15 lawyers in its New York City office on Madison Avenue. The addition of Kehl will bring the office to 22 attorneys. The expansion necessitates a move to new quarters, now scheduled for April 1. “We are moving our New York office to Third Avenue and doubling the space we currently have,” says Richard D. Hole, chairman of Bond’s management committee. “We will not extend the current Kehl lease when it expires.”
The forthcoming inclusion of the Kennedy firm will boost the current Garden City office of Bond from 11 to 14 attorneys. Hole says that the Long Island office is also planning to double its existing space and not continue Kennedy’s current lease.
Mergers and acquisitions of law firms typically allow them to broaden practice areas, deepen the strength of client teams, and expand the firm’s capabilities in targeted industries or geographical sectors. “These two moves do all three,” says Hole. “Kehl strengthens our labor/employment, employee-benefits, and litigation practices. For more than three decades, the Kehl firm has provided its services primarily to colleges and universities, public and private schools, and not-for-profit organizations. They have built their firm and established long-standing relationships with their clients based on the same values that Bond espouses.”
Three of the seven attorneys are now partners in Bond, Schoeneck & King.
What expertise will the Kennedy & Gillen firm bring Bond?
“The Kennedy firm is a general civil-practice firm,” says Hole. “Their focus is on real-estate and supermarket law. Their clientele is varied and includes a major Long Island supermarket chain, one of the country’s largest REITS, real-estate developers, residential cooperative corporations, and insurance companies. The firm also provides employment law, litigation, business, and estate-planning services.” Both Kennedy and Gillen will join Bond, Schoeneck & King as partners.
The two New York City–area firms strengthen several of Bond’s practices. As the largest law firm headquartered in Syracuse (ranked by number of local attorneys), Bond has more than three dozen higher-education clients, represents more than 40 school districts across the Empire State, and serves nearly 200 not-for-profit organizations.
The two combinations also fit Bond’s strategy.
“These moves support our strategic plan,” notes Hole. “We’re a regional firm with a New York state footprint of nine offices that stretches from Buffalo to Garden City and includes Albany, Ithaca, New York City, Oswego, Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica. We also maintain offices in Naples, Fla. and Overland Park, Kansas. The [New York City] metro area offers us a huge opportunity for growth. We needed more boots on the ground in the metro area to be a full-service firm in that region of the state.”
The merger process
Bond, Schoeneck & King has a mergers and acquisition team that is looking for opportunities.
“We are proactive in this regard,” says Hole. “But timing is everything. We knew the principals of both firms and had discussions with Kennedy & Gillen for about a year. The negotiations with Kehl only took a few months. It was obvious in both cases that the acquisition would help to grow Bond and deepen our resources. It was also important that these two firms have a good, cultural fit with us.”
Hole would not share any financial terms or other details of the acquisitions other than to say that the two firms would cease operating independently and join Bond, Schoeneck & King.
Typically, the term “acquisition” applied to bringing in experienced lawyers or an entire firm involves no cash. All parties are considered to be contributing an equal amount of value on a pro-rata basis. In addition to the “acquired” human capital, the acquiring firm may get some assets and work-in-progress, plus good will. There is no yardstick, such as a multiple of EBITDA, to measure the value of these deals.
On Feb.1, Bond, Schoeneck & King will have 225 attorneys, of whom 112 are in Central New York. On that date, the total employee count will reach 440, with 267 working in this region, and the number of partners will total 134.
The law firm does not disclose annual revenue. The Syracuse headquarters occupies nearly 100,000 square feet in the Chase Tower. The original partnership was established in 1897.
Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com
Rheonix expands for manufacturing, prepares product launch
ITHACA — Rheonix, Inc., an Ithaca–area-based developer of automated molecular-testing products, is working to complete a manufacturing build-out and preparing to launch its first commercial product later this year. “We’re on schedule to be up in a manufacturing mode in the beginning of the second quarter of this year,” says Tony Eisenhut, president of Rheonix.
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ITHACA — Rheonix, Inc., an Ithaca–area-based developer of automated molecular-testing products, is working to complete a manufacturing build-out and preparing to launch its first commercial product later this year.
“We’re on schedule to be up in a manufacturing mode in the beginning of the second quarter of this year,” says Tony Eisenhut, president of Rheonix.
The firm on Dec. 18 announced it has raised $14 million for the product launch and the manufacturing expansion through a combination of debt and equity investments, Eisenhut says.
Cayuga Venture Fund and Rand Capital SBIC Inc., a subsidiary of Rand Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: RAND), led this round of funding, Eisenhut says.
Rheonix will use the money to expand its facilities and systems to fulfill its joint-development agreement with Carlsbad, Calif.–based Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE).
Rheonix will also target the funding for the commercialization of its first clinical, molecular-diagnostic product offering, Eisenhut says.
The Rheonix expansion includes a remodeling of its existing 12,000-square-foot space at 22 Thornwood Drive in the village of Lansing and the addition of a new, 11,000-square-foot headquarters at 10 Brown Road in the Cornell Business & Technology Park in Lansing, Eisenhut added.
“We moved our development team, our engineering team, and our computer scientists [and] software engineers over to 10 Brown Rd., which made way for the manufacturing expansion at 22 Thornwood [Dr.],” Eisenhut says.
The firm’s new headquarters is in existing space, he adds.
Black Diamond Construction, Inc. of Lansing performed the construction work, and architect George Breuhaus served as the project designer, Eisenhut says.
Besides the new headquarters and the manufacturing renovations, Rheonix has also opened a 1,000-square-foot Innovation Center, which is adjacent to the new headquarters but in a different building, according to Eisenhut.
“The Innovation Center is taking the technology know-how and capability and applying it to real-world problems, primarily in the diagnostic area,” Eisenhut says.
Peng Zhou, senior vice president for research and chief scientific officer at Rheonix and holder of 14 U.S. patents, will lead the Innovation Center.
Zhou envisions it as a way to pursue practical applications of the company’s existing technology, which includes the Chemistry and Reagent Device (CARD), a device the size of a smart phone that can run multiple samples through a molecular assay with no user intervention.
An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, pharmacology, environmental biology, and molecular biology.
The firm’s first clinical-product offering is a “specific molecular test” using the CARD technology, Eisenhut says.
Rheonix is also designating a portion of the investment funding to complete the company’s first submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We’re looking to put forth a molecular assay that is a panel assay for the detection of sexually-transmitted diseases,” Eisenhut says.
He describes it as a box that has a consumable, which is the CARD, and then the CARD is customized for a specific assay based on the reagents, or the chemicals, placed on it, Eisenhut says. The first customization is for the sexually-transmitted infection molecular assay that will be on the CARD that runs — what the firm — calls EncompassMDx platform, which is the box, he says.
The company anticipates its first registration in the second half of 2014.
In late 2008, Rheonix spun out of Kionix, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of inertial sensors like accelerometers.
Rheonix employs 47 people, including 45 people in Lansing and two workers at its office in Grand Island, near Buffalo.
Rheonix acquired a company in Grand Island, called Innovative Biotechnologies International, Inc., in December 2008.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Oswego County outlines 2014 business-plan competition
OSWEGO — Operation Oswego County has announced plans for the next installment of its business-plan competition, which has a top prize of $25,000. The organization refers to the competition as “The Next Great Idea: 2014 Oswego County Business Plan Competition” (NGI). The NGI competition will accept business-concept proposals from Jan. 22 through April 11, says
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OSWEGO — Operation Oswego County has announced plans for the next installment of its business-plan competition, which has a top prize of $25,000.
The organization refers to the competition as “The Next Great Idea: 2014 Oswego County Business Plan Competition” (NGI).
The NGI competition will accept business-concept proposals from Jan. 22 through April 11, says Austin Wheelock, co-chair of the NGI steering committee.
Wheelock also serves as an economic-development specialist and property manager for Operation Oswego County, an organization focused on economic development in the county, according to its website.
The NGI competition has three phases, including the proposal-acceptance period, and requires the selected participants to develop full business plans and make an in-person “pitch” to a panel of judges, Wheelock says.
After the submission period ends April 11, the judging panel will then evaluate the proposals through early May. Operation Oswego County will then notify the semi-finalists who would then submit full business plans by Sept. 5.
The full plan requires “narratives, résumés, [and] financial projections on the project,” Wheelock says.
The contest culminates with an awards luncheon in November.
The judging panel will include local bankers, business owners, venture capitalists, and angel investors. The panel will determine which proposals will advance to subsequent phases, he says.
The Richard S. Shineman Foundation of Oswego, Operation Oswego County, the Small Business Development Center at SUNY Oswego, KeyBank (NYSE: KEY), and Pathfinder Bank have provided financial support for the program, according to Wheelock.
In addition, the eventual winner can “potentially” leverage the $25,000 equity prize to borrow up to $250,000 in partnership with local banks, the Oswego County Industrial Development Agency, the cities of Oswego and Fulton community-development offices, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and other economic-development agencies and programs, he added.
Past winners have included Lakeside Artisans in 2010, and Ocean Blue Technology, LLC, in the inaugural NGI competition in 2008, Wheelock said.
With the exception of 2012, Operation Oswego County has conducted the business-plan contest every two years, Wheelock says.
“When we first designed it, we wanted to have a year in between every contest so that we could assist the winner in that year to kind of maximize the success that they have,” he adds.
He cited changes to the organization’s staffing and to the funding rules involved as the reasons why organizers opted not to hold the contest in 2012.
More information is available at the website www.oswegocounty.org/ngi, which includes an overview of the event, the application, a competition timeline, guidelines, details on the $25,000 prize, sponsors, and partners, he added.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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