GKG honored for best practices

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NEW HARTFORD — For the sixth year in a row, Gilroy Kernan & Gilroy, Inc (GKG) is among a select group of insurance agencies identified by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) and Reagan Consulting as employing the best business practices in the industry. The selection means that GKG’s operations including procedures, […]

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The selection means that GKG’s operations including procedures, growth, productivity, profitability, and financial stability have not only been reviewed but serve as best-practice models for other insurance agencies to adopt for their own success.

“We benchmark ourselves against the very best independent insurance agencies around the country,” GKG CFO Donald Polczynski says of the honor. “It says that you are amongst the very best.”

The honor is an important one, he says, because it assures clients and employees alike that the agency is a sound one. “It’s a symbol of a well-run organization,” he cotends.

While GKG won’t necessarily share its best ideas with the local competition, Polczynski says it will share its best practices nationally with other agencies with which it does not directly compete. It benefits the industry as a whole, he says, to share because it helps elevate the entire industry.

Every year, IIABA and Reagan Consulting study the country’s leading insurance agencies in six revenue categories. Agencies in the study groups are selected every third year through a comprehensive nomination and qualifying process. This year ended the current three-year study cycle which included more than 1,200 independent insurance agencies across the country. Only 224 agencies qualified for the best practices designation by being among the top 40 performers in one of the six revenue categories.

To stay at the top, GKG works to always be a step ahead of its clients’ needs as well as trends in the industry, Polczynski says. That means staying up to date on “hot topics” such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (also known as Obamacare) changes set to begin this January.

“We’re on top of that,” he says.

Headquartered at 201 Clinton Rd. New Hartford, GKG (www.gkginsurance.com) is an independent insurance agency offering risk-management products and services to businesses and individuals. Products include commercial insurance, employee benefits, and personal insurance. The firm, which does not disclose revenue information, employs 35 people and represents more than 80 insurance carriers.

Contact DeLore at tdelore@tmvbj.com

Oncenter gets new general manager

SYRACUSE — SMG, the company that runs the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse, named a new general manager for the conference and event facility this week.

Through Auspicium, Lorenz “puts skin in the game”

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

DeWITT — “Creating value using liquid management.” That’s the tag line on Michael J. Lorenz’s business card and on his company’s home page. Lorenz is the principal who, in 2008, founded Auspicium, LLC, a consulting firm headquartered in the town of DeWitt. The company moniker is taken from Latin, meaning to “move forward.” Auspicium offers

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DeWITT — “Creating value using liquid management.” That’s the tag line on Michael J. Lorenz’s business card and on his company’s home page.

Lorenz is the principal who, in 2008, founded Auspicium, LLC, a consulting firm headquartered in the town of DeWitt. The company moniker is taken from Latin, meaning to “move forward.” Auspicium offers a wide variety of consulting services including general-business transactions, financing, mergers and acquisitions, public-private partnership projects, real-estate development, and startups.

Lorenz says that liquid management is his term for “… delivering high-impact, senior-executive leadership into a situation on an as-needed basis. Under the principles of liquid management, [Auspicium] takes responsibility for both developing the strategy [of a project] as well as leading the execution to deliver the desired results using a hands-on approach. We [Auspicium] can increase or decrease key resources as needed to accomplish the goal, hence the term ‘liquid.’”

Auspicium leverages its experience, relationships, and reputations to create new value in each project it undertakes. Lorenz insists “… first on a critical assessment of the project and second, an agreement by the client to make Auspicium a team member.” Convinced that there is a good fit, Lorenz then aligns his efforts with that of the stakeholders’ interests by putting his own investment at risk. Most of his compensation is based on the value Auspicium produces.

So how does Auspicium address the issues of fee and method of payment? Lorenz says he “… determines his return based on the value his firm can create. The payment method varies depending on the client’s preference … Auspicium generally offers multiple-payment options.”

An 8-K filing with the SEC on Feb. 10, 2009 illustrates the flexibility of Auspicium to craft a consulting agreement. Patient Portal Technologies, Inc. (OTC: PPRG) — a publicly held corporation based in the town of Lysander that provides communications systems to hospitals — entered into a consulting agreement with Auspicium. Patient Portal Technologies, owned by a hedge fund in Boston, managed the operation and rental of in-room, patient phone and television systems in hospitals and was “experiencing operating losses,” according to Lorenz.

Lorenz became the interim president of Patient Portal Technologies and says he turned a $1.3 million loss into a $2.3 million gain. In return, the agreement granted him 2 million shares of restricted common stock and compensation equal to 3 percent of the gross proceeds raised as part of a planned capital transaction. Auspicium also received a monthly retainer and a minimum compensation amount in the event the financing transaction didn’t close on time.

Armory Square hotel project

Auspicium is currently working on a hotel project with Syracuse executive Richard Sykes, the former CEO of RMSCO. In 2008, Sykes, a principal in RHS Holdings, undertook to build a $31 million, 180-room Marriott hotel in downtown Syracuse, but the ensuing recession made it difficult to finance the project. Lorenz then joined Sykes “ … to restructure the deal, redesign the hotel to control costs and to increase room availability, raise the capital, negotiate the operating-partner agreements, and oversee the design and construction.”

The Inns at Armory Square project, which will combine a 78-room Residence Inn and a 102-room Courtyard by Marriot, secured funding from M&T Bank and is currently scheduled for a grand opening in the spring of 2013. Auspicium put most of its compensation at risk by becoming the second largest shareholder in the venture behind Sykes, with only a modest retainer and performance bonuses, according to Lorenz.

Auspicium is also working with Ephesus Technologies, LLC, based in Syracuse. Ephesus, which employs 12, describes itself as a lighting-innovation company that designs, engineers, and manufactures LED lighting. Lorenz has joined the business as the interim COO and as the CFO. His associate, Andrew Sussman, is the firm’s general counsel.

Auspicium is also pursuing the development of the Riverview wastewater-treatment plant located on the site of the abandoned Miller Brewing Co. plant in the town of Volney, just outside the city of Fulton.

Lorenz estimates that an “… investment of $6 million to $8 million is needed to make the plant operational. The facility, which has the capacity to produce 10 million gallons of water a day, could serve a city of 350,000.” The project offers the potential for substantial economic development in the region and for being environmentally beneficial, all at a low cost.

Auspicium is not confining its efforts only to Central New York. It has worked with clients, or is now exploring projects, in Portland, Maine; Boston; Miami; Oakland; and San Diego.

This is not Lorenz’s first rodeo. He has a long track record of transforming companies into profitable, growth enterprises. A native of Yonkers and Carmel, N.Y., Lorenz graduated from SUNY Binghamton with a degree in accounting and joined PriceWaterhouse in 1979, where he worked with emerging companies. Lorenz’s record includes his role as president or CEO of Blount Lumber, the Galson Corporation, CXtec, and Destiny USA, before launching Auspicium.

At 55, Lorenz is just getting warmed up. He reviews a growing list of projects to determine whether he wants to be involved, and is simultaneously working on a book about innovative thinking. He also continues to find time for volunteering in nonprofit work. As the name Auspicium suggests, Lorenz will move forward focused on value-creation for his clients and on innovative thinking, which includes a new consulting model that “puts skin in the game” and relies on “liquid management.”

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com

Kronenberg: Crouse restructuring necessary given changes in health care

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Health Care, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — Crouse Hospital could not avoid restructuring given a current backdrop of Medicare and Medicaid payment cuts, changes in government reimbursements, and new technology, Dr. Paul Kronenberg, president and CEO, says after the hospital made changes including eliminating 100 positions. “I think the main reason you do this is looking at the present and

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“I think the main reason you do this is looking at the present and looking at the future,” he says. “It is quite clear that reimbursement support for hospitals, and really most providers, is going to be going down. So we said, ‘Let’s not wait until there’s some kind of crisis.’ ”

Crouse is staring at a $5.1 million reduction in government payments like Medicare and Medicaid in 2013 if sequestration (automatic spending cuts agreed to in the 2011 debt-ceiling talks) takes effect because the federal fiscal-cliff talks fail, according to the hospital’s budget projections. Even if Congress strikes a deal to avoid sequestration, the Syracuse hospital projects its government payments dropping by $3.4 million.

Crouse had not approved a budget for 2013 as of press time. But officials anticipate its budget growing slightly from $354.5 million in 2012.

Reductions in government payments in 2013 aren’t the only upheavals hospitals face, Kronenberg says. Efforts are under way to reduce hospitalizations, slash readmissions, and possibly cut emergency-room visits, he continues.

“One of the things that we have planned for is reducing the length of stay of our patients within the hospital,” he says. “As some procedures are shifted to an outpatient site, that’s another thing that will impact us in some way. We have a very large outpatient surgery program, so we’re very well poised for that.”

Crouse didn’t immediately turn to reducing employment levels when it started its cost-cutting and restructuring, according to Kronenberg. It looked at reducing its supply expenses — trimming those by nearly $3 million this year. And it is attempting to limit high-cost items by reducing duplicate testing and focusing on limiting complications for patients, which can be expensive for patient and hospital alike.

Ultimately, though, Crouse still faced pressure from rising health-care costs and increasing health-care expenses.

“You do all of those activities and see what’s left,” Kronenberg says. “In our case all of those efforts were not going to be sufficient. Our budget would not have positioned us for the future, known and unknown.”

So Crouse initiated two rounds of position cuts. At the end of October, it announced about 30 eliminations, then shared news of 70 more at the beginning of November. The first round of cuts included 24 management positions. The second round was more wide-ranging. It included 23 vacant positions but also 16 licensed practical nurse (LPN) positions.

Many of the positions cut in the second round were union positions, meaning some employees can exercise bumping rights and move into positions occupied by workers with less seniority. The bumping process lengthened the time frame over which the cuts played out, but all positions were slated to be eliminated around the end of November. Of the 100 positions eliminated, 55 workers are on a severance program.

The LPN cuts came amid technological changes, Kronenberg says.

“As you go to a different system of care involving the use of electronic medical records, the nurse taking care of patients now becomes the person — as opposed to the unit secretary — that needs to be able to take off the orders that are written into the electronic medical record,” he says. “That is outside the license of the LPN.”

Crouse also closed an outpatient diabetes program it operated at 305 Vine St. in the village of Liverpool as part of its restructuring. That center had four employees and hosted 752 patient visits in 2011.

Kronenberg stresses that the Crouse job cuts, which bring the hospital down to 2,230 full-time-equivalent positions, do not reflect a hospital that is losing patients. Between 2006 and 2011, its discharges grew 11.4 percent to 24,395, its outpatient cases increased 10.7 percent to 253,976, and its emergency-room and urgent-care visits jumped 19.5 percent to 66,741.

“You need to grow revenue and reduce your costs,” Kronenberg says. “You grow your revenue mainly by attracting physicians to practice at your hospital and patients to come to your hospital. It’s something that we’ve continued to work on.”

The restructuring was not tied to a recently announced agreement between Crouse and the city of Syracuse that has the hospital making $50,000 annual payments to the city for four years. The payments come amid a push by Mayor Stephanie Miner to generate revenue from tax-exempt properties. As a nonprofit institution, Crouse is exempt from property taxes.

“It was a discussion that the mayor actually started during the summer or before the summer,” Kronenberg says. “We made the decision at that time to do what we thought we could to help support the city. We made that commitment months ago. I didn’t think it was right to back out of that commitment.”

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com

Currier Plastics starts work on delayed headquarters expansion

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Manufacturing & Engineering, Small Business, Subscriber Only, Technology

AUBURN — Currier Plastics President John Currier praises his company’s employees for meeting rising demand even as New York state worked to mold an aid package so the manufacturer could expand at its increasingly crowded Auburn home. “I have to credit my guys for squeezing more and more equipment in,” Currier says. “We don’t have

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“I have to credit my guys for squeezing more and more equipment in,” Currier says. “We don’t have the proper layout right now. We don’t think we’re operating nearly as efficiently as we will in the new building, but we had to do what we had to do to deliver for the customer.”

The custom blow-molding and injection-molding manufacturer held an official groundbreaking for a 55,000-square-foot expansion on Nov. 29 — although crews started construction about a month before that, according to Currier. Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony, which punctuated a year of Currier Plastics trying to secure enough state aid for it to consider expanding at its Auburn headquarters viable.

Aid is going to a $21 million expansion project that will come close to doubling Currier Plastics’ headquarters at 101 Columbus St. to 120,000 square feet. The project consists of $8 million in building and infrastructure work and $13 million in new equipment to be purchased over five years.

Currier Plastics is financing the project using its own cash and funding from First Niagara Bank. However, wetland and access issues made developing its current site expensive, and the company sought state aid to make on-site expansion as economically attractive as relocation.

The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council recommended $1.75 million toward the expansion last year — $1 million in Excelsior tax credits and a $750,000 capital grant. But when the state awarded funding under the 2011 regional-council initiative, it included only the tax credits.

That left Currier Plastics seeking to close a $750,000 funding gap. It put its expansion plans on hold and considered the possibility of in-state or out-of-state relocations.

The company had to spend about $200,000 to temporarily rig its existing space to keep up with increasing customer orders, Currier says. It also invested about $1.2 million into new equipment that had to be shoehorned into the facility.

Executives wondered whether it was wise to keep waiting for state funding, Currier adds.

“There were several times when we thought, ‘Did we make the right decision?’ ” he says. “ ‘Should we spend more? Should we stop the project now?’ But it never got to the point where we seriously considered it.”

Then in May of this year, Empire State Development gave the project a $750,000 Economic Transformation Grant. And company officials started to move forward with their on-site expansion.

Currier Plastics initially hoped to have the 55,000-square-foot expansion completed by Nov. 1. That didn’t turn out to be possible, so the company is now aiming to have the building ready for use by the end of February.

“There was probably a two- to three-month delay where we knew the news was good and we couldn’t take it to the bank yet,” Currier says. “I’ll throw some credit toward New York State, because when those times started looking a little dark, we contacted people and they said, ‘Hang in there, you’ll be happy in the end.’ And we are.”

Syracuse–based VIP Architectural Associates, PLLC and VIP Structures, Inc. are responsible for designing and building the addition. Currier Plastics anticipates adding 50 full-time employees over five years once the expansion is complete. The company currently employs 100 full-time staff members and 20 temporary workers. Temporary workers will be first in line for full-time employment positions, according to Currier.

Currier Plastics generated $24 million in revenue in 2011, which was up 17 percent from the previous year. It is projecting a revenue increase of 12 percent in 2012 and targets 15-percent growth in 2013.

“From a facility standpoint and an equipment standpoint, it’s going to be easier to grow,” Currier says. “Having the facility will allow us to add equipment, and we tend to add equipment as we get new sales.”

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com

AECC moves to larger home to facilitate its rapid growth

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Small Business, Subscriber Only

DeWITT— AECC, a fast-growing environmental consulting company, has more than doubled its space by moving its headquarters just down the road. AECC relocated to a 5,300-square-foot office building at 6308 Fly Road on Dec. 3, from its previous 2,000-square-foot office structure on 6296 Fly Road. Bryan Bowers, AECC owner and president, says he bought the

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DeWITT— AECC, a fast-growing environmental consulting company, has more than doubled its space by moving its headquarters just down the road.

AECC relocated to a 5,300-square-foot office building at 6308 Fly Road on Dec. 3, from its previous 2,000-square-foot office structure on 6296 Fly Road.

Bryan Bowers, AECC owner and president, says he bought the new building from D’Antonio Consultants International, Inc., for $360,000. The transaction was arranged by Syracuse–based JF Real Estate, a commercial real-estate firm. AECC had leased its previous office building from Oliva Companies, a general contractor and real-estate development firm based in DeWitt.

AECC needed the new, larger space to accommodate its growth. The firm is projected to generate about $3.5 million in revenue this year, up 30 percent from 2011, says Bowers.

AECC has grown to 27 employees now from 21 at the end of 2011, he says. AECC expects to hire another five to eight more employees in the next six months, Bowers says.

The environmental-consulting firm moved to its new location on Dec. 3 after renovations were completed. The contractor for the project was CDM Property Services LLC, a Brewerton–based general contractor, according to Bowers. He declined to disclose the cost of the renovations.

AECC’s key areas of expertise include environmental-site investigation and remediation, wetland work, environmental health and safety compliance, and industrial hygiene, including work with lead paint and mold issues. AECC provides consulting services to clients dealing with asbestos, lead paint, indoor air quality, environmental health and safety compliance, and contaminated soil or ground water issues, Bowers says.

The firm’s clientele is diverse, he adds.

“We work for a broad range of [clients],” Bowers says. “[We work for] schools, colleges, hospitals, health care, and industrial [clients].”

In addition to its DeWitt headquarters, AECC also has offices in Auburn, Rochester, and Albany.

About Bowers

Bowers, AECC’s sole owner, has more than 12 years experience in the environmental consulting industry.

He graduated from Le Moyne College in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Bowers worked as a field technician for Pearl River, N.Y.–based Lawler, Matusky & Skelly Engineers, LLP after graduation.

Bowers then moved back to the Syracuse area and worked for the local office of Los Angeles–based AECOM (NYSE: ACM), and Environmental Compliance Management Corporation (ECMC) in Chittenango.

He then joined Geomatrix of DeWitt as an industrial-hygiene project manager in the summer of 2006.

San Diego, Calif.–based Kleinfelder acquired the DeWitt office of Geomatrix in April 2007. Bowers remained with the company until January 2009, when he left to launch AECC.

Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com

New contract could help Lockheed on future deals

Manufacturing & Engineering, Regional News, Technology

OWEGO — A $30 million contract Lockheed Martin won from the Navy for work on cockpits could position the defense contractor for a number of

Midstate Spring winding up for changes in 2013

Manufacturing & Engineering, Small Business

DeWITT — Alex Melnikow likes to describe Midstate Spring’s business with a short sentence. “We buy wire, we play around with it, and we sell

EAG looks to increase local work after laboratory move

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Manufacturing & Engineering, Small Business, Technology

SALINA — Evans Analytical Group (EAG) is placing business opportunities in Central New York under a microscope after relocating its operations in the region to

Innovative Dynamics researching silicone tape for military use

Manufacturing & Engineering, Regional News, Small Business, Technology

ITHACA — Innovative Dynamics of Ithaca is developing a new type of silicone rubber tape with the help of Cornell University’s JumpStart program. The project

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