Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.
Binghamton unveils “green” loan fund
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Fidelis Care long-term care program comes to 11 counties around CNY
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Big Lots moves to bigger store in Binghamton
BINGHAMTON — Discount retailer Big Lots, Inc. will be offering a wider array of products, including furniture, with its new, larger store at 10 Glenwood
Willow Run Foods lands new contract, adds employees
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How Southern Tier lawmakers fared on Unshackle Upstate’s scorecard
Some of the Southern Tier region’s state legislators did well, but others lagged behind on Unshackle Upstate’s 2011-2012 legislative scorecards released Aug. 22, grading lawmakers on their support of pro-growth policies. Unshackle Upstate, which describes itself as a coalition of businesses and trade organizations advocating for reforms to make Upstate a stronger place in which
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Some of the Southern Tier region’s state legislators did well, but others lagged behind on Unshackle Upstate’s 2011-2012 legislative scorecards released Aug. 22, grading lawmakers on their support of pro-growth policies.
Unshackle Upstate, which describes itself as a coalition of businesses and trade organizations advocating for reforms to make Upstate a stronger place in which to do business, uses the scorecards to grade legislators on their legislative and budget votes as well as sponsorship of targeted bills during the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions.
In the Greater Binghamton region, Assemblyman Gary Finch, a Republican from Assembly District 123, scored 93 out of 100 for voting against measures to increase the minimum wage and suspend hydraulic fracturing and for sponsoring legislation such as the Power NY Act 2011. Power NY is an omnibus energy package that encourages new investments in electric-generating facilities across New York. Finch’s district includes portions of Broome, Chenango, and Tioga counties.
Donna Lupardo, a Democrat representing Assembly District 126, didn’t fare as well, but did better than most in her party, scoring 58 out of 100 points. Unshackle noted that Lupardo — whose district includes the city of Binghamton and towns of Vestal and Union — supported several measures unfavorable to taxpayers and economic/business growth including increasing the minimum wage and suspending hydraulic fracturing.
“I have a very good working relationship with the local business community and am a leading voice for the emerging innovation based economy in our area,” Lupardo said in an emailed statement, responding to the Unshackle grade. “Of the 91 Assembly majority [Democrat] members scored by Unshackle Upstate, I had the 6th highest score. I strive to balance a number of interests and believe that my constituents appreciate that approach,” she said,
State Sen. James L. Seward, a Republican representing the 51st Senate District that includes portions of the Southern Tier, was among the state’s high scorers on the Unshackle scorecard, receiving a grade of 94 out of 100. Unshackle lauded his votes in favor of the Power NY Act, property-tax caps, as well as his sponsorship of legislation to cap property taxes, establish an unemployment base period, and to eliminate the corporate franchise tax on manufacturing.
State Sen. Thomas Libous, Republican of District 52 serving Broome, Tioga, and Chenango counties, scored 88 out of 100. He was scored up by Unshackle for sponsoring and voting for the property-tax cap as well as his state-budget votes, among other items. Libous lost points for voting for physician collective-bargaining legislation and pension-amortization legislation.
Unshackle says its scorecards are timely for taxpayers to take notice of as they get ready to make their voting decisions.
“As primary and election day draw near, it’s very important for taxpayers to have a comprehensive guide that shows which
legislators have truly dedicated themselves to unlocking New York’s economic potential,” Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, said in a news release. “We’re encouraged to see that many legislators have responded to their constituents by supporting two consecutive fiscally responsible state budgets and several pro-taxpayer initiatives such as the 2 percent property-tax cap and pension reform.”
In general, Sampson said, this year’s scorecard grades are higher than those his organization handed out in 2010.
The scorecard grades consist of points awarded or lost based on legislators’ sponsorships and floor votes on bills that Unshackle either supported or opposed.
Louis Santoni, president and CEO of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, encouraged people to check how their area representatives scored.
“The Unshackle Upstate scorecard serves as an important benchmark for the progress made in Albany over the last two years,” he said in the news release. “Increasing scores signal that our legislators are starting to understand the challenges confronting businesses and taxpayers.”
The full listing of legislators and their scores is available online at http://www.unshackleupstate.com/legislative-activity/scorecards/.
Contact DeLore at tdelore@tgbbj.com
Guthrie Health starts study of Marcellus Shale health effects
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New map displays AHA/ASA’s quality awards
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First year of StartFast program wraps with Demo Day
SYRACUSE — The first session of Syracuse’s StartFast Venture Accelerator wrapped up Aug. 16 with the program’s Demo Day. Eight teams pitched their businesses to an audience of venture capitalists, investors, and entrepreneurs at the Everson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse. It was the culmination of work the startups have been doing since May
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SYRACUSE — The first session of Syracuse’s StartFast Venture Accelerator wrapped up Aug. 16 with the program’s Demo Day.
Eight teams pitched their businesses to an audience of venture capitalists, investors, and entrepreneurs at the Everson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse. It was the culmination of work the startups have been doing since May 14.
StartFast’s focus is on helping the young companies develop and validate a prototype product and secure enough funding for them to move forward with their work. Organizers chose the teams from a group of more than 300 applicants around the world.
StartFast is a private capital-backed accelerator for software, Internet, and mobile startups.
Participants in the program’s first year included Mozzo Analytics, which has developed a service to extract all links, documents, and media from users’ Gmail accounts. It provides an organized summary, searchable by topic, people, and time, according to the company.
The firm has identified $300,000 of the $750,000 in initial funding it is seeking, CEO Michael D’Eredita said during his pitch at Demo Day. D’Eredita is also a professor at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies.
He noted that the Mozzo Analytics team didn’t want to build yet another collaboration tool. Most people use email for that now and that’s not likely to change. The idea was to complement what’s already happening.
BitePal, which got its start in Ithaca, is developing a new deal service for bars and restaurants. It gives users one place to search and advertisers one place to post, CEO Paul Faguet said during his Demo Day presentation.
The service sends deals for purchase to users’ mobile phones. Users then simply show their phones to the restaurant when they get there and the deal is applied.
The service has 30 restaurants on board in Ithaca and Syracuse and is aiming to add new locations in Rochester and Tucson, Ariz., Faguet said. The company is seeking $300,000 in startup funds.
Organizers were pleased with StartFast’s first year, says Nasir Ali, one of the program’s managing directors. Investors and company mentors came to Demo Day from as far away as Silicon Valley, he notes.
“There is this community out there,” Ali says. “They are eager to contribute and support these companies.”
Half the businesses in StartFast already have strong ties to upstate New York, he adds. The others are open to considering relocating here. Much will depend on where their eventual investors are located, Ali says.
Ali and StartFast’s other managing director, Chuck Stormon, will be watching this year’s companies closely and helping them make decisions so they can close their initial funding rounds quickly.
StartFast is part of the Global Accelerator Network. The network grew from the TechStars program that began in Boulder, Colo. in 2007. TechStars has since expanded to Boston, Seattle, and New York City and includes a separate program for companies working on cloud computing and infrastructure.
The network includes 45 accelerators around the world.
Each company chosen for the program receives $18,000 in seed funding. StartFast investors receive a 6 percent stake in exchange. The businesses also get access to a number of in-kind contributions from national sponsors like Google and Rackspace through the Global Accelerator Network.
Teams receive regular coaching with mentors from around the country and from Stormon and Ali.
The Seed Capital Fund of CNY (SCF) is providing 40 percent of StartFast’s $2 million in funding. The rest is coming from private investors. The initial funding round will allow StartFast to run for four years.
Planning for next year has already started, Ali says. He and Stormon have told StartFast mentors to be on the lookout for promising companies. The formal application process for 2013 will probably begin in September.
Contact Tampone at
ktampone@cnybj.com
Dereszynski searches for talent in return to Brown & Brown Empire State
SYRACUSE — Employee recruitment will be one of Brown & Brown Empire State’s major goals now that Nick Dereszynski is back in place as the firm’s president. “We have high expectations that we’re going to recruit talent, develop talent,” Dereszynski says. “And then that talent would have the opportunity to stay here long-term, build their
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SYRACUSE — Employee recruitment will be one of Brown & Brown Empire State’s major goals now that Nick Dereszynski is back in place as the firm’s president.
“We have high expectations that we’re going to recruit talent, develop talent,” Dereszynski says. “And then that talent would have the opportunity to stay here long-term, build their careers with Brown & Brown Empire State, or look at Brown & Brown Empire State as a portal to other opportunities.”
Dereszynski has returned to lead the insurance agency, which is headquartered at 500 Plum St. in Syracuse, after a year in Seattle. He had been at Brown & Brown Empire State from 2005 to 2011 before departing for Washington State to become regional vice president for the insurance agency’s parent, Florida–based Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO).
This July, Dereszynski started traveling back to Syracuse. Then the Central New York insurance agency officially reintroduced him as its head on Aug. 2.
Dereszynski will now be both regional vice president for the parent company and president of the Syracuse agency.
“It gives me better access to the leadership of Brown & Brown,” he says. “And I think in the future I will probably assume some oversight of other Brown & Brown offices.”
Dereszynski’s oversight of Brown & Brown Empire State charges him with leading the insurance agency’s 95 employees in three offices. Its Syracuse headquarters is home to 85 of its employees. The remaining personnel are divided between offices in Endicott and Clifton Park.
At an Aug. 2 news conference marking his return to Syracuse, Dereszynski spoke of hiring anywhere between a “handful” of people to 25 candidates. But he says those were just examples — he isn’t willing to focus on adding a specific number of workers. Instead, Brown & Brown Empire State’s rate of hiring will depend on how many high-quality candidates it can find, he says.
In part, the recruitment efforts are a piece of a larger push at the parent company Brown & Brown Inc.
“Brown & Brown nationwide has a goal of $2 billion in revenue,” Dereszynski says. “We’re currently at about $1.1 billion, roughly. We know that in order to get to $2 billion in revenue, we’ve got to double the number of team members that we have.
“So in order to do that, we have to look to our foundation offices or our flagship offices,” he continues. “Syracuse is definitely a flagship office for Brown & Brown.”
New recruits will not be expected to leave upstate New York, Dereszynski says. But those who wish to follow opportunities in other parts of Brown & Brown will be given the chance to do so, he adds.
Potential opportunities could include working in internal auditing, quality control, mergers and acquisitions, and leadership positions, according to Dereszynski. Brown & Brown Empire State is starting out by looking for professionals to work in both sales and service positions, he says.
The Syracuse insurance agency’s recruitment efforts include radio and print advertisements. They are in the process of rolling out, Dereszynski says.
A majority of Dereszynski’s duties in Seattle centered on mergers and acquisitions, he says. He worked to find agencies that could be acquired and to help recently acquired agencies integrate into Brown & Brown’s organization.
That was a different job than leading Brown & Brown Empire State, he says. But he would not rule out the Syracuse agency making acquisitions in the future.
“I think the only thing I can say is that we do have ongoing discussions, but there’s nothing that we can identify by name,” he says. “It’s a big focus for Brown & Brown around the country. I think in upstate New York, we’ve got our fair share of candidates that we’ve identified that we’d either like to talk to or we have some ongoing conversations with.”
Brown & Brown Empire State generated about $20 million in revenue in 2011, Dereszynski says. He projects growth of 5 percent in 2012.
In returning to the Syracuse agency, Dereszynski replaces Linda Taylor as its president. Taylor is returning to Brown & Brown Inc.’s Buffalo office, where she worked as executive vice president and profit-center leader before coming to Syracuse.
The leadership change came as Brown & Brown worked to find the “right person” to lead its Syracuse office, according to Dereszynski.
“My company reached out to me and said, ‘Would you consider it?’ ” he says. “I think from the company’s perspective, from Linda Taylor’s perspective, and from my perspective, this was the right move and good for everybody.”
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com
New Mackenzie Hughes group addresses business-growth needs
SYRACUSE — Mackenzie Hughes LLP is using a new practice group to try to make it easier for clients to plan for and address legal issues — including those arising in a growing business. The group, called the Employment and Public Sector Law Group, brings together attorneys in the employment, environmental, grants, labor, land-use, municipal,
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SYRACUSE — Mackenzie Hughes LLP is using a new practice group to try to make it easier for clients to plan for and address legal issues — including those arising in a growing business.
The group, called the Employment and Public Sector Law Group, brings together attorneys in the employment, environmental, grants, labor, land-use, municipal, public-finance, and public-officers practice areas. Its goal is to deliver a range of services to clients more efficiently, the firm contends.
It could allow clients to avoid multiple meetings with different attorneys, according to Mark Harrington, a partner at Mackenzie Hughes who is a member of its executive committee and chair of its business department.
“The group works well together and can provide more comprehensive services instead of focusing on one single practice area,” Hughes says. “This way, it’s more efficient and more cost-effective for the clients.”
Clients to which the group will cater include small businesses, large businesses with thousands of employees, and municipalities. Harrington says those clients often encounter similar concerns as they work to streamline or expand. He cited common problems such as tax, labor, and land-use issues.
About six attorneys currently make up the group, although it may grow to include a few more, Harrington says. Mackenzie Hughes does not have a target number of group members. However, Harrington emphasizes that the group needs to stay small enough for its members to be able to meet frequently without encountering too many scheduling hurdles.
Mackenzie Hughes has other practice groups that are not as formal, Harrington says. But the firm decided that giving the Employment and Public Sector Law Group additional structure would help it deliver services to clients, he adds.
“This way they can develop a particular plan with our guidance and our expertise to handle the issues that are always coming out of left field,” Harrington says. “It varies from client to client, but they all have issues with a change in regulations, a change in law, or just a change in economic climate.”
The Employment and Public Sector Law Group isn’t just about efficiently addressing problems as they pop up, says Jeffrey Brown, a partner at Mackenzie Hughes who is the new group’s chair. He wants it to keep businesses and municipalities informed about potential issues and topics with which they may not be familiar.
“One of the main focuses of the practice group is to identify issues that may be of interest to our clients and get them out to our clients,” Brown says. “It’s not just about the current issue du jour, but what we can do to help them avoid issues in the future to make their businesses or municipalities as effective as possible.”
Mackenzie Hughes LLP is headquartered in suite 600 of the M&T Bank Building at 101 S. Salina St. in Syracuse. It leases 23,000 square feet there.
The law firm’s clients include M&T Bank, the Oneida Indian Nation, Turning Stone Resort and Casino, KeyBank, Alliance Bank, O’Brien & Gere, C&S Cos., GHD Inc., Cazenovia College, Fayetteville-Manlius School District, the village of Manlius, the village of Cleveland, and the town of Van Buren. It has 33 attorneys, including 25 partners and eight associates, and about 80 total employees. Harrington and Brown declined to discuss the firm’s revenue.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com
Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.