HERKIMER — A strong focus on managed services is expected to drive growth in the years ahead at Annese & Associates, Inc.

Annese installs and maintains video, voice, and data networks for schools, government agencies, and commercial businesses in New York and New England. The company launched its first managed service, which involves remote monitoring of clients’ networks in 2007.

Since then, the company added two more, involving energy management and collaboration and video. A fourth managed service is launching this month involving wireless technology and mobility.

All together, Annese’s managed services generated revenue of $740,000 in 2011. The company expects to double that total in the next year or two, says Christina Nordquist, a company spokeswoman.

Herkimer–based Annese generated total revenue of $62 million in 2011, up from $53 million in 2010.

Many technology resellers like Annese have been adding managed services in recent years, Nordquist says. They’re ideal for small and medium-sized businesses that want to take advantage of advanced technologies, but don’t have the financial or staff resources to manage them on their own.

Most of Annese’s clients in the past have been larger companies, says Jamie Aiello, director of operations and business development. Managed services will allow the company to tap into the small-business market in a way it couldn’t previously.

Growing managed services will be a top initiative for Annese over the next three to five years, Aiello adds. The firm expects to add employees as a result, although Aiello declined to discuss specifics.

Some of the hiring could come at Annese’s office at 100 Elwood Davis Rd. in Salina, where the help desk for its managed services is located. The help desk has five full-time staff members currently.

Companywide, Annese employs more than 100 people and has offices in Clifton Park, Binghamton, Orchard Park, Brewster, Warwick, Pittsford, and Rhode Island, in addition to its headquarters on Route 5 West in Herkimer.

The company employed about 80 people in 2009.

The firm’s reselling business is not going away, Nordquist notes. The expectation is to grow both sides of the business together, she says. 

Two of the firm’s recent hires have been sales reps dedicated exclusively to managed services.

Customers are looking for managed services because they require a lower initial investment, but bring cutting-edge capabilities to the table, Nordquist says. Annese’s collaboration and video service, for example, allows for video conferencing, Web conferencing, management of video archives, and webcasting of live events.

Its energy-management service allows Annese to control power to devices like projectors, phones, plasma screens, and computers. The company works with clients to learn their daily routines and the times they need devices on or when they can be shut down to save money.

Outsourcing routine information-technology tasks also allows companies more time to focus on other tasks like strategic planning, Nordquist says.

Annese’s markets include K-12 schools, colleges and universities, businesses, state and local government entities, and health care organizations.

Annese was founded in 1970. The firm’s founder, Frank Annese, retired at the end of 2008. Ray Apy, who had been with Annese since 1998, took over as president and CEO.   

OSWEGO –– Burritt Motors Inc., a family-owned auto dealership now in its fourth generation, is expanding and renovating its facility at 340 Route 104 in Oswego. It’s adding features that will boost the green in both its facility features and financial results.

The dealership, located just inside the city line, moved into its temporary headquarters on April 20, and started construction the week of April 23.

Burritt Motors is expecting to expand the current 21,500-square-foot facility it owns to 28,000 square feet. This is the first time that the dealership is adding space since 1970, says Chris Burritt, president and co-owner. The dealership will add a new and expanded show room, customer lounge, and a revamped service area with seven more service bays. The $2.2 million project will take up to six months to complete.

Burritt, the third generation who runs Burritt Motors, says the dealership has grown sales significantly and needs more space. In 2011, the dealership’s revenue increased by 25.5 percent to about $31 million from about $25 million in 2010. 

Last year, Burritt Motors sold more than 1,220 cars, of which 28 percent were new and 72 percent were used. Burritt contends that this year’s renovation is a good way to expand his business without opening a new dealership.

Burritt says although the renovation is not required by General Motors (GM), he believes a progressive and competitive business like Burritt Motors should be modernized and expanded to become more efficient to meet customers’ need.

With its new design, Burritt Motors’ customers will no longer have to park their vehicles outside for service appointments. Instead, they will be able to drive right into the dealership and hand the keys over on their way to the new customer lounge.

“Among the features will be a fireplace, air-conditioning, computer workstations and Wi-Fi, a new coffee bar, couches, flat-screen televisions, and a monitor showing the status of your vehicle’s service,” says Burritt. “We’re also adding a five-bay vehicle-detailing center with a menu of services for our customers to keep their cars and trucks looking like new.”

Going green

The renovated Burritt Motors will look similar to other Chevrolet dealerships, complete with the bright blue frontage. However, it will also include unique features that will complement its look. One of Burritt Motors’ unique features is the 200 solar panels it’s adding on the dealership roof to conserve energy and lower its operating costs.

“We call upon ourselves to be good corporate citizens and good stewards of the earth,” says Burritt. “They [the solar panels] will provide an average of 25 percent of our power needs annually. On a sunny day, however, solar power will cover nearly 100 percent of our energy needs.”

Burritt Motors considers now a good time to invest in solar panels as the dealership seeks to attract more environmentally conscious consumers. Burritt says he’s seeing more people buying fuel-efficient models this year.

“The Chevy Equinox is one of our biggest sellers. It’s very fuel-efficient, very nice looking,” he notes. “The new Silverado pickups also get much better fuel economy. So, if customers have one of those 7-year-old [vehicles], they can upgrade and get 20 to 30 percent better fuel economy if they are going to drive trucks.”

Burritt says electric models such as the Chevy Sonic and Chevy Volt are also hot this year. He says the dealership always charges the battery for its customers completely when they bring in their electric cars for service, so he thought it would be neat to charge Chevy’s electric models with the sun.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity to see what alternative means of power we can have and how they work,” he says. “It’s just an involving phase of where all manufacturers are trying to get more conscious of energy cost and waste to continue to be efficient.”

For its other green efforts, Burritt Motors is also using re-manufactured furniture that’s made locally, energy-efficient fixed gears, and is adding more waste boilers. Instead of transporting the waste and dumping it elsewhere, the dealership chooses to burn it on-site. By burning waste motor oil, it will generate more heat and be self-sustained.

Construction

Burritt Motors is getting financing for the renovation project from Pathfinder Bank, as well as a low-interest loan and tax incentives through Operation Oswego County and the Oswego County Industrial Development Agency for the solar panels, says Burritt. 

VIP Structures, Inc., a design-build firm based in Syracuse, is doing the construction work. During construction, sales and administration will be relocated in two mobile offices that Burritt Motors rented from Modular Space Corp., and vehicle service will continue to be performed on-site.

Burritt says he doesn’t see the on-going construction as an impediment to the dealership’s growth, and is hoping it can continue to grow the business during the project. He says the dealership has made it easy for its customers to park by adding about 200 parking spots to accommodate the space that the construction has taken up.

Growth

Burritt Motors, a 39-employee dealership, expects to grow to about 45 employees by the end of this year. It plans to add two technicians, one service supervisor, one support person for data merchandising and customer assistance, and at least one new sales representative. It will also add four part-time staff for guest services, who will greet the customers as they pull in the service drive and do preliminary checks on their vehicle.

The dealership’s service and sales divisions are both growing at about the same pace. In 2011, service generated about one-third of Burritt Motors’ revenue, while sales produced the other two-thirds, says Burritt. 

Its service sales tend to lag vehicle sales because the dealership sells to some long-distance customers who can’t or choose not to travel back for their regular maintenance.

Chris Burritt’s office is located in the service area. The office of his son, Rich Burritt — vice president, co-owner, and the fourth generation involved in the dealership — is situated in the sales area.

“It’s a little unusual for a car dealership that we have the owner out in the service department,” Chris Burritt says, “but that way we have family ownership over[seeing] all aspects of our business.”

Wanting to be connected to his customers and his staff, Burritt says he is not considering opening multiple dealerships.

“We really like the personality and the family atmosphere that we have here, and we would be too afraid that it would be lost if we did that,” he says. “Bigger isn’t always better.”

He says the dealership will add more employees after the renovation is finished, as it will need more employees to maintain the service.

“We are expecting a 15 to 20 percent annual growth,” says Burritt.

As it grows, Burritt Motors also plans to get greener in more ways than one.    

SYRACUSE — The StartFast Venture Accelerator in Syracuse has chosen the nine teams that will participate in this summer’s inaugural StartFast program.

The three-month program, which begins Monday May 14, will focus on helping the startups develop and validate a prototype product and secure enough funding for them to move forward with their work.

Organizers chose the nine teams from a group of more than 300 applicants around the world:

Mozzo Analytics of Syracuse and Philadelphia extracts links from a user’s Gmail account. The service offers an organized summary of the links searchable by people, topics, and time.

PadProof of Orlando, Fla. and New York City is a photo-proofing app that allows purchases from photographers with a finger swipe.

BitePal of Ithaca is a restaurant deal service that works through cell phones.

Cayo-Tech of Tel Mond, Israel has developed a mobile application that can notify a user’s family and friends with information needed in an emergency.

RevoPT of Ithaca designs Web and mobile applications to make physical therapy more personalized and effective through home exercise programs.

Tivity of New York City is a social network for people looking to find, schedule, and share active lifestyle activities.

Streamspec of Syracuse and New York City is an image-based Internet advertising company.

CanVita of Denver and New York City provides visual and evolving resumes for the social Web.

YouGift of New York City is a platform for sending greetings and gift cards via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

StartFast is part of the Techstars Network. The original TechStars program began in Boulder, Colo. in 2007 and has since expanded to Boston and two sites in New York City.

The Techstars Network includes more than 30 affiliated accelerators around the world. StartFast is focused on software and Internet firms and those developing mobile apps. For more information, visit http://startfast.net.

The nine teams chosen for the program have 20 founders. Some of the companies will also bring other team members so at any time, StartFast will have more than 25 people working with the program.

The accelerator will be housed in 14,000 square feet at the Onondaga Tower, the former HSBC building, on East Jefferson Street in downtown Syracuse. The program will occupy the building’s entire third floor.

Program participants will spend their first few weeks in Syracuse meeting with some of StartFast’s 80 mentors. Each team will likely develop closer relationships with two or three mentors who will help them move their companies forward.

StartFast’s two managing directors, Chuck Stormon and Nasir Ali, will provide regular coaching as well. The 80 mentors include some world-class startup experts, Ali says, including Brad Feld.

Feld is a nationally known venture capitalist and co-founder of the TechStars program. His visit to upstate New York last year helped spark the formation of a local affiliate, Ali says.

Each company chosen for the program receives $18,000 in seed funding. StartFast investors receive a 6 percent stake in exchange. The companies also get access to a number of in-kind contributions from national sponsors like Google and Rackspace through the Techstars Network.

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.

Organizers have raised 80 percent of the funding so far.

And while not all of the participating companies have local ties, the goal is for at least 30 percent to remain in Syracuse. In Boulder, where the original TechStars began, about half the companies stay put after completing the program, Ali says.

Ali is also CEO of Upstate Venture Connect (UVC), a founding sponsor of StartFast. UVC is a nonprofit group aimed at building entrepreneurial activity in upstate New York.

UVC’s founder and chairman, Martin Babinec, helped bring Feld to Upstate in February 2011.

Stormon has more than 22 years of experience as a senior corporate executive and entrepreneur across the telecommunications, Internet, software, semiconductor, defense and electric utility industries. He co-founded and was president and CEO at Coherent Networks, Inc. of Syracuse, which was eventually sold to a company in Buffalo.

He was also vice president of strategy and business development for Tekelec, a $550 million telecommunications-equipment manufacturer. He joined that company after it acquired Steleus, which Stormon co-founded in 2001.  

Small-business owners’ optimism bounced back in April, after declining the prior month, according to a new report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).  

The NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index climbed 2 points in April to 94.5. The increase helped the index recover from a 1.8 point drop in March. 

The NFIB’s index has now increased in six of the last seven months. But it remains weak, according to the NFIB. April’s gains only returned the optimism index to its level of February 2011, when it also notched 94.5.

A slightly brighter employment outlook helped the index resume its rise in April. Seasonally adjusted, a net 5 percent of business owners planned to increase employment over the next three months, according to the NFIB’s surveying. That’s up 5 points from March, when a net 0 percent of owners anticipated hiring.

However, more small businesses also reported job openings that were difficult to fill. The portion of companies who said they had job openings that they could not fill climbed 2 points to 17 percent, seasonally adjusted.

New York director’s comments

Many of New York’s small-business owners are coming off a period of stronger-than-expected sales, according to NFIB New York State Director Mike Durant. That period may not continue, he adds.

“In talking to business owners over the last few days, I’m hearing that the winter was a little better than we thought, and it continued into the spring,” he says. “However, we’re starting to see ourselves slow drastically in comparison to what we’ve seen in previous years.”

Fluctuations in gas prices and consumers’ willingness to spend are leading to fluctuations in optimism among business owners, Durant says.

“Business owners and consumers are sort of on a yo-yo right now,” he says. “One month, they’re seeing gas above $4 a gallon. This month, they’re seeing it under $4. Although we’ve had a bit of an optimism uptick, I would not be shocked at all to see us drop down next month.”

Other survey findings

Small-business owners became slightly more optimistic about general business conditions in six months, but cynicism still reigned. The portion of owners who anticipated better conditions in half a year inched up 3 points to a net -5 percent, seasonally adjusted.

The negative result shows that more owners predicted worse conditions than predicted better conditions. The NFIB calculates net percentages by subtracting pessimistic survey answers from optimistic answers. A positive net percentage indicates a majority of respondents were optimistic, while a negative net percentage indicates a majority were pessimistic.

A majority of business owners were also pessimistic about accessing credit in the future. The net percentage of regular borrowers expecting easier credit access over the next three months ticked up 3 points, yet remained negative at -8 percent.

Plans to make capital expenditures over the next three to six months increased, the NFIB found. Seasonally adjusted, 25 percent of survey respondents said they planned capital expenditures, a rise of 3 points from March.

Even so, the share of business owners who view the next three months as a good time to expand was unchanged from March. It remained at a seasonally adjusted 7 percent in April.

Inventory plans were unchanged in April as well. Seasonally adjusted, a net 0 percent of small-business owners said they planned to increase inventories in three to six months, the same as in March.

Firms appear to be satisfied with their current inventory levels, according to the NFIB survey. A seasonally adjusted net 0 percent of business owners believed their inventories were too small in April, a dip of 3 points.

Sales expectations decreased in April, as the portion of survey respondents predicting higher sales in the next three months fell by 2 points. That survey indicator registered a net 6 percent, seasonally adjusted.

Even so, business owners reported an increase in actual sales over the last three months. Seasonally adjusted, a net 4 percent of owners said sales were higher in the last three months than they were in the prior three months. That’s up 3 points from March.

Sales posed a major challenge for businesses, as 19 percent of owners cited poor sales as their single most important problem. However, government requirements and red tape was the top problem, which 20 percent of small businesses citing it as their single most important problem.

The NFIB, a nonprofit organization representing members in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., calculated the Small Business Optimism Index after surveying 1,817 of its members in April.