Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital sees big benefit from new $10M Golisano gift

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SYRACUSE — Rochester businessman Thomas Golisano provided the $6 million naming gift for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital before it opened in September 2009. Now, 15 years later, the hospital is again benefiting from his philanthropic activity with the announcement of a $10 million award. “We’re grateful to Tom Golisano and his caring heart and generosity […]

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SYRACUSE — Rochester businessman Thomas Golisano provided the $6 million naming gift for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital before it opened in September 2009.

Now, 15 years later, the hospital is again benefiting from his philanthropic activity with the announcement of a $10 million award.

“We’re grateful to Tom Golisano and his caring heart and generosity that has helped Upstate improve the lives of many children through our facilities and services that bear his name,” Dr. Mantosh Dewan, president of Upstate Medical University, said in a Sept. 19 statement from Upstate Medical University. “He has helped us transform medical care for children through this region and elsewhere. How fitting that this latest gift from Tom comes as we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the opening of Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. On behalf of the children, their parents and our staff, thank you.”

The Syracuse facility is among 82 upstate nonprofit organizations that Golisano named as recipients of a total of
$360 million in funding. Golisano announced the funding awards on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the Golisano Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship in Rochester.

Dr. Gregory Conners, executive director of Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, described the $10 million donation as “magical” for what it means for the hospital’s future.

“Tom has been with us every step of the way in our journey to provide the best care for our kids,” Conners, who also serves chair of pediatrics, said in the health system’s statement. “The Golisano name is synonymous with great pediatric care, and I cannot thank him enough for his support.”

Golisano — entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader — is the founder of Paychex, Inc., the nation’s largest human-resource company for small to medium-sized businesses, providing human-capital management services for payroll, benefits, human resources, and insurance services for more than 745,000 clients in the U.S. and Europe.

Eileen Pezzi, VP for development at Upstate, added her appreciation.

“Tom’s beneficence is boundless,” Pezzi said in the Upstate announcement. “His yearslong investment in Upstate and the children of Central New York speaks volumes about his commitment to this region and its people. Tom cannot help but think big, as he wants to help so many. Thank you, Tom, for thinking big.”

Pezzi attended Golisano’s announcement in Rochester Sept. 17 with Upstate Foundation board chair Rita Reicher.

Besides the $10 million for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, the funding awards also included $5 million for the Hillside Family of Agencies; $5 million for Mercy Flight Central; $5 million for Mozaic (Arc of Seneca, Cayuga & Yates Counties); and $5 million for Springbrook of Oneonta, per the Sept. 17 announcement.

In addition, he awarded $52 million to the Golisano Foundation, which serves the Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse, New York regions and Southwest Florida

The “unrestricted,” multiyear awards range from $250,000 to $20 million each, paid over four to five years, spanning health care, education, animal welfare, disability services, and other crucial community needs.

Re-Decor and More’s new location gives it room for growth

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Mohawk Valley, Small Business, Subscriber Only

NEW HARTFORD — Re-Decor and More is settling into a new location that gives the small business more space for both its retail side and its interior-design business. Owner Doreen Castronovo had always envisioned an artistic career growing up but ended up working for many years at the family restaurant — Castronovo’s Original Grimaldi’s Restaurant

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NEW HARTFORD — Re-Decor and More is settling into a new location that gives the small business more space for both its retail side and its interior-design business.

Owner Doreen Castronovo had always envisioned an artistic career growing up but ended up working for many years at the family restaurant — Castronovo’s Original Grimaldi’s Restaurant in Utica. When the eatery closed, she then went to work as a library assistant in the New Hartford Central School District.

Along the way, Castronovo decided to return to school to study interior design, graduating with her degree at age 50. She dabbled in interior design as a side hustle and decided in 2019, right before the pandemic hit, to make it a full-time gig.

Despite the pandemic shutdowns, she forged ahead with her plans, and in late 2020, opened what was supposed to be a holiday pop-up shop. The small shop featured home décor, gift items, and other merchandise — located in just over 600 square feet at 70 Genessee St. in the village of New Hartford. It was such a hit, Castronovo says, that the planned three months turned into years.

“The community loved it, and I loved it, and here I am,” she says. “It was nothing I’d ever dreamed I’d be doing, but I absolutely love it.”

These days, the specialty boutique still stocks décor and gift items, but has expanded into much more including clothing, jewelry, home goods, and even floral arrangements.

Things were getting cramped at the old location, so Castronovo began scouting for new options for Re-Decor and More last winter.

What she found was a former physical-therapy office in a shopping plaza on Kellogg Road in the town of New Hartford — situated less than 2 miles south of the business’s prior location. The plaza is also home to a Hannaford grocery store, Rite Aid drug store, a pizza place, and a liquor store.

“I built it out over the summer,” Castronovo says of the nearly 1,100-square-foot space. She worked with Against the Grain Construction and Mohawk Valley Granite on the project. Both businesses are ones she works with frequently on the interior design side of things.

The new space also gives Castronovo more room for that side of her business, providing both ample space to store sample materials and a welcoming place to meet with clients.

The new location also provides Re-Decor and More added space for more products on the retail side, including more housewares and gift items, she adds.

“There is kind of something for everyone,” she says of the store. “The new store allows me to have much more clothing. I even have homemade crocheted blankets that I make myself.” There is also a kids’ section featuring everything from clothing to toys.

To date, Castronovo runs both the retail and interior design operation on her own, but with business already picking up in the new location that may change soon. She is already seeing the benefit of foot traffic in the busy plaza.

“We’re completely booked until the middle of November,” she says of the interior design side.

Re-Decore and More, located at 54 Kellogg Road, is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other hours are available by appointment, and hours may expand if Castronovo adds to her staff.

CNY regional jobless rates rise in August versus a year ago

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Subscriber Only

Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira areas all rose in August compared to a year ago, pointing to slowing labor markets across the broader 16-county Central New York region. The figures are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) data released on Sept. 24. Regional

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AZA renews Rosamond Gifford Zoo accreditation

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has again renewed the accreditation for the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse. The zoo has been continuously accredited since 1987, the office of Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in the Sept. 30 announcement. “We are thrilled to once again receive AZA accreditation,” Ted Fox, executive

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SUNY Poly enrolls 150 students in ACE program

Education & Training, Mohawk Valley, Subscriber Only

MARCY — SUNY Polytechnic Institute is one of 25 SUNY campuses statewide that opted into the Advancing Completion through Engagement (ACE) program that provides wraparound support to ensure academic success, retention, and on-time graduation. As of this fall, the university has enrolled 150 students in the program. The program, which helps Pell-eligible students, expanded to

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Syracuse, Ithaca firms to compete in FuzeHub contest

Small Business, Southern Tier, Subscriber Only, Technology

Commercialization competition set for Oct. 28-29 ALBANY — Twelve finalists, including a Syracuse company and two firms with operations in Ithaca, will compete in the annual FuzeHub commercialization competition near the end of the month in Syracuse. Triton Bio, Inc. of Syracuse, along with Anova Biomedical, Inc. and Parker Isaac

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Commercialization competition set for Oct. 28-29

ALBANY — Twelve finalists, including a Syracuse company and two firms with operations in Ithaca, will compete in the annual FuzeHub commercialization competition near the end of the month in Syracuse.

Triton Bio, Inc. of Syracuse, along with Anova Biomedical, Inc. and Parker Isaac Instruments d/b/a FormaPath, both with operations in Ithaca, are the regional finalists. Additional finalists are located in the New York City, the Capital Region, Long Island, and Mid-Hudson regions.

Albany–based FuzeHub is a nonprofit organization that supports small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York state.

The eighth annual commercialization competition — which is part of the upcoming New York State Innovation Summit — is set for Oct. 28-29 at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter in downtown Syracuse. It happens yearly as part of the Empire State Development (ESD)-supported FuzeHub Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund.

The finalists have the chance to win $50,000 by pitching their business plan before a panel of judges and a live audience. One firm will win the top funding award of $150,000.

“I would like to take a moment to celebrate our twelve outstanding finalists” Patty Rechberger, Innovation Fund manager for the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund at FuzeHub, said in the announcement. “It is a significant accomplishment to reach this stage. These companies have proven that they have what it takes to break through the noise and the tenacity required to turn their innovative ideas into reality. I cannot wait to work with them to get ready for their live pitches at the Summit.”

Regional finalists

The finalists include Triton Bio, Inc., which is working on scalable manufacturing of a “smart” incubator for automating microbial analysis. The firm’s website lists an address of 841 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse, which is Upstate Medical University’s Central New York Biotech Accelerator.

FuzeHub in its announcement said, Triton Bio is “building Mira, an incubator with AI computer vision to automate microbial analysis and supercharge research. Mira automatically captures images of samples (such as Petri dishes) over time. This will automate laborious tasks for microbiologists and give them unprecedented access to biological characteristics and activity. Real-life application examples are the identification of drug resistance characteristics, the study of the effects of preservatives on food shelf-life, and the effects of insecticides in real time.”

The finalists also include Anova Biomedical, Inc. of Ithaca, which says it is working on the first self-transforming, fully biodegradable vascular grafts.

The project description in the FuzeHub announcement says, “As part of their treatment, some dialysis patients must undergo surgery to create ‘vascular access.’ Current vascular access grafts are made of porous Teflon, the same material used in non-stick pan s, and they perform terribly. Anova Biomedical is making a new form of vascular access graft made from a novelty material that slowly degrades over time as the body regenerates. This technology will help prevent excess hospitalizations and premature patient deaths.”

Another finalist, Parker Isaac Instruments d/b/a FormaPath, has a manufacturing facility in Ithaca. It is working on nToto, automated tissue handling and visualization system to gross small biopsies.

Its description in the FuzeHub announcement says, “FormaPath has proven their concept combining robotics and computer vision to automate small biopsy grossing. Labs are under significant pressure to meet turnaround time and limited resources; manual processes are inherently inconsistent. nToto quickly delivers high-confidence reports to guide appropriate treatment for all patients.”

Besides its Ithaca manufacturing location, the firm’s website also lists a location in Brooklyn, as well as one in Hood River, Oregon.

Upstate Ink & Thread opens first location

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Mohawk Valley, Small Business, Subscriber Only

MARCY — After starting as an online business last fall, Upstate Ink & Thread, LLC recently cut the ribbon on its first brick-and-mortar location at 9443 River Road in Marcy. Upstate Ink & Thread owners CaSandra Packard and Darin Pearo both owned other businesses, but found themselves frequently referring customers to each other. Packard created

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MARCY — After starting as an online business last fall, Upstate Ink & Thread, LLC recently cut the ribbon on its first brick-and-mortar location at 9443 River Road in Marcy.

Upstate Ink & Thread owners CaSandra Packard and Darin Pearo both owned other businesses, but found themselves frequently referring customers to each other. Packard created custom apparel, while Pearo specialized in vinyl signs.

After a few years of referring customers back and forth, they decided to dissolve their solo businesses and join forces as Upstate Ink & Thread, Packard explains.

The business has grown so quickly since they launched it, she notes, “it was either get the space and embrace it or slow it down.”

That led to the business leasing about 4,000 square feet on River Road and moving into it this past May. The space includes offices, a showroom, an embroidery room, and a vinyl graphic room, giving Upstate Ink & Thread the space it needs for its three employees, Packard says.

She previously operated Dolce Vita Children’s Boutique at Sangertown Square mall, and that’s really where her custom-apparel business began. Packard offered a few custom options for events like birthdays, designing the apparel and outsourcing the production, but people began requesting more and more custom items.

The business naturally evolved, eventually leading to Packard closing the storefront and running a full-time custom apparel business from her home.

Now at Upstate Ink & Thread, Packard uses her experience and background in fashion to guide product offerings, while Pearo is a technical whiz with the machinery.

Now that the business partners have a storefront, Upstate Ink & Thread can offer more options, and with the showroom customers can now come in and see and feel the products before buying.

“We love what we do, and I think we bring a little something different to the area,” Packard says. One service the business offers that customers enjoy is a print-on-demand option that allows them to order and receive merchandise faster. Instead of having to collect orders for weeks and then doing a big print run, customers can order individual items, which are printed immediately.

“We’re just trying to do things a little differently,” Packard says of what sets Upstate Ink & Thread apart. The showroom is set up more like a boutique, and there are a number of prints that are on display and ready to go.

Upstate Ink & Thread’s customer list includes Rome Health, Mohawk Valley Wellness, and several area schools. Business has grown so fast that the business owners haven’t yet done much in the way of marketing to attract new customers, Packard says. Most of their customers represent repeat business or heard about them from other customers.

“We’re thankful to be doing what we love doing,” she says.

Byrne Innovation Center focuses on R&D for Byrne Dairy

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

DeWITT — The Byrne Innovation Center, a new research and development (R&D) facility, has been part of the operations at Byrne Dairy, Inc. for about a month. The company formally opened the center on Sept. 11. Located next door to Byrne’s flagship plant in DeWitt, the Byrne Innovation Center houses new product development, shelf-life testing,

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DeWITT — The Byrne Innovation Center, a new research and development (R&D) facility, has been part of the operations at Byrne Dairy, Inc. for about a month.

The company formally opened the center on Sept. 11.

Located next door to Byrne’s flagship plant in DeWitt, the Byrne Innovation Center houses new product development, shelf-life testing, sensory evaluation, analytical testing and other services for Byrne’s customers.

The Byrne Innovation Center is located within the firm’s Lyons Street conference center, an existing building just a short walk from Byrne’s facility in DeWitt, Ashley Casey, sales & marketing specialist with Byrne Dairy, tells CNYBJ in an email. The R&D team and other Byrne employees have offices at the Lyons Street location, she adds.

Byrne Dairy renovated a portion of the space to accommodate a “state-of-the-art” kitchen with testing capabilities, per Casey.

“This enhances our customers’ experience and assists our R&D team as they continue to innovate for Byrne’s future,” she says.

“The creation of the Byrne Innovation Center will allow Byrne to explore new avenues in the field of dairy and other beverages,” Khilendra Bhanduriya, director of research and development for Byrne Dairy, said in a statement.

“The Byrne Innovation Center is a testament to our R&D team’s hard work in building a robust product portfolio for both extended shelf-life and shelf-stable dairy,” Carl Byrne, president and CEO of Byrne Dairy, added. “The new facility positions Byrne and our customers for continued success by improving products consumers already love and introducing new items.”

The company says Byrne’s R&D team is currently developing various beverages to support the growing demand for Byrne’s aseptic (shelf-stable) lines. The department is also continuing a study of reducing sugar in low-fat flavored milk for schools, an effort funded with a grant from the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center.

About Byrne Dairy

Byrne Dairy Inc. is a fourth-generation, family-owned dairy and beverage processor. The company currently has three manufacturing facilities in Central New York. They include an extended shelf-life (ESL) and ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurization plant in DeWitt; a manufacturing facility located in Cortlandville; and an ice cream center located in Syracuse.

Byrne also has warehouse facilities in Syracuse and East Syracuse, and the company’s corporate headquarters office is in LaFayette.

Barclay Damon grows Boston office with 10 new attorneys

Law, Accounting & Taxes, Subscriber Only

Syracuse–based Barclay Damon LLP recently announced it has added 10 attorneys from another law firm to its office in Boston, Massachusetts, boosting its presence in that big market. The firm says they started their work with Barclay Damon on Oct. 7. All of the lawyers involved have been working for Burns & Levinson, LLP (B&L),

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Syracuse–based Barclay Damon LLP recently announced it has added 10 attorneys from another law firm to its office in Boston, Massachusetts, boosting its presence in that big market.

The firm says they started their work with Barclay Damon on Oct. 7. All of the lawyers involved have been working for Burns & Levinson, LLP (B&L), also of Boston, per the Barclay Damon announcement.

The group consists of a six-attorney intellectual property (IP) team and four lawyers focused on real estate, finance, corporate and labor and employment.

The IP group is led by former B&L IP chair Deb Peckham and includes partners Kate Noll and Alex Smolenski, of counsel Jerry Cohen, and associates Dan McGrath and Kat Delos Reyes, along with several support staff. The additional four lawyers include B&L’s former managing partner, Paul Mastrocola, and partners Leslie Muldowney, Andy Henderson, and Tina Murray.

“Our team could not be more excited to join a firm whose growing platform and successes have been so inspiring to watch in Boston and beyond,” Peckham said. “Barclay Damon’s continued focus on increasing their already-formidable IP team made the choice to join the firm the obvious path to follow. And our clients will benefit from the full range of legal services from outstanding providers with commitments to client service that equal ours.”

The deal will bring Barclay Damon’s Boston office headcount to 23 lawyers. The firm notes that its major-markets offices’ headcount has also grown from eight lawyers just five years ago to just under 90 attorneys today in New York City; Boston; New Haven, Connecticut; and Washington D.C.

“We continue building momentum in each of our markets with a proven reputation for finding talent, striking deals that are fair to lateral partners and the firm, and successfully integrating and retaining talent at a rate that far surpasses industry statistics,” Lizz Acee, management committee member and managing director of major markets at Barclay Damon, contended in the firm’s announcement.

The Burns & Levinson addition marks the third major IP group to join Barclay Damon in 2024, underscoring the firm’s continued strategic investment in its IP practice and expansion of services to tech-based clients.

“Our group was strong before 2024, and our growth this year has added to the broad range of hard-science disciplines that we can offer and has improved the depth and strength of our overall IP bench,” Denis Sullivan, who leads Barclay Damon’s intellectual property practice group, said in the firm’s announcement.

The firm’s expanded IP group now includes 32 lawyers, one patent agent, and eight paralegals and docket administrators supporting a practice that conducts work throughout the U.S. and abroad. The work focuses on areas such as patent and trademark litigation and prosecution, which includes contested patent and trademark office proceedings; commercial licensing and transactional due diligence; and copyright litigation and procurement, Barclay Damon said.

SEC adopts changes to access procedures for EDGAR system

Law, Accounting & Taxes, Subscriber Only

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it’s adopting changes to the login, password, and other account-access procedures for those using its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (EDGAR). That’s according to The Trusted Professional, a publication of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants on the society’s website. The new

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That’s according to The Trusted Professional, a publication of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants on the society’s website.

The new version of EDGAR, known as EDGAR Next, will upgrade the system in three ways. They include improving EDGAR’s security; enhancing filers’ ability to manage their EDGAR accounts; and modernizing connections to EDGAR. Most notably, it will transition from one login account per company to one account for every individual who files documents into EDGAR.

“A lot has changed in the three decades since the Commission first required mandatory EDGAR filings in 1993. EDGAR has lived through the rise of the internet, social media, and streaming content. We also have learned a great deal about data security and password protection in that time,” Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, said in a statement. “To keep pace with ever-evolving markets, technology, and business models, we’ve updated EDGAR over the years. Our most recent meaningful update, though, to EDGAR login, password, and other account access protocols was more than a decade ago. Today’s amendments are an important next step for EDGAR account access protocols.”

Gensler explained that under previous requirements, registrants had one login per company, which is akin to having a family passing around one shared login and password for a movie streaming app.

“That’s simply not the most secure system — for filers and the Commission alike —when it comes to information relating to financial disclosure. By contrast, today’s amendments further secure login protocols by requiring every person filing something into EDGAR to login with individual credentials and to use multi-factor authentication,” Gensler said.

The amendments require electronic filers to authorize and maintain designated individuals as their account administrators. The changes also require filers to take certain actions, through their account administrators, to manage their accounts on EDGAR, per the Oct. 3 announcement.

Additionally, under the amendments, filers may authorize individuals as account administrators only if they get individual account credentials in the way laid out by the EDGAR filer manual. As part of the EDGAR Next changes, optional application programming interfaces (APIs) will be provided to filers for machine-to-machine communication with EDGAR.

The SEC is also amending volume I of the EDGAR filer manual to be in accordance with these changes.

APIs are a machine-to-machine way of making submissions, retrieving information and performing account management tasks that will enhance filers’ EDGAR interactions’ efficiency and accuracy. These APIs also let filers manage their EDGAR accounts with minimal manual interaction with EDGAR.

The SEC opened a beta software environment for filer testing and feedback, reflecting the adopted rule and form amendments and the related technical changes. Information about signing up for beta testing and other information regarding the rule’s adoption can be found on the EDGAR Next webpage.

Those asking for access to EDGAR must complete a form known as the Uniform Application for Access Codes or Form ID. Compliance with amended Form ID is required on March 24, 2025. All rule and form amendments will take effect on that date, and filers will be required to comply with all rule and form amendments by Sept. 15, 2025.

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