Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.
VIEWPOINT: Four Tips for Defining & Reaching Your Target Audience
When competing with other brands to find the best channels needed to reach your audience, developing an effective marketing strategy might feel like throwing darts blindfolded. To increase your odds of reaching people who might be interested in your product or service, you need to effectively and accurately define your target audience first. It might […]
Ask Rusty: About Income Tax on Social Security Benefits
Dear Rusty: I just started receiving my Social Security [benefits] in February of 2023. I am also working part time at a company 24 hours a week. My question is: I feel like I missed something when I signed up for Social Security because they are not taking any taxes out. What did I miss?

Syracuse–area native serves as U.S. Navy fighter pilot
Lt. Shawn Picciott, a native of the Syracuse area, serves the U.S. Navy assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 122. The command is a strike fighter squadron located aboard the U.S. Navy’s largest master jet base. Picciott joined the Navy four years ago. Today, he serves as a pilot. “I wanted to find a direction after

VIEWPOINT: Oswego native serves as aviation structural mechanic in U.S. Navy
Petty Officer 3rd Class Roxanne Scoville, a native of Oswego, serves the U.S. Navy assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125. The command is a joint strike fighter squadron located aboard the U.S. Navy’s largest master jet base. Scoville joined the Navy four years ago. Today, she serves as an aviation structural mechanic. “I was
VIEWPOINT: Check fraud is on the rise
Your bank offers safer ways to pay Recently, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) issued a warning about check fraud and made an unusual request — it asked people to stop sending checks in the mail, and instead look to more secure ways of sending money. For the USPS — which has lost revenue as the
VIEWPOINT: AI and 3 Predictions on its Emerging Role in Marketing
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” — HAL It was 55 years ago that Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick explored the thrilling and terrifying dance between man and machine in their sci-fi masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey.” As the brain of the spaceship in the novel and movie, HAL is an
VIEWPOINT: Final New York WARN Regulations Issued
The New York State Department of Labor issued final regulations making certain changes and additions to long-existing regulations regarding the New York WARN Act. As we reported previously (www.bsk.com/news-events-videos/new-york-proposes-update-to-warn-act), the revisions update the regulations to conform to certain statutory changes, as well as provide clarification to other areas of the NY WARN law. The final
Ask Rusty: How Will Working Affect My First Year’s Benefits?
Dear Rusty: I retired from working in January of this year and have since claimed Social Security benefits. I didn’t work at all in February or March, but I began a part time job in April. I’m very confused about how Social Security counts earnings for the first year. I don’t know if I need
VIEWPOINT: Overcoming a Historic Funding Failure for Nursing Homes
As a business leader, can you think of something your business needs to keep its doors open that has increased in price since 2008? Have you increased prices for your products and/or services since 2008? At the start of 2023, the New York State Medicaid program was paying for care for 75 percent of the
VIEWPOINT: Awareness and Consciousness
Most of us believe what we see with our own eyes. At the same time, we know that looks can be deceiving. We all have at least some sense of the fallibility of our perception, and a healthy respect for the mysteries we cannot grasp. We often use “awareness” and “consciousness” interchangeably to refer to
Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.