Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.
What ChatGPT & other generative AI tools mean for HR teams
For the last [few] months, ChatGPT has taken the internet by storm. You can’t browse Instagram or Facebook without seeing a demonstration of something ChatGPT did to amaze a new user: write a stock-trading program, complete an AP English essay, or create a science-based workout program. Hundreds of journalists have hypothesized its implications since ChatGPT […]

Applications for new Lewis County vacant-property program due in April
LOWVILLE, N.Y. — Applications for the first round of Lewis County’s new vacant-property revitalization program are due in early April. Lewis County business developers say the newly launched initiative is a one-time grant program that seeks to provide “support, resources, and connections” for proposed projects. Naturally Lewis, in partnership with Lewis County, is targeting vacant

NYS Labor Department finalizes farm-worker OT regulations
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State will start lowering the overtime pay threshold for farm workers next Jan. 1, reducing it to 56 hours from the current 60. The process will continue with the overtime threshold limit going down by four hours every other year until reaching 40 hours in 2032. That’s when farm workers

JCC to expand program awarding credits for learning outside class
WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Jefferson Community College (JCC) says it will build on its prior learning assessment (PLA) program of granting college credits for demonstrated learning outside the traditional classroom. That could include military experience, on-the-job training, apprenticeships, and industry certifications, SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. said in a Feb. 15 announcement at Jefferson Community College.

Report calls for improved funding access for community gardens
Community gardens, and the benefits they provide to the communities they serve, were outlined in the state’s Community Garden Task Force 2023 annual report. The report also highlights an increased need for state support. Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes $2,325,000 in her executive budget to assist community gardens. The funding would establish a community garden grant
New York cabbage production declined 9 percent in 2022
New York farms produced an estimated 4.24 million cwt (hundredweight) of cabbage in 2022, down 9 percent from the 2021 estimate. That’s according to a Feb. 15 report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), New York Field Office. The average yield per acre was estimated at 400 cwt last year, down 7 percent
New York onion production fell 7 percent in 2022
A recent government report found that New York onion production fell an estimated 7 percent to 2.52 million cwt (hundredweight) last year from the 2021 production estimate. That’s according to a Feb. 15 report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), New York Field Office. The average yield per acre was estimated at 400 cwt
New York milk producer prices fall 4 percent from prior month
Milk prices at the producer level in New York state remained elevated in the latest month but prices tempered from previous months. New York dairy farms were paid an average of $24.90 per hundredweight of milk in December, down 4.2 percent from $26 in November, but were still 13.2 percent higher than the $22 average in December

Syracuse University’s IVMF gets $1 million foundation grant to expand SyracuseServes network
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University recently received $1 million in additional grant funding to expand

Auburn Community Hospital awarded $10 million in federal funding for COVID-19 costs
AUBURN, N.Y. — Auburn Community Hospital (ACH) will use a federal award of more than $10 million to cover costs associated with the hospital’s COVID-19
Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.