Tompkins to host Thursday virtual small-business workshop focused on starting, growing a business

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Tompkins Trust Company, which is in the process of rebranding to the name Tompkins, will be hosting a virtual small-business workshop this

M&T Bank names Gorczynski CNY regional president as Naples retires

Banks & Credit Unions, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Insurance & Financial Services, New York News, People on the Move, Regional News

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), which holds the most deposits and is the largest small-business lender in the region, announced it has named

Auburn Industrial Development Authority unveils new brand

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Nonprofits, Small Business, Subscriber Only

AUBURN, N.Y. — The Auburn Industrial Development Authority (AIDA) recently announced the launch of its new brand identity and website. The new brand identity is place-based and “showcases the unique benefits of living and doing business in the City of Auburn, positioning it among other comparable cities in order to garner the attention of individuals

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New York cheese production rose last year, butter production slipped

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, Small Business, Subscriber Only

New York plants produced just over 870 million pounds of cheese (excluding cottage cheese) in 2020, up 4.6 percent from almost 832 million pounds the year before, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently reported. The state had 66 cheese-production plants last year, up from 64 in 2019. New York plants produced nearly 23.9

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Oneida County hotels post huge rebound in business in March

Regional News, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County’s hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) rocketed up 73.3 percent to 48.7 percent in March, compared to the same month in 2020 when the pandemic first hammered the hotel business. That’s according to a new report from STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics

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Amazon begins operations at DeWitt delivery station

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Manufacturing & Engineering, Technology

DeWITT, N.Y. — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced it has opened its delivery station at 6834 Kirkville Rd. in DeWitt. The 112,000-square-foot delivery station will create

Jefferson County hotel occupancy rate soars nearly 50 percent in March

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WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Hotels in Jefferson County saw a massive increase in guests in March compared to March 2020, which was when the COVID-19 pandemic first slammed the hospitality industry everywhere, according to a recent report. The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county jumped 49.3 percent to

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Schumer urges U.S., Canadian governments to reopen northern border

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MASSENA, N.Y. — New York plans to begin lifting many COVID restrictions on May 19 due to increasing vaccination rates and falling COVID infections. Knowing that, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) thinks it is time to reopen New York’s northern border with Canada. Speaking May 5 at the Massena International Airport, Schumer called

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MASSENA, N.Y. — New York plans to begin lifting many COVID restrictions on May 19 due to increasing vaccination rates and falling COVID infections.

Knowing that, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) thinks it is time to reopen New York’s northern border with Canada.

Speaking May 5 at the Massena International Airport, Schumer called on the U.S. and Canadian governments and public-health officials to develop a plan for reopening the border between the nations.

He told the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security that the reopening plan should be “based on data, science and common sense.”

Since March 2020, Americans and Canadians on both sides of the border have “grown frustrated with the endless cycle” of month-by-month closure extensions and the “lack of transparency on which they’re decided,” Schumer’s office said.

With the current moratorium on non-essential traffic set to expire on May 21, and vaccination rates rising on both sides of the border, Schumer urged the relevant parties to come to an agreement “as soon as possible” on how and when to allow for increased cross border travel to avoid the loss of another summer season and hundreds of millions in cross-border dollars.

Schumer explained the Thousand Islands-St. Lawrence Seaway region’s economy is “deeply integrated” with the Canadian economy. Each year, more than 2.3 million Canadian travelers enter the U.S. through three ports of entry in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.

However in 2020, border crossings were down 98 percent in Alexandria Bay and Ogdensburg and off more than 50 percent in Massena. The continued closure of the northern border has contributed to “significant” revenue loss for businesses in both nations, but also presents “significant logistical problems” for those with interests on the other side of the border.

Specific requests

Specifically, Schumer requested that a binational agreement on reopening criteria be established and disclosed to the public without delay.

Second, Schumer pushed for a re-evaluation and expansion of the essential-travel designation. With New York vaccination rates going up every day, Schumer stated that American and Canadian citizens with familial, educational, medical, educational, and property interests should be considered essential travelers if they’ve undertaken their civic responsibility to get vaccinated.

Schumer also stressed the importance of recreational and commercial boating in the waters along the border. Currently, American and Canadian boaters are not able to cross the border by water, even if they have no intention of stopping at a port of entry.

The senator also urged the federal government to provide any “necessary” support to Customs and Border Protection officers and other federal personnel along the northern border.

Poll: two-thirds of small businesses fear inflation will hurt recovery

Small Business, Subscriber Only

Two out of three (67 percent) small-business owners say they’re concerned about inflation hurting their ability to recover and 38 percent are “highly concerned,” according to the recently released Alignable Inflation Poll. The poll was conducted among 7,735 small-business owners from April 24 to May 5, 2021. The release reporting the poll findings stated, “…for the first

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The poll was conducted among 7,735 small-business owners from April 24 to May 5, 2021.

The release reporting the poll findings stated, “…for the first time in the past year, the No. 1 concern listed among small business owners is the rising cost of supplies. This fear trumped worries about running out of cash reserves, and even concerns about customers being too afraid to return.”

Concerns about inflation were highest among small-business owners in the manufacturing sector, with 83 percent expressing worry. The release stated, “…The majority of manufacturers taking the poll reported challenges with increased trucking expenses and difficulty in accessing some of the raw materials they need to create products. This, of course, results in scarcity and will force them to boost prices, which will affect anyone who needs their products from retailers to restaurants, and home builders to real estate agents.”

Beyond manufacturing, the industries expressing the highest levels of concern about inflation were electricians (80 percent), construction (79 percent), and restaurants (77 percent).

Additional poll findings include the following:

• 80 percent of poll respondents say the cost of supplies has risen above pre-COVID levels

• 59 percent are having difficulty acquiring inventory or supplies

• 50 percent of respondents with employees are having trouble finding new ones to fill vacancies

• 51 percent identify a labor shortage, saying employees require higher salaries or hourly rates than they did before COVID

• Despite increased costs, slightly fewer than half (48 percent) say they are charging higher prices to cover their rising expenses

Alignable is an online referral network for small businesses with more than 6 million members in North America. The organization established a research center in early March 2020, “to track and report the impact of the coronavirus on small businesses, and to monitor recovery efforts, informing the media, policymakers, and our members.”

Further details about the poll findings are available at: https://www.alignable.com/forum/alignable-67-fear-inflation-will-hurt-their-business-recovery?utm_campaign=May&utm_medium=Press&utm_source=Press

SUNY, CUNY schools join colleges requring student vaccinations this fall

Health Care, Subscriber Only

Students attending the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) will need proof they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccination for in-person instruction this fall. “You’re a young person. You go to a SUNY school, CUNY school you must have a vaccine to come back in September. If you must have a vaccine,

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Students attending the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) will need proof they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccination for in-person instruction this fall.

“You’re a young person. You go to a SUNY school, CUNY school you must have a vaccine to come back in September. If you must have a vaccine, get it now, if you have to get it anyway,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his COVID-19 briefing in New York City on May 10.

Cuomo also encouraged all private universities and colleges to adopt the same guidelines.

“Let’s make a global statement. You cannot go back to school in person in September unless you have a vaccine. That will be a major motivation for people to get the vaccine,” the governor said. “And if you have to get it by September, you may as well get it now. Why wouldn’t you get it now? OK?”

Many private colleges and universities across the state already have mandated vaccinations for students wanting to return to campus in the fall, including Cornell University, Ithaca College, Le Moyne College, and Syracuse University.

The same day as the SUNY/CUNY announcement, Cazenovia College announced that it is requiring both students and employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19 if they plan to be on campus in the fall.

Other state schools across the U.S. are also requiring student vaccinations in order to return to campus in the fall, including the state-university systems of California and Maryland.

The SUNY/CUNY mandate is contingent on the COVID vaccines now in use receiving full approval from the FDA, as opposed to the current emergency authorization.

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras reacted to the governor’s announcement in a statement. “Over the past several weeks we have been working with our SUNY community to develop the best plan to make sure we can return to full reopening in the fall and turn the page on COVID … The State’s new vaccination requirement — contingent on full FDA approval — will be another step in restoring normal campus activity this fall,” he said.

Separately, Malatras announced that 1.5 million vaccine doses have gone into arms at the vaccination centers located on SUNY campuses across the state. The SUNY vaccine sites average about 15,000 shots a day.

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