Onondaga County receives $7M sales tax payment; 2020 budget deficit is more than $22M

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Onondaga County on Thursday received a sales-tax payment of more than $7 million, leaving the sales-tax deficit in the county’s 2020 budget

Apex Entertainment reopens for bowling, laser tag at Destiny USA

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Apex Entertainment reopened at Destiny USA on Wednesday, Oct. 7 with 24 bowling lanes, laser tag, bumper cars, hologate and x-rider (virtual reality), along with a restaurant menu in its Pit Stop Tavern. However, its arcade remains closed under New York State guidelines, Destiny USA said in a news release announcing the

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Syracuse airport to temporarily relocate rental-car operators

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Nonprofits, Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) on Thursday announced that all rental-car operations at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) will be temporarily

TCGplayer plans more hiring in year ahead; adds Seamless co-founder to company board

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — TCGplayer, an online technology platform for the collectibles industry, says plans to expand into new collectible lines of business and will hire more than 100 new full-time employees over the next year. “Over the next 12 months, TCGplayer anticipates expanding beyond hobby gaming collectibles to areas like sports cards, board games, comic

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“Over the next 12 months, TCGplayer anticipates expanding beyond hobby gaming collectibles to areas like sports cards, board games, comic books, and role-playing games,” Chedy Hampson, founder and CEO of TCGplayer, tells CNYBJ.

TCGplayer is headquartered at 440 S. Warren St. in downtown Syracuse.

Besides its hiring plans, TCGplayer also announced that it has appointed Paul Appelbaum, a founder and former president of GrubHub Seamless, to the company’s board of directors.

Seamless, a food-delivery service, is part of the GrubHub portfolio of brands.

Following the firm’s plans for hiring, TCGplayer will employ about 350 people across the U.S., with a majority located at the firm’s headquarters.

The company is already recruiting for about 50 of these roles, which includes its first-ever chief marketing officer, per a Sept. 14 company news release.

Appelbaum is an experienced operator, investor, and advisor, and currently serves as a principal of Rock Ventures LLC, an early-stage investment firm focused on marketplaces and foodtech. He’s also a director of Slice, a technology platform “powering local pizzerias’ transformation for the digital age.”

“We are rapidly growing and excited to add talented people across our organization, with a focus on roles in engineering, marketing and fulfillment support,” Hampson says. “Having built the most dynamic and compelling marketplace for collectible card games in the U.S., we are excited to bring our innovative technologies and customer-focused approach to a great portion of the $25 billion global collectible hobby market. In support of TCGplayer’s expansion plans, we are looking for talented individuals who will help us further improve and advance our platform for the collectibles industry.”

Hampson also explains the importance of the addition of Appelbaum to the TCGplayer board of directors.

“Paul brings more than 20 years of experience as an investor and developer of technology companies to TCGplayer, and we are confident he will be a valuable addition to our boardroom as we continue to execute TCGplayer’s plan of building the leading online marketplace for the collectible world,” says Hampson.

“I am delighted to join the TCGplayer board at this exciting moment in the company’s history,” Appelbaum said. “I was drawn to the company because of its inspiring leadership, collaborative culture and innovative technology. I look forward to helping TCGplayer continue to reach its potential as it defines the future of the collectibles industry.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Tioga Downs implements plan to keep patrons safe during pandemic

Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

NICHOLS, N.Y. — Tioga Downs Casino Resort has released the details of its “We’re a Safe Bet!” health and safety plan designed to protect the well-being of both customers and employees. The casino resort was among the state-approved casinos that reopened Sept. 9 with its hotel facility reopening on Sept. 11. The facilities reopened with

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NICHOLS, N.Y. — Tioga Downs Casino Resort has released the details of its “We’re a Safe Bet!” health and safety plan designed to protect the well-being of both customers and employees.

The casino resort was among the state-approved casinos that reopened Sept. 9 with its hotel facility reopening on Sept. 11. The facilities reopened with a 25-percent occupancy limit.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo provided the guidance for the state-approved casinos to reopen the previous week.

Along with standard social-distancing procedures, Tioga Downs Casino Resort says it has been working with health-care experts and medical-grade cleaning professionals to develop the “We’re a Safe Bet!” plan. It includes protocols and regulations that it contends “go above and beyond” state-mandated requirements to ensure that patrons at the venue can return “safely and responsibly.”

Pandemic safety plan

Under the plan, all employees and guests will have their temperatures checked before entering the property and will be required to wear a mask at all times.

In addition, all employees have to pass a COVID-19 antibody test or COVID-19 viral test before returning to work.

All employees received training from the regional safety & risk officer on COVID-19 safety and sanitation protocols.

Tioga Downs also installed an air-plasma generator and ultraviolet duct system to “constantly purify air and reduce microorganisms and pollutants by more than 99 percent across the facility,” per its news release.

Air filters have been upgraded to MERV-13 in accordance with state-government guidance.

In addition, 15 medical-grade air-purification units have been placed throughout the facility, which produce 99.99 percent aggregate removal of particles down to 0.007 microns.

Tioga Downs says it has also put a “specially trained safety ambassadors” team in place to “ensure compliance and to properly clean and disinfect all areas.”

Tioga Downs operations

Tioga Downs announced that “initially,” the casino will operate about 350 slots while the poker room, tables games, and simulcast will remain closed until further notice.

The FanDuel Sportsbook, Coasters Sports Bar, Java G’s Café, and P.J. Clarke’s Restaurant also opened at Tioga Downs and will operate under New York State guidelines.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Commercial gaming revenue continued to rebound nationally in August

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

Revenue still down sharply from a year ago amid pandemic Commercial gaming revenue (CGR) continued to bounce back nationally in August as more casinos reopened from coronavirus closures, but still remained well below year-ago levels, according to a recent report. August marked the fourth straight month of recovery for the commercial gaming industry following April’s

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MVCC board of trustees appoints new chair, vice chair

Health Care, Subscriber Only

UTICA, N.Y. — The Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) board of trustees has appointed Anthony J. Colón as board chair and Dr. Frank Dubeck, Jr., as board vice chair, effective Oct. 1. Colón is serving his 12th year on the board of trustees since his Oneida County appointment in 2008. He previously served as vice

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UTICA, N.Y. — The Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) board of trustees has appointed Anthony J. Colón as board chair and Dr. Frank Dubeck, Jr., as board vice chair, effective Oct. 1.

Colón is serving his 12th year on the board of trustees since his Oneida County appointment in 2008. He previously served as vice chair from 2018 until Sept. 30 of this year.

Colón worked for California–based Mitchell International for 10 years as a senior account executive and director of Latin American sales and marketing. Since 1999, Colón has provided bilingual services to a variety of organizations including the federal and New York court systems. He also is contracted to provide family-support services through the Integrated Community Alternatives Network (ICAN).

Colón currently holds leadership positions within the New York State and (national) Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). He was the 2015 winner of the New York Community College Trustees Marvin A. Rapp Award for distinguished trustee service. He recently was elected 2021 Chair of the ACCT Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which provides leadership for the involvement of historically underrepresented diverse populations within the governance activities of the board.

Dubeck was appointed to the MVCC board of trustees in 2015 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He is medical director for Change Healthcare in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, a position in which he provides clinical support for the development and maintenance of various software solutions for the health-care industry. He previously worked as chief medical officer, VP of medical policy, and regional VP of the Utica Region at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

Prior to Excellus, Dubeck was the executive VP at Summerhill Co. in Sherburne, a physician services company, and served as a general internist at Slocum Dickson Medical Group in New Hartford, for 12 years.

Mohawk Valley Community College, established in 1946, has campuses in Utica and Rome and has 6,000 full-time and part-time students.

Broome County hotels continued business bounceback in August

Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Hotels in Broome County continued to see a small pickup in guests in August compared to the past few months, but occupancy was still down sharply from a year earlier as the coronavirus pandemic continues to suppress travel and hospitality, according to a recent report. The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as

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Final rankings of 8th annual CNY Best Places to Work Awards honorees

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SYRACUSE — The 2020 CNY Business Journal Best Places to Work awards virtual event recently recognized nearly four- dozen companies from the Central New York region. The 8th annual event, which premiered on the afternoon of Sept. 16, attracted more than 20,000 viewers across all platforms, as of Oct. 5. Arel Moodie was the keynote

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SYRACUSE — The 2020 CNY Business Journal Best Places to Work awards virtual event recently recognized nearly four- dozen companies from the Central New York region.

The 8th annual event, which premiered on the afternoon of Sept. 16, attracted more than 20,000 viewers across all platforms, as of Oct. 5.

Arel Moodie was the keynote speaker. The event’s platinum sponsor was CH Insurance. The awards event was presented by the CNY Business Journal and produced by BizEventz.

The 2020 Best Places to Work award winners in rank order by category were:

Companies with Under 10 Employees
1. The Marrone Law Firm
2. Nave Law Firm
3. A La Carte Business Services/Arete HCM Solutions
4. Secure Network Technologies
5. David’s Refuge

Companies with 10-50 Employees
1. New York Life – Team Dufrane
2. The Garam Group
3. Ferrara Fiorenza
4. Grimsley Agency
5. Business Machines & Equipment, Inc.
6. SparkOrange
7. Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Inc.
8. The Computing Center
9. JAS Recruitment
10. iV4, a ProArch Company
11. Gardner Capparelli
12. COAST Physical Therapy
13. HOLT Architects
14. Rockbridge Investment Management
15. United Way of Central New York
16. Staffworks
17. Insero & Co. CPAs
18. Seneca Savings
19. Digital Hyve
20. Westelcom
21. Capital Collection Management
22. Oswego County FCU
23. Appel Osborne Landscape Architecture
24. N.K. BHANDARI Architecture and Engineering
25. Advanced Business Systems
26. Site Seeker

Companies with 51-100 Employees
1. Usherwood Office Technology
2. The Bonadio Group
3. Tetra Tech Architects and Engineers
4. Dannible & McKee, LLP
5. Bowers & Company
6. Environmental Design and Research
7. Reagan Companies

Companies with Over 100 Employees
1. Bankers Healthcare Group
2. Thompson & Johnson Equipment Co.
3. Terakeet
4. Practice Resources
5. Driver’s Village
6. Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists
7. NBT Bank
8. Delta Engineers, Architects, and Land Surveyors, DPC
9. Assured Information Security (AIS)

You can view the virtual event at: https://www.cnybj.com/2020-best-places-to-work-awards. For more information on each of the honored companies and why they are a great place to work, check out the special commemorative publication in the Sept. 14 issue of the Central New York Business Journal. The CNY Business Journal and BizEventz partnered with Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) to conduct the Best Places to Work survey. The study identifies and recognizes the best places of employment in Central New York, based upon a survey of employees to gauge workplace satisfaction.

Opinion: Crime Victims’ Families Who Fight for Justice are an Inspiration

Opinion, Subscriber Only

OPINION [Recently], the Assembly Minority Conference joined the families of violent-crime victims to call for changes to New York’s parole procedures and implore the state to fix its broken criminal-justice system. Despite pleas to keep cop-killers and rapists behind bars, the state’s misguided parole board has allowed individuals convicted of heinous acts of violence out

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OPINION

[Recently], the Assembly Minority Conference joined the families of violent-crime victims to call for changes to New York’s parole procedures and implore the state to fix its broken criminal-justice system. Despite pleas to keep cop-killers and rapists behind bars, the state’s misguided parole board has allowed individuals convicted of heinous acts of violence out of jail while the families of their victims expressed shock, fear, and frustration.

Samuel Ayala was recently released from prison after being convicted of raping and murdering two Westchester mothers while their children were present. Herman Bell, convicted in 1971 of murdering two police officers, was let out two years ago, and Anthony Bottom, who was imprisoned for that same murder, was just granted parole and is expected to go free this month. These decisions are clear evidence the parole board has lost its way.

The courage of individuals like Diane Piagentini — the wife of NYPD Patrolman Joseph Piagentini who was killed by Bell — and Jason Minter — whose mother, Bonnie, was a victim of Ayala’s — for coming forward and repeatedly demanding change cannot be overstated. They, and countless other crime victims, are the inspiration for our recent criminal-justice campaign and the spark behind our newly proposed legislation to reform the parole board.

Instead of being able to peacefully mourn their lost loved ones and move on from the tragedies brought upon them, they are, instead, continually forced to fight an entrenched and mismanaged bureaucracy over policies that make no sense. This is unfair on every level and flies in the face of justice.

To address these egregious policy failures, we have introduced a new bill to strengthen legislative oversight of the 19-member parole board, including allowing members of the board to be removed by a majority vote of the New York State Assembly and Senate, in addition to removal by the governor. We are also calling for a requirement that a minimum of three members of the board interview inmates seeking parole (it’s currently two) and a requirement for a unanimous vote of the three members in order for parole to be granted (currently only a majority is required).

We have also reiterated our support for Ramona’s Law (A.6663), which, among other things, would extend the maximum number of months from 24 to 60 for the time between hearings for denied parole applicants in certain cases.

The inspirational bravery and calls for reform from victims and their families are just the first steps in our fight to restore justice in New York. There is much work to do to fix that, but we are committed to giving every victim and their loved ones a voice in this fight.

William (Will) A. Barclay, Republican, is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact Barclay at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us

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