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David S. Urban has also joined Fust Charles as a tax associate. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accountancy and supply chain management from Syracuse
Michaela M. Lohr has joined Fust Charles as a tax associate. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Lohr
Taina Fussa has joined Fust Charles as an audit associate. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from SUNY Oswego. Fussa is originally from Washington
The Reading League — a Syracuse–based national nonprofit whose mission is to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction — has appointed
Bowers CPAs & Advisors has welcomed Turissa Campbell as manager of learning & professional development — a newly created role that reflects the firm’s strategic
CNY Community Foundation names two new board members
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation board of directors recently elected two new members. Angela Lee, chief diversity officer at Baxter International, Inc., and H. Douglas Pinckney, partner and co-founder of the Pinckney Hugo Group, were appointed to serve their first three-year term beginning July 1, 2025. Lee brings more than 30
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation board of directors recently elected two new members.
Angela Lee, chief diversity officer at Baxter International, Inc., and H. Douglas Pinckney, partner and co-founder of the Pinckney Hugo Group, were appointed to serve their first three-year term beginning July 1, 2025.
Lee brings more than 30 years of experience in human resources and talent development. In her current role at Baxter, she drives strategic initiatives aimed at fostering a fully integrated inclusion and diversity experience within the organization. Lee began her career at Welch Allyn, where she held key leadership roles, including overseeing a team of global human-resources partners and leading acquisition and divestiture activities. Following Welch Allyn’s acquisition by Hillrom in 2015 — and later by Baxter in 2021 — she continued to play a pivotal role in the company’s evolution. Recognized for her leadership, Lee was named one of the 25 Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal in 2019. She is a graduate of SUNY Empire State College. Lee and her husband, Joseph, have a donor-advised fund at the Central New York Community Foundation. Joe also served on the foundation’s board of directors from 2008-2014.
Pinckney has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and communications. He began his career as a general sales manager for Sea-Land in Atlanta, Georgia, before serving as senior VP of sales and marketing at Worldwide Flight Services. In 2002, Doug, his brother Chris, and their friend Aaron Hugo acquired Spitz Advertising — Syracuse’s oldest advertising agency — and rebranded it as Pinckney Hugo Group (PHG). Since then, PHG has grown from five employees to more than 90, expanded to Rochester, and was recognized as one of the Best Companies to Work for in New York State. It also earned a spot on Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America. Pinckney graduated from the University of Maryland and attended UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business.
The Central New York Community Foundation is a public charity established in 1927, which says it has invested more than $320 million in community projects that benefit Central New York.
Hochul announces $40 million to launch Empire AI Beta supercomputer
ALBANY, N.Y. — Empire State Development (ESD) has approved $40 million to launch Empire AI Beta, the second phase of the supercomputer powering New York’s Empire AI (artificial intelligence) initiative. SUNY and Cornell University are among the seven founding members of Empire AI, and the group also includes CUNY (City University of New York), Columbia
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ALBANY, N.Y. — Empire State Development (ESD) has approved $40 million to launch Empire AI Beta, the second phase of the supercomputer powering New York’s Empire AI (artificial intelligence) initiative.
SUNY and Cornell University are among the seven founding members of Empire AI, and the group also includes CUNY (City University of New York), Columbia University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron Institute.
Empire AI Beta will be 11 times more powerful than current capacity, allowing hundreds of researchers from the now 10 member institutions to continue to advance AI research for public good, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on June 26.
Empire AI is now backed by more than $500 million in public and private funding, including up to $340 million in state capital funding that Hochul secured.
“With Empire AI, New York is leading in emerging technology and ensuring the power of AI is harnessed for public good and developed right here in this great state,” Hochul contended in the June 26 announcement. “The launch of Beta will supercharge our efforts to advance responsible AI development by some of our brightest minds at research institutions focused on purpose, not profit.”
The funding that ESD approved will allow the Empire AI consortium to purchase the equipment needed to power the second-phase supercomputer, housed at the University at Buffalo. Empire AI Beta will use NVIDIA’s Blackwell AI supercomputing platform.
The new Beta system will “dramatically accelerate” Empire AI’s computing performance from the current Alpha system: 11-fold in AI training, 40-fold in AI inference, and an 8-fold increase in data storage, the state says.
New York State also expects Empire AI Beta to be among the first academic deployments of NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX GB200 systems. Both the Alpha and Beta systems are running “only fractions” of Empire AI’s eventual computing power, but the new Beta system will propel Empire AI to become “one of the most advanced academic computers in the world,” Hochul’s office contends.
“As AI research, development and usage grows, New York tech leaders are exploring new ways to utilize these advancements in ways that will generate solutions to complex issues and support positive growth,” Hope Knight, president, CEO, and commissioner of Empire State Development, said. “The $40 million in funding approved today by ESD’s Board of Directors represents a significant step forward that will increase the capacity of Empire AI and further enhance the AI research happening throughout our state.”
Empire AI is made up of 10 member universities and research institutions. As part of the latest state budget, Hochul secured $90 million in new capital funding to “substantially increase” the computing power of Empire AI and expand access for SUNY researchers. The funding will also help support the addition of new members including the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The new Beta system builds on the successful 2024 launch of Alpha, which was made possible by philanthropic support from the Simons Foundation, Hochul’s office said. Planning and development of the full-scale Empire AI computing center is underway. Empire AI Alpha and Empire AI Beta allow member institutions to conduct AI research “as soon as possible” until the full-scale system is complete.
“With the launch of Beta, Empire AI is unleashing a game-changing level of computational power to serve researchers across New York,” Robert Harrison, interim executive director of Empire AI, said in the state’s announcement. “From cancer diagnostics to climate modeling, this system will accelerate innovation across fields — while putting New York at the forefront of responsible AI development. Thanks to the vision of Governor Hochul and our expanding roster of top-tier academic partners, we are building something truly unprecedented: a public AI research powerhouse designed to benefit everyone.”
Instacart, Wegmans launch pilot of AI-powered smart carts
DeWITT, N.Y. — Instacart (NASDAQ: CART), a grocery-technology company, says Caper Carts, the company’s AI (artificial intelligence)-powered smart carts, are now available at the Wegmans store in DeWitt. It marks the first deployment of Caper Carts at Wegmans, as part of an initial in-store program offering customers a “smarter, more seamless way to shop in-store,”
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DeWITT, N.Y. — Instacart (NASDAQ: CART), a grocery-technology company, says Caper Carts, the company’s AI (artificial intelligence)-powered smart carts, are now available at the Wegmans store in DeWitt.
It marks the first deployment of Caper Carts at Wegmans, as part of an initial in-store program offering customers a “smarter, more seamless way to shop in-store,” per the July 1 announcement from San Francisco, California–based Instacart.
Caper Carts enable customers to track their spending and check out “seamlessly.” The carts automatically recognize items as they are dropped into the cart and customers can bag as they shop, tapping signals from an array of Caper Cart cameras, digital scale, and location sensors connected to NVIDIA Jetson hardware.
Wegmans customers can login to their Shoppers Club account on the cart’s screen in order to shop with a Caper Cart, Instacart said.
“Caper Carts are transforming everyday grocery shopping into a faster, more personalized experience,” David McIntosh, chief connected stores officer at Instacart, contended in the announcement. “We’re excited to partner with Wegmans — known for their exceptional customer and in-store experience — to bring this technology to their store. Together, we’re delivering customers a delightful and personalized shopping journey.”
The companies first partnered to offer same-day grocery delivery in 2017, and have since expanded the partnership to include pickup, EBT SNAP acceptance, and loyalty program integration.
Caper Carts are part of Instacart Connected Stores, its suite of technologies “bridging the online and in-store experience.”
New York municipalities required to use “.gov” website domain by year-end
Legislation passed early this year amends New York general municipal law and requires that all municipal websites use a “.gov” domain name. The change, which goes into effect on Dec. 21, 2025, also requires that all municipalities with a population of 1,500 or more establish and maintain an official website. The website must be updated
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Legislation passed early this year amends New York general municipal law and requires that all municipal websites use a “.gov” domain name.
The change, which goes into effect on Dec. 21, 2025, also requires that all municipalities with a population of 1,500 or more establish and maintain an official website. The website must be updated regularly and be accessible to the public. Websites must contain basic municipal information such as hours of operation, privacy policy information, financial documents such as the current year budget, public notices, agendas and minutes required by the Open Meetings Law, and legal and regulatory documents.
“We don’t believe it’s overly egregious,” New York Association of Towns (NYAOT) Executive Director Christopher Koetzle says of the legislation, which the NYAOT helped negotiate.
Websites are useful tools for municipalities to easily convey information to residents, he notes. Having a “.gov” domain will make those websites more secure and add a layer of authenticity, he adds. With municipalities currently having anything from a “.com” to a “.org” to a “.gov,” requiring all municipalities to use “.gov” adds uniformity.
“It’s just easier for the residents to know it’s a ‘.gov’,” Koetzle says.
Switching a “.gov” domain provides some extra security for municipalities, Brandon Brooks, data center manager at M.A. Polce, a Rome–based cybersecurity and IT services firm, says.
“Anyone can buy a “.com” for pretty cheap,” he says, and there isn’t any background checking going on. That’s not the case with a “.gov” domain, which is issued through a federal registry through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
“They check your eligibility,” Brooks says. “They really go through a thorough verification process to make sure you’re eligible.”
That thorough vetting process helps ensure entities’ website domains are not “stolen,” he notes. Since domain names have to be renewed regularly, they can become eligible again if an entity somehow misses their renewal period. That means a municipality using a “.com” domain could lose access to that domain if it misses the renewal period for some reason, says Brooks. That opens the door for bad actors to obtain the domain. The entity would either have to give in to the bad actor’s demands to regain the domain or switch to a new domain name and start its website all over again. However, the vetting process for the “.gov” domain helps prevent hostile domain takeovers.
“There’s definitely a tightened layer of security,” Brooks says.
The process of obtaining a “.gov” domain can be a little lengthy but isn’t inherently difficult. Brooks suggests municipalities that have to make the switch create a plan to manage the process smoothly.
“There are a lot of moving parts to it,” he says, but about 90 percent of the changes happen “behind the scenes.”
Towns can acquire a “.gov” domain name, at no cost, through the GSA at: https://get.gov/domains/.
To let residents know of the website address change, municipalities can post a banner on the current website homepage notifying them, Brooks says. Once the change is made, municipalities can redirect residents from the old website to the new one for a period of time as well.
“There are a few different ways to ease people into it,” Brooks says.
Onondaga County has used a “.com” domain but is already in the process of migrating over a large portion of the county’s website to “.gov,” Justin Sayles, the county’s executive communications director, tells CNYBJ.
Upstate’s mobile mammography van reaches 5,000 mammograms milestone
ELBRIDGE, N.Y.— Upstate University Hospital’s mobile mammography van in mid-June provided its 5,000th mammogram, which Upstate called an “important milestone.” Anna-Marie Peters, of Elbridge, was welcomed with balloons and a bouquet of flowers when she arrived at the van, which was parked outside the Jordan Elbridge Medical Center. “It was wonderful, and I loved it,”
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ELBRIDGE, N.Y.— Upstate University Hospital’s mobile mammography van in mid-June provided its 5,000th mammogram, which Upstate called an “important milestone.”
Anna-Marie Peters, of Elbridge, was welcomed with balloons and a bouquet of flowers when she arrived at the van, which was parked outside the Jordan Elbridge Medical Center.
“It was wonderful, and I loved it,” Peters said. “It was close to home and so much more convenient.”
Wendy Hunt, program manager of Upstate’s mobile mammography program, said Peters’ experience “reflects that of many patients” who rely on the van for the life-saving screening, per the June 18 announcement on Upstate website.
“If we can remove obstacles to getting a mammogram, we’ve been successful,” Hunt said. “The Mammography Van extends our clinical campus boundaries to wherever we are on any given day. We bring the van to the people.”
In more than five years of service, the van has provided just over 5,000 mammograms and traveled more than 50,000 miles across 13 counties. It has also “made a real impact,” in detecting 20 cancers through its screenings, Upstate said.
The van partners with dozens of organizations and frequently appears at events hosted by businesses, libraries, community groups, American Legion posts, schools, medical offices, churches, fire departments, town halls, senior centers, grocery stores, pharmacies, fairs, YMCAs, car dealerships, farmers markets, apartment complexes, health departments, colleges, and fitness centers.
The New York State Fair is one of its “most popular” stops. This year, the van will be parked behind Chevy Court on Aug. 27 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. to offer mammograms.
Patients are encouraged to make an appointment and have a doctor’s order to receive a screening. However, walk-ins will be accepted if time allows. For those without a primary-care provider to write an order, the van can provide a one-time order, Upstate said.
Equipped with the same screening technology found in clinic settings, the van’s images are reviewed by licensed radiologists. It also includes a reception area, changing room, nursing-exam room, and an imaging room. For patients with mobility concerns or those who use wheelchairs, the van includes a wheelchair lift.
Upstate Medical University now fully supports the van after it was initially funded through a grant from Health Research Inc. and the New York State Department of Health, the medical school noted.
For more information about the mobile mammography van and a schedule of screening events through November, visit: https://www.upstate.edu/mobile-mammography/
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