SYRACUSE — A program of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) taught a Syracuse business owner “to rely on community.”

“It’s interesting because that’s a huge part of our business model at the gym. The community here is a huge aspect of what we do,” says Ellen Goldberg, co-owner of CrossFit Syracuse, LLC at 3030 Erie Blvd. East in Syracuse.

Goldberg was among 20 entrepreneurs who were part of the 2019 class in the SBA’s Emerging Leaders program. She spoke with CNYBJ on Nov. 11. 

The Emerging Leaders program provides free entrepreneurship education and training for executives of small, “poised-for-growth” companies that are potential job creators, as described in an SBA news release. This “intensive” executive entrepreneurship series includes nearly 100 hours of classroom time. It also provides opportunities for small-business owners to work with experienced coaches and mentors, attend workshops, and develop connections with their peers, local leaders, and the financial community.

When the business launched seven years ago, Goldberg admits she became “entrenched” in her owns ways and thoughts and didn’t really “look outside much” for help and inspiration.

But meeting her fellow entrepreneurs in the program and becoming aware of all the resources available to small-business owners “really opened” her eyes to “rely on others.”

“…and just connect more in the same way that we encourage our clients to do in the gym,” says Goldberg.

Goldberg and husband, Dan, launched the business in September 2012. They currently have 16 employees. CrossFit Syracuse operates in a 5,800-square-foot space. 

She learned about the program through one of CrossFit’s clients. “It came at a time when we were heavily thinking about where do we go next with our business,” says Goldberg. “It just seemed like the perfect answer to our problems.”

The Emerging Leaders program “reinforced” the idea that strategic planning is an “ongoing process” in the way that an owner runs a business. “[Planning] isn’t a one-time thing. This is something that we will continue to do and refine every month of every year,” she notes.

The Goldbergs are hoping to expand their space for group-training sessions, but they’re still working to determine the best way to handle such an expansion. They’d also like to expand and grow CrossFit Syracuse’s personal-training program, which has been a “strong” component of the business since it opened, according to Goldberg.

Since its inception in 2008, the SBA’s Emerging Leaders initiative has trained more than 5,000 small-business owners nationally, creating more than 6,500 jobs, generating over $300 million in new financing, and securing in excess of $3.16 billion in government contracts. Now in its ninth year, Syracuse is one of dozens of participating Emerging Leaders locations nationwide. 

With the 2019 class, 165 Central New York entrepreneurs have completed the program since it launched in Syracuse.   

BINGHAMTON — The presidents of SUNY Broome Community College and SUNY Empire State College on Nov. 7 announced a new partnership “making it easier” for SUNY Broome students to advance their health-care careers with an online bachelor’s degree in allied health from SUNY Empire State College. 

It represents the first partnership in New York that helps students with an associate degree in an allied health field to pursue a bachelor’s degree, Empire State College said in a Nov. 7 news release.

The agreement provides guaranteed admission for eligible students in SUNY Broome’s dental hygiene, health-information technology, medical assistant, physical-therapy assistant, and radiologic technology associate-degree programs into SUNY Empire’s bachelor of science in allied health program. SUNY Empire will waive the orientation fee for transfer students, provide a $100 Presidential Scholarship, and support the students in their transition to online learning, the school said.

“Our partnership will streamline opportunities for SUNY Broome students in the health-care field to also earn a bachelor’s degree that works around their schedule,” SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras said. “It’s a win-win for the students and for many communities facing a shortage of qualified health workers in critical areas of need. We are always working to make higher education more accessible to everyone. I want to commend the faculty and staff at both institutions for making this first of its kind partnership possible.” 

The demand for health-care workers between now and 2020 “is projected to grow nearly twice as fast as the national economy in the U.S.,” per the release. Allied health professionals — which include a range of health-care practitioners who are not doctors, nurses, or dentists — make up about 60 percent of the health-care workforce, “with more and more jobs requiring bachelor’s and master’s degrees.”

The “flexible” online bachelor’s degree at SUNY Empire is designed to help working health-care practitioners advance their careers with a degree that focuses on core competencies for health-care professionals, which prepares them to “improve outcomes” for individuals, families, and communities. 

“This partnership is a win not only for our students, but for our region’s health-care providers, who are in great need of trained allied-health professionals,” SUNY Broome President Kevin Drumm said. 

“The program provides an opportunity for seamless academic progression to the bachelor of science degree and beyond,” Kim Stote, associate dean for the SUNY Empire School of Nursing and Allied Health, added. “The bachelor of science in allied health degree option will allow students to gain the additional knowledge, skills and competencies to move into new roles within health care and achieve personal and professional goals.”