Cuomo orders hospitals to give spare ventilators, PPE to help downstate

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ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said he is ordering hospitals across New York state to turn over ventilators and personal protection equipment

Northeast HVAC Solutions leases 1,000-square-foot office in Syracuse

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — Northeast HVAC Solutions, Inc. recently leased 1,000 square feet of office space located at 886 Brighton Avenue East in Syracuse. Gary Cottet of Cushman & Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Company exclusively represented the marketing of the property, located in the Brighton Hill Office Park, and facilitated the lease on behalf of the landlord, the real-estate

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CNY Racing buys DeWitt building for $425K

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Subscriber Only

DeWITT — CNY Racing — a screen printing, embroidery, and event accessories provider — recently purchased the 7,200-square-foot freestanding commercial building at 6985 Collamer Road in DeWitt. Stephen Byer sold the 2.8-acre property in March for $425,000, according to a release from Cushman & Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Company. Gary Cottet of Cushman & Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage represented

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Task force to develop coronavirus strategies for Syracuse–area business community

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SYRACUSE — A joint task force of public and private-sector leaders is now working to help guide Syracuse and Onondaga County businesses and nonprofits through the coronavirus crisis. The group will help “make plans for the resurgence of our economy,” Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said in making the announcement March 25 at Onondaga County’s daily

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SYRACUSE — A joint task force of public and private-sector leaders is now working to help guide Syracuse and Onondaga County businesses and nonprofits through the coronavirus crisis.

The group will help “make plans for the resurgence of our economy,” Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said in making the announcement March 25 at Onondaga County’s daily COVID-19 briefing at the Oncenter.

The economic resiliency task force, which has eight members, will devise strategies to help companies continue operations and plan for the recovery of the local economy.

The City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, CenterState CEO, and the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) organized the group, Walsh said.

The task force members include Nate Andrews, president of Morse Manufacturing; Calvin Corriders, regional president of Pathfinder Bank; Jeff Davis, partner at Barclay Damon, LLP; Jo Anne Gagliano, president of Environmental Design & Research and chair of the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority; David Hoyne, owner of Kitty Hoynes; Evelyn Ingram, director of community relations at Wegmans; Jeff Knauss, CEO of Digital Hyve; and Loretta Zolkowski, executive director of the Human Services Leadership Council.

The volunteer task force will undertake a four-stage response to the economic challenges that the pandemic presents. The stages include assess, respond, mitigate, and recover.

It will draw on the resources and expertise of a “working team” made up of staff from the Syracuse Department of Neighborhood and Business Development; the Onondaga County Office of Economic Development; CenterState CEO; MACNY; the Downtown Committee; Visit Syracuse; New York State Empire State Development; the U.S. Small Business Administration; and the Central New York International Business Alliance.

Work on the four-phase approach is “already underway,” per a joint news release about the group.

Assess

CenterState CEO is conducting a baseline survey of local companies to gather concerns, impacts, actions, and “best practices on business operations and personnel dynamics.”

“Then we’re going to respond to some of those challenges. Some of those things have already been taking place … workforce challenges; companies having layoffs but also companies looking to hire and making those connections directly between those workers and those companies so that people can get back to work and fill that current demand for those essential workforce industries,” Andrew Fish, senior VP of business development at CenterState CEO, said in his remarks on the topic during the briefing.

The survey results, combined with information from direct contact with CenterState CEO and MACNY members, will be used to inform policy decisions, develop advocacy priorities, create new programming, catalogue best practices, and identify “common pain points” in the region.

Organizations willing to provide feedback and participate in the survey can do so at https://bit.ly/ceocovidsurvey.

Respond

The task force will gather information from government, private, and nonprofit sector partners and provide guidance to the business community as needed, with daily recaps, explanations of crucial business information, and common resource sites.

Interested companies can contact the task force at support@centerstateceo.com.

Mitigate

The task force will review individual business needs and provide applicable connections to resources, employment prospects, supply-chain opportunities, and financial assistance, as well as respond to other “short-term, time-sensitive” requests. The goal is to increase the “efficiency and effectiveness” of the community’s response and “mitigate duplication” of efforts and staff resources.

Recover

The group will also provide a structure for long-term recovery planning efforts, ongoing program assessment, and “qualitative feedback” for local partners’ mitigation and recovery efforts in coordination with partner organizations and business community leadership.

ESD seeks applications for second round of Grow-NY agribusiness competition

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Insurance & Financial Services, Small Business, Subscriber Only

Empire State Development (ESD) is now accepting applications for the 2020 Grow-NY agribusiness competition. Grow-NY — in the second year of its three-year initiative — targets the food and agriculture cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier regions of New York. The competition attracts “high-growth” food and agriculture startups “from

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Empire State Development (ESD) is now accepting applications for the 2020 Grow-NY agribusiness competition.

Grow-NY — in the second year of its three-year initiative — targets the food and agriculture cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier regions of New York.

The competition attracts “high-growth” food and agriculture startups “from around the world and across the state” to the Grow-NY region where they compete for a combined total of $3 million in prize money.

ESD says it will accept applications through July 15. From the applications submitted, ESD will select up to 20 finalists.

The selected finalists will receive mentorship from a business advisor; marketing promotion and publicity support for their startup; an expenses-paid, three-day business development trip to the Grow-NY region for up to two finalists per team; and introductions to potential investors.

The competition

Beginning in August, selected teams will enter into a mentoring and business-development phase that will run from September to November. Finalists will pitch their ideas and business plans at the Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit, a public symposium and industry forum, on Nov 17 and 18 at a soon-to-be-announced location in Syracuse. One team will be awarded the top prize of $1 million. Two $500,000 prizes and four $250,000 prizes will also be handed out.

Judges will base their decisions on five criteria, including viability of commercialization and business model, customer value, food and agriculture innovation, regional job creation, and the “quality and completeness of the team and its readiness to deliver.”

Winners will be required to “create a positive impact” in the Grow-NY region by “growing” job opportunities, connecting with local industry partners, and contributing to the region’s economy.

Cornell University administers the competition through its Center for Regional Economic Advancement.

“The Grow-NY program helps Cornell achieve its land grant mission by leveraging the abundant natural, commercial, and academic resources in our region to attract innovations in food and agriculture that help our community grow, make, move, and sell food more sustainably and with greater efficiency,” Kathryn Boor, dean of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said in a statement. “This becomes even more vital as we look for ways to recover from the economic effects of COVID-19. We’ve already seen results from the year one winners that fulfil on the promise of the program, and we’re looking forward to more, diverse, high-growth potential applicants in year two.”

Empire State Development is funding the competition through its Upstate Revitalization Initiative connected with the three regions — CNY Rising, Finger Lakes Forward, and Southern Tier Soaring.

Coronavirus fallout: Cornell sets hiring, salary freeze

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Health Care, Subscriber Only

ITHACA — Cornell University says it has a plan to help it deal with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has squeezed the revenue streams of the higher-education industry. The plan’s elements include a hiring freeze, a salary freeze, and an “immediate” suspension of discretionary spending. Cornell Provost Michael Kotlikoff and Joanne DeStefano,

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ITHACA — Cornell University says it has a plan to help it deal with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has squeezed the revenue streams of the higher-education industry.

The plan’s elements include a hiring freeze, a salary freeze, and an “immediate” suspension of discretionary spending.

Cornell Provost Michael Kotlikoff and Joanne DeStefano, executive VP and CFO, on March 30 sent a message to faculty and staff about the financial cutbacks, per the Cornell website.

“As you would expect, there are both near- and long-term financial impacts of de-densifying our campuses and of making such a rapid shift to virtual learning, and we write today to provide you with details on some immediate steps that we are taking to address these realities,” they wrote.

The school’s blueprint also includes a travel ban, converting all in-person summer programs that were set to start before July 12 to online offerings, a ban on new capital projects, and reevaluating projects already in progress to determine if they should proceed.

“We fully appreciate that these steps are significant. But until we can better understand the full impact of COVID-19 on the economy, financial markets and the university, these steps are essential to our being able to sustain our commitment to our employees and our students and to ensuring that Cornell has the funds necessary to continue to be a world-class university,” the Cornell officials wrote.

Higher-education trend

Cornell is not alone as colleges across the nation have been hit hard by the financial implications of social-distancing measures taken to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. On-campus instruction has ended, residence halls and dining rooms have been emptied, graduation ceremonies have been postponed, and fundraising events have been curtailed. Also, the stock market selloff has hammered universities’ endowment portfolios. Furthermore, prospective students’ family finances have been damaged and on-campus visits have been scrubbed, making it challenging for colleges to fill out their incoming freshman and graduate-school classes for the fall. That’s not to mention uncertainty about future international travel restrictions and the impact that has on international students who are critical revenue sources for many universities.

Hiring freeze

Cornell is implementing a university-wide hiring freeze on staff and temporary workers. The Ivy League university is establishing a process for approval of any exceptions to this freeze. Deans will review all academic hires, the officials said.

Salary freeze

Cornell doesn’t plan to offer salary increases for the fiscal year 2021 that begins on July 1, other than those required by collective-bargaining agreements. The university says it won’t provide increases to existing salaries through bonuses, promotions, acting rates, changes to time status or additional pay without the approval of the respective school officials in charge.

Any salary-change requests already in process will be reevaluated. Salary increases related to faculty promotions are excluded from this freeze.

Discretionary spending

All discretionary spending, including the hiring of outside consultants, is suspended immediately, Cornell says. This includes food/meals, events, recognition banquets and other expenditures that are not critical to the operation of the university.

Capital projects

All existing capital projects will be reevaluated to determine whether they should proceed, and no new capital projects will be approved.

Summer programs

“Given the uncertainty of when normal campus operations will resume,” Cornell says all in-person summer programs or activities, such as summer classes, conferences, etc., that were slated to begin prior to July 12 are canceled or will be converted to online offerings. During this time, the university will continue Cornell summer classes taught remotely. The school hopes to make a decision about programs for the second half of the summer once the situation becomes clearer.

Travel ban

All Cornell-related travel is currently restricted to reduce the spread of COVID-19. When safe travel can resume, the university will only permit essential travel, including essential academic travel, travel on sponsored research funds, travel funded entirely by outside entities, and travel necessary to deliver instruction or outreach programs or to conduct essential university business.

How small businesses can benefit from the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package

Insurance & Financial Services, Small Business, Subscriber Only

The newly acted $2.2 trillion stimulus law has several features that will help small businesses stay afloat and keep their employees during the coronavirus crisis. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27 and President Trump signed it into law. U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza and U.S.

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The newly acted $2.2 trillion stimulus law has several features that will help small businesses stay afloat and keep their employees during the coronavirus crisis.

Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27 and President Trump signed it into law.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin on March 31 announced that the SBA and the Treasury Department have started a “robust mobilization effort of banks and other lending institutions to provide small businesses with the capital they need.”

For small businesses, the key feature of the CARES Act is the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program, which is specifically designed to help small businesses keep their workforce employed. It will allow businesses to receive low-interest loans, fully guaranteed by the SBA, through participating banks, which will be forgiven if they meet certain requirements.

The new loan program will be available retroactively from Feb. 15, 2020, so employers can rehire their recently laid-off employees through June 30 of this year.

Here is how it works, according to the SBA:

• Who is eligible?: All small businesses, including nonprofits, veterans’ organizations, tribal concerns, sole proprietorships, self-employed individuals, and independent contractors, with 500 or fewer employees, or no greater than the number of employees set by the SBA as the size standard for certain industries

• Maximum loan amount: $10 million

• Loan forgiveness: if proceeds are used for payroll costs and other designated business operating expenses in the eight weeks following the date of loan origination. Note: Because the agency expects an avalanche of companies and people applying, it’s anticipating that no more than 25 percent of the forgiven loan amount may be spent on non-payroll costs.

All loans under this program will have the following features:

• Interest rate of 0.5 percent

• Maturity of 2 years

• First payment deferred for six months

• 100-percent guarantee by SBA

• No collateral

• No personal guarantees

• No borrower or lender fees payable to SBA

The Treasury Department and SBA said they expect to have this program up and running on Friday, April 3, so that businesses can go to a participating SBA 7(a) loan program lender, bank, or credit union to apply for a loan, and “be approved on the same day.”

“Our goal is to position lenders as the single point-of-contact for small businesses — the application, loan processing, and disbursement of funds will all be administered at the community level,” Carranza said.

Rob Simpson, president of CenterState CEO, is urging area companies to call their financial institution and apply as soon as possible.

“Don’t wait to call your bank. Call them now. Let them know your need and interest,” Simpson said on a webinar his organization set up for area businesses on the day the CARES Act was passed. “This is one of the most innovative public policy programs we’ve seen come out of Washington in a while,” he added.

Congressman John Katko (R–Camillus), who also appeared on the webinar, told companies, “You’d be crazy not to apply for it.”

Katko added that all the area banks he talked to would be participating in the program.

As of press time, the SBA didn’t have a link on its website to an application for the Paycheck Protection Program loans, but small businesses can visit SBA.gov/Coronavirus for more information and updates about the program.

The List feature is on temporary hold

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The Central New York Business Journal is temporarily putting our weekly The List feature on hold beginning with this issue for the duration of the statewide coronavirus shutdown. Pausing a popular and longstanding part of our publication was not an easy decision, but it necessary to uphold the quality, completeness, and integrity of information we

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CNY unemployment rates mostly fell in February

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It’s the last report before the coronavirus crisis slammed the state’s job market Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Binghamton, and Ithaca regions declined in February compared to the year-ago month. At the same time, the jobless rate in the Watertown–Fort Drum area rose compared to February 2019, while the rate in the Elmira region

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Upstate Medical University seeks recovered COVID-19 patients for “emergency” clinical trial

Health Care, New York News, Nonprofits, Regional News, Technology

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Upstate Medical University is seeking people who have recovered from the illness caused by coronavirus to donate plasma in an “emergency” clinical

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