CORTLAND — The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has named Beau Harbin, a Cortland County legislator, to participate in the inaugural class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute.

 As a fellow, Harbin will participate in the Appalachian Leadership Institute (ALI), a nine-month program of skill-building seminars, best-practice reviews, field visits, mentoring, and networking. The curriculum will be anchored by six multi-day seminars around the Appalachian Region with the first sessions taking place in Morehead, Kentucky Oct. 21-24, according to a news release Harbin sent CNYBJ.

“Cortland County is fortunate that Beau has been named to the ALI,” Garry L. VanGorder, executive director of the Cortland County Business Development Corporation and Industrial Development Agency, said in the release. “He’s astute, hard-working, and has the best interests of the community in mind. I’m looking forward to the fresh perspectives he will bring to our collective efforts to grow the community and the local economy.”

 As part of the ALI, Harbin will work directly with public policy, community development, education, investment, and other professionals who live and/or work in the region. That includes working to design effective economic-development project proposals, locate and access investment capital from public and private sources, prepare competitive applications for public grant opportunities, and other efforts. 

Upon completion of the program, Harbin will automatically become part of the Appalachian Leadership Institute Network, a peer-to-peer working group committed to Appalachia’s future.

Harbin was selected via a competitive application process. The ARC received 180 applications for the 2019-2020 Appalachian Leadership Institute class, resulting in an acceptance rate of 22 percent, the release stated.

 The Appalachian Leadership Institute is a comprehensive regional leadership training program developed by the Appalachian Regional Commission. The ARC is an economic-development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments, focusing on 420 counties across the Appalachian Region. 

Harbin is a Democrat representing Cortland County’s 2nd legislative district.

SYRACUSE — When Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG) held the groundbreaking for its new building near the Syracuse’s Inner Harbor, Al Crawford, co-founder, chairman, and CEO, asked the gathering to think about the number 5,000. 

“5,000 is a number to me that represents the number of employees that I think BHG can bring to the Inner Harbor and [the] Syracuse landscape in the future,” he said.

Acknowledging that he’s been cautioned about mentioning employee-count numbers for his company, Crawford also noted, “That’s my dream. That’s my personal dream. I think it’s a doable one, though.”

BHG, which currently employs 256 people in Syracuse, on Oct. 11 broke ground on the construction project for its future, new $35 million financial headquarters located on property at 300-324 Spencer St.

“The building [is] going to be an addition to our financial headquarters that’s already here,” Crawford, said in his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony. “It will be five stories. We will have a garden environment rooftop on the top of the building.”

BHG — which is headquartered in Davie, Florida — currently has its financial headquarters at 201 Solar St. in Syracuse’s Franklin Square area. The company will relocate and consolidate several of its local operations into the upcoming facility.

“We would not have been able to do this without the support of the City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York State, and CenterState CEO,” Crawford said. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced the expansion during an Oct. 9 appearance at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, the former Hotel Syracuse.

Project details

Spencer Street LLC will construct and furnish a 100,000-square-foot facility at 300-324 Spencer St. in Syracuse to house Bankers Healthcare Group and its Capital Collection Management unit.

The project will include the demolition and remediation of the existing property, and the construction and full equipping and furnishing of the new facility. The combined initiative will result in the creation of 330 new jobs. 

During construction, BHG employees will remain at their current office locations in Franklin Square and Armory Square, and Capital Collection Management employees will continue working from the company’s Armory Square location. 

BHG expects construction crews from Salina–based Parsons-McKenna Construction Co. Inc. to complete the project by the end of 2023. Crawford also credited King + King Architects of Syracuse, along with his wife, Michelle Crawford, for the building’s design.

New York is contributing $11 million for the project, including a $4 million capital grant and $7 million in Excelsior Jobs tax credits. 

Randy Wolken, president and CEO of MACNY, the Manufacturers Association, said those gathered for the ceremony were celebrating what he “just learned is the Uber of loans.”

“It is high tech. It’s transformational. It’s why we’re here [and] so excited, and that’s why I do believe there’s going to be 5,000 jobs, because if you look at those companies like Uber, like Airbnb, they started as software platforms that transformed businesses … Great software is necessary to do that, but more importantly, great people are necessary to do that and that’s what’s here at BHG,” said Wolken.

Founded in 2001, Bankers Healthcare Group provides loans and financing to health-care practitioners and other licensed professionals. The firm surpassed $4 billion in total funded loans in 2018, according to its website.

Besides its corporate headquarters in Davie, Florida and its financial headquarters in Syracuse, BHG also operates a research and development office in New York City. 

“At BHG, we set goals every day. We set goals every week. We set goals every month. We set goals every quarter, and we set goals every year. Consequently, I find that people really go after those goals, so one of the numbers we’re going to have written down is 5,000,” said Crawford. “It’s a big number, but it’d be a fun number to see Syracuse continue to grow, to get back to the days when these areas here were filled with factories and companies that were producing great products.”              

SYRACUSE — The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. has announced its 2019-20 board of directors to guide the nonprofit organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism and developing women leaders in the community.

The board of directors officers and members are: President Audra Mueller of Baldwinsville, Secretary Brittany Moen of Manlius, Treasurer Julie Garcia of DeWitt, Assistant Treasurer Jennifer Pysnack of Manlius, Communications VP Julie Palmer of Syracuse, Community VP Casey Duffy of Syracuse, Fund Development VP Marie Norkett of North Syracuse, Membership VP Amanda Perrine of Syracuse, Nominating Chair Liz Lane of Cazenovia, and Sustainer VPs Lynne Hamilton-Johnson and Evonne Pacini, both of Baldwinsville. 

Mueller, a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley, said she is “honored” to have been selected as president for the Junior League’s 100th year of service in Syracuse, the organization said in a news release. She is looking forward to unveiling and implementing the league’s 100th anniversary projects, while continuing to expand upon its existing community partnerships and fundraising events. Mueller will also work to continue growing the league membership with women who want to develop as community leaders while serving the local community. 

As part of its centennial celebration, the Junior League of Syracuse will be partnering with 11 local nonprofit organizations to fulfill their project wishes. It will be awarding grants and donating volunteer time to one local nonprofit each month during its 100th year. In its 12th month, the nonprofit will establish a new relationship with a local nonprofit, which will be voted on by its membership, per the release.

These projects will be in addition to the league’s regular community events including its partnership events with Chadwick Residence, National Volunteer Week, 8th Annual STEM Expo at Danforth Middle School, St. Lucy’s Thanksgiving Dinner, and 4th February Tea Party with YWCA and My Sister’s Closet.  

HOMER — New York State Police in Homer recently announced they arrested a Moravia man for presenting forged checks in exchange for cash.

Christian A. Reynolds, age 22, was charged with two counts of 1st degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony.

State troopers say they received a complaint in March, alleging that Reynolds gave a person checks to deposit. The victim then gave Reynolds the cash for the check amounts. The victim told troopers that the bank where the checks were cashed, advised him or her that the checks were not valid. The bank told the victim that he/she would be ordered to repay the bank.

After an investigation, troopers arrested Reynolds. He appeared with his attorney at the Homer State Police barracks on Oct. 7, where he was processed. Reynolds was arraigned in the town of Cortlandville court, where he was released on his own recognizance and ordered to reappear on Nov. 18.