Oneida County Tourism leader discusses future plans

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UTICA, N.Y. — With almost two years under her belt at the helm of Oneida County Tourism (OTC), Sarah Foster Calero is using the lessons she has learned to outline future plans for the organization. Foster Calero took the leadership role at OCT in June 2023, succeeding the former president of 14 years Kelly Blazosky, […]

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UTICA, N.Y. — With almost two years under her belt at the helm of Oneida County Tourism (OTC), Sarah Foster Calero is using the lessons she has learned to outline future plans for the organization.

Foster Calero took the leadership role at OCT in June 2023, succeeding the former president of 14 years Kelly Blazosky, and called 2023 a year of learning. While she has always worked in the tourism field and had served as director of communications and TV/film, director of media relations, and director of sales for OCT, the promotion to president came with a learning curve.

If that year was a year of learning, 2024 was a year of making moves, Foster Calero says.

“One of biggest accomplishments was collaborating and being a partner for the IIHF hockey tournament,” Foster Calero says. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship event took place April 3-14, 2024 and featured 10 national women’s ice-hockey teams that played in 29 games at the Utica University Nexus Center and Adirondack Bank Center.

The event boosted hotel-occupancy rates in Utica by 9 percent over the previous year with a 16 percent increase in the daily rate and a 22 percent increase in revenue for the month.

“It was great to see all those numbers increase,” Foster Calero says. It also reinforced that partnerships and community ties are key for OCT’s future.

Last year, OCT went on to partner in promoting the region for several other events including the World Lacrosse Box Championships and is always looking for new ways to partner with businesses and entities in the region.

Other initiatives included taking two popular “trails” digital and launching a new trail, Foster Calero adds. OCT’s beverage and cheese trails are now accessible digitally instead of in a paper format, making them easier for people to use. The beverage trail also added various prize tiers instead of just one prize for visiting all locations. Now people in town for just a weekend can visit a few establishments and still get a prize.

A new Discover Utica Trail featuring more than 100 local businesses encourages people to explore what the city has to offer whether they live there or are just visiting for a weekend.

OCT is currently working with Cornell Cooperative Extension to create a new agritourism trail it hopes to launch later this year. Agriculture is Oneida County’s top industry, and there is plenty to show off from farmers’ markets and farm stands to agribusinesses. “We really just want to highlight that more and show our pride in it,” Foster Calero says.

Another huge initiative for the coming year is celebrating the Erie Canal’s bicentennial. “We see this as an opportunity of getting people to come for the canal and stay for the history,” she says. OCT is currently meeting with Oneida County municipalities located along the canal to workshop ideas.

The top goal for the coming year is an in-house initiative — rebranding, Foster Calero says. It’s been more than eight years since OCT last refreshed its brand.

Throughout the year, the organization will be working to strengthen how it uses data to drive its marketing and other goals, she adds. Using the demographic information it gathers helps the organization make smarter decisions.

On a more personal level, Foster Calero will complete her Certified Destination Management Executive (CMDE) certification this year. It’s the highest education certification available in the travel and tourism industry, and she says it has helped her broaden her understanding of her role at OCT.

A not-for-profit corporation, Oneida County Tourism serves as the lead agency promoting visitation to Oneida County.

NYAG sues National General, Allstate on cyber policies

Insurance & Financial Services, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Subscriber Only

Suit contends they failed to protect New Yorkers’ personal information New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James on March 10 filed a lawsuit against several insurance companies doing business as National General and Allstate Insurance Company (NYSE: ALL) for failing to protect New Yorkers’ personal information

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Suit contends they failed to protect New Yorkers’ personal information

New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James on March 10 filed a lawsuit against several insurance companies doing business as National General and Allstate Insurance Company (NYSE: ALL) for failing to protect New Yorkers’ personal information from cyberattacks.

In 2020 and 2021, National General suffered a pair of back-to-back data breaches that exposed the driver’s license numbers of more than 165,000 New Yorkers.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleges that following the first breach, National General failed to notify impacted consumers and neglected to determine whether sensitive information was exposed elsewhere in its system, which allowed for a second, larger breach to occur months later.

James alleges the two breaches were a result of National General’s failure to implement reasonable data-security measures, both before and after Allstate assumed control of its data-security operations. James is seeking penalties for National General’s failure to institute reasonable data-security safeguards and notify consumers, and an injunction to stop any continued violations.

“National General’s weak cybersecurity emboldened hackers to steal New Yorkers’ personal data, not once but twice in two separate cyberattacks,” James said in the announcement. “National General mishandled New Yorkers’ personal information and violated the law by failing to inform them that their data was stolen. It is crucial that companies take cybersecurity seriously to protect consumers from fraud and identity theft, and my office will always hold those who fail to do so accountable.”

In a statement to Reuters, Allstate reacted to the announcement and defended its breach response.

“We resolved this issue years ago, promptly securing our systems after finding vulnerabilities in online quoting tools that could have exposed drivers’ license numbers,” the company said. “We promptly notified regulators, contacted potentially affected consumers and offered free credit monitoring as a precaution.”

Case background

In 2020, attackers began targeting National General’s online quoting websites, which provide consumers with instant auto-insurance quotes, James’ office explained.

These websites were designed to automatically display consumers’ full driver’s-license numbers in plain text with minimal input, a “flaw that bad actors were able to take advantage of” to access consumers’ private information.

The first breach, which affected two public-facing websites, exposed the driver’s-license numbers of nearly 12,000 individuals, including more than 9,100 New Yorkers. Due to “inadequate” monitoring and the websites’ “lack of protections” against automated attacks, National General “failed to detect” the breach for two months.

Upon discovering the breach, James’ office said National General failed to alert the consumers whose data was exposed or notify the appropriate state agencies. The company also continued to leave driver’s-license numbers exposed on a separate quoting website for independent insurance agents, which was also “weakly protected.”

Attackers then targeted this system in a second, far larger breach, which National General detected in February 2021. This attack compromised the personal information of an additional 187,000 consumers, including the driver’s-license numbers of roughly 155,000 New Yorkers.

National General’s data-security failures continued after The Allstate Corporation acquired National General and Allstate took control of National General’s data security function, James’ office said.

Driver’s-license numbers are valuable to cyber-criminals and can be used to commit various forms of fraud, including identity theft and government-benefits fraud. Under New York law, companies that own or license New Yorkers’ private data must take appropriate steps to secure it.

James alleges that National General “violated” state consumer protection and business laws by “failing to secure sensitive information, misrepresenting its data security practices to customers and consumers, and failing to notify affected consumers of the initial breach,” per the March 10 announcement.

OPINION: Utility Hikes are Coming

Opinion, Subscriber Only

And they won’t scratch the surface of what CLCPA costs New York is already one of the least affordable states in the United States, and there are few indications the trend will reverse. The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved a phased-in rate hike for many upstate customers, and additional utility companies have

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And they won’t scratch the surface of what CLCPA costs

New York is already one of the least affordable states in the United States, and there are few indications the trend will reverse. The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved a phased-in rate hike for many upstate customers, and additional utility companies have asked for hikes of their own in the coming months. A significant portion of the revenue generated from rate increases will be needed to meet the enormous financial demands of electrification as required by the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

The CLCPA demands New York stop using fossil fuel-based electricity production by 2040. Essentially, the law calls for billions and billions of dollars in startup costs over the next 15 years to overhaul our energy grid, and when we are done, New York will have a gap in energy production roughly the size of what it takes to power our state today. There is little wonder what’s driving up your utility bill: green energy-obsessed Democrats who either don’t understand or don’t care how unfeasible this plan is.

There are few concepts more universally accepted in public policy than the need to invest in infrastructure upgrades. The Assembly Minority Conference has led the charge for greater investments in our roads and bridges — something New York dramatically needs to keep pace with other cities around the nation and world — and energy infrastructure is no different. Unfortunately, we are about to inject billions of dollars’ worth of your hard-earned money into an energy grid that doesn’t work. That’s not an investment; it’s a waste of money.

New Yorkers already struggling with a sky-high cost of living have no shortage of culprits to point to when evaluating their own budgets. Taxes in our state have been prohibitively high for far too long, and the cost of goods and services remains a major concern for families trying to make ends meet. The last thing we need in New York is another inflated expense, and utility costs are fast becoming a major issue for families already stretched thin by an imperfect storm of high taxes and inflation.

If New York state is going to be a business, tourism, and recreational destination on par with the rest of the world, it will require a commitment to a reliable, affordable, and diversified energy grid. The current path we are on offers none of those. As we continue to unpack the obscene demands of the CLCPA, I hope more of my colleagues see just how detrimental it will be to New Yorkers. Until it is replaced, we are going to suffer needless hike after hike down an endless financial spiral of waste.

William (Will) A. Barclay, 56, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses all of Oswego County, as well as parts of Jefferson and Cayuga counties.

Ask Rusty: Can I Avoid Paying the Medicare Premium?

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

Dear Rusty: Is there any way I can get out of paying the $185 I am told will be taken out of my Social Security for Medicare Part B when I turn 65? We pay for Medicare all our working lives, and now I have to pay a monthly premium for insurance that only covers

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Signed: Disheartened Senior

Dear Disheartened Senior: For clarification, the money you paid into Medicare while working during your lifetime was for Medicare Part A (inpatient hospitalization coverage). The Medicare taxes paid while working entitled you to free Medicare coverage for Part A inpatient hospitalization coverage, but they do not entitle you to Medicare coverage for outpatient services (coverage for doctors, medical tests, etc.). For that coverage from Medicare, you must enroll in Medicare Part B, for which there is a monthly premium ($185 per month for 2025). If you wish to have Medicare Part B coverage, you must enroll in Medicare Part B at age 65 — unless you have other “creditable” health-care coverage from an employer.

The Medicare Part B premium will be automatically deducted from your Social Security payment when you enroll in Medicare, and there is no way to avoid it if you wish to have Medicare health-care coverage for outpatient medical services. But, if you currently have “creditable” health-care coverage from an employer, you can delay enrolling in Medicare Part B (thus avoiding the premium) until your employer coverage ends. If you don’t enroll in Medicare Part B during your initial enrollment period (at 65), or in a special enrollment period following the end of your creditable employer health-care coverage, then you will incur a penalty for enrolling in Medicare Part B outside of the prescribed enrollment periods. That penalty is a permanent increase in your Medicare Part B premium. FYI, “creditable” is an employer group plan with at least 20 participants.

We do not advise going without outpatient health-care coverage, so you should carefully consider enrolling in Medicare Part B when you turn 65. If you are already collecting Social Security benefits, you will be automatically enrolled, but you can opt out of Part B if you wish — it’s just not advisable, unless you have current creditable health-care coverage from an employer.

So, to recap: the Medicare taxes you paid while working only entitled you to free Medicare Part A inpatient hospitalization coverage. You must enroll in Medicare Part B (for which there is a monthly premium) to have Medicare health-care coverage for outpatient health-care services. Both Medicare Part A and Part B have deductibles and copayments, for which you may wish to consider getting either a supplemental insurance plan or a Medicare Advantage plan. But, in either case, you must still have both Medicare Part A and Part B to obtain such additional health-care coverage.

Russell Gloor is a national Social Security advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC). The 2.4-million-member AMAC says it is a senior advocacy organization. Send your questions to: ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.

Author’s note: This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained, and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). The NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity.

VIEWPOINT: Talent Acquisition & the Importance of Employer Branding

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

Did you know 75 percent of job seekers research a company’s reputation before applying? If your employer brand isn’t strong, you could be losing top talent before they even hit “Apply.” A clear mission, positive employee testimonials, and a strong online presence all influence candidate decisions. Want to attract the best talent? Start by building

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Greg Mattacola

People on the Move

Strategic Financial Services, Inc., a leading independent wealth-management firm based in Central New York, announced that Partner and Senior Advisor Greg Mattacola, Esq., CFP has

Onondaga County hotel occupancy flat in February as two other business benchmarks post solid gains

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — Onondaga County hotels registered a tiny increase in occupancy in February as two other key indicators of business performance showed stronger improvement. The hotel-occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in Central New York’s largest county inched up 0.2 percent to 51.4 percent in the second month of 2025, compared

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Broome County hotels register a strong month of business in February

Southern Tier, Construction, Design & Real Estate, New York News, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Broome County hotels saw a slight rise in overnight guests in February, as two other key indicators of business performance increased by

Construction begins on White Pine municipal pump station in Clay

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Featured, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Manufacturing & Engineering, New York News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Technology

CLAY, N.Y. — Construction is starting on the White Pine municipal pump station project along Route 31 in the town of Clay. “In support of

Two Cousins Pinball formally opens in Marcy

Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Construction, Design & Real Estate, Featured, Mohawk Valley, New York News, Small Business, Subscriber Only

MARCY, N.Y. — Two Cousins Pinball is formally celebrating its grand opening on Saturday, April 5 from 2-9 p.m. at 9360 River Road. Admission for the event is $25, which includes unlimited play of pinball and other games, giveaways while supplies last, and drawings every hour for merchandise. Two Cousins Pinball will donate 20 percent

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Suit contends they failed to protect New Yorkers’ personal information

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