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CHARLES V. FORD has joined Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York as senior VP, asset liability management & treasury. He will be responsible for providing executive leadership for the insurance company’s integrated asset liability management framework. He previously consulted on asset-liability management and investment strategy for a startup reinsurer. Ford began his career […]
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CHARLES V. FORD has joined Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York as senior VP, asset liability management & treasury. He will be responsible for providing executive leadership for the insurance company’s integrated asset liability management framework. He previously consulted on asset-liability management and investment strategy for a startup reinsurer. Ford began his career at New England Mutual Life and has since served companies including Phoenix Home Life, Sun Life of Canada, Transamerica, and Fidelity & Guarantee Life. He has led teams on actuarial modeling, investment strategy, governance, and reinsurance. Ford holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics/economics and is a chartered financial analyst.
EMILY CARROLL has joined Drive Research as marketing coordinator. In her role, Carroll will assist the firm with content marketing, social media, and digital marketing analytics. Carroll graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2016, majoring in communications with a concentration in public relations and advertising. She previously worked at Mower and CXtec.
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EMILY CARROLL has joined Drive Research as marketing coordinator. In her role, Carroll will assist the firm with content marketing, social media, and digital marketing analytics. Carroll graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2016, majoring in communications with a concentration in public relations and advertising. She previously worked at Mower and CXtec.
Mohawk Valley Community College has appointed EMILY C. DURR of Barneveld as head coach/athletic specialist in the Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation Department. In this position, Durr will perform head-coaching duties of the women’s basketball team and other athletic- and academic-related responsibilities. Most recently, she was the assistant coach for the girl’s varsity basketball team at
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Mohawk Valley Community College has appointed EMILY C. DURR of Barneveld as head coach/athletic specialist in the Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation Department. In this position, Durr will perform head-coaching duties of the women’s basketball team and other athletic- and academic-related responsibilities. Most recently, she was the assistant coach for the girl’s varsity basketball team at Notre Dame High School in Utica this past season. Durr was a basketball star at Notre Dame High School, before going on to play NCAA Division I basketball for Iowa State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science. While with the Iowa State Cyclones, Durr averaged 8 points a game for her 122-game career. At Notre Dame HS, Durr was a four-year letter winner and the Section 3 all-time leading scorer with 2,445 points. She holds the school records in total points, three-point shots, and free throws. Durr led her team to win the 2014 New York State Championship and Federation Championship for Class B.
Business-transition workshop series set for North Country locations
The North Country Center for Businesses in Transition is offering a series of monthly workshops to meet the needs of local entrepreneurs as they plan for the future. The organization has scheduled these workshops because “busy schedules and long hours make it difficult for many [North Country] business owners to find time for succession planning,” per
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The North Country Center for Businesses in Transition is offering a series of monthly workshops to meet the needs of local entrepreneurs as they plan for the future.
The organization has scheduled these workshops because “busy schedules and long hours make it difficult for many [North Country] business owners to find time for succession planning,” per a March 21 news release.
It conducted the first workshop in Ticonderoga on April 3 with additional workshops planned in the months ahead in locations such as Saranac Lake, Potsdam, and Lowville.
The center is offering different ways to participate in the workshops, including in-person attendance and online viewing parties with partner organizations. Workshops will also be recorded so that interested participants can view them at their convenience and as needed in the future.
The St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce will hold its event on July 10 at Anchorspace in Potsdam. It’s called “Intergenerational Family Transitions, Creative Solutions and Alternative Structures.”
The following month, the Lewis County Economic Development and Industrial Development Agency (IDA) will hold its event Aug. 21 at its Center for Business in Lowville. That event is called, “Entrepreneurs: Taking Over an Existing Business.”
Other earlier events include Preparing to Sell Your Business,” hosted by the Franklin County Local Development Corporation and County of Franklin IDA at the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake on May 8. Hamilton County IDA will host “Transitioning to Worker Ownership” on June 5 at the Adirondack Experience museum in Blue Mountain Lake.
Each workshop will include invited panelists who will share their experiences with selling a business, taking over an existing enterprise or supporting small businesses through ownership changes.
The Center for Businesses in Transition, a partnership led by the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), is “invested in the retention” of businesses in North Country communities. The center’s partner organizations and community liaisons provide resources and networking opportunities for business owners looking to transition their operations to new owners or ownership models.
“Succession planning is a critical step for the survival of independent businesses and the resilience of local economies. These workshops are designed to meet business owners where they are in ways that work best for them,” Danielle Delaini, coordinator of the ANCA business-transition program, said in the ANCA release. “The workshops will share real-life experiences as well as current research and professional expertise.”
North Country business owners and entrepreneurs can contact the center at ANCA’s office at transitions@adirondack.org or (518) 891-6200 for more information or to be connected with a community liaison. Information about the center’s workshop series and how to register can be found at www.adirondack.org/CBITWorkshopSeries.
Partnership involvement
The Center for Businesses in Transition partnership involves several organizations. They include the Adirondack North Country Association; Cornell Cooperative Extension; the Franklin County Local Development Corporation, in partnership with the County of Franklin Industrial Development Agency; Hamilton County Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Hamilton County Industrial Development Agency (HCIDA); Lewis County Economic Development and IDA; St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, Inc.; the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce; and New York State Small Business Development Center.
Broome Talent Task Force initial progress report outlines workforce strategy
DICKINSON — The Broome Talent Task Force has released its first progress report on efforts to address workforce-development and “talent-attraction” needs in Broome County. The report highlights the objectives established in Broome County’s plan to attract workers that covers a three-year time span through 2020, the Agency said in a March 29 news release. The
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DICKINSON — The Broome Talent Task Force has released its first progress report on efforts to address workforce-development and “talent-attraction” needs in Broome County.
The report highlights the objectives established in Broome County’s plan to attract workers that covers a three-year time span through 2020, the Agency said in a March 29 news release.
The Broome Talent Task Force is a group of representatives from industry, education, economic development, and nonprofit organizations.
The group has about 33 members, Stacey Duncan, deputy director of community & economic development at the Agency, said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry. Duncan is set to become the Agency’s new executive director this summer.
The Broome Talent Task Force meets quarterly. Specific work groups — such as those focused on topics that include health care and manufacturing — typically meet monthly.
The Agency describes itself as the lead economic-development organization in Broome County. It is the entity that governs the Broome County Industrial Development Agency and the Broome County Local Development Corporation.
The progress report outlines the process that the group used to develop a workforce strategy, along with what the group calls “successes” from the first year of implementing the plan.
Over the last year, the Broome Talent Task Force has engaged 104 companies through direct participation on the task force and its workgroups, as well as businesses that participated in seven “Your Future Pathways to Success” career-exploration events, according to the progress report.
The task force will release future progress reports annually, per Duncan’s email response.
Some of this report’s highlights include the launch of a “there are jobs” campaign as part of the Broome County Good Life program; the creation of a state-recognized Warehouse Opportunity Impact Program; and the launch of the Your Futures website by the Greater Binghamton Education Outreach Program (GBEOP) to link students, parents, educators, and industry to job and internship opportunities.
The report also outlines the goals and objectives for this year’s efforts, which include pursuing funding for programs through funding that the state allocated for workforce development.
The Agency, which began this effort with a data analysis of Broome’s work force, contends that the group has become a “powerful voice” in the region’s workforce development.
“This group has been amazing to work with,” Duncan said in the Agency’s news release. “We’ve been able to pull together a group of professionals with tremendous knowledge and expertise in their fields and as a result, we are turning our strategy into a product with tangible outcomes.”
Peter Newman, regional president of M&T Bank and Anthony Paniccia, president of Delta Engineers, Architects & Land Surveyors, have served as the group’s co-chairs since 2017.
Those interested can download the report at the Agency’s website: https://www.theagency-ny.com/economic-development-resources
Cornell’s Praxis Center helps entrepreneurs developing Cornell technology
ITHACA — Cornell University’s Praxis Center for Venture Development seeks to help its clients develop engineering, digital, and physical-sciences companies and “accelerate” research and development of their technologies and products. The Praxis Center wants to help entrepreneurs in their efforts to secure “significant” outside investment and to reach “self-sufficiency,” all while supporting business development in
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ITHACA — Cornell University’s Praxis Center for Venture Development seeks to help its clients develop engineering, digital, and physical-sciences companies and “accelerate” research and development of their technologies and products.
The Praxis Center wants to help entrepreneurs in their efforts to secure “significant” outside investment and to reach “self-sufficiency,” all while supporting business development in New York, Cornell said in a news release.
“The idea is to allow [entrepreneurs] to mature their technology far enough to get some funding. No one expects that fully functional companies will exist in our incubator,” says Robert Scharf, director of the Praxis Center and an entrepreneur-in-residence at Cornell Engineering.
Scharf is a retired executive with 12 patents, whose 2003 startup, Protokraft, was acquired by Moog Inc. in 2012 for $17.5 million, per the Cornell release.
The university hosted a March 21 grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility. The word “praxis” is drawn from the Greek language; it implies action, or getting things done, Cornell said.
The 4,000-square-foot facility is meant to provide graduate students, post-doctoral students (post-docs), or Ph.D candidates a place to work on their product or idea while they’re still working at their Cornell job, according to Scharf.
But he also added that prospective clients don’t have to be a Cornell student or employee.
“The only requirement is that you’d be commercializing Cornell technology. Our requirement is you must actually get a license agreement with the Cornell technology-licensing office, which implies that it is a Cornell technology,” says Scharf.
Prospective clients are already working on a range of projects, from crypto-currency and next-generation robotics to ultrasonic sensors with applications in the emerging field of digital agriculture.
Location
Housed in Duffield Hall and funded by Cornell’s research division, the Praxis Center takes as a model Cornell’s Kevin McGovern Family Center for Venture Development in the Life Sciences in Weill Hall. The McGovern Center incubator, which opened in 2011, has helped “scores” of budding entrepreneurs take their ideas “from the back of a napkin to the marketplace.”
The Praxis Center has six office suites, a conference room, a kitchen, and a reception area.
The center is located near three National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported research and development laboratories. They include the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF); the PARADIM (Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis and Discovery of Interface Materials) labs, and portions of the Cornell Center for Materials Research.
“We can leverage our location to do a lot of things,” says Scharf.
Supporting Cornell startups
The “vast majority” of Praxis Center clients are post-docs who are working in a lab on a research project that they believe has “commercial opportunities,” Scharf tells CNYBJ in an April 12 interview.
Most of them apply for Small Business Innovation Research grants, although the Alexandria, Virginia–based NSF and the Bethesda, Maryland–based National Institute of Health also provide grant funding for the projects.
“Every federal agency allocates a certain percentage of their budget to funding entrepreneurial activities to develop new technologies. Our clients … work to mature or commercialize their technologies,” says Scharf.
At the same time, they’re creating their business case for further investments.
The Praxis Center has mentors and advisors with field-specific expertise “in many different disciplines.” The facility also provides patent attorneys, accounting experts, and retired CFOs “to try to help these clients move along their entrepreneurial journey toward self-sufficiency,” he adds.
“There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit at Cornell, especially among our students and young faculty. Resources like the Praxis and the McGovern Center encourage and support a startup mentality with enormous potential for growth,” Emmanuel Giannelis, vice provost for research and VP for technology transfer, intellectual property, and research policy at Cornell University, said in the school’s release. “At Cornell, we are committed to fostering entrepreneurship by translating knowledge into real world applications.”
In supporting Cornell startups, the Praxis Center contributes to the university’s land-grant mission by supporting local, regional and state economic development and job creation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The center will entice more venture capital to the region so that entrepreneurs won’t have to go to larger cities in order to grow, Giannelis contended.
“The Praxis Center is not just a space; it’s not just the infrastructure,” Giannelis said. “There’s also the human element, with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs that form an integral part to helping young businesses become successful.”
The Workplace Blues: 5 Ways to Help Stressed-Out Employees
Problems with the emotional health of employees is costing employers up to $500 billion per year. As a result, the global wellness market is growing nearly twice as fast as the global economy, according to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI). For employers wondering whether their workers are stressed out and unhappy — and thus hurting
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Problems with the emotional health of employees is costing employers up to $500 billion per year. As a result, the global wellness market is growing nearly twice as fast as the global economy, according to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).
For employers wondering whether their workers are stressed out and unhappy — and thus hurting the bottom line — the signs are everywhere.
Discontented employees are less likely to engage each other in conversation, relying instead on email. The absentee rate increases and production declines as workers call in sick more often. And, of course, eventually employees begin to search for a more emotionally stable place to work, leaving managers to constantly look for replacements.
The employers who do not consider their employees’ emotional wellness are bound to suffer high turnover rates. Employers who are not responding to those needs will feel a significant impact.
There are many ways to change the company structure to accommodate employees who are feeling stressed out, including the following five.
1. Review existing (or create new) core values, vision, and purpose — These items often sound like flaky ways for big corporations to show their connection to clients. The reality is, if done right, these items are the pillars of every company.
2. Walk the Walk — Leadership’s role in corporate change begins when its leaders behave the way they expect their staff to behave. If one of your core values is “have integrity” and the leaders do not act with integrity consistently, they cannot expect it from their teams.
3. Invest in employees — Create a “game” room for staff. Explore team activities that are pure fun and are not specifically designed to “enhance teamwork.” Treat random employees to lunch.
4. Monitor client feedback — Are your clients happy? If they are not happy, is it because your employees are not happy? When client feedback starts heading south, it might be because your employees are not “smiling on the phone” and if they are, it feels and sounds fake. Client feedback is the canary in the coal mine that your employees are not happy.
5. Don’t let employees suffer in silence — To reduce and prevent burnout, employers need to create a workplace culture that encourages employees to raise their hands and ask for help.
The pressures of today’s society are unlike anything we have seen before. These pressures don’t go away when a person goes to work. If employers want to have happy, satisfied employees, it’s important that they offer comprehensive emotional-wellness programs.
Alex Zlatin, author of the book Responsible Dental Ownership (www.alexzlatin.com), had more than 10 years of management experience before he accepted the position of CEO of a company that makes a dental practice management software (Maxident). His company helps struggling dental professionals take control of their practices and reach the next level of success with responsible leadership strategies.
CABVI wins Employment Growth Award from national group
UTICA — The Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) recently announced it won the 2018 Employment Growth Award from National Industries for the Blind (NIB), which it called the nation’s largest employment resource for people who are blind. The award recognizes CABVI’s efforts to increase employment retention, growth, and upward mobility for
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UTICA — The Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) recently announced it won the 2018 Employment Growth Award from National Industries for the Blind (NIB), which it called the nation’s largest employment resource for people who are blind.
The award recognizes CABVI’s efforts to increase employment retention, growth, and upward mobility for people who are blind.
“This award gives us the opportunity to provide employment opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired,” Rudy D’Amico, president and CEO of CABVI, said in a news release. “As we strive to assist blind individuals reach their highest levels of independence, employment plays a vital role.”
NIB President and CEO Kevin Lynch lauded the organization. “CABVI is doing an outstanding job of creating U.S. based career opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired. This is a great example of the unlimited capabilities of people who are blind working in Utica or Syracuse, New York and across the country,” he said in the release.
CABVI is a not-for-profit agency that serves people who are blind or visually impaired, from newborns to the elderly, usually free of charge, it says. It offers comprehensive vision rehabilitation, employment, and technology services. CABVI’s vision-rehabilitation programs provide for more than 1,500 people who are blind or visually impaired in an eight-county area of upstate New York (Oneida, Herkimer, Madison, Fulton, Lewis, Montgomery, Jefferson, and northern Otsego Counties). CABVI generates total operating revenue of more than $60 million annually.
D’Amico late last year announced his plan to retire on Aug. 31, 2019. The organization has not yet named a successor. D’Amico joined CABVI as VP of operations in October 2003, then became president and CEO less than five years later. He was a local entrepreneur before joining CABVI.
3 Steps Firms Can Take to Improve Mental Health in the Workplace
Sick days among workers are commonly associated with physical ailments, but mental-health issues also account for frequent absences. A report from the 2018 Mental Health in the Workplace Summit showed that more people miss work due to stress and anxiety than for physical illness or injury. Dealing with mental health can be a delicate issue for
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Sick days among workers are commonly associated with physical ailments, but mental-health issues also account for frequent absences. A report from the 2018 Mental Health in the Workplace Summit showed that more people miss work due to stress and anxiety than for physical illness or injury.
Dealing with mental health can be a delicate issue for both employers and employees. Some think it carries a stigma, thus employees may attempt to hide their problem. A survey by the American Psychological Association found that less than half of American adult workers felt their companies supported the well-being of their employees.
Yet more companies, cognizant of productivity and cost issues associated with employee absences, are starting to implement mental-health initiatives as part of their workplace-wellness programs.
Employees try to hide what they’re going through because they fear the negative consequences of being discovered. And these fears are justified. Many otherwise capable managers become very uncomfortable when they hear one of their team members mention words like stress, anxiety, and depression.
Forward-thinking employers are implementing initiatives that break stigma and improve access to effective care. They recognize the role of leaders at all levels in creating positive, respectful, health-promoting work environments. As has often been said, culture trumps strategy every time. An employer can have all the right policies in place, but it’s the culture that either brings these to life or makes them a joke.
Here are some tips for employers:
• Break the stigma. Studies indicate one in five American adults experience a form of mental illness. Like most health conditions, these are most effectively treated when identified early. Stigma causes many who suffer to deny their need for care and, therefore, delay seeking it. Senior executives are in the best position to break the stigma. They can share their personal story if they live with a mental-health condition, talk about how they have supported others, and sincerely encourage their employees to get the care they deserve.
• Improve access to effective care. Hold your benefits-provider system accountable for effective care delivery. Take a searching and fearless look at how well your organization’s mental-health benefits actually serve those in need. You do that by creating an anonymous feedback mechanism for your employees and their family members. Sadly, I can almost guarantee that the results will show a need for significant improvement.
• Train leaders. Stress is the enemy of health and sustained productivity. More than any other factor, our immediate supervisor creates the culture of our workplace. When leaders at every organizational level treat those who report to them with an attitude of caring and respect, including respect for initiative, autonomy, diversity, and reasonable limits when it comes to productivity, the best organizational results will follow.
It’s in everyone’s best interest for employers to fight the stigma linked to mental-health issues, ensure medical-benefit partners are delivering on their promises, and make sure leaders of people are up to the task.
Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio is an author, speaker, family therapist, and leadership and life skills consultant. He founded GreenGate Leadership (www.greengateleadership.com) after retiring from his role as health and wellness, at Prudential, where he was responsible for behavioral health services for the company’s 20,000 U.S. employees.
What to Do With Your 401(k) When You Switch Jobs
The average American changes jobs 12 times in his or her lifetime. With each new job comes new offices, new co-workers — and possibly a decision about what to do with the 401(k) plan they started at their last job. Selecting the right course of action for what becomes of that money can be crucial
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The average American changes jobs 12 times in his or her lifetime. With each new job comes new offices, new co-workers — and possibly a decision about what to do with the 401(k) plan they started at their last job.
Selecting the right course of action for what becomes of that money can be crucial because the 401(k) has essentially replaced pensions as an employer-sponsored retirement-savings vehicle.
You have to look at where you are in life. If you’re in your 40s with many working years left, it might be better to roll the 401(k) into your new company’s plan. If you’re just a few years from your planned retirement, putting the money into the new company’s plan is possibly not the best thing.
Here are five 401(k) options to consider when taking a new job:
• Direct rollover to the new company’s 401(k). A direct rollover is a transfer of assets that allows those retirement savings to grow and remain tax-deferred without interruption. It goes directly into the new employer’s retirement plan without ever passing through your hands. If you have at least another 10-12 working years left with the job change, this is often a preferred route to take. One of the advantages is a 401(k) offers lower-cost or plan-specific investment options.
• Direct rollover to a traditional IRA. People roll over a 401(k) to an IRA to have wider investment options and more control over their money. You don’t pay taxes on IRA contributions or gains until withdrawing the money, which you can do starting at age 59 ½. With a traditional IRA you contribute pre-tax dollars, and that money grows tax-deferred. This might be a better option for those closer to retirement. At that point you want lower-risk investments, and moving your money from a 401(k) to an IRA will give you a variety of fixed-income options.
• Convert to a Roth IRA. Contributions to a Roth are taxed when they’re made. The upside is you can withdraw contributions and earnings tax-free at age 59 ½. If you have a relatively small 401(k), maybe it’s worth it to convert to a Roth and pay the taxes up front. I certainly think Roth conversions can be a great situation, but they have to be done delicately.
• Leave it behind. Leaving your money in your former employer’s plan may make sense if you like the investment options it offers, or if you’re taking time to explore other options. The downside is you’re no longer contributing to it.
• Cash it out. This is almost never a good idea, due to the tax implications and the hit your overall retirement fund takes. People who have financial distress will take the 401(k) distribution, but if there’s any way to avoid that they should. There’s a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty if you are under age 59 ½. The exception to this rule is if you are leaving or losing a job at age 55 or later, but the distribution counts toward that year’s taxable income.
Whatever one decides, the key considerations are continuing the tax-deferral of these retirement funds for as long as possible, and to avoid current taxes and penalties that can take big chunks out of what you’ve saved and invested.
Christy Smith is founder and principal of Presley Wealth Management (www.thepresleygroup.net). She co-hosts a weekly radio show, “Your Money Matters,” and is author of the book, “Plan, Protect, Preserve.”
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