The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index rose 6 points to 10.1 in April as “business activity grew modestly in New York.”

The index had fallen 5 points to 3.7 in March after rising 5 points in February.

The April reading, based on firms responding to the survey, indicates “that growth picked up somewhat but remained fairly subdued,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its April 15 survey report.

A positive index number indicates expansion or growth in manufacturing activity, while a negative index reading points to a decline in the sector.

The survey found 33 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 23 percent indicated that conditions had worsened, the New York Fed said.

Survey details

The new-orders index rose 5 points to 7.5, indicating orders “picked up slightly,” the New York Fed said. 

The shipments index edged up a point to 8.6, pointing to “continued modest growth” in shipments. Unfilled orders were little changed, while delivery times and inventories both increased.

The prices-paid index fell 7 points to 27.3 and the prices-received index declined 4 points to 14.0, indicating that both input price increases and selling price increases “slowed.” 

The index for number of employees edged down 2 points to 11.9, pointing to ongoing employment gains. 

After dipping into negative territory last month, the average-workweek index rose 8 points to 4.3, suggesting hours worked increased slightly.

Optimism about the six-month outlook was much lower than last month, the New York Fed said. 

The index for future business conditions dropped 17 points to 12.4, its lowest level in more than three years. The indexes for future new orders and shipments were also “well below” last month’s levels. 

Nonetheless, firms continued to expect solid increases in employment and hours worked in the months ahead. The capital-expenditures index edged down to 25.2, and the technology-spending index was unchanged at 20.3.

The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.      

Hotels in Onondaga county welcomed fewer guests in February than in the year-ago month, according to a new report.

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county fell 1.8 percent to 46.9 percent in February from 47.7 percent a year prior, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. It was the fifth straight month in which Onondaga County’s occupancy rate declined compared to the year-earlier period. 

Revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room, rose 4.4. percent to $45.84 in February from $43.91 in February 2018. 

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, jumped 6.3 percent to $97.74 in February, compared to $91.97 a year earlier. It was the 11th consecutive month in which the county’s ADR rose.    

NEW HARTFORD — One Realty Partners LLC, a growing residential real-estate brokerage, in February opened a 2,000-square-foot office at 13 New Hartford Shopping Center in New Hartford, which replaces its previous downtown Utica office.

The firm closed the Utica office due to construction on Genesee Street in the city’s Bagg’s Square district, David Paciello, owner/broker says.

One Realty Partners leases its new space in New Hartford from Bill Morris of the New Hartford Shopping Center Trust. The firm chose the shopping center site with its ample parking and ease of access to better serve its customers in the area.

Paciello is now planning a second office opening in May in Rome, at 209 N. Washington St. One Realty Partners will lease its space from Bob Harrod, who owns Hillcrest Real Estate and Technergetics, LLC, he says.

Paciello projects One Realty Partners will generate revenue growth of 25 to 50 percent in 2019. He attributes the success of his company to hard work and a culture that operates from the ground up instead of the top down. 

“Most of our agents come from other agencies. We make sure our agents are successful by providing mentoring and offering marketing tools not available to them if they were not with our agency. We make use of social media and are less print-focused than other agencies,” he says.

One Realty Partners has 20 agents. A few will transfer to Rome because that is where they want to be based. 

Although the company handles all types of real estate, its specialty is homes.

One Realty Partners recently acquired Flash Realty of Whitesboro. The firm gained six agents in the acquisition.

Prior to founding One Realty Partners in 2017, Paciello worked as program manager for sales operations and program director for 3rd party threat analysis at Cisco Systems in the San Francisco Bay area, according to his LinkedIn profile. He holds MBA and bachelor’s degrees from SUNY Polytechnic Institute. He serves on the board of directors of the Mohawk Valley Association of Realtors.