New York Air Brake acquires Missouri locomotive-equipment firm

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WATERTOWN — New York Air Brake LLC (NYAB has acquired the business assets of a Missouri firm and expects that a “complete integration” process will take between one year and 18 months. Watertown–based NYAB is purchasing the assets of Snyder Equipment Company, Inc., a Nixa, Missouri–based manufacturer of locomotive fueling and servicing equipment as well […]

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WATERTOWN — New York Air Brake LLC (NYAB has acquired the business assets of a Missouri firm and expects that a “complete integration” process will take between one year and 18 months.

Watertown–based NYAB is purchasing the assets of Snyder Equipment Company, Inc., a Nixa, Missouri–based manufacturer of locomotive fueling and servicing equipment as well as locomotive-component remanufacturing, NYAB said in a March 15 news release.

New York Air Brake didn’t disclose the terms of the acquisition. The company said the transaction represents a “continuation of NYAB’s strategic plan to diversify and expand its current capabilities and strong geographic reach.”

NYAB, which is part of the Knorr-Bremse Group, develops and supplies air-brake control systems and components; electronically controlled braking systems; foundation brakes; training simulators; train-handling systems, and wayside equipment to the rail industry.

Based in Munich, Germany, Knorr-Bremse is a manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles.

The transaction will immediately establish Snyder as a division of NYAB, incorporating the complete lineup of Snyder’s existing brands, products, sales, service, and manufacturing operations.

As of March 15, Snyder is now conducting business under the name of Snyder Equipment, a division of New York Air Brake LLC.

“With the addition of Snyder’s top-line products to our portfolio, railroad and support service customers will be able to turn to NYAB as a one-stop destination for an even wider range of high-quality products and services,” Ulisses Camilo, New York Air Brake president and CEO, contended in the release.

G. Samuel Benson, former president and CEO of Snyder, will continue in his current role as head of the division, NYAB said.

With the addition of Snyder Equipment, New York Air Brake “further strengthens” its air-supply product offering and adds wayside systems and service to better meet the needs of the North American market, per its release.

“Snyder has been an integral partner with its railroad customers in identifying opportunities and designing products to meet their challenges, from the equipment used to supply water to steam locomotives, to complete servicing systems for today’s powerful diesel electric locomotives,” Jason Connell, senior VP of marketing, sales, and service at New York Air Brake, said.

New York Air Brake now has more than 850 employees, a figure that includes the 100 employees at Snyder Equipment Company, Barbara Gould, a spokesperson for New York Air Brake, said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry.

It operates manufacturing plants in Nixa, Missouri; Riverside, Missouri; Salisbury, North Carolina; West Chicago, Illinois; and Wheatland, Missouri; along with Train Dynamic Systems (TDS), a technology development unit located in Irving, Texas. New York Air Brake has been serving the rail industry since 1890.

The Nixa, Missouri and Wheatland, Missouri manufacturing plants are part of the Snyder Equipment acquisition deal, Gould noted.

With state help, Tractor Supply opens distribution center in Herkimer County

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FRANKFORT — Tractor Supply Company’s new distribution center in the town of Frankfort in Herkimer County currently services more than 140 Tractor Supply stores. The facility has the potential to service over 200 stores in the Northeast region within its first year of operation, the Brentwood, Tennessee–based firm said in a news release. Tractor Supply

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FRANKFORT — Tractor Supply Company’s new distribution center in the town of Frankfort in Herkimer County currently services more than 140 Tractor Supply stores.

The facility has the potential to service over 200 stores in the Northeast region within its first year of operation, the Brentwood, Tennessee–based firm said in a news release.

Tractor Supply on March 14 formally opened its distribution center. It has already created more than 280 local jobs, with plans to create more than 350 full-time jobs in the first five years.

The new 925,000-square-foot location will help service the “growing needs” of the company’s stores throughout the Northeast, as well as its online customers, according to the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

When asked about the project cost, the company tells CNYBJ, “Tractor Supply made a substantial investment spread over several years that’s necessary as we continue our store growth.”

The construction of this project is the “largest economic-development project in 30 years in Herkimer County,” Cuomo’s office said. It’s located in the Frankfort 5S South Business Park.

Jackson, Tennessee–based H&M Company Inc. handled the design work and construction on the distribution center, according to Tractor Supply.

Tractor Supply Company is described as the country’s largest rural lifestyle retailer.

“This new distribution center allows us to expand our store base in the Northeastern corridor of the country and better serve our existing customers with faster, more efficient delivery to our stores, while expanding our digital-fulfillment strategy,” Greg Sandfort, CEO of Tractor Supply Company, said in the release.

The Frankfort distribution center is Tractor Supply’s eighth center nationwide.

Empire State Development has committed up to $3 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits, which are tied directly to the creation of 350 new jobs over the next five years.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal awarded Herkimer County $750,000 in Community Development Block Grant economic-development funds to support the project.

In addition, the New York Power Authority has allocated more than 1.3 megawatts of low-cost hydropower to the Village of Frankfort for the direct benefit of Tractor Supply.

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) has more than 29,000 employees. It sells products both in stores and online. As of Dec. 29, 2018, the company operated 1,765 Tractor Supply stores in 49 states and an e-commerce website.

Egg production on New York farms drops 1 percent in January

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New York farms produced 139.7 million eggs in January, down 1 percent from 140.6 million eggs in the year-earlier period, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently reported. The total number of layers in the Empire State slipped 0.4 percent in January to 5.53 million from 5.56 million a year prior. New York egg production per

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Cuomo: New seven-year power agreement with Alcoa preserves 450 jobs at Massena facility

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, New York News

The new seven-year agreement is subject to approval by the NYPA board of trustees. Cuomo is recommending the board vote in support of the proposed

State: Tax preparers who ignore state rules face penalties

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The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance says tax preparers must meet “several” obligations to avoid possible penalties and revocation of their authorization to file tax returns in New York. The department made the statement in a Feb. 11 news release announcing that it had issued more than $453,000 in fines to noncompliant

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The department made the statement in a Feb. 11 news release announcing that it had issued more than $453,000 in fines to noncompliant tax professionals. The dollar-figure in fines is combined for the calendar years 2017 and 2018, James Gazzale, a department spokesman, said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry.

The obligations include registering with New York State, paying an annual fee, and filing electronically. Preparers must also sign all returns they prepare and provide a copy of the return to the taxpayer.

They must also ensure all information submitted is “accurate and truthful” and meet continuing-education requirements each year, the department said.

“Tax professionals, with access to the sensitive personal information of clients, must be held to a high standard,” Nonie Manion, the department’s acting commissioner, said in the release. “While most are honest professionals intent on delivering exceptional services, the relatively few unreliable or unethical practitioners can tarnish the industry and cause serious problems for their clients.”

The department listed the penalties if tax preparers don’t meet specific requirements. The penalty is $5,000 for submitting a fraudulent return, $250 for failing to register, and $250 per return filed for failing to sign a completed return.

In addition, the penalty is $100 per return filed up to $2,500 for failing to include a registration number.

If a tax preparer doesn’t file electronically or fails to submit an annual registration fee, the penalty is $50 per return filed. The penalty is also $50 per return filed up to $25,000 for not providing a copy of the return to the taxpayer.

The department also provided the following example.

If tax preparers fail to register or pay the annual fee; submit 40 income tax returns without their signature or registration number; fail to electronically file the returns; and fail to provide clients with a copy of the return, the Tax Department could assess nearly $19,000 in fines.

Hancock Estabrook boosts real-estate practice with deal

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SYRACUSE — A Syracuse law firm known for its commercial real-estate practice will combine with Hancock Estabrook, LLP, effective May 1. Hancock Estabrook, which is also based in the Salt City, didn’t release any financial terms of its agreement with Shulman Grundner Etoll & Danaher, P.C. Attorneys C. Daniel Shulman, Charles Grundner, Stephen Etoll, and

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SYRACUSE — A Syracuse law firm known for its commercial real-estate practice will combine with Hancock Estabrook, LLP, effective May 1.

Hancock Estabrook, which is also based in the Salt City, didn’t release any financial terms of its agreement with Shulman Grundner Etoll & Danaher, P.C.

Attorneys C. Daniel Shulman, Charles Grundner, Stephen Etoll, and Christian Danaher are joining Hancock Estabrook as partners, the firm announced March 4.

The two law firms have worked together on many different matters over the years, says Timothy Murphy, managing partner at Hancock Estabrook.

“It really got finalized in the last quarter of 2018. That’s when things really came together,” he tells CNYBJ in a March 7 phone interview.

With the addition of the new partners, the number of attorneys at Hancock Estabrook will increase to 64 as of May 1, says Murphy.

Besides the lawyers, three support staff members will also join the law firm to bring its total employee count to 117, he adds. The attorneys and support staff will be moving to the Hancock Estabrook office inside Axa Tower I at 100 Madison St. in downtown Syracuse.

Shulman Grundner Etoll & Danaher currently operates in space at 250 S. Clinton St. in Syracuse, per its website. The building’s owner is listed as 250 South Clinton LLC, according to Onondaga County’s online property records.

What Shulman brings

The Shulman firm “really has been the leading real-estate firm in upstate New York for the last 30 [to] 40 years,” Murphy contends.

“They really complement our existing practice and lot of our institutional and corporate clients need real-estate services … and bringing lawyers in of their caliber just really complements the real-estate practice that we already have,” he adds.

Working with Hancock Estabrook’s real-estate practice group, the new partners will focus on “all aspects” of commercial real estate. That includes land acquisitions and sales, construction loans and permanent financing, retail and office leasing, title insurance and “various other matters” related to real-estate development.

“I believe our firm’s expertise will complement [Hancock Estabrook’s] diverse practices, and we look forward to their attorneys being able to assist our firm’s existing clients in any number of practice areas outside of our core expertise of real estate. In considering the move, the fit between the two firms in this regard became obvious and we feel will be beneficial to both of us,” C. Daniel Shulman, senior partner of Shulman Grundner Etoll & Danaher, said in a Hancock Estabrook release.

In addition to its downtown Syracuse office, Hancock Estabrook has a location at the Gateway Center at 401 E. State St. in Ithaca. The firm provides legal services and representation for large corporations, small and medium-sized businesses, nonprofit institutions, governmental entities, and individuals.

Peters & Associates, CPAs acquires Utica firm

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SYRACUSE — Peters & Associates, CPAs, P.C. (P&A), a Syracuse–based accounting firm, recently announced it has completed the acquisition of a Utica–based CPA firm. P&A acquired Robertello & Harrington, CPAs, P.C. “The merger is expected to bring P&A additional revenue in excess of 25 percent,” the firm said in a news release. This transaction is

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USDOL issues proposed regulations on white-collar exemptions

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On March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) issued proposed regulations that would increase the minimum weekly salary to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act white-collar exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $679 a week ($35,308 a year). These new proposed regulations are intended to replace the USDOL’s 2016

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These new proposed regulations are intended to replace the USDOL’s 2016 regulations raising the minimum weekly salary to $913 per week ($47,476 per year), which were held by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to be invalid about one week before those regulations were set to take effect.

The USDOL came up with the $679 weekly salary level by using the same methodology that it used when the weekly salary level was increased to $455 in 2004 — by setting it at approximately the 20th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage census region (the South) and in the retail sector. The proposed regulations would also allow employers to count non-discretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the minimum salary level, provided that the bonuses or incentive payments are paid annually or more frequently. The U.S. Department of Labor is not proposing any automatic increases in the minimum salary level, but is proposing that the salary level be updated every four years after notice and public comment.

The U.S. Department of Labor is also proposing to increase the annual salary threshold for the “highly compensated employee” exemption from $100,000 to $147,414. To qualify for the “highly compensated employee” exemption, an employee must meet the annual salary threshold and must satisfy at least one element of the executive, administrative, or professional exemption.

The proposed regulations do not include any changes to the duties’ requirements for any of the white-collar exemptions.

New York’s minimum salary level to qualify for the executive and administrative exemptions is currently higher than $679 per week in all regions. However, New York does not set a minimum salary level for the professional exemption, so if these regulations take effect, employers may need to review the salary levels of professional employees to ensure that they meet the new threshold.

In addition, New York’s minimum salary level for the executive and administrative exemptions is “inclusive of board, lodging, or other allowances and facilities” while the federal salary level must be “exclusive of board, lodging or other facilities.” So, if these regulations take effect, an employer that uses housing or meal allowances to meet the New York salary threshold will still need to ensure that the new federal salary threshold is met when those housing or meal allowances are not counted.

The U.S. Department of Labor has also posted on its website (www.dol.gov) answers to some frequently asked questions and a fact sheet regarding its proposed regulations. Comments to the proposed rule can be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal within 60 days after the proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register.

Subhash Viswanathan is a member (partner) at Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC in Syracuse. This viewpoint is drawn from the firm’s New York Labor and Employment Law Report. Viswanathan represents employers in many different industries — including colleges and universities, public school districts, health-care institutions, manufacturing establishments, not-for-profit corporations, and restaurants — on labor and employment issues.

Ithaca College to establish analytics labs in School of Business

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ITHACA — Ithaca College recently announced it will establish a pair of business analytics laboratories in its School of Business this fall. The two dedicated business analytics lab spaces at the college will “provide students with hands-on experience to help them thrive in a world that relies on data to drive innovation,” it said in

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ITHACA — Ithaca College recently announced it will establish a pair of business analytics laboratories in its School of Business this fall.

The two dedicated business analytics lab spaces at the college will “provide students with hands-on experience to help them thrive in a world that relies on data to drive innovation,” it said in a news release.

The endowment to create the lab spaces, in the Roy H. and Dorothy D. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise, was established by John J. Neeson, a 1984 Ithaca College School of Business alumnus. Neeson’s gifts support the creation of the Neeson Business Analytics Lab and the Neeson Digital Marketing and Analytics Lab and establish the John Neeson ‘84 Endowed Software and Database Fund to support software updates and future upgrades to the Neeson Business Analytics Lab, the college said.

One of the two forthcoming lab spaces is currently an electronic classroom that will be upgraded with modern workspaces. Business administration students will use the classroom, as will students who choose to take advantage of the School of Business’s minor in analytics, the release stated. Classes in the new lab space will be open to all students at Ithaca College, not only those who are enrolled in the School of Business, the college noted.

The second space will also receive an upgrade, “transforming from a technology-free conference room to a robust analytics lab where students can conduct research and develop projects.”

“The analytics labs in the School of Business will provide students with resources and hands-on experience that will empower them to understand and adapt to evolving business trends across all industries,” School of Business Dean Sean Reid said in the release.

Students will study “how to apply customer relationship management (CRM) systems, making marketing decisions based on customer activities and communications,” added Scott Erickson, a professor and chair in the college’s Department of Marketing. “They will also develop skills in using predictive tools such as regression, neural networks, decision trees, and clustering, all of which will help prepare students for the new, data-driven environment in marketing.”

Bond law firm appoints leader of new pro bono committee

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Bond has appointed John H. Callahan as pro bono leader of this committee. He is a long-time member of the Syracuse–based firm, former chair of its litigation department, and a current member of its management committee. The firm’s new pro bono policy encourages lawyers to work up to 50 hours per year on pro bono

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