DeWITT — DeWitt–based Dumac Business Systems, Inc. has acquired Total Retail Solutions (TRS) of Louisiana, a provider of point-of-sale (POS) and loss-prevention products to independent grocers.

Point-of-sale products are more commonly known as cash registers, whether scanning systems for supermarkets or touch screens for restaurants, says Phil McCarthy, VP of Dumac, who spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 7.

West Monroe, Louisiana–based TRS supports about 400 supermarkets in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, Dumac said in a news release. 

The acquisition closed Dec. 1. Dumac is headquartered at 19 Corporate Circle in DeWitt.

McCarthy declined to disclose the acquisition price but indicated that Dumac financed the deal using company assets and a loan from KeyBank. 

McCarthy also noted that he is one of seven people who own Dumac, a family-operated business. Dumac had 285 employees before the acquisition and added all of TRS’s 28 employees in the deal. 

“We’ll ultimately grow that group,” says McCarthy, noting that all TRS workers will remain at their respective job sites.

The local firm also added all TRS customers. TRS has two facilities in Louisiana and one each in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee that will operate under the Dumac name, per the release.

Headquartered in DeWitt since 1952, Dumac also has operations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Indiana, according to its website.

More than a thousand independently owned supermarkets across the U.S. use Dumac products. Dumac also sells POS hardware to the hospitality and restaurant markets. 

The firm’s customers include Dublin, Ohio–based Wendy’s, a fast-food restaurant chain, and CoreLife Eatery, McCarthy told CNYBJ. CoreLife Eatery describes itself as an “active lifestyle restaurant” operating several locations in New York and 10 additional states.

How the deal happened

TRS had been for sale since after the owner, Lane Osbon, died in late 2017, according to McCarthy. Osbon’s widow wanted to make sure the company’s employees would still have jobs in the acquisition deal.

“They reached out to a group of potential buyers, looking not just for someone to buy it but also for a cultural fit,” says McCarthy, noting that Dumac was familiar with TRS before the acquisition discussions.

Aaron Davidson, who most recently served as president of TRS, will continue in a leadership role with Dumac as a branch manager. “His day-to-day role has not changed a whole lot,” says McCarthy. 

“We’re excited about this combination with Dumac and the opportunities it presents to continuously provide better experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for our customers and employees,” Davidson said in the Dumac release. “In many ways, it’s business as usual with the added benefit of offering customers greater expertise and solutions to help them achieve greater results.”                       

Firm commits to creating at least 8 new jobs after more than $1 million project

SODUS — Dynalec Corporation, a communications-equipment manufacturer in Wayne County, is expanding its operations in Sodus with a project that costs a little more than $1 million.

The company has also committed to creating at least eight new jobs, according to Empire State Development.

Dynalec is adding up to 12,000 square feet to its existing facility. The project will allow Dynalec to “substantially increase production in an effort to better meet the worldwide demand for its products,” ESD said. 

The expansion project is underway, and the company expects construction crews to finish their work in mid-March. 

ESD has offered up to $250,000 through the Excelsior Jobs tax-credit program in exchange for the job-creation commitments. 

“The surrounding community has supported Dynalec for over 40 years and we are proud to call the village of Sodus our home,” James Ryan, attorney for Dynalec Corp., said in an ESD news release. “Construction of our new facility will allow us to meet the growing worldwide demand for our products, while expanding our highly technical workforce to remain a leader in onboard ship communication.”

Founded in 1960 in Rochester and relocated in 1973 to Sodus, Dynalec is a manufacturer of shipboard systems for communication, navigation, and switching. It says it builds standard and custom products for military and commercial use, including sound-powered telephones. Its customers include agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense; military and commercial shipyards; international navies; mining/oil rigging manufacturers; and telecommunication companies.

The New York Council of nonprofits (NYCON) recently announced that it has been awarded a three-year grant from the Stewart W. and Willma C. Hoyt Foundation, Inc. 

The grant, which provides $15,000 for each of the next three years, will continue “longstanding financial support for the Southern Tier Capacity Building Program,” NYCON said in a news release. 

The Southern Tier Capacity Building Program was first piloted in 2008 and designed to meet the needs of Broome County nonprofits. The program model has two primary components: to facilitate free governance training for local nonprofit boards, and to provide small “mini-grants” to nonprofits, which are used by grantees to engage in a range of capacity building services, the release said. Since 2008, the program has continued to grow and expand, providing a broader range of training topics throughout the year, and offering more mini-grants to nonprofits seeking assistance.

“The Southern Tier Capacity Building Program is a longstanding success,” said Catherine Schwoeffermann, executive director of the Hoyt Foundation. “We’re proud to support the great work NYCON does, assisting so many nonprofit organizations in the Southern Tier. The training and development opportunities provided through this grant really pave the way to success for a broad range of nonprofits doing important work locally.”

The mission of the Hoyt Foundation, created to perpetuate the Hoyts’ charitable interest, is to use its resources to enhance the quality of life of the people of Broome County mainly through selective grantmaking, the release stated. Since 1971, the foundation has made more than $27 million in grants in Broome County.

NYCON and its affiliates state that they work to develop and promote the charitable community in New York state. It has almost 3,000 nonprofit members.             

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced a record-breaking $35 million has been awarded to 40 farms across 19 counties in the state to protect 13,000 acres of agricultural land. The grants are part of the state’s Farmland Protection Implementation Grant program. 

“New York’s farms are key economic drivers for communities across the State, and these investments will help support and sustain them for generations to come,” Cuomo said in a news release. “With record funding that will preserve 13,000 acres of farmland, we are helping New York’s agricultural industry continue to grow and produce the high quality goods that consumers have come to expect from the Empire State.” 

The Farmland Protection Impleme-ntation Grant program provides local governments, soil and water conservation districts, and land trusts with grants to offset costs of conservation easements to protect viable agricultural land from being converted to non-agricultural use. 

For the first time, the awarded funds allow for the use of preemptive purchase rights, which encourage agricultural land to remain in active production and require that it be sold to other farmers at its agricultural value. 

The program is funded through New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund in the state budget. More than $283 million has been awarded to farmland protection projects since 1996 and nearly 289 projects have protected more than 73,000 acres of farmland in New York state. 

The awards include: 

• Central New York: $7.7 million for seven projects totaling 3,343 acres 

• Capital Region: $7.4 million for 15 projects totaling 3,492 acres 

• Finger Lakes: $10.1 million for eight projects totaling 4,089 acres 

• Mid-Hudson Valley: $8.7 million for eight projects totaling 1,606 acres 

• Western New York: $0.9 million for two projects totaling 446 acres 

The state also recently announced nearly $8.5 million has been provided in support of conservation easement projects on several New York dairy farms. That Farmland Protection Implementation Grant opportunity is “helping to ensure dairy farms the opportunity to diversify their operations or transition their farm to the next generation at a more affordable cost while ensuring the land forever remains used for agricultural purposes,” the release stated. Funding for the grant opportunity for dairy farms is still available and the department is encouraging its partners in the farmland protection program across the state to apply, the release noted. Additional information can be found on the department’s website at https://www.agriculture.ny.gov/RFPS.html.