“A select group” of students at St. John Fisher College will have the chance to pursue both an undergraduate and law degree in six years under an agreement between Fisher and the Syracuse University College of Law.

St. John Fisher is located in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford.

It’s called a 3+3 legal education accelerated program (LEAP), which is aimed at “minimizing the cost of their education,” St. John Fisher said in a Nov. 7 news release. 

To be considered for the program, students must meet a set of requirements for both institutions. 

At Fisher, they must enroll as first-year students, complete the school’s first-year program, core curriculum, major, and minor requirements, per the release. 

They also need to consult with a LEAP advisor to discuss educational and career goals and earn a cumulative undergraduate grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. Students also must complete the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) with a score at or above the median LSAT score for the College of Law’s previous year’s enrolled class. 

Students also have to submit an application to the College of Law through the Law School Admission Council during their third and final year at Fisher.

“The partnership with St. John Fisher College provides its students with an accelerated path to the College of Law and its unique offerings, including our top-rated Advocacy Honor Society program, innovative research centers focused on national security, technology commercialization and disability law, and our expansive externship opportunities offered around the country, among others,” Denee Page, assistant dean of enrollment management at the Syracuse University College of Law, said in the Fisher news release.

This agreement is the fourth 3+3 LEAP program at Fisher. The school also holds agreements with Michigan State University College of Law, University at Buffalo Law School, and Ohio Northern University.       

SYRACUSE — The Syracuse chapter of SCORE provided guidance to about 65 business ventures in its territory during federal fiscal year 2018 that ended Sept. 30.

The nonprofit SCORE is an organization of business entrepreneurs working to help small-business owners, entrepreneurs, and those who are “kind of dreaming” about opening a small business or having their own business, says Marty Doto, a mentor with the SCORE Syracuse chapter. He calls it “trying to pay it forward.”

“We’re trying to take our expertise and our knowledge and share it with those folks to help them succeed as we did in our careers,” he says.

Doto, who has been a mentor for a “little over two years,” also handles marketing and communications for the organization. Doto, who is now retired, says he worked in the insurance industry both in upstate New York and elsewhere 

SCORE Syracuse’s territory is a five-county area around Syracuse, including Onondaga, Oswego, Cortland, Madison, and Oneida counties. The SCORE Syracuse office is affiliated with the office in Utica.

“It’s a pretty broad reach and the clients can come from anywhere, and we can also do video conferencing,” Doto notes.

He describes SCORE as a “resource partner” with the Syracuse district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which provides “a lot of our referrals.” 

Client meetings are by appointment. SCORE will meet with a client at the Syracuse SBA office or wherever it’s most convenient because the goal is to have recurring visits and mentoring sessions. 

SCORE provides guidance for a lot of startups. About two-thirds of its clients are seeking help because they want to start a new business. The other one-third are people who are already in business, so SCORE works to be available to them as they continue to face different challenges. 

“The goal is that we’re working with each other over years, not just over weeks or months,” Doto says.

About SCORE

SCORE has operated since the 1960s and “just about as long here in Central New York,” Doto says. SCORE started as an organization of retired executives “but that’s certainly not our make up now,” he adds.

The organization has members and mentors who are retired and semi-retired, along with small-business owners and entrepreneurs who are still working. 

The name SCORE, for a time, was short for senior corps of retired executives, but that’s no longer the case. “We don’t consider it an acronym for anything. It’s just the name of the organization,” Doto says.

When asked how business owners become mentors with SCORE, he says “a lot of times, it’s word of mouth” and a recommendation from someone with whom the mentor is acquainted. Former SCORE clients sometimes decide to join the organization because they appreciate the help that the organization provided, he notes.

“When it was their time, they decided to join the organization so that they could give back,” says Doto.

The Syracuse chapter of SCORE has about 35 mentors as of now, but it also has subject-matter experts based on a client’s needs. It also has members and volunteers who conduct workshops. 

“Because we’re part of a national organization, we can tap resources on the national basis as well … so the client gets a broad base of expertise to pull from,” says Doto.         

SYRACUSE — The woman who has been serving as a vice chair on the Syracuse University board of trustees will become the first female to lead the board.

It unanimously elected Kathleen Walters as its next chairperson, the university said in a Nov. 12 news release.

Walters, who graduated from Syracuse University in 1973, will succeed current board chair Steve Barnes, whose term ends in May 2019.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected by my peers to serve as the chair of my alma mater’s board of trustees,” Walters said. “Syracuse University played a significant role in my life’s trajectory, both professionally and personally, and I am thankful to have the opportunity to work on behalf of the institution that provided me such a strong education. I am humbled by the support I have received from my fellow trustees, Chancellor Kent Syverud and other members of the Syracuse University community, and look forward to taking on this critically important role.”

About Walters

Walters currently serves as executive VP of Atlanta, Georgia–based Georgia-Pacific LLC (GP) and group president of its consumer-products group. Georgia-Pacific is one of the largest retail and commercial tissue and tabletop businesses in North America, spanning more than 40 operating facilities and employing 15,000 people.

She has held her roles with Georgia-Pacific since 2007, and previously served in other executive positions at the company. Prior to joining GP in 2004, Walters held a number of key leadership positions in Europe and the U.S. for Scott Paper Co. and its parent company, Irving, Texas–based Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB). She also served as CEO of SAPPI Fine Paper North America.

“Kathy brings a unique perspective, as well as a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role of board chair,” Chancellor Syverud said in the release. “She is a strong leader and a tireless advocate for Syracuse University. Kathy will make an excellent chair. I am confident great things will happen under her leadership.”

“Syracuse University is incredibly fortunate to have someone of Kathy’s caliber taking over the leadership of the board of trustees,” Barnes said. “The combination of her strategic and governance experience makes her well positioned to be our next chair.”

Walters has been “very active” in supporting the university along with her husband, Stanley Walters, who graduated in 1972, per the release. He was a two-year letterman in football at Syracuse University and went on to play in the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles, and after retiring was a radio color commentator.

Kathleen Walters regularly speaks with Syracuse University students, participating in the Syracuse Immersion Program in Atlanta, and she hosted a regional Syracuse-sponsored event in 2014, called “Power Up Atlanta.” It was a women’s networking symposium featuring Kristi Andersen, professor of political science in Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and prominent Syracuse alumni, the university said.

The Walters reside in Atlanta. They are the parents of two grown children, Stanley and Elizabeth, who also live in Atlanta, per the release.

It cites smaller loan requests, higher credit risk, and lack of information as possible causes

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on Nov. 8 issued a report, called “Financing their Future: Veteran Entrepreneurs and Capital Access.” The report evaluates the state of entrepreneurship for military veterans by outlining current literature on veteran entrepreneurship, and presenting new small-business credit data from the Federal Reserve Banks’ 2017 Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS). 

The report found that, despite similar demand for financing, veteran-owned business applicants were more likely than nonveteran-owned business applicants to face “financing shortfalls,” where they received less than the amount of credit they sought, according to a New York Fed news release. They also had lower approval rates at the most popular lenders, and the amount of SBA-guaranteed loans that they have received has increased more slowly over time than for non-veterans. The report explains that this discrepancy in financing experiences could be attributable to the smaller loan amounts that veteran-owned businesses seek, higher credit risk, and lack of information. Find the report at: (https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/smallbusiness/2017/Report-on-Veteran-Entrepreneurs-and-Capital-Access.pdf).

The 2018 SBCS is currently being fielded, and small-business owners can help further address information gaps on small business financing by taking this survey, per the release. 

“To solve a problem, it’s critical first to understand its scope. This report presents the most substantial evidence to date of the challenges veteran-owned businesses face in accessing capital,” Claire Kramer Mills, New York Fed assistant VP, said in the release. “By understanding how much credit veteran-owned businesses are seeking, where they’re applying, and the nature of their financing challenges, policy makers and service providers can better help veterans overcome financing shortfalls.”

Larry Stubblefield, associate administrator of SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development, added, “Clearly, aspiring veteran entrepreneurs can benefit from preparation and training to start their businesses and succeed in the marketplace. This report highlights the value of SBA-partnered resources like the Boots to Business entrepreneurship training program, which helps veterans as they navigate the challenges in financing, starting and growing their companies.”

Key findings from the report

Veterans are less likely to be self-employed today than in the past, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. When they do start businesses, most are small and often report lower sales. The labor force self-employment rate for veterans has declined 33 percent over the past 20 years, as compared to a 9 percent drop for nonveterans.

A majority (60 percent) of veteran-owned businesses have 1 to 4 employees. These businesses tend to have lower sales than nonveteran-owned businesses of the same size, and this difference holds across industries, the news release stated.

Demand for financing was similar for veteran- and nonveteran-owned businesses (42 percent and 40 percent applied for financing, respectively).

Despite similar demand for financing, veteran-owned business applicants were more likely to experience a financing shortfall (60 percent) than nonveteran-owned business applicants (52 percent).

The approval rates for veteran-owned business applicants for loans, lines of credit, and cash advances were about 10 percent lower than for nonveteran-owned business applicants, irrespective of the lending source.

Since 2010, SBA-guaranteed loans have increased by 48 percent for veteran borrowers compared to an 82 percent increase for nonveteran borrowers, per the release.

Reasons for financing shortfalls 

The report, with conclusions based on new SBCS and SBA data, presents three possible explanations for the discrepancy in funding outcomes for veterans and nonveterans: smaller loan amounts sought, credit-report concerns, and a need to seek advice when completing loan applications. The findings include: 

• 60 percent of veteran-owned business applicants sought $100,000 or less in financing. Processing smaller loans can be costly for larger lending sources due to fixed transaction costs, so they may be less likely to approve these loans.

• 61 percent of veteran-owned businesses had high credit scores, compared to 69 percent of nonveteran-owned businesses. Also when firms were denied credit, veteran-owned businesses cited insufficient credit history or collateral as reasons more often (47 percent and 42 percent respectively) than nonveteran-owned businesses (36 percent and 35 percent respectively).

• Veteran business owners were more likely to submit multiple loan applications, and yet had lower approval rates. Observations by SBA officials indicate that business owners may lack understanding of, or lack preparation for the loan-application process.

Research conclusions and forward thoughts

Based on these conclusions, the report cites three ways policymakers and service providers could potentially help veterans overcome financing shortfalls.

• Encouraging an expanded focus on service to veteran-owned businesses through the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which supports lending to underserved segments;

• Providing mentorship opportunities to assist veteran entrepreneurs in putting together business and financing strategies before meeting with a lender; and,

• Raising awareness about the organizations that are currently working to address 

The Federal Reserve Banks’ Small Business Credit Survey collects information about business performance, financing needs, and choices and borrowing experiences of firms with fewer than 500 employees. Responses to the SBCS provide insight into the dynamics behind aggregate lending trends and about noteworthy segments of small businesses, according to the release. The results are weighted to reflect the full population of small businesses in the U.S. The SBCS is not a random sample, which may affect the results.

The SBCS includes experiences from businesses across all 50 states and the District of Columbia through the joint efforts of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Francisco, and St. Louis. The 2017 SBCS collected 14,465 responses in total, 8,169 of which were from employer firms.

In this report, a business is considered to be veteran-owned if more than 50 percent of the business is owned by a veteran. Therefore, nonveteran-owned businesses also include businesses owned equally by veterans and nonveterans. In the 2017 SBCS, 6,922 respondents from employer firms shared whether they were veteran-owned or nonveteran-owned. And 696 of those respondents were from veteran-owned businesses.       

OSWEGO — SUNY Oswego, Jefferson Community College (JCC), SUNY Canton, and SUNY Potsdam will use grant funding to help student veterans at JCC transfer to Oswego, Canton, or Potsdam.

The effort seeks to “strengthen transfer pathways and foster academic success for student veterans,” according to SUNY Oswego.

The SUNY Impact Foundation awarded a grant of $70,400 from the U.S. Ambassador Carl Spielvogel Fund for Veterans to fund an academic-support proposal that the schools jointly submitted.

The grant will span four semesters and includes the hiring of a dedicated tutor to work specifically with the student-veteran population on each campus in an effort to “increase their comfort of use of academic-support services and assist in their academic adjustment,” SUNY Oswego said in a release.

In addition, JCC will provide space at least twice per semester for SUNY Oswego’s veteran and military-services coordinator to hold office hours to meet with prospective JCC student veterans and discuss transfer options with travel covered by the grant.

With the funding, SUNY Oswego will host prospective JCC student veterans on their respective campuses once per semester.

The colleges say they will also create transfer pathway materials specifically for student veterans and promote institutional services available to student veterans

The grant funding will allow the schools to assist student veterans in developing academic skills and confidence and “encourage persistence to complete their academic goals.” The effort involves advising on the coursework requirements at both the two-year and four-year academic programs while “establishing a rapport” with campus veteran-services coordinators early in the student veterans’ academic career through the JCC office hours.

Four-year campus visits will “ease the transition and prepare for a confident transfer” from JCC to SUNY Oswego, Benjamin Parker, veteran-services coordinator at SUNY Oswego, contended.

About the grant

SUNY on Veterans Day announced grants from the Ambassador Trustee Carl Spielvogel Fund for a total of 11 campuses to boost education opportunities for more than 12,500 military students and their dependents statewide.

The fund began with a “generous” donation (amount undisclosed) by Ambassador Spielvogel, who serves on the SUNY Board of Trustees and is a veteran himself having been a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and a member of the U.S. Army.

H. Carl McCall, chairman of the SUNY board of trustees, described the grants as “one more way to give thanks to those who have served and those who continue to protect our country.”