SYRACUSE — John T. McCann, a partner in the Syracuse–based law firm of Hancock Estabrook, LLP, has been sworn in as the new president of the Onondaga County Bar Association (OCBA) board of directors. 

He was sworn into office at the OCBA’s Law Day Breakfast on May 1, according to a recent Hancock Estabrook news release.

The OCBA has more than 1,500 members and represents practicing attorneys, honorary members, law-student members, and other special members at the discretion of its board.

James P. Murphy was the previous OCBA board president and James M. Williams held the position before that, according to the bar association’s website.

McCann is a member of Hancock Estabrook’s labor & employment practice. He has represented management for more than 32 years on issues such as employment litigation, collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, preparation of employment contracts, formulation of employment policies and practices, investigations, labor audits, supervisory training, and compliance with employment laws and regulations.

OWEGO — Creative Joy, an Owego craft store, formally opened on May 14 with a ribbon-cutting event with the Tioga County Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the shop’s new location. 

Creative Joy, situated at 173 Front St., says it has offered “high-end” crafting experiences since 2015, including supplies, gifts, and classes such as beading, soap-making, candle making, and more. The business says it is “dedicated to nurturing your creative side.”

Creative Joy (www.mycreativejoy.com) is open Tuesday through Saturday.

SYRACUSE — Onondaga County’s development agency has voted to keep COR Inner Harbor Company LLC as the agency for developing Syracuse’s Inner Harbor.

The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) voted Monday morning to extend COR’s agent agreement to Dec. 1, 2021.

The original agreement was signed in 2015. It expired at the end of 2017, according to Tony Rivizzigno, OCIDA’s attorney. 

Formerly an industrialized area, the Inner Harbor, at the southern end of Onondaga Lake, has been undergoing a transformation with the building of hotels and apartments.

In 2016, COR built a 134-room Aloft Hotel, the first new building put up as part of a $350 million plan for the Inner Harbor.

Construction is currently underway at Iron Pier, a luxury apartment complex on West Kirkpatrick Street. The project includes 108 apartments on three floors and more than 40,000 square feet of retail space.

“This community is located near downtown Syracuse and offers easy access to shopping, entertainment, and transportation,” according to the development’s website. “Each one of our nine unique layouts are designed with convenient features for comfortable waterfront living. Choose from one bedroom, one bedroom with a den, and two bedroom apartments ranging from 546 to 1,365 square feet!”

OCIDA Chairman Patrick Hogan says court cases involving leaders of COR, including a corruption trial earlier this year that resulted in the conviction of COR executive Steve Aiello on conspiracy charges and a second corruption trial expected to begin within a month, had no effect on the extension vote.

“No,” Hogan says, “we vote on the project.”

Aiello’s attorney, Stephen R. Coffey, has said he will seek to have the conspiracy conviction overturned.

When Stephanie Miner was mayor of Syracuse, the city tried many times to block COR’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with OCIDA, claiming it would cost the city millions of dollars in lost tax revenue. The lawsuits were repeatedly dismissed. 

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index rose 4 points in May to 20.1, “indicating a faster pace of growth than in April.”  

The index had dipped 7 points in April to 15.8.

The responses in the May survey indicated that manufacturing business activity “grew strongly” in New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its May 15 report.

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

The survey found 40 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 20 percent reported that conditions had worsened.

Survey details

The new-orders index rose 7 points to 16.0 and the shipments index was little changed at 19.1, indicating that orders and shipments “again grew strongly.” 

Unfilled orders increased, and inventories moved higher, the New York Fed said. The delivery-time index was close to last month’s level at 13.7, a “sign that delivery times continued to lengthen.”

The index for number of employees edged up 3 points to 8.7, while the average-workweek index fell to 11.1, readings pointing to a “modest increase” in employment and hours worked. 

Price increases remained “elevated.” The prices-paid index moved up 7 points to 54.0, its highest level since 2011, indicating a “pickup” in input-price increases. The prices-received index rose 2 points to 23.0, suggesting “ongoing moderate” selling-price increases.

Optimism about the six-month outlook increased, but “fell short of levels enjoyed in recent months,” the New York Fed said. 

The index for future business conditions, which plunged to 18.3 in April after remaining above 40 for most of the past year and a half, regained 13 points to reach 31.1 in May. 

Employment was expected to increase in the months ahead, and the indexes for future prices remained “elevated.” The capital-expenditures index moved up 4 points to 29.5, and the technology-spending index rose to 23.0.

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.      

Real personal income increased 1.1 percent nationwide in 2016, but growth was slower across Central New York and New York state, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on May 17.

The BEA defines a state’s real personal income as “current-dollar personal income adjusted by the state’s regional price parity and the national personal consumption expenditures price index.” The BEA provides real personal-income data for metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), as well.

New York’s state real personal income grew 0.4 percent from 2015 to 2016. 

Four of the six MSAs in CNY experienced declines in real personal income during the period. Utica–Rome had the region’s highest rate of growth at 0.9 percent. Watertown–Fort Drum fared the worst with a 1.8 percent decline. 

Nationally, the change in real state personal income ranged from 3.3 percent in Utah and Georgia to -3.6 percent in Wyoming. 

Jacksonville, North Carolina led metropolitan areas across the U.S. with 6.6 percent growth, while Midland, Texas and Odessa, Texas tied for the steepest decline (-8.1 percent).