SULLIVAN — The Oneida Nation had studied the Bridgeport area in the town of Sullivan in Madison County and believes the newly opened Point Place Casino “will serve this particular area really quite well.”

That’s according to Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation representative and Nation Enterprises CEO.

“We really looked for a long-term investment when we thought about building here,” says Halbritter.

Halbritter spoke with CNYBJ after the Oneida Nation formally opened the $40 million Point Place Casino on March 1.

Point Place Casino, located at 450 Route 31 in the Bridgeport area of Sullivan, is the latest Oneida Nation venture in Central New York. 

It operates the Turning Stone Casino Resort in Verona and the Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango. It also runs the Tin Woodman’s Flask, a 17,000-square-foot wine and spirits store in Chittenango near the Yellow Brick Road Casino, which opened last November.

The Oneida Nation also owns Maple Leaf Market, a convenience store in Sherrill. It plans to open a Maple Leaf Market on Route 5 in Chittenango and additional locations in 2018 as well.

When asked if spreading its business footprint is part of the Oneida Nation’s plan for growth, Halbritter replied, “This is our homeland.”

“We’re not like a company that will come in and be here for a while, sell out, and go someplace else. This is our homeland. We’re not going anywhere. That’s one of the differences between the Oneida Nation and any other business. We are here for the long term. We think in terms of the long term, and we invest in our community,” says Halbritter.

About Point Place Casino

The doors of Point Place Casino on March 1 opened to a rush of patrons at 10 a.m., the first in a line of people waiting outside for the casino to open its doors.

The 65,000-square-foot facility is located near the corner of Bridgeport-Kirkville Road, just a few hundred feet from the border with the town of Cicero.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Halbritter called it a “very exciting day.”

“Point Place Casino will provide residents in Cicero, Clay, Fulton, Syracuse, Bridgeport, and people throughout the region and beyond a new destination for food, entertainment, and fun,” said Halbritter.

Point Place Casino derives its name from “its picturesque location, surrounded by a number of the area’s beloved lake points,” according to the casino’s website. 

The casino has created more than 200 full- and part-time jobs that focus on gaming, food and beverage, maintenance, security, and management. The project also produced 250 construction jobs.

Syracuse–based Hayner Hoyt Corp. helped build the casino, according to Ed Allmann, VP of enterprise marketing and sales at Oneida Nation Enterprises.

Hayner Hoyt worked in partnership with the Central-Northern New York Building & Construction Trades Council (CNNYBTC) on the project, Pat Costello, the council’s area representative, noted in his comments.

CNNYBTC represents about 5,000 construction workers and 17 member unions, according to its website.

The new smoke-free Point Place Casino will include a gaming floor with nearly 500 slot machines and 20 table games. It has two, fast-casual, counter-service restaurants, including the newest location of Wicked Good Pizza, the pizza shop that originated at the Oneida Nation’s Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango and Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona. 

Point Place Casino also includes Burgers of Madison County, a restaurant offering burgers and milkshakes. The venue has two bars, the Fireside Lounge and Paddle Bar. It is also introducing a second location of Opals Confectionary, a chocolatier and bakery, which also operates at Turning Stone.

Maple syrup has joined produce, beef, poultry, Christmas trees, and other products in the New York State Grown & Certified program.

The program promotes New York’s agricultural producers and growers who follow food safety and environmental sustainability standards. Standards differ by product. For instance, to qualify to be New York State Grown & Certified beef, cattle must spend two-thirds of their lives in New York.

For maple syrup, the syrup must be sourced from New York maple trees and processed in New York state. To meet the food-safety standards, participants must have successfully completed a maple food-safety class — developed by the Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Western New York Maple Producers Association — and must follow food-safety best practices that are subject to an onsite audit, the state said in a news release.

Also, to qualify, a maple producer must participate in an environmental-management program that promotes sustainability and keeps forests healthy and productive. The New York State Agricultural Environmental Management program, administered through the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, is one such program. The American Tree Farm System’s Certified Tree Farmer program is another.

When the program was announced in February, there were several Central New York maple farms enrolled from the start, including: Adirondack Natural Products Inc., in Croghan, Lewis County; Hamley’s Maple, in Barton, Tioga County; Maple Hollow Farm, in Hannibal, Oswego County; Silver Hill Maple, in Turin, Lewis County; and Sweetrees Maple Products, in Berkshire, Tioga County.

New York state ranks second in maple-syrup production, behind only Vermont.

The state estimates maple farms contribute more than $140 million to the Empire State’s economy each year.

“Maple production in New York is thriving once again and it continues to be a driving force for this state’s agricultural industry,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in the release. “Expanding the New York State Grown & Certified program to include maple means we can promote more of New York’s finest producers, connect consumers to high-quality products, and support the growth of local communities across the state.”

Maple Weekend events will be hosted by farms around the state the weekends of March 17-18 and March 24-25. Some 178 maple farms in 45 upstate counties are expected to participate with more than 400,000 visitors attending, the release stated.

New York State Grown & Certified was started in 2016 to help meet growing demand for locally grown foods. The Department of Agriculture and Markets supports Grown & Certified producers through a marketing campaign including labels on products, promotional materials, and sales materials.

In addition to maple producers, 77 fruit and vegetable growers and 15 Christmas-tree growers — operating nearly 50,000 acres of farmland in the state — currently participate in the program, according to the state. There are also 16 oyster growers in the program, and nine dairy processors participating, representing nearly 1,400 dairy farms across New York state. 

Producers interested in learning how to qualify for the program can contact the Department of Agriculture and Markets at (800) 554-4501 or email NYSGrownAndCertified@agriculture.ny.gov.       

CARTHAGE — The outpatient therapy-services clinic of Carthage Area Hospital was scheduled to begin operations at the hospital’s main campus on March 12 after relocation.

The Carthage Therapy Services outpatient clinic had been operating at 3 Bridge St. in the Carthage Professional Building and was set to move to the hospital’s main campus at 1001 West St. in Carthage. 

It relocated from clinical space it occupied since early 2008, the organization announced.

The move affects nine employees, Kenneth Eysaman, strategic communication associate, tells CNYBJ.

The change brings the therapy-services clinic under the same roof as the medical-imaging unit, which therapy-services patients often use. The move also represents an “adaptive reuse” of updated space that previously housed the hospital’s skilled-nursing unit. That unit ended operations at the hospital in September after all residents were transferred to other North Country facilities.

“This investment puts our patients first while improving their access to a wider menu of care on the main hospital campus,” Rich Duvall, CEO of Carthage Area Hospital, contended in a hospital news release. He noted that Carthage Therapy Services new home for its outpatient clinic is a larger facility that is “conveniently located down the hall” from its medical imaging staff.

The move makes “strategic use” of unused space in the hospital and a chance to “evaluate” clinic space at the Carthage Professional Building for future use, Duvall added.

“We are excited about this move, which will improve the delivery of care for Therapy Services patients,” Cheryl Tousant, director of therapy services at Carthage Area Hospital, said. “We have taken positive, proactive steps to ensure it is the least disruptive as possible for our patients as we look forward to treating them in our new location.”

Carthage Therapy Services says it provides outpatient and specialty physical and occupational-therapy services.

Established as a rural community hospital in 1965, Carthage Area Hospital is a 25-bed hospital, serving about 83,000 residents in Jefferson, northern Lewis, and southern St. Lawrence counties. 

The hospital formed a clinical affiliation with Syracuse–based Crouse Health last year.

Fort Drum — home to the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, a light infantry division — recently issued an economic-impact statement for the fiscal year (FY) 2017.

Fort Drum’s direct economic impact upon its surrounding community totaled $1.22 billion in FY 2017, up about $37 million, or 3 percent, from FY 2016. Payroll (military, civilians, contractors, and retirees) increased by $13 million, as the military, civilian, and contractor population increased from 18,705 to 18,832, according to Fort Drum. 

That broke a string of yearly declines in Fort Drum’s population and direct economic-impact dollars from 2011 to 2016.

Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes funding execution increased by about $18.6 million in FY 2017, stemming from the new construction of 155 company grade officer homes.

Fort Drum says it is the largest single-site employer in Northern New York with 15,110 soldiers and 3,722 civilians (including contractors) working on or near the military installation.

Military and civilian payrolls (including tenants and contractors) totaled about $731.5 million and $196.1 million, respectively. 

Fort Drum says 3,092 retirees from all branches of military service live in the area (zip codes starting with 136) receiving a total of $5.2 million monthly, or $62.7 million per year, that flows “directly” into the local economy. In addition to military retirees, 278 retiree survivors live in the region and receive a total of $194,000 per month or $2.3 million per year.

Counting all of that, Fort Drum’s total payroll in FY 2017 was $992.7 million