Donald Radke of Syracuse took the oath of office Feb. 6 for a third term as the 2018 Central Region VP of the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) during the association’s inauguration ceremony at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany.

Radke, a realtor for more than 40 years, is the broker/owner of FM Realty Group in Fayetteville.

He is an active member and past president of the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors, where he has chaired the Legislative Committee and served on multiple others, according to a NYSAR news release. He is president of the Central New York Information Service, Inc., and serves on the board of managers for the New York State Alliance of MLSs. Radke is also a state-certified real-estate instructor.

At the state level, Radke is a member of the NYSAR board of directors and has served on several committees. 

On the national level, Radke has served on the National Association of Realtors Board of Directors. 

Locally in his community, Radke is chairman of the City of Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board and serves on the city’s new Land Use Rezone plan task force. Radke is also president of Focus Greater Syracuse, a citizen-engagement organization, and the president of the GR Barnes Foundation. 

DeWITT — NexGen Power Systems was OK’d for $15 million in state aid, but the California company is liable for millions of dollars in “clawbacks” if it doesn’t create the jobs it has promised, under a grant agreement approved Feb. 26.

The state Public Authorities Control Board voted unanimously to approve a $15 million grant for NexGen’s project at 50 Collamer Crossing Parkway in DeWitt, an 82,000-square-foot structure built with $90 million in taxpayer money to house a different California company.

The control-board vote had been delayed 10 days by Sen. John DeFrancisco (R–DeWitt) who demanded that Empire State Development (ESD) make clear the provisions for recovering taxpayer money if NexGen did not keep its promises. The provisions, commonly called clawbacks, were plainly laid out in the document that control-board representatives saw and voted on.

According to the documents, NexGen must create 10 jobs in 2018, or repay $2.5 million. Next year the number of jobs must reach 30, or the company will be liable for giving back $2.5 million. The jobs numbers rise year by year, and the liability continues at $2.5 million a year, until 2024 when NexGen must have created 290 jobs or repay $2.5 million.

However, under the agreement, NexGen gets a two-year grace period in any year it fails to meet the targets. “If at the end of the two-year “grace period,” grantee has still not met the relevant job commitment, then ESD will collect the recapture amount plus interest,” the project documents said.

NexGen is set to make components for power systems utilizing proprietary technology. NexGen holds multiple patents and creates gallium-nitride semiconductor devices. The company says its products allow for the building of smaller and more efficient power converters. Such converters are part of most electronics.

The $15 million ESD grant will help NexGen buy the equipment needed for production.

Another part of the agreement gives the state a measure of ownership in the equipment. NexGen will use the state money to buy the equipment and then give title for the equipment to Fort Schuyler Management Corporation, a nonprofit connected to SUNY Polytechnic Institute. 

The building NexGen is set to move into was built by New York State to house Soraa, a California company that makes LED lights. Soraa walked away from the project without having to pay any clawbacks.

The failure to recover money in that case, and the involvement by NexGen’s CEO in an earlier project that did not come to fruition in the Rochester area, were two reasons cited by DeFrancisco when he explained blocking the control-board vote scheduled for Feb. 16.

“I would love to see the project completed,” DeFrancisco, No. 2 in the Republican-led Senate, told CNYBJ at that time.

 DeFrancisco, who is running for governor, says he was OK with the provisions and penalties outlined Feb. 26, though he thought they could be tougher.

However, he notes that what was most important was that the control-board members got to see what they were voting on instead of blindly trusting ESD. “It’s not the greatest security, but at least it’s transparent,” DeFrancisco tells CNYBJ.

The state senator has filed a bill in the New York Senate that would require clawback provisions be made public in the future. “Hopefully, this is a model going forward,” DeFrancisco says.

In addition to the state assistance, the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) on Feb. 9 approved a $3.1 million payment in lieu of taxes agreement with NexGen. OCIDA also approved a sales-tax exemption on materials the firm buys to improve the facility, saving NexGen up to $40,000. OCIDA Executive Director Julie Cerio said at the time that there were clawbacks in the PILOT agreement. “We have clawbacks on everything,” she noted.

SYRACUSE — The Pomeroy College of Nursing (PCON) at Crouse Hospital says general-education courses that PCON nursing students are required to take will be offered through Le Moyne College and taught by its faculty at the PCON campus.

The expanded partnership begins this fall, Crouse Health and Le Moyne College said in a joint news release.

The collaboration will enable PCON students enrolled in academic courses that Le Moyne offers to have access to all student services at the college, Patty Morgan, PCON associate dean, said. The services include libraries, computing facilities, career services, student support, and recreational facilities.

The expanded partnership coincides with the recent state law that requires New York nurses to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing within 10 years of becoming a registered nurse (RN), Morgan noted. 

“We are endeavoring to make it as seamless as possible for our students to complete their RN degrees and transition into a high quality [bachelor’s degree in nursing] program,” she said.

The per-credit hour charge of PCON general-education courses “will increase slightly,” but the partnership with Le Moyne will “enhance the overall experience and quality of the college investment,” PCON contends. 

“The bottom-line financing of a PCON/[Le Moyne College] education is still less expensive than other local, state and national nursing programs,” said Morgan.

Completing the RN degree and passing the NCLEX-RN exam are required before a nurse can pursue a bachelor’s degree program. 

“We are pleased to have been selected to provide general-education courses to PCON students,” Margaret Wells, interim dean of the Purcell School of Professional Studies at Le Moyne College, said in the release. “This new development is a natural progression in the educational partnership we’ve established with the Pomeroy College of Nursing. The advantage to PCON students is the close working relationship we’ve developed with the administration and faculty at Crouse, which has been instrumental in understanding and responding to the needs of their students.”

SYRACUSE — Hotels in Onondaga County were fuller in January than in the year-ago month, according to a new report.

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county increased 2.2 percent to 41.7 percent in January from 40.9 percent a year earlier, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. It was the fourth straight month in which Onondaga County’s occupancy rate rose compared to the year-earlier period. 

Revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room, slipped 3.3 percent to $36.96 in January from $38.23 in January 2017. 

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, fell 5.4 percent to $88.58 in January, compared to $93.60 a year earlier. 

BINGHAMTON — Hotels in Broome County saw more guests in January compared to a year ago, continuing a string of monthly occupancy increases, according to a recent report.

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county rose 7.1 percent to 40.6 percent in January from 37.9 percent in the year-prior month, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. It was the ninth consecutive month in which Broome County’s occupancy rate increased. 

Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry indicator that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room, increased 7.6 percent to $32.69 in January from $30.37 in January 2017. Broome County’s RevPAR has gained six months in a row.

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, inched up 0.5 percent to $80.57 in January from $80.15 a year earlier, per STR.

DeWITT — The Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) is planning to recognize Gregory Owens and Kirk Wardell for their efforts in the region’s manufacturing sector by adding them to its Manufacturers Wall of Fame.

Owens is CEO of Liberty Tabletop of Sherrill, a division of Sherrill Manufacturing Inc., and Wardell is president of Marquardt Switches in Cazenovia.

MACNY will honor Owens and Wardell during its 105th annual dinner, which is set for May 24 at the SRC Arena and Events Center. The association will also commemorate their induction with a plaque on the Manufacturers Wall of Fame at MACNY headquarters at 5788 Widewaters Parkway in DeWitt.

The Manufacturers Wall of Fame celebrates individuals who have demonstrated “long-term dedication” to manufacturing in Central and Upstate New York. 

Owens and Wardell will represent the 18th class of members inducted into the Manufacturers Wall of Fame, joining a “prestigious” group of manufacturing leaders who have been honored since the Wall of Fame’s inception in 2001, MACNY said.

“Liberty Tabletop and Marquardt Switches are two of our community’s stellar examples of manufacturing at its best, and it is no coincidence that Greg and Kirk are the company’s leaders. Their ability to navigate their companies through the many global challenges that come with manufacturing not only successfully, but as leaders in their industry, is a testament to their tenacity and leadership skills,” Randy Wolken, president & CEO of MACNY, said in a news release. “On behalf of the Wall of Fame selection committee and the manufacturing community as a whole, I would like to congratulate Greg, Kirk, and their families and employees on this well-deserved induction into the Manufacturers Wall of Fame. We look forward to honoring their dedication to manufacturing and their achievements at MACNY’s 105th annual dinner,” said Wolken.

Previous inductees will also attend and be recognized for their lifetime achievements at MACNY’s annual dinner, the association said.

About Owens

In 2005, when Oneida Ltd. decided to cease all U.S. manufacturing in favor of a “low-cost import model,” Owens teamed up with his partner, Matthew Roberts, and created Sherrill Manufacturing (and later Liberty Tabletop), according to the MACNY release.

They acquired the Oneida Ltd. manufacturing facility in Oneida. 

Owens has since led Sherrill Manufacturing, Inc. and Liberty Tabletop through the “ups and downs of a turbulent economy in the early 2000s, driving what is now a successful and rapidly growing company, as well as a brand that holds the applaudable position of being the only United States-made flatware manufacturer today,” MACNY said.

About Wardell

Wardell is the president of Marquardt Switches in Cazenovia, a manufacturer and supplier of switches, sensors, and controls. 

He has worked at Marquardt for more than 13 years, serving as the firm’s director of operations and industrial engineering before his most recent promotion to president, MACNY said. 

Wardell is “best-known for his approachable leadership style and imaginative, dream-big mentality. It’s that perspective that has been a driving-force in making Marquardt Cazenovia highly competitive throughout the global Marquardt group. He is always asking, ‘What’s next?’ and ‘How can we get better?’ His vision and constant focus to achieve the next thing on the horizon has generated continuous momentum for improvement at Marquardt,” MACNY said.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have announced $1.82 million in federal funding — including a loan of $1.27 million and a grant of $550,000 — for the Town of Sterling in Cayuga County. 

This federal funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grants program, and the loan will be financed over a period of 38 years, the Democratic senators said in a news release.

Specifically, the funds will be used to construct a new water district in Sterling. The project will include the installation of about 25,000 feet of water-main distribution piping, hydrants, and valves, serving about 90 equivalent dwelling units (EDUs). This project will help improve the private water quality and quantity deficiencies for residents, per the release.

USDA Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Program provides loans and grants for improvements in water and wastewater infrastructure to help deliver safe drinking water and protect the environment in rural areas.