DeWITT — United Radio, a DeWitt–based repairer and remanufacturer of high-tech electronics, plans to expand next door. The idea calls for the purchase of 100,000 square feet of space it currently leases and buying an adjoining 100,000-square-foot building as it increases its local workforce by 8 percent in the coming years.

“It’s just normal growth,” says Phil Rubenstein, company president.

At its January meeting, the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) board approved tax abatements on the projects that could save United Radio $247,520 in mortgage, sales and property taxes on the expansion at 5717 Enterprise Parkway, next to its current building at 5703 Enterprise Parkway. OCIDA documents show the economic benefits from the expansion would top $22 million, including more than $12 million in wages and nearly $2.5 million in employee benefits.

Rubenstein estimates the expansion would add 35 workers in DeWitt over the next five years. The company currently has 420 employees in DeWitt and another 130 at a facility in Peachtree City, Georgia.

However Rubenstein, who owns the business with his sister, VP Mara Charlamb, cautions that the OCIDA approval by itself did not ensure the expansion would take place. OCIDA was a major contingency, he says, but there are others still to be settled.

Additionally, Rubenstein says the second building United Radio is considering purchasing is currently leased by Saab Sensis, the air-traffic management company. That lease runs another two years. “We’re not breaking their lease,” he says, adding that he does not want to foreclose on the possibility of renegotiating the lease.

In addition to supplying radio and other communication devices and services for first responders, United Radio provides after-the-sale service for the electronics industry and extensive services for automotive electronics. The company also has a research and development section that looks at new ways to repair equipment, ways to improve product design and has received patents for hardware and software.

Rubenstein says planning for the expansion is driven by growth across all parts of the company but that the largest piece of the additional space will likely be taken by the automotive division. 

Preparing for the future, Rubenstein attended the early January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Robots were the big hit of the show, he says. Rubenstein looked closely at Sony’s new yet-to-be-released robot dog, Aibo, figuring United Radio is likely to be repairing Aibos in the near future.

Rubenstein declined to disclose United Radio’s annual revenue.            

ELMIRA — Chemung Canal Trust Company recently announced it has named Daniel D. Fariello president of its Capital Bank division, which operates in the greater Albany area.

Fariello, who joined Capital Bank in December 2013, currently serves as senior VP, commercial loan manager, and market executive of the banking company for the Capital Region.

“Dan is a strong leader who is well respected inside and out of the bank,” Anders M. Tomson, president and CEO of Chemung Canal Trust, said in a news release. “He has been a tremendous advocate for the bank and has been instrumental in our significant growth in the Capital Region.”

In his new position Fariello will oversee the entire bank’s operation in the Capital District and join Chemung Canal Trust’s executive management team.

He has more than 16 years of banking experience, including on the commercial lending side of the business. Prior to joining Capital Bank, he was a relationship manager and VP at First Niagara Bank.

Fariello’s appointment comes as Capital Bank’s geographic footprint is expanding. On Jan. 8, the bank opened a branch office in Schenectady, as part of the Mohawk Harbor development project, and it expects to open a branch in Wilton Plaza this April. These offices join the bank’s other branches in downtown Albany, Clifton Park, Colonie, Latham, and Slingerlands. 

Fariello has a bachelor’s degree in management/business from Skidmore College, and received his MBA from the University of Massachusetts. 

Elmira–based Chemung Canal Trust, which was established in 1833, says it is the oldest, locally owned and managed community bank in New York state. Its holding company is Chemung Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: CHMG). Chemung Financial acquired Capital Bank in 2011. 

SYRACUSE — UnitedHealthcare has placed new signage on the former POMCO Group building located at 2425 James St. in Syracuse’s Eastwood neighborhood.

The health insurer on Jan. 11 held a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony and an open house with area business and community leaders to mark the occasion.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) in 2017 acquired POMCO Group, which became part of UMR, UnitedHealthcare’s third-party administrator (TPA) service. Minnetonka, Minnesota–based UnitedHealth Group is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare.

The local UnitedHealthcare office is supporting the self-funded medical and workers’-compensation plans for 3.6 million UMR members across the country. It is also home to UMR’s risk-management team and UnitedHealthcare’s commercial sales team for Central New York.

Ceremony remarks

After a ribbon-cutting event outside the facility on James Street, company officials shared remarks inside the building.

The company purchased POMCO Group because it “really fit well” into its UnitedHealthcare’s product line, Michael McGuire, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of New York, said.

“We’ve got over 10,000 UnitedHealthcare employees in the state of New York. We’ve got almost 4 million UnitedHealthcare members in the state of New York, [including] commercial, Medicare, [and] Medicaid, so we really do have a big footprint but there’s a big opportunity up here in Central New York,” said McGuire.

In his remarks, Donald Napier, senior VP of UMR, thanked those who attended the event on behalf of UMR’s 4,000 employees nationwide, including “our 340 Eastwood–based employees.”

Over the past decade, UnitedHealthcare has acquired a number of “strong, regional TPAs,” according to Napier.

“POMCO [Group] becomes another one as a part of UMR,” he added.

Napier went on to say that the Syracuse office is “proud of the growth and success” that POMCO Group has had but also the growth that UMR has had to become “the largest third-party administrator in the country.”

“Some folks are saying we’re a national company now. I don’t know about you but I’m still coming to work at James Street and we’re still growing at James Street,” Napier quipped.

SYRACUSE — United Concierge Medicine (UCM), an emergency-medicine practice that delivers service through telemedicine technology, is now available to members of CenterState CEO.

The Troy, New York–based practice says it provides “virtual concierge care” to help “increase access, reduce costs, and improve quality of care.”

CenterState CEO and its Business Solutions of New York (BSNY) subsidiary announced UCM’s availability to members during a Jan. 8 panel event focused on “innovative” health-care benefits, according to a UCM news release.

“This new partnership will continue to deliver on our organization’s promise to local businesses — to be a trusted resource and an innovator in reducing costs while improving results. We’re thrilled to welcome UCM to Central New York,” Frank Caliva, COO of BSNY, said in the release.

While UCM launched this new partnership in Central New York Jan. 8, the company is no stranger to the region, having forged previous relationships providing services to Syracuse Fire Department employees and to those working for the City of Rome. 

UCM CEO

UCM is not meant to replace a patient’s primary-care doctor, says Keith Algozzine, CEO of UCM and an emergency-medicine physician. 

But when you’re “immediately sick or injured” and wondering where to go for treatment, UCM wants to be that option over an emergency room (ER) or an urgent-care location. 

“That’s what we’re trying to replace,” he says.

Algozzine spoke to CNYBJ on Jan. 15 from UCM headquarters in Troy, near Albany.

CenterState CEO members “will still have to make an individual decision if they want to buy it,” he says. 

A company will pay an annual fee for each of its employees to have the UCM service, he says.

“It really is a cash model right now … Most of it is really driven through our business-to-business relationships. We don’t typically work with a lot of individuals,” he says. 

UCM charges $12 per month for individuals and $14 per month for families for its “VIP” services, which include “unlimited access” to a medical provider, according to its website. For businesses and organizations, additional pricing options are available, the website added.

By eliminating a hospital, ER, or urgent-care center, UCM contends it is able to “drive down” utilization costs and “improve care to ultimately save time and money” for patients and employers.

“Our organization is one of just a handful of organizations in the entire country that is accredited by the American Telemedicine Association for our quality, transparency and security,” the website says.

About UCM

Launched in 2014, the UCM provides an on-call provider and “cost savings to employers by driving more appropriate levels of care.” 

“Unlike traditional telemedicine options, UCM provides a more personalized and comprehensive care model,” the practice contends in its news release. 

Algozzine and his co-founding business partner, an emergency-medicine doctor, had been working in emergency rooms (ERs) their whole careers and were “so disappointed” in the increasing numbers of patients coming through ERs and urgent-care facilities. 

They didn’t like what Algozzine called the “burden” that it was putting on the health-care system to deal with “so many of these conditions” through the ER and urgent cares and the “actual burden” that it was putting on patients.

“The impetus [behind starting UCM] was just our own living experience in the ERs and urgent care [centers], saying we can do better than this, and we have,” says Algozzine.

Providers

UCM’s health-care providers are based in New York state with “the bulk of them” either located in the Capital Region or in Central New York.

“If you drew about a 200-mile radius around Albany, that’s where most of our providers are today,” he says.

UCM currently has more than 50 emergency-medicine trained providers and its service is available nationally, says Algozzine.

 “Our providers that we hire and we train also get licensed in the rest of the states around the country because patients traveling would want to use [the service],” he adds.

UCM provides “customized” care from providers that can include ordering laboratory work, X-rays, referrals, and prescriptions, according to its release.

Beyond these services, UCM providers follow up with every patient on all cases, the company said. 

“Even if we can’t definitely treat you, the concierge approach says, we’re going to refer you to the right doctor, we’re going to get you an X-ray or a lab test, we’re going to follow up to make sure you’re getting better,” says Algozzine.