SYRACUSE — A new report finds that 52 percent of nearly 200 CenterState CEO members surveyed expect an increase in jobs and hiring in 2018, down 1 percent from 2017 projections.

The report also found that 56 percent of those surveyed generated growth in 2017, down from 67 percent in 2016.

That’s according to the 2018 Economic Forecast report for the CenterState region of New York state that CenterState CEO released on Jan. 10. Baldwinsville–based Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. conducted the survey.

The report includes the perspectives and projections of nearly 200 CenterState CEO members and business leaders from 15 industry sectors, and includes key market data from Manpower Inc. and CenterState CEO on exporting, industry, and employment.

Besides the growth and hiring-projection data, the survey found 67 percent of members surveyed anticipate increased sales or revenue in 2018, down 1 percent from 2017 projections.

It also found 53 percent expect to expand products and services in 2018, up 2 percent from 2017 projections; and 53 percent expect profits to increase in 2018, up 4 percent from 2017 projections.

The organization released the report during its annual Economic Forecast breakfast held at the Holiday Inn Syracuse-Liverpool-Exit 37 at 441 Electronics Parkway in Salina. More than 600 people attended the event, CenterState CEO said. 

Regional outlook

In the event’s keynote address, Gary Keith, regional economist with M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), discussed national and regional economic trends from the past year, and the outlook moving forward.

The CenterState New York region continues the trend of “guarded yet steady growth that has been a trademark of its economic position for several years,” according to Keith. The region’s pace of economic progress “has not mirrored the more robust growth seen on the national level,” he added.

“Buoyed by an improving U.S. economy, the CenterState region should slowly move forward in 2018. However, a number of headwinds will continue to buffet the region, with perhaps the most significant being labor-supply shortages. Economic progress requires a well-trained and productive workforce. Public and private-sector efforts to resolve labor-supply constraints and worker skill-set gaps are critically important to the region’s economic future,” Keith said in the CenterState CEO news release.

In his remarks, Robert Simpson, president & CEO of CenterState CEO, challenged the audience to reject the idea that stagnant or slow growth was an “inevitability” and encouraged leaders to “build on the foundations of success: collaboration, inclusion, and action to ignite significant change” for the regional economy.

“This report, the outlook shared by members, and the very clear message from Gary Keith should be seen as an opportunity for us to commit to working harder, smarter and more together to achieve greater economic success for the region. While there is no silver bullet to ensure rapid, broad and equitable economic progress, we have the raw materials needed to work towards stronger growth. This is a pivotal moment for our community and I believe we will rise to the challenge and create a better economic future for the region,” Simpson said in the release.         

SYRACUSE — The Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) recently announced that four new members have joined its two boards.

New members on the MOST’s Board of Trustees serving three-year terms are Miriam Gillett-Kunnath, assistant professor of chemistry at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Lemir Teron, assistant professor of environmental studies at SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry.

New members of the MOST Foundation Board of Directors serving three-year terms are Heather Feng, global consultant at IBM, and Tom Schneider, president and CEO of Pathfinder Bank.

The MOST says it is a science and technology museum for people of all ages, seeking to inspire learning through hands-on education and entertainment.

The MOST is regularly open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. It’s also open on Mondays for holidays and local school vacations. 

UTICA, N.Y. — As she gets ready to depart for another railroad job in Washington state, Bethan Maher, executive director of the Adirondack Rail Preservation Society for the last five-plus years, is thankful and optimistic about its future following strong recent growth.

The Society operates the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, a tourism attraction that links the Mohawk Valley and the Adirondack Olympic Region of New York state.

Ridership and new events have helped drive ticket revenues up 60 percent in the past several years, Maher tells CNYBJ.

“My time with the Adirondack Scenic Railroad has been an incredible learning experience; it has been a privilege to learn from and work with our board of directors and volunteers. Over the past several years we have aggressively restructured and reinvented the organization,” she says.

Maher expressed optimism for the railroad’s future. 

“The Adirondack Scenic Railroad is an integral part of the communities it serves and will continue to grow events and special excursions. Ridership will continue to increase as the quality and quantity of service offerings grow,” she contends.

Maher is leaving the organization to head up the Mount Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum in Elbe, Washington — about 20 miles from Mount Rainier.

Her last day at the Adirondack Rail Preservation Society will be March 1. Her first day at the new job will be March 15.

Tough shoes to fill

“Bethan has made an enormous contribution to the success of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad,” Bill Branson, chairman of the railroad’s board, said in a news release, adding Maher will be difficult to replace. “This new challenge is a compliment to Bethan’s work ethic and the success she has helped to make happen in our operations in the Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks,” he added.

A search for new leadership has begun, Branson said.

Mount Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum, where Maher is headed, is part of the American Heritage Railways. That privately owned company operates three railroads — the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad, and Mount Rainier Railroad. 

The Adirondack Rail Preservation Society has been at the forefront of efforts to preserve railroading in the Adirondack Park, fighting in court to prevent the state from tearing up railroad tracks to convert rail beds to hiking and biking trails. 

The operation is known for fall foliage tours and the Christmastime “The Polar Express” train ride.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com

The Office of General Services (OGS) announced that two local businesses recently earned certification as a service-disabled veteran-owned business (SDVOB) by the OGS Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development (DSDVBD).

The first company is Precision Systems Mfg. Inc., which is located in the town of Clay and makes precision machined, fabricated, and welded parts and assemblies. The second business is Todd Alan Torrance, dba Zero Point Aerial and Zero Point Audio, located in Syracuse, which specializes in aerial photography. 

The state also certified 11 other businesses around the state.

DSDVBD was created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in May 2014 with enactment of the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act. The law promotes and encourages participation of SDVOBs in state public procurements of public works, commodities, services, and technology to foster and advance economic development in the state. 

As of Jan. 12, 2018, a total of 419 SDVOBs have been certified across the state.

More information on the program and the certification process can be found at http://ogs.ny.gov/Core/SDVOBA.asp.     

ITHACA — Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca fired two nurses in an effort to end a unionizing drive, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge has ruled, ordering the hospital to rehire the nurses and reimburse them for back pay and related expenses.

The hospital plans to appeal, it told CNYBJ in an emailed statement. “Cayuga Medical Center strongly disagrees with the ruling by the National Labor Relations Board. Patient safety has always been at the forefront of delivering high quality care to our patients. We have always maintained a supportive workplace for our employees, as we partner together to deliver patient care. We will be appealing the ruling.”

The hospital says it fired registered nurses Ann Marshall and Loran Lamb in 2016 after the two failed to follow written procedures for a blood transfusion. But NLRB Administrative Law Judge Kimberly Sorg-Graves contended in her decision that the hospital’s given reason was “a ruse for its real motivation of removing Marshall’s vocal support for unionization.”

Sorg-Graves said Marshall was recognized by the hospital as the lead organizer attempting to bring union representation to hospital staffers. She placed notices on bulletin boards in the hospital and expressed support for a union on social media. 

Written procedures at Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca require that before any patient is given a blood transfusion, two nurses must check to confirm the blood to be delivered and the patient are properly identified and that the check must be done at the patient’s bedside.

In September 2016, Marshall performed a blood transfusion on a patient without a second nurse present at the bedside, according to the court decision. Instead, Marshall and Lamb had checked the blood against the patient’s paperwork at the nurses’ station before Marshall proceeded to the patient’s room and performed the transfusion by herself.

The patient, who had received transfusions 11 times prior, noticed procedure wasn’t followed and spoke up. She later emailed the hospital about the matter, saying she asked Marshall, “What about the protocol?”

Sorg-Graves said this violation did not warrant firing Marshall or Lamb. Citing testimony by other nurses and emails from hospital officials, she said the protocol was not followed all the time.

One hospital email she quoted in the ruling said of nurses, “They are clearly teaching each other short-cuts.” Another email in the chain, from an administrative director said, “these dangerous shortcuts are more commonplace than we’d like to think. We see it in our own lab processes.”

Despite this, officials who testified on the matter said they found no evidence other nurses failed to perform bedside checks. Sorg-Graves said she gave no credit to those claims.

Sorg-Graves went so far as to say she found Cayuga Medical Center (CMC) officials’ claims to be very upset with the severity of the protocol breach to be “contrived.” 

She singled out Karen Ames, the hospital’s chief patient safety officer and director of quality and patient safety, asking why Ames didn’t follow up on information from other nurses who said the two-nurse bedside check wasn’t always performed. “Not only did she fail to investigate those claims more, she prevented others in her department from investigating further or doing more to educate the staff on the proper procedures. These are not the actions of an individual who is motivated by a dire safety concern.” 

In her ruling, Sorg-Graves said while Marshall was let go because of the hospital opposition to her unionizing activities, Lamb was “simply a casualty of circumstances.” 

“CMC disparately treated Marshall and by necessity Lamb to support its termination of Marshall,” Sorg-Graves wrote.

The judge ordered Marshall and Lamb be reinstated, compensated for back pay, and that their employee files be purged of any reference to their suspensions or termination. Further, she ordered CMC to display for 60 days a notice telling employees they have protected rights to take part in union activities and outlining, point by point, what the hospital is doing to reinstate and reimburse Marshall and Lamb.