SYRACUSE — At its annual meeting in December, the Gifford Foundation elected a new slate of officers for 2018. Jaime Alicea is president, Michael Feng is VP, Joseph L. Charles is treasurer, and Merike Treier is secretary.

Alicea, who serves as the superintendent of the Syracuse City School District, takes over for previous Gifford Foundation board president Ben Walsh, who is now the new Syracuse mayor. 

“I am honored and excited to assume the leadership of the Gifford Foundation Board,” Alicea said in a news release. “I look forward to partnering with my fellow board members, staff, and most importantly the community as we continue to advance our collective efforts to foster growth and opportunity in Central New York.”

The Gifford Foundation is a private foundation supporting community needs in Central New York since 1954. 

UTICA — The board of directors of the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) has formed a search committee to find the nonprofit health system’s next president and CEO who will replace its current leader in 18 months.

Scott Perra, president and CEO of MVHS, plans to retire on June 30, 2019, the health-care organization announced Jan. 8.

Perra was appointed president of Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH) in January 2009. When FSLH and St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) affiliated in March 2014, Perra was named president and CEO of the newly formed MVHS.

Perra joined what was then the St. Luke’s-Memorial Hospital Center (SLMHC) in 1985, becoming the executive VP/chief operating officer in 1989. He remained in the position through the Faxton Hospital and SLMHC consolidation that began in November 1998 and formed FSLH. 

He was named president/CEO of FSLH in January 2009 with the retirement of former CEO Keith Fenstemacher. 

“We are grateful to have Scott’s vision, leadership and commitment, always working to move our health system to a new level of excellence,” Joan Compson, chair of the MVHS board of directors, said in the release. “The opportunity to build a new regional health-care system for our community was Scott’s vision as well as the board’s, and we are grateful for all he is doing to help make that vision into a reality. We believe finding a new CEO for the system will take some time and we appreciate that we can continue to work with Scott in the [18] months ahead.” 

Downtown hospital project

Perra’s retirement announcement comes as MVHS is planning to build a new regional health-care campus in downtown Utica. It expects to start construction in 2019 and open the hospital in 2022. Perra has played an instrumental role in developing the plan and helping to make it happen.

MVHS on Nov. 16 revealed the site plan and outline of its new regional hospital. The organization is planning for a 373-bed, 672,000-square-foot facility, and a 1,550-car parking structure on 25 acres in downtown Utica.

MVHS this year will begin the permitting process with the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) to “identify and mitigate” project impacts. The health-care system’s design team will continue to develop the site plan along with the “character” of the campus landscape. At the same time, the MVHS design team will develop the “interior and exterior character of the project,” the nonprofit said in a news release.

The organization plans a groundbreaking for the health campus sometime next year.

MVHS serves a multi-county area in the Mohawk Valley and Central New York. The system includes 571 acute-care beds, 202 long-term care beds, and more than 40 locations throughout Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison counties. 

MVHS describes itself as an “integrated delivery system” with about $566 million in revenue, more than 4,250 full-time equivalent employees, and nearly 23,500 inpatient admissions and 650,000 outpatient visits annually.

SYRACUSE — Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York announced it has appointed new executive officers to its board of directors for 2018. 

Colleen M. Schmidt was named board president. She has been a member of the board for eight years and most recently held the position of 1st VP. Schmidt is president of Molina Healthcare of New York. 

Existing board members Amy Collins, general manager at CNY Central Media Group including NBC3, CBS5, CW6 and CNYCentral.com, and Mark Renquin, owner/operator of a McDonald’s franchise, were appointed to new positions on the board’s executive committee. Collins was named 1st VP and Renquin was appointed 2nd VP. Karen Ohliger, relationship manager at KeyBank, will continue to serve as treasurer. Alan Peterman, partner at Barclay Damon LLP, was named secretary.

Additionally, Colleen Kernan, director of public relations at Pinckney Hugo Group, has been appointed as a new member of the Ronald McDonald House Charities board of directors for 2018. 

Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY says it operates the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse 24 hours a day, year-round as a “home away from home” for families whose children are hospitalized with serious illnesses or injuries.   

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. — William Shakespeare 

UTICA — In Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet,” the heroine argues that Romeo’s last name shouldn’t be an impediment to their marriage. After all, what difference does a name make?

All the difference in the world if you ask the principals at the former Empire Recycling Logistics Corp. “When our potential customers heard or saw our name, they couldn’t get past the word ‘recycling’,” asserts Steven R. Kowalsky, the president of the enterprise’s holding company — Empire Recycling Corp. “One of our businesses is in intermodal freight, hauling containers by truck to and from ports in the Greater New York–New Jersey metro area. The original name was definitely a hindrance to our growth.”

Ignoring Juliet’s admonition, Empire Recycling Logistics recently changed its name to ERL Intermodal Corp. “Our new name should be immediately recognizable,” says Steve Sperbeck, general manager of the trucking company. “We are the largest intermodal-freight company headquartered in Upstate with 35 tractors; 100 trailers that can handle 20-, 40-, and 45-foot containers; and a staff of 42 … [of whom] 37 are located here in Utica. When Empire Recycling bought Lightning Fast Freight in 2011, the fleet consisted of 23 trucks. Over the next five years, we added four more trucks. Just in the last year, our fleet grew by 30 percent, and our customer list has grown from the original five (in 2011) to 30. We handle so many containers now that the company had to lease five acres nearby to accommodate the volume … The round-trip to the port and back is approximately 500 miles, which means each truck is traveling 125,000 miles a year. Multiply that by 35 trucks and the fleet is logging more than 4 million miles a year. ERL Intermodal only hauls 10 to 12 loads a month for Empire Recycling, so the growth is coming from an expanding customer base.”

The name change became official in September 2017. “Changing the name is just one part of our rebranding campaign to promote the company,” says Kowalsky. “ERL is in a strong position to grow. We provide same-day or overnight inbound and outbound deliveries to and from all of the New York/New Jersey ports from anywhere in the state. Intermodal also offers rail drayage, full truckloads, flatbed service and walking floors, and expedited service. All of our trucks are equipped with GPS tracking systems to assure that loads are in transit and on-time.”

ERL Intermodal is also prepared for the new electronic-logging rule that became effective on Dec. 18, 2017. 

“The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) is now requiring all over-the-road freight carriers to install electronic monitors to replace the written logs truckers have maintained for decades,” notes Sperbeck. “The ELDs (electronic-logging devices) track the HOS (hours-of-service) of all drivers to ensure they comply with federal law. I think the cost of the ELDs and the restrictions of the regulations will drive some of the older, best-qualified drivers into retirement and make it more difficult for owner-operators and smaller fleets to compete. (Estimates suggest the cost of ELDs could add $2 billion to the industry’s operating expenses. In 2017, the FMCSA imposed fines of more than $266,000,000 for HOS violations.) … We have worked hard to attract and retain drivers, many of whom have been with us for years. The hiring process isn’t easy, because each job candidate has to have a qualified license, be tested for controlled-substances, provide a medical certificate verifying good health, and demonstrate a safe-driving history. That disqualifies a lot of applicants.”

Growth trajectory

ERL Intermodal is poised for continued growth. The company is financially strong, dominates its market, has an experienced workforce, markets aggressively, and invests in technology to control its costs. Economic trends are also favorable for continued growth. First, international trade has been on a steady incline for decades with companies relying on global supply chains and on-time delivery. Intermodal trucking plays a key role in delivering products that arrive at the nation’s ports. Second, the recent changes to the federal tax code are expected to prompt more companies to invest and expand their businesses. Manufacturers, in particular, will require more imports and drive more exports. Third, federal environmental laws are forcing truck manufacturers to build more fuel-efficient engines, a fact that delights Kowalsky. “Our older trucks get about 3 miles to a gallon,” he intones. “The new trucks get up to 8 miles to a gallon. When you’re spending roughly one dollar for fuel for every mile you drive and your fleet surpasses 4 million miles a year, that’s a huge savings.” Fourth, President Trump has proposed a large infrastructure program, some of which is designated at improving the nation’s highways and upgrading port facilities. While the final shape of legislation is not clear yet, it seems probable that Republicans and Democrats will come together to invest in America’s infrastructure.

Company background

Sperbeck joined Empire Recycling in 2008 as a logistics supervisor of the recycling-truck division. He was born and raised in Marcy and graduated from Whitesboro High School in 1988. His transportation career began in 1994 as a supervisor/dispatcher with Walmart Transportation. In 2001, Sperbeck joined Lily Transportation as the operations manager and left in 2008 to work at Empire Recycling Corp. Five years later, Kowalsky designated him as the general manager of Empire Recycling Logistics. Sperbeck resides in Frankfort with his wife Lisa and their daughter.

ERL Intermodal is one of four companies owned equally by Steven and Edward L. Kowalsky, the company’s executive VP. The Kowalskys’ great-grandfather, a farrier by trade, came to America in the mid-1880s. In 1904, the same year that the U.S. gained control of the Panama Canal and Teddy Roosevelt was elected president, he started the recycling business handling rags, metal, and paper. In 1916, Robert, Morton, and Louis Kowalsky incorporated the business as Empire Recycling. The single site in Utica has been expanded to six sites, which monthly collect more than 30 million pounds of scrap from individuals, businesses, scrap dealers, demolition contractors, and others. The materials are weighed, graded, sorted, cut, and then shredded, baled, or logged. The metal products are shipped to customers for re-melting and processing into items such as sheet metal and can stock. The paper is typically recycled to paper mills as pulp. In addition, Empire Recycling has a division called Confidata that has three upstate locations for shredding confidential papers.

The brothers also own Nathan Steel, a full-service steel center located in Utica, providing structural-steel fabrication, stairs, special orders, and erection services. The company sells to contractors as well as the general public. ESK Realty, Inc. is the fourth company, responsible for 400,000 square feet of covered space, 40 acres of property, and leasing to outside entities. The consolidated operation employs more than 200 people and generates more than $100 million in sales annually. 

Steven, 65, and Edward, 58, represent the fourth generation of Kowalskys to run the business. The fifth generation now includes Steven’s son-in-law and Edward’s step-son in place to continue the venture well into its second century. The brothers Kowalsky, unlike Romeo and Juliet, have embraced a corporate change to help propel the enterprise to new heights. The name “ERL Intermodal” smells sweet indeed.