CICERO — Construction crews are working to build the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Central New York at 7932 Brewerton Road in Cicero.

Chick-fil-A is an Atlanta, Georgia–based restaurant chain that specializes in chicken sandwiches. The company on Aug. 29 broke ground on its upcoming location in Cicero. 

“We feel like we’ve got a terrific site here. We want to thank Cicero for inviting us to be here,” Craig Perry, senior management consultant with Chick-fil-A, said in remarks during the groundbreaking ceremony.

Chick-fil-A corporate representatives joined community leaders at the event that offered details about the new restaurant, plans for future hiring, and an update on the chain’s planned upstate New York expansion.

The Cicero site, located in front of a Home Depot store, is the first of four restaurants the chain expects to open in the region in the next two years. 

Besides the location in Cicero, Chick-fil-A also plans to open upstate restaurants in the Rochester area, Buffalo, and Plattsburgh in 2018 and 2019. 

Chick-fil-A already operates about seven eateries in Manhattan and another four on Long Island, Perry told those gathered at the ceremony.

“We’re very conservative in our growth. We move at a very steady pace,” Perry told CNYBJ in an interview following the ceremony. 

Once the Cicero store opens, Chick-fil-A will eventually add more locations in Central New York and “develop this area out,” Perry added.

Jimmer Szatkowski, a native of Medina, New York in Orleans County, is the local franchisee.

Projected to open in the first quarter of 2018, the new 5,000-square-foot Cicero restaurant will offer indoor and outdoor dining as well as a playground for children. The location will have two drive-thru ordering lanes.

When it opens, Chick-fil-A expects the restaurant will create between 80 and 90 jobs 

Seekonk, Massachusetts–based D.F. Pray General Contractors is the contractor on the project, Perry told CNYBJ.

In addition, the Albany office of Warren, New Jersey–based Bohler Engineering is handling the engineering work on the project.

The company also has a staff of in-house designers to handle that part of the project, Perry said.

Chick-fil-A describes itself as a “family owned and privately held restaurant company founded in 1967 by S. Truett Cathy.”

The company has more than 2,200 restaurants in 46 states and Washington, D.C., according to its news release. The restaurant chain generated nearly $8 billion in sales in 2016.

SYRACUSE — Brewed Awakening, a coffee bar and roaster, is a business that’s in development at Cosmopolitan 1153, a building that rents office and retail space at 1153 W. Fayette St. in Syracuse.

Jeffrey Buck, sole proprietor of Brewed Awakening and its lone employee to this point, started producing coffee grounds for a small group of clients on July 8.

Buck, who spoke with CNYBJ on Aug. 24, says he hopes to launch the coffee bar sometime in 2018. 

“It’s essentially set up just like a bar,” says Buck, noting it’ll have a keg and tap system. 

It’ll operate on the first floor of the Cosmopolitan, which is awaiting some construction work.

“We’re hoping [to open] within the next [several] months,” says Buck, adding that Cosmopolitan 1153 will handle the renovation work. 

Its website describes the Cosmopolitan 1153 as a 100,000-square-foot building with commercial space for office and retail that’s available for rent or lease. 

The venue includes businesses such as Stout Beard Brewing Co. and Knitty Gritty Yarns.

When he opens the coffee bar, Buck hopes to hire four employees, including a manager and three baristas, sometime in 2018. 

Buck currently operates in a 750-square-foot space producing coffee and cold-brewed coffee. He leases the manufacturing space from the Cosmopolitan 1153, he says. 

Buck declined to disclose how much revenue he hopes to generate in 2017, but indicates he plans to invest much of it back into the business. He also declined to disclose how much he’s spent to develop and launch the business as of now, but indicated a $1,000 scholarship that the Central New York Sales & Marketing Executives awarded him in May 5 has helped in the endeavor. 

Buck graduated from Fulton’s G. Ray Bodley High School in 2004. He worked in several local jobs before joining the U.S. Army in January 2008. He served in the Army until August 2015 in locations that included Colorado Springs, Colorado; Iraq; and Afghanistan. 

He moved back to the area in 2016 and is now pursuing a degree in business management at Bryant & Stratton College.

Pursuing the business

Buck says “a lot of factors” went into his decision to pursue a coffee business, noting his ex-girlfriend had worked in a coffee shop and had always wanted her own. He used the idea of a coffee shop to build business and marketing plans in his classes at Bryant & Stratton as he pursues a business-management degree.

“I would implement those ideas that we had into those business plans,” he says. 

Buck secured space in Cosmopolitan 1153 in early June after a friend informed him that the building manager wanted to discuss bringing Buck and his business into the building.

“It was a fit for both of us,” he says.

Buck plans to operate six days with a weekday schedule that includes morning hours and closing in the early-afternoon hours. He’ll reopen from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. to cater those working evening and late-night hours. 

When asked if he’s prepared to compete in a market that includes national chains and locally owned coffee retailers, Buck says he plans to incorporate delivery into his coffee-bar business to provide his customers with an element of “convenience.”

“Whenever you have meetings and you’d like 10 cups of coffee, I’ll have 10 cups of coffee there ready to go,” says Buck. 

When asked if that will involve hiring a delivery person, Buck replied, “Yeah, eventually.”

Buck gets his coffee beans from Smith Housewares & Restaurant Supply at 500 Erie Blvd. East in Syracuse.

He also wants to offer the coffee products of Ithaca–based Gimme! Coffee and the Utica Roasting Company, hoping those firms can “work together, not against each other.”

When asked for whom Buck is producing coffee grounds, he said “right now” it’s mostly family and friends. He also noted that he’s been working with “some clients” on distribution proposals, but declined to name any of the clients. 

As a military veteran, Buck enrolled in the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans at Syracuse University in August and in the Boots to Business program that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers at the Veteran Business Outreach Center in Watervliet.

He’s also sought assistance from the SBA and the local Small Business Development Center, Buck notes.           

OSWEGO — Visitors to Oswego County spent a record of more than $146 million last year, up nearly 7 percent from the $136 million that visitors spent in 2015, the Oswego County government announced.

The data is included in the 2016 “Economic Impact Study of Tourism in New York,” a study that Tourism Economics conducts. Tourism Economics is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–based travel-data firm.

Empire State Development hired the organization to study the economic impact of visitor spending across all counties in New York.

“From 2015 [to 2016], visitor spending in Oswego County increased 6.8 percent to $146,013,000, with tourism employment growing 8.5 percent,” Oswego County Legislator Roy Reehil said in the county’s news release. “That shows that the county is doing a great job in support and promotion of our tourism industry and that the sector can be a growth industry in the future. With nearly 10 percent of all Oswego County employment generated by visitors currently, my hope is that those numbers will grow and the sector can provide new business and employment opportunities for many years to come.”

Reehil is the chairman of the county legislature’s economic development and planning committee.

In Oswego County, “nearly all” segments of traveler spending increased during 2016. Food and beverage spending continues to be the largest segment, rising 9 percent to $46.3 million, spending on second homes was up 5.9 percent to $31.7 million, retail and service stations increased 5.4 percent to $21.4 million, lodging rose 11.6 percent to $16.3 million, and recreation was up 7.8 percent to nearly $12.3 million, according to the report. 

Transportation services, including bus, taxi, rental cars, and airport fuel and landing fees, showed a slight decrease across the Thousand Islands – Seaway Region. It also fell 0.2 percent to just under $18 million in Oswego County.

Jobs, wages, taxes

The study also found that the tourism industry supported 3,153 direct and in-direct jobs in Oswego County in 2016, up 8.5 percent from a year ago. The jobs generated $63.4 million in wages across the county. 

“We’re pleased to be able to help sustain these jobs and market the many businesses and attractions that make up the backbone of our tourism industry,” David Turner, director of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning, said in the release. 

Visitors to Oswego County generated $8.8 million in local tax revenue and $8.1 million in state tax revenue in 2016. 

The study estimated that state and local taxes generated by visitors represent a savings of $372 to the average Oswego County household.

“Oswego County is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and unique attractions that inspire visitors from around the world,” said Turner.

The department’s promotion and tourism office markets Oswego County as a “visitor destination.”

“Our legendary fishing attracts anglers from every state and more than 20 different nations,” said Turner. “We’re seeing increased recognition of Oswego County’s historic landmarks, such as Fort Ontario and Safe Haven, and recreational activities like paddling and multi-use trails. Recent investments in new lodging and restaurant facilities, and successful events such as Harborfest and Super DIRT Week, all contribute to the county’s economic development and enrich our quality of life in Oswego County.”