Arc of Seneca Cayuga receives $4,300 grant for computer-assisted art labs

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AUBURN — Arc of Seneca Cayuga announced it has recently received a grant of $4,300 from the Cayuga Community Fund. Money from the Community Fund helps programs in education, health, social services, the arts, civic, and environmental concerns, as well as the preservation of historic resources in Cayuga County. The grant will be used for […]

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CNY Tweets

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

Some recent tweets that came across the @cnybj Twitter feed, offering various business, career, and personal tips: Do you have an executive summary for your #smallbiz? Get tips on how to create one: http://owl.li/D5IG30dSVWi SBA @SBAgov The more work you do in understanding your business, the better you will be #business #tips #success http://bit.ly/2cILv48 Jean-Pierre

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Christine’s Cookie Shoppe settles into new home, eyes growth

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

UTICA — Christine Meeker says she’s a dreamer, but even she wasn’t dreaming this big. The sole owner of Christine’s Cookie Shoppe, LLC moved the growing specialty cookie business this spring into a 2,000-square-foot space on the first floor of 171 Genesee St. in downtown Utica. The building is home to @171 Events, which holds

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UTICA — Christine Meeker says she’s a dreamer, but even she wasn’t dreaming this big.

The sole owner of Christine’s Cookie Shoppe, LLC moved the growing specialty cookie business this spring into a 2,000-square-foot space on the first floor of 171 Genesee St. in downtown Utica. The building is home to @171 Events, which holds wedding receptions, showers, and other events on the fourth and fifth floors of the five-story building.

Christine’s Cookie Shoppe opened to customers on March 29 and held a formal ribbon-cutting event with the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce on April 28.

Meeker says her 2,000-square-foot space has three main components. A storefront to display and sell the cookies is the largest space, and the second-biggest area is the kitchen where the cookies are prepared. Christine’s Cookie Shoppe also has a party room for kids where they can decorate their own cookies. Meeker says she has booked events for the entire month of August.

The space also has a shipping room to process orders for shipment, and a small business office for Meeker.

Meeker says she received her business certificate and home-processing license in 2011 and operated as a home-based business before moving into the space of Sugarbabes Cupcakes at 46 Genesee St. in New Hartford in 2012, where she was for four years.

She started with a few family recipes and later expanded into a variety of specialty cookies and “sweet gifts.”

Meeker leases her new space from Christine Martin and C. Edward Schmidt, who co-own the five-story building at 171 Genesee St.

“Last August, I was going through a lot of transition personally and with the business. I met Christine and Ed… We stayed in touch for months. When the first-floor location became available, we met again,” Meeker explains.

Though she didn’t originally plan on getting 2,000 square feet, Meeker says “based on my vision for the business, it’s a good fit.”

The goal is to expand to all kinds of parties all year-long. One person recently inquired about having her 30th birthday party at Christine’s Cookie Shoppe.

Meeker’s popular cookies, which she calls Christine’s Collection, include a cannoli cookie sandwich, chocolate chip peanut butter dream, and vanilla buttercream blossom. The BFF Cookie is another popular item Meeker is proud of, saying it took a year for her to create.

Christine’s Cookie Shoppe has three employees total. That includes Meeker working full time, plus one full-time hire and one part-time hire. She expects to hire two more people to staff parties and could add a seasonal work crew for seasonal events.

Providing cookies and sweet treats for wedding receptions, including those held at @171 Events, is currently the biggest generator of revenue for Christine’s Cookie Shoppe, Meeker says. She declined to disclose revenue information but says the business is growing. It just launched a curbside pick-up service, where her staff will run the order out to the customer’s car.

Meeker says things are “pretty incredible” at her new location and she’s looking forward to the future.

Syracuse Chiefs say Salt Potatoes merchandise sales have “broken” records

Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Chiefs say sales of their Salt Potatoes merchandise have “broken” the team’s merchandise sale records. The Chiefs made that pronouncement June 29, five days after announcing that the club would become the Syracuse Salt Potatoes for one game against the Rochester Red Wings on Aug. 5 for the team’s “What If”

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SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Chiefs say sales of their Salt Potatoes merchandise have “broken” the team’s merchandise sale records.

The Chiefs made that pronouncement June 29, five days after announcing that the club would become the Syracuse Salt Potatoes for one game against the Rochester Red Wings on Aug. 5 for the team’s “What If” night promotion.

The team’s initial order of 2,000 merchandise items sold out in three days, says Jason Smorol, general manager of the Syracuse Chiefs.

“Between hats and t-shirts and they were sold out in three days. That’s never been done before,” he notes. The team has “never shipped this much stuff” in a short period of time.

“We [had previously] rebranded [to wear] red, white, and blue. We didn’t sell this much stuff this fast,” says Smorol, who spoke with CNYBJ in his office at NBT Bank Stadium on July 20.

The team shipped merchandise with the Salt Potatoes logo to more than 40 states and overseas to England and Denmark.

The Salt Potatoes merchandise includes fitted hats, stretch fit hats, adjustable hats, men’s t-shirts, ladies t-shirts, and youth t-shirts.

Buffalo–based New Era Cap Company worked with the Chiefs to design the logo, an angry-looking salt potato sitting in golden butter, with additional, melting butter above its face.

The team designed its own uniforms based on the New Era design. Russell Athletic produces the uniforms.

“Uniforms for the teams cost north of a couple thousand dollars,” says Smorol.

When asked for a dollar figure on the amount of revenue the Salt Potatoes gear sales are generating, Smorol said it was too early to say.

“We’ll let the dust settle … We’ll see how it comes out at the end of the year, but it’s definitely helped our merchandise sales,” says Smorol.

The Chiefs also plan to give away a replica Salt Potatoes jersey for the first 1,000 fans at the Aug. 5 baseball game.

About “What If” night

For the “What If” night promotion, the Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, will wear specialty Salt Potatoes jerseys and hats on the field.

“It’s a concept that other [minor league teams] did. We said, ‘hey, it worked for them. Let’s do it ourselves,’ “ says Smorol.

For example, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs became the Cheesesteaks for their “Salute to Philadelphia Night” back on June 10.

The Iron Pigs are the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies and play the Chiefs in Minor League Baseball’s International League.

The “What If” night promotion is a “way for the Chiefs to celebrate a piece of Central New York culture,” the Chiefs said in the announcement of the promotion. Salt potatoes are a “regional staple” for Central New York families, especially during the summer months.

Irish immigrants first ate salt potatoes while working as salt miners in the region in the 1800s, the team said. The miners boiled potatoes in the salty brine to eat for lunch as they worked. They have “evolved over the years to be eaten with lots of butter,” it added.

The Chiefs in March began talking to fans about what name they would assign the Chiefs, given the chance.

Fans turned in “hundreds” of name suggestions based on what Central New York means to them.

An internal team from the Chiefs narrowed down the list of names to the “Salt Potatoes” in time to get Minor League Baseball approval and get the merchandise manufactured.

Besides the Aug. 5 game as the Salt Potatoes, the team will “definitely” play under that moniker again in 2018.

“It’s coming back. We got the uniforms, so we may as well wear them, and it’s very popular,” says Smorol, noting the team will determine if it will wear them once, weekly, or for a given weekend.

When asked if the team would consider a permanent nickname change to Salt Potatoes, Smorol simply replied, “As far as I’m concerned, I think Chiefs is here to stay.”

Fournier calls KeyBank conversion of First Niagara branches, customers “a success”

Banks & Credit Unions, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — A year after completing the acquisition, KeyBank’s top regional official in Central New York says he “would characterize our conversion a success.” Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) completed its acquisition of Buffalo–based First Niagara Financial Group on July 29, 2016. KeyCorp is the parent company of KeyBank, while First Niagara Financial Group was

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SYRACUSE — A year after completing the acquisition, KeyBank’s top regional official in Central New York says he “would characterize our conversion a success.”

Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) completed its acquisition of Buffalo–based First Niagara Financial Group on July 29, 2016.

KeyCorp is the parent company of KeyBank, while First Niagara Financial Group was the parent company of First Niagara Bank.

The process of converting First Niagara Bank branches to KeyBank branches is “by and large” complete, says Stephen Fournier, Central New York market president of KeyBank.

The bank had been dealing with an issue surrounding electronic commercial payments of commercial clients, but Fournier called it a “minor” problem.

He spoke with CNYBJ on July 14 at the KeyBank office at 201 S. Warren St. in Syracuse.

When asked what were the easiest and hardest parts of the conversion process, Fournier said the easiest part was not having to change “our clients’ account numbers.”

“We didn’t have to reissue debit cards or anything like that, so that was probably the easiest part,” says Fournier.

As for the “difficult part,” some First Niagara Bank customers had some trouble after the conversion in logging on to KeyBank’s online-banking website.

“And in response to that, we sent out $100 to anybody that couldn’t sign on within the first 24 hours,” he says.

He also noted that KeyBank had the online-banking service issue rectified within a few weeks.

Fournier said he believes the majority of KeyBank clients “were pleased” with the banking company’s communication about the process both before and after the conversion.

Expanded footprint

As market president following the acquisition, Fournier now oversees a 16-county area that stretches from Pennsylvania to the Canadian border.

“We added Broome … Tioga, Tompkins,” he says.

KeyBank has “no plans” to close or open any new branches after having expanded its footprint with the First Niagara acquisition from 54 branches to a net of 75 branches.

The company closed some branches during the fourth quarter of 2016 and opened branches in markets such as the Southern Tier and Utica, where KeyBank didn’t previously operate.

“We expanded our presence in Utica. We expanded our presence in Auburn. We acquired a presence in Tompkins County, so we feel like we’re well positioned in the counties that we’re in and in the communities that we reside, so we feel pretty good about the presence right now,” says Fournier.

KeyBank closed branches that, “in some cases,” were “literally across the street from each other,” says Matthew Pitts, communications manager for KeyBank’s Western New York region. Pitts joined Fournier for the CNYBJ interview on July 14.

HelloWallet acquisition

Fournier also discussed KeyCorp’s July 3 acquisition of HelloWallet, a personal-finance software platform, from Chicago, Illinois–based Morningstar, Inc.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The HelloWallet platform provides clients with tools that can help them make more confident financial decisions. The platform provides KeyBank with an understanding of each individual client’s financial circumstances and goals that “drive every interaction with clients,” according to a KeyBank news release.

The platform gives a user a financial-wellness score out of 100 points and that score compares you to your peers.

“It enables you to see how you are progressing against your peer group and how financially stable you are personally,” says Fournier.

Second quarter profit

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) on July 20 reported second quarter net income from continuing operations attributable to Key common shareholders of $393 million, or 36 cents per common share

That’s more than double the $193 million, or 23 cents a share, it reported in the second quarter of 2016.

During the second quarter of 2017, Key’s results included a number of “notable” items, including a gain related to its merchant-services business; the finalization of purchase accounting; merger-related charges; and a charitable contribution.

These items had a pre-tax net benefit of $43 million, or 2 cents per common share, the banking company said.

Key’s adjusted earnings per share of 34 cents met analysts’ expectations, according to a Zacks Investment Research survey of 12 analysts.

NYSAR: New York home sales dip nearly 3 percent in June, CNY numbers mixed

Construction, Design & Real Estate, New York News, Nonprofits, Regional News

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York realtors sold more than 12,600 previously owned homes during June, down 3 percent from the year-ago period when nearly 13,000

DFS advises credit unions on use of temporary facilities

Banks & Credit Unions, Subscriber Only

The New York State Department of financial Services (DFS) recently provided New York State-chartered credit unions with guidance on the use of temporary facilities. The facilities can include mobile service units, tents, booths, tables, or similar stations, Maria Vullo, financial services superintendent, said in a June 28 DFS news release. Credit unions seeking to establish temporary

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The New York State Department of financial Services (DFS) recently provided New York State-chartered credit unions with guidance on the use of temporary facilities.

The facilities can include mobile service units, tents, booths, tables, or similar stations, Maria Vullo, financial services superintendent, said in a June 28 DFS news release.

Credit unions seeking to establish temporary facilities to provide “limited” services may provide such services on notice to DFS without requiring a prior application with DFS.

Those services do not include certain monetary transactions, such as signing up new members, according to the DFS.

Under the new guidance, credit unions must provide DFS a schedule listing upcoming times and locations of the temporary facilities.

They also must provide the number and title of qualified individuals offering the services at any temporary facility located in New York, along with any further information that DFS may require.

“Temporary facilities can be useful tools for New York State-chartered credit unions to better service their existing members, attract new members, and extend the provision of financial products and services to underserved communities in New York State in an efficient manner,” Vullo said in the release. “The department remains committed to assisting the continued expansion of New York State-chartered financial institutions that offer vital resources to local communities and contribute to regional economic growth while providing strong state-based consumer protection through regulatory oversight by DFS.”

DFS developed the new guidance after it learned “that there may be a question” as to whether state-chartered credit unions are required to seek the department’s approval if they use temporary mobile-service units, tents, booths, tables or similar temporary facilities located in New York.

Credit unions would use those temporary facilities to sign up new members; receive loan and credit card applications; and/or advise members and potential members about the products and services offered by the credit union, provided they do not include or involve any wire-transfer transactions; accepting or contracting for deposit-type liabilities, withdrawals, dispersing, remitting or transmitting funds; issuing ATM, debit or credit cards; processing or executing any form of loan or financing; or accepting any payments.

The credit union must provide the department with information regarding the security procedures for the protection of confidential information and data.

In addition, the credit union is required to obtain any permit or authorization that may be required from any city or local governmental agency for operation or use of the temporary facility and “conspicuously display” the name and signage of the credit union on the temporary facility, according to DFS.

As with all other activities of state-chartered institutions, DFS requires that all services be conducted in accordance with all applicable New York State and federal laws and regulations, all of which will be subject to DFS examination.

NBT Bank posts profit increase in 2nd quarter

Banks & Credit Unions, Subscriber Only

NORWICH — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), parent company of NBT Bank, reported that its net income in the second quarter of this year rose to $21.4 million from $20.3 million in the first quarter, and from $19.9 million in the second quarter of 2016. NBT generated earnings per share of 49 cents in the latest

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NBT generated earnings per share of 49 cents in the latest quarter, up from 46 cents in both the prior quarter and the year-ago earnings period.

“Quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year increases in net income and earnings per share demonstrate the strong efforts of our team of professionals to develop relationships that drive growth in loans, demand deposits and noninterest income,” NBT President and CEO John H. Watt, Jr. said in in the banking company’s earnings report. “For 10 years NBT has been engaged in technology enabled point of sale consumer lending. The launch of our solar loan program with Sungage Financial, Inc. announced earlier this month leverages our experience partnering with fintech [financial technology] companies to offer affordable and responsible loans to consumers and at the same time further diversify our delivery channels and the risk on our balance sheet.”

NBT issued its earnings report after the close of regular trading on July 24. Its stock price rose slightly (0.2 percent) the next day.

The earnings numbers

NBT generated net interest income of $69.6 million for the second quarter of 2017, up 1.6 percent from the first quarter, and 5.8 percent higher than the second quarter of 2016.

The banking company’s fully taxable equivalent (FTE) net interest margin was 3.44 percent for the three months ending June 30, down from 3.46 percent in the previous quarter, but “consistent” with the second quarter of 2016, according to the earnings report.

NBT produced noninterest income of $30.3 million in this year’s second quarter, up 5.4 percent from the first quarter, and 2.3 percent higher than the second quarter of 2016. The increases in noninterest income were primarily driven by higher retirement-plan administration, trust, and ATM and debit-card fees that were offset by lower insurance and other financial-services revenue during the second quarter of 2017, NBT said. The retirement-plan administration fees, in particular, rose mostly due to acquisitions NBT completed in 2016, as well as the purchase of Downeast Pension Services (DPS) in the second quarter of 2017.

ATM and debit-card fees increased from the prior quarters because of growth in the number of accounts and card usage. Insurance revenue decreased from the previous quarter due to “seasonality increases typically seen in the first quarter,” NBT noted. Other noninterest income declined from the year-ago earnings period due to a non-recurring gain recognized in the second quarter of 2016.

NBT said that in this year’s first quarter, it adopted new accounting guidance for equity-based transactions requiring that all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies associated with stock-based compensation be recognized as an income-tax benefit or expense in the income statement. Previously, tax effects resulting from changes in NBT’s stock price subsequent to the grant date were recorded through stockholders’ equity at the time of vesting or exercise. The adoption of the accounting guidance resulted in $1.4 million and $100,000 income-tax benefits, in the first and second quarters of 2017, respectively.

NBT incurred income-tax expense of $10.7 million in this year’s second quarter, up $2.4 million, or nearly 29 percent, from the first quarter, and up $0.4 million, or 4.1 percent, from the second quarter of 2016.

The banking company’s effective tax rate of 33.3 percent for the second quarter of 2017 was up from 29 percent in the first quarter, but down from 34 percent for the second quarter of 2016. The increase from the prior quarter mainly stemmed from a decrease of nearly $1.4 million in the income-tax benefit related to adopting the new accounting guidance, as well as a higher level of taxable income in the latest quarter, NBT explained. The decrease in the effective tax rate from the year-ago quarter was mainly due to a higher level of non-taxable income as a percentage of pre-tax income in the second quarter of this year.

Asset quality

NBT’s net charge-offs totaled $6.7 million in this year’s second quarter, down from $6.9 million in the first quarter, but up from $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2016.

The banking company’s annualized net charge-offs to average loans for the second quarter was 0.42 percent, compared to 0.45 percent in the first quarter and 0.30 percent for the second quarter of last year.

The ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.50 percent as of this June 30, down from 0.56 percent for the prior quarter, and down from 0.65 percent as of a year ago.

The ratio of past-due loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 0.59 percent on June 30, as compared to 0.54 percent on March 31, and 0.60 percent on June 30, 2016.

Balance sheet

NBT had total assets of $9.1 billion as of June 30, 2017, up 2.4 percent from the end of 2016. The banking company’s loans totaled $6.4 billion as of June 30, up 2.7 percent, from Dec. 31, 2016.

NBT reported total deposits of $7 billion as of June 30, up 0.6 percent, from the end of last year.

The NBT board of directors approved a 2017 third-quarter cash dividend of 23 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Sept. 15, to shareholders of record as of Sept. 1.

NBT Bancorp is a financial holding company, headquartered in Norwich, which primarily operates through NBT Bank, N.A., a full-service community bank, and through two financial-services companies.

NBT Bank has 154 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. EPIC Advisors, Inc., based in Rochester, is a full-service 401(k) plan recordkeeping firm. NBT-Mang Insurance Agency, based in Norwich, is a full-service insurance agency.

Solvay Bank makes list of top banks, obtains 5-star rating

Banks & Credit Unions, Subscriber Only

SOLVAY— Solvay Bank recently announced that it has earned honors from two organizations that produce key banking industry rankings. American Banker Magazine recognized Solvay Bank (OTC: SOBS) on its annual list of the “Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks and Thrifts,” and BauerFinancial Inc. gave Solvay Bank its highest award, a 5-star rating. In American

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New York Fed’s Upstate New York Regional Advisory Board adds KPH Healthcare’s Hart as member

Banks & Credit Unions, Health Care, Subscriber Only

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently announced the appointment of Bridget-Ann Hart, CEO and president of KPH Healthcare Services, Inc., to its Upstate New York Regional Advisory Board (UNYRAB). The UNYRAB board includes leaders of large companies headquartered in upstate New York. It meets three times per year with New York Fed President

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