SYRACUSE, N.Y. — More than 400 people attended the 40 under FORTY awards luncheon on Thursday at the Oncenter in Syracuse, spotlighting 40 young professionals in the CNY region for excelling in the workplace and giving back to their community.

BizEventz, a company in the Business Journal News Network, produced the event, which is in its 18th year.

“The program was a huge success because the room was filled with leaders who care about our community,” says Joyl Clance, manager of BizEventz. “Each year, this event continues to inspire others to follow in the footsteps of the winners.”

New this year, all 40 under FORTY alumni were charged with participating in an upcoming nonprofit community volunteer program.

BizEventz conducted a communitywide vote on its website over the course of about 10 days, allowing people to vote for their favorite area nonprofit that needs support.

AccessCNY — a Syracuse–based agency that supports people with developmental disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and mental-health issues — won the vote.

The 40 under FORTY alumni will assist AccessCNY with its Project Adapt. That is the agency’s assistive technology lending library, which loans out adaptive toys and other equipment to children with disabilities and their families, according to a description on its website.

The 40 under FORTY winners were chosen by a panel of judges that includes community leaders and past recipients of the 40 under FORTY award.

Allen Naples, president of the Central New York Division of M&T Bank, the event’s presenting sponsor, helped hand out the awards. JoDee Kenney, news anchor at Time Warner Cable News, was the event emcee.

This year’s 40 under FORTY honorees were:

 El-Java Abdul-Qadir, South Side Innovation Center

 Scott Aminov, American Red Cross

 Michael Becallo, HealtheConnections

 Maxwell Bendert, Delta Engineers, Architects

 & Land Surveyors, P.C.

 Christina Brozyna, M&T Bank

 Brian Bund, New York Business Development Corporation

 Zachary Clark, Pinckney Hugo Group

 Christian Cobb, Oneida Air Systems

 John DeSantis, Believe in Syracuse

 Jake DiBari, City of Rome

 Paul J. Dominski, Bousquet Holstein PLLC

 Jordan Dudden, JoJo Rings, LLC

 Katie Duerr, Pinckney Hugo Group

 Claire Enkosky, Manlius Library

 Michael Fogel, Brown Sharlow Duke & Fogel, P.C.

 David Haas, Learning Disabilities Association of CNY

 Jim Hazelton, CXtec

 Gus Hernandez, The Hayner Hoyt Corporation

 Lynn Hy, Food Bank of Central New York

 Amy Isca, Isca Design, LLC

 Cristina Jardine, AccessCNY

 Jamie Keiser, The Bonadio Group

 Timothy Kelly, HealtheConnections

 Jerry Kezar, SRC, Inc.

 Joseph L. Lipari, Citizen Review Board of Syracuse

 Tara T. Lynn, Skaneateles Area Chamber of Commerce

 Allie MacPherson, Unity House of Cayuga County, Inc.

 Melissa McLean, AAA Western & Central New York

 Katie Mondrick, Loretto

 Sarah Rose Pinsky, KaBoom!

 Brett M. Powell, HLA Marketing

 Shelby Redmond, Sugarman Law Firm, LLP

 Anthony E. Rojas, Dalpos Architects & Integrators

 Andrew Sabbaghzadeh, The Salvation Army

 Andrew Schuster, Ashley McGraw Architects

 David B. Snyder, Snyder Law Firm, PLLC

 Jesan Sorrells, Human Services Consulting and Training

 Sara C. Temes, Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC

 Lindsay Weichert, M&T Bank

 Eva Wojtalewski, Bousquet Holstein PLLC

For more information about the 40 under FORTY awards and the honorees, check out the special event publication that was published in the Nov. 16 weekly edition of The Central New York Business Journal.

SYRACUSE –– SyracuseFirst on Monday, Nov. 23, will host its sixth annual Buy Local Bash, seeking to boost area businesses just in time for the holiday season.

More than 80 businesses will participate as vendors and encourage attendees to buy products and services directly from the Central New York region. 

The nonprofit business organization’s event will start at 5 p.m. at the F-Shed at the Central New York Regional Market at 2100 Park St. About 1,200 to 1,500 people are expected to attend the Buy Local Bash, says Chris Fowler, founder and executive director of SyracuseFirst.

The event functions as a fundraiser for SyracuseFirst. All proceeds from the ticket sales go to the organization and businesses pay $25 to participate in the event, 

Fowler says. For businesses, especially those that are just starting out, the Buy Local Bash is an opportunity to get more exposure in the Syracuse community. 

The Buy Local Bash is one of several efforts where SyracuseFirst and local companies work together on a common mission: to strengthen the Central New York economy by shifting spending to local businesses.

“I think it’s important to get that message out,” says Monica Palmer, marketing and design director at Empire Brewing Company, a growing Syracuse–based craft brewery. 

Consumers have a choice: they can either go to their neighborhood shops and spend a little extra for local products, or they can shop at a big-box chain store or online to find cheaper goods, she says.

Palmer believes people forget how something so small — such as saving a couple of dollars on purchasing clothes online as opposed to buying them at a local, independent store — can hurt the local economy.

“Everyone wants our community to be strong, everybody wants our economy to be strong,” she says. “It’s really important to remember that as consumers and community members we’re voting with our dollars.”

Michael Amadori, founder of Full Circle Feed, a local company that makes dog treats, says hyberlocal groups like SyracuseFirst are important because they help people become aware of the power behind buying local. 

 “You want Syracuse’s economy to be better?” he asked rhetorically. “Good. Buy Syracuse products. If you don’t put your money there, it doesn’t matter.”

Fowler says $130 million could be generated in Onondaga County with a 10 percent shift in market share from national and global businesses to locally owned ones. When consumers buy products and services from Syracuse–based businesses, more of that money gets reinvested in Syracuse through taxes and businesses’ investment in the community. 

Cazenovia’s Owera Vineyards has seen its sales grow since it started to work with SyracuseFirst in 2012, says Katie Reed, the vineyard’s marketing and sales director. She did not have exact numbers on hand that showed the correlation between the vineyard’s sales growth and its relationship with SyracuseFirst. But over time, the connections Owera Vineyards has developed through the organization have helped the wine business grow. 

“I think a lot of it has been as we met people along the way, we see a trickle-down effect,” Reed says. For example, she and her team will meet a business and may not make a sale that day. But six months later, Owera will get a phone call and be asked to provide their wine for a holiday party or a business function. 

“[Fowler’s] number one focus has been on relationships and I think that comes out in all he does in SyracuseFirst,” Reed adds. 

SyracuseFirst, founded in 2009, says in its mission statement on its website that it seeks to “help independent local businesses thrive and prevent chain proliferation and other trends from displacing local entrepreneurs.” It does that by building public support for local independent businesses, facilitating collaboration among local businesses, representing such businesses before government and economic- development committees, and engaging citizens in shaping the future of their community.