VOLNEY — Everyone knocks on wood. In old English folklore, the act of knocking on wood alerted the spirits to protect the requester. In Bulgaria, in response to bad news, the effort warded off evil. The Turks pulled on one earlobe and knocked on wood twice to invoke the almighty to save them.

The Van Cotts knock on wood every day, because business is improving, society is once again appreciating the beauty and strength of wood products, and their business has literally worked with lumber and wood products for 123 years. The family owns Unalam, a company that specializes in creating complex, custom wood arches and beams that are glue-laminated.

“We manufacture an impressive variety of shapes, curves, and angles,” says Craig Van Cott, president of Unalam and a fifth-generation employee of the business. “Our ‘glulam’ technology ensures that our products are as strong as steel and as versatile as any material available. We build bridges, gazebos, churches, art pavilions, indoor-riding arenas, and projects for schools and colleges. Unalam has worked with a number of Native American tribes, including the Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca Nations locally as well as across the Northeast. Our projects include indoor water parks and swimming pools, which tend to corrode metal, and even the U.S.S. Constitution, which needed replacement beams. Our creations can be found as far away as Georgia for the construction of a rail station for the Atlanta Transit Authority and even in Ireland, but most of our business is in the … [triangle geographic region] from Virginia to Ohio to Maine.”

The first generation of Van Cotts established a lumber and feed mill in Unadilla in 1892. In 1909, the family incorporated the business as the Unadilla Silo Company and turned to building wooden silos for area farmers. Experimenting with laminated wooden rafters began in 1928. In 1963, to accommodate its growth, Unadilla began some manufacturing operations in Sidney and completed its manufacturing transfer in the 1980s, when it discontinued making silos.

“We still maintain the business and engineering departments in our Unadilla location,” says Van Cott, “but all of our manufacturing is located in Sidney. While Unadilla Silo Co. is still the legal corporate entity, Unalam is the d/b/a we use for our branding and the name by which we are known in the industry. The company employs 30 at Sidney and 10 at Unadilla. The two locations … [comprise] 310,000 square feet … We source our lumber between the Carolinas and Texas, working mostly with Southern [yellow] pine and Douglas fir.” CNYBJ estimates Unalam’s annual sales at $7 million to $8 million.

Unalam’s people

Craig Van Cott is joined in the business by members of the sixth generation: his son Leif Van Cott, VP of operations; daughter Zoë O. van der Meulen, VP of communication; and son-in-law Rik van der Meulen, VP of engineering. Leif graduated from Boston University in 2001 with a degree in finance and moved to New Hampshire to work for Wheelabrator Technologies. He joined Unalam in 2004.

Zoë graduated from Notre Dame in 1998 with a degree in government and history. She worked for a year in Washington, D.C., doing historical research in support of litigation before moving to Boston to begin a marketing career. Zoë met her husband Rik while studying in Innsbruck, Austria, and the two married in 2000. After six years of living in Boston, the couple joined Unalam in 2005.

Rik grew up in the Seattle area and graduated from Notre Dame in 2000 with a degree in civil engineering, concentrating on structural and environmental design. He maintains professional engineering licenses in 11 states.

Sue Van Cott rounds out the management team at Unalam. She serves as the corporate secretary. The team is supported by area professionals — NBT Bank provides financial services; Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP offers legal representation; and Dannible & McKee, LLP serves is the company’s accounting firm.

The competition

“This is a very competitive business,” notes Leif van Cott. “We have competitors in southern Pennsylvania, Alabama, Minnesota, and Canada, but none does everything that Unalam does. Still, our biggest competitor is concrete and steel. Even after decades of glulam fabrication, many architects and engineers are still unfamiliar with the product or reluctant to spec it. It’s a long educational process to change minds.”

“Fortunately, we are enjoying a trend toward the demand for more wood products,” chimes in Zoë van der Meulen. “People are more concerned about sustainability and [thus] more inclined to request wood construction. They also appreciate the natural beauty of wood and are delighted with our ability to create unique designs … My job is to promote the company both to industry professionals and to the end-user. Unalam started using the Internet back in the early 1990s and started to generate leads through online advertising. Today, in addition to the traditional avenues such as print and trade shows, we rely on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook, and Rik blogs weekly on what’s new in glulam manufacturing. We like to say that he will do this until he runs out of industry-specific terms.” Craig Van Cott adds, “And we still rely on ‘old-fashioned’ references for much of our business.”

While the Van Cotts bemoan the loss of some suppliers, especially machine shops, they are optimistic about the economy. “We were going strong in 2008 when the recession hit,” recalls the president, “and our backlog kept us busy until 2010. Then, the bottom fell out. We still see some caution among buyers, but now we are experiencing a resurgence in our business. I’m glad to say there is a healthy backlog [of orders] again.”

It’s too early to tell whether Unalam will continue into the seventh generation under Van Cott ownership. Lumber, silos, glulam — knock on wood that Unalam will continue to innovate and prosper well into the future.

SYRACUSE — The new owners of Panini’s restaurant, a quick-service eatery in downtown Syracuse, are planning renovations and a menu makeover later this fall.

Steven and Joanne Bianco acquired the 75-seat restaurant on April 17, and took over its operations three days later, Steve Bianco says. He declined to disclose terms of the sale.

The 2,800-square-foot restaurant is located at 224 Harrison St, between Hotel Syracuse and the Oncenter War Memorial Arena.

The couple’s plans for the eatery include the installation of a wood-fire stove in the kitchen — where most of the construction will take place — that would be on display to the dining area. The stove would also be used to help make the additions to Panini’s menu, including artisan pizzas, breads, and other baked goods, Steve Bianco says.

“My goal is to gear towards more of a Tuscan-style café,” he says.

Panini’s currently serves breakfast and lunch and is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its menu features bagel sandwiches, gourmet Panini sandwiches, signature sandwiches, as well as muffins, soups, salads, desserts, and espresso.

Many of the best-selling sandwiches will remain on the menu after the renovations, Bianco says. He is unable to specify which ones.

The owners also want to add beer and wine to the menu, and are working toward attaining the proper licenses, although that cannot be finalized until after renovations are complete, Bianco says. He is unsure how many beer and wine options the restaurant will carry, but he says he would like the focus to be on local wines, and on having a good selection of craft and domestic beers.

Bianco is establishing a budget for the renovations, which he projects will cost between $5,000 and $10,000. He is undecided on whether he and his wife will seek financing to help cover the cost.

Drawings for the planned renovations are currently being generated with the help of architect Jerry Ferro, according to Bianco. Once that is complete, and Bianco has a budget set, he will bring the plans to the Onondaga County Health Department, which will decide what construction can be done while the restaurant remains open, according to Bianco.

It’s possible the restaurant will have to close for a period due to health risks associated with construction, such as dust getting in customers’ food, Bianco says. But he hopes to stay open throughout the process.

“I wanted to be ready for the [Syracuse] Crunch [hockey] season, but that’s obviously not going to happen,” Bianco says, adding that he hopes to complete the renovations before the end of 2015.

The restaurant is staffed by four employees — two full-time and two part-time — including Bianco, who manages its daily operations. After the renovations are complete and a wine and beer menu has been added, Bianco expects he will hire two more part-time employees.

Bianco adds that he would like to generate a 10 to 20 percent increase in daily sales, and ramp up the restaurant’s catering services.

“I want to focus a little bit more on that so we can try to get our name out there a little but more,” he says.

Why the changes

Bianco says Panini’s is the first business he and his wife have owned. She has worked in the hotel industry for the past 24 years, and intends to continue dong so for a few more years while he runs the restaurant. Bianco says she helps behind the scenes with social media and marketing efforts.

Bianco says he left a job in hospital management (he declined to say at what hospital) to manage Panini’s. “It was just very stressful for me, and I just needed a change,” he says. Panini’s, he adds, “was the right place at the right time.”

He found out that its prior owners, Dennis and Katie Yost, were seeking a buyer for the restaurant through a family member. “This has always been my passion. I have a culinary degree from Paul Smith’s [College],” Bianco says.

The timing of the Hotel Syracuse reopening played a big part in the Biancos’ decision to acquire the restaurant as well.

“With the Hotel Syracuse being right across the street, and it being named the official hotel of the [county] convention center, it also creates a footpath where people walk by us,” Bianco says. Panini’s is located directly between the two facilities. “That’s going to be huge for when teams come to town, when big shows come to town, sporting events, all of that.”

To take advantage of Panini’s location, Bianco says they have begun keeping its doors open into evening on days when special events are held at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena, and plan to do so during Syracuse Crunch home games as well.

The couple is also considering staying open until 7 p.m. or later Wednesdays through Fridays for a happy hour, but that isn’t set in stone, he says.

Bianco says he has first-choice rights to an unused space connected to Panini’s should the couple choose to expand the restaurant. He estimates the space is about 1,200 square feet in size, he estimates.

The Biancos intend to hold a grand reopening ceremony after the remodeling has been completed.

SYRACUSE — Biomedical and health-care related research is “absolutely critical” to addressing some of the “most profound” challenges facing society today.

That’s according to Sam Nappi, a member of the Syracuse University (SU) board of trustees, who started a grant program dubbed “Driving Inspiration and Innovation through Collaboration.”

SU and Upstate Medical University will use the new grant program to target “collaborative” research between the two institutions that focuses on “pressing” biomedical and health-care needs.

Nappi has provided SU with $1.5 million for biomedical and chemical-engineering research.

Of that figure, $500,000 will fund the first phase of this research program, Syracuse University said in a news release issued Sept. 16.

The schools have designed the program to “stimulate promising biomedical or health care-related research that is responsive to national needs.”

“As our population continues to age, breakthroughs in these areas will become even more critically important. This region is so fortunate to have two strong institutions that excel in these areas, and I am hopeful that this program generates opportunities for them to pool their expertise in ways they might not otherwise have had,” Nappi said in the release.

The funding will support networking opportunities, matching efforts to build awareness, and “pilot projects that facilitate collaborative, interdisciplinary, or translational research,” SU said.

The program will award grants of up to $100,000 to handle direct costs for up to two years. Most grant awards will likely range between $50,000 and $60,000.

Research teams must include two or more researchers or clinicians representing both campuses. The program expects awards to result in the submission of “competitive proposals to external sponsors of biomedical or health-care research.”

Reaction

Gina Lee-Glauser, SU’s VP for research, “played a strong role in facilitating the initiative,” the university said.

 “By drawing on the distinctive strengths of both institutions, it magnifies the potential for seeding research activity that simultaneously advances theoretical knowledge and enhances clinical practice,” said Lee-Glauser.

Several instructors from Upstate, SU, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the VA Medical Center have been working together through the Hill Collaboration on Environmental Medicine, David Amberg, VP for research at Upstate, said in the SU release.

Launched in 2011, Hill Collaboration on Environmental Medicine is designed to “stimulate research in the area of how environmental factors contribute to major human diseases such as cancer, diabetes and disorders of the nervous system,” according to a November 2011 article on “Upstate Online,” a publication of Upstate Medical University.

But Amberg also notes that the Nappis’ “generosity will empower” SU and Upstate faculty with grants that are “sufficiently large to develop the preliminary data to go after the kind of large federal grants that are given for transdisciplinary biomedical research.”

“When you look at our two universities’ research portfolios, you can see synergies that naturally exist in the big research powerhouses like John Hopkins, Harvard, and UCLA. We believe we can get to a much more competitive position through collaboration. In fact, if you look in the [Central New York] region, there is a tremendous collective strength and diversity in expertise that if pooled and leveraged could make our region a research and development powerhouse,” Amberg said.

A research advisory panel will make the final selections. The panel will include Sam Nappi, the VPs for research from Upstate and SU, and two external experts, SU said.

The process

The panel will use a two-stage review and selection process that is similar to one that the National Institutes of Health use. It will also incorporate an oral presentation.

Among other criteria, the group will evaluate proposals for scientific and technical merit and their “significance to and potential impact on” national biomedical or health-care needs.

The panel will also factor in consideration of the project’s “potential to generate intellectual property or to transform the field or discipline” in making the final selections, SU said.

Faculty members, clinicians, or research scientists interested in applying for a seed grant should submit a letter of intent by Oct. 16 and a full application by Nov. 10.

The advisory panel will make final selections by Dec. 4.