SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) has appointed June Castle to its board of directors.

Castle is the CFO of Syracuse–based VNA Homecare. She brings 15 years of leadership experience to the HCA board of directors. 

As a member of VNA Homecare’s executive team, Castle’s leadership and financial expertise have enabled the system to “remain flexible” in adjusting to the “changing needs of the region’s health-care delivery system,” VNA Homecare said in a news release.

Home care allows patients to “live independently while simultaneously providing vital support for families and improving a patient’s quality of life,” VNA Homecare noted. Nurses, therapists, home health aides and other direct-care staff provide the services.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Colorado–based fast-casual restaurant chain Smashburger has announced plans to expand into Central and Western New York with nearly two dozen franchised locations expected to open throughout the area.

Brothers Brad and Drew DeGrazia, who have restaurant experience as owners of several Moe’s Southwest Grill franchises, plan to bring 23 franchise locations of Smashburger to the Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo regions, according to a company news release issued Wednesday. The release didn’t specify how many restaurants each area would get, nor provide specific locations and timelines.

Smashburger currently has two eateries open in the Albany–Saratoga Springs region and about 10 in the New York City metro area, according to its website.

The company describes itself as a “better burger restaurant concept.” Hamburger patties are “smashed on the grill to sear in the juices.” Menu items include the classic smash, avocado club, and the bacon cheeseburger, as well as chicken sandwiches, salads, and shakes made with Haagen-Dazs ice cream, according to the company’s site.

Regional menu items based on local food tastes also dot the menu. The New Yorker Smashburger is topped with peppercorn garlic aioli, tomato, spinach, garlic-grilled onions, and New York cheddar cheese. The release did not say if the burger chain would offer menu items unique to Central New York.

The upstate New York market presents “substantial growth opportunities for the brand as residents are looking for restaurants with quality ingredients at an affordable price,” Smashburger’s CEO, Scott Crane, said in the release.

The first Smashburger opened in Denver in 2007. It now has 315 corporate and franchise locations across 34 states and seven countries.

The company plans to grow to more than 350 restaurants by the end of 2015. It also announced plans to open eateries in Florida and North Carolina in the same release that spelled out the upstate New York plans.

Smashburger franchisees are required to have a minimum net worth of $1.5 million and a minimum of $500,000 in liquid assets, according to the company site.

Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com

ROME — “Herb” Philipson’s, a Rome–based retailer that brands itself as “Outfitters for the Great Outdoors,” is opening two new stores this summer — expanding the chain from eight to 10. 

The DeWitt store, to be located at 3179 Erie Blvd. E. in the DeWitt Town Center (the former Hechinger Plaza), has a projected footprint of about 34,000 square feet. The store is scheduled for a June opening. Gary L. Philipson, president, negotiated a 5-year lease (and a 5-year extension) with Grazzi Zazzara, president of the Icon Companies, which owns the property. 

The second Herb Philipson’s store is scheduled to open in September in a plaza in Oswego. The lease was negotiated with Red Stone Investments and brokered by the Pyramid Companies. Red Stone specializes in development, commercial brokerage, and distressed debt with 75 properties encompassing 4.5 million square feet located in 15 states. Philipson’s Oswego venue is 35,000 square feet.

“Both sites serve a stable population and are located in well-trafficked areas,” says Philipson. “We had been looking at opportunities for some time, but needed to find the right location at an affordable price. The stores should be a good fit for the area residents who appreciate brand names at a reasonable price.”

Philipson’s father Herb opened his first store in Rome 1951. Herb Philipson’s Army & Navy Store, Inc. catered to hunters, anglers, and campers. Philipson opened a second store in Oneida 1970, a third in New Hartford in 1981, and a fourth in Herkimer in 1987. Further growth continued with the opening of stores in Watertown, Liverpool, Syracuse, Newark, and now DeWitt and Oswego. Philipson uses a Goldilocks approach to determining the size of each store: “The size is not too big, not too small; it’s just right.”

From its original 800-square-foot location in downtown Rome, the company now owns or leases more than 420,000 square feet, including a new 100,000-square-foot distribution center in Sherrill. When the two new Herb Phillipson’s stores open, total employment should approach 200 full-time employees. The Business Journalestimates annual revenue at $35 million. The corporate stock and real estate are owned by the Philipson family.

“Retail is a very competitive business,” says Philipson. “We not only compete with the traditional big-box stores like Walmart, Dick’s, Gander Mt., Bass Pro, and Kohl’s, but we also compete with growing online sales. My dad’s approach was to carve out a niche of selling brand names at low, discounted prices. One way to grow the company was to expand our customer base beyond outdoorsmen to include men’s and ladies’ casual wear, work wear, active wear, footwear, and sporting goods. While offering a wider selection to our customers, we still follow the original concept of selecting brand names such as Under Armour, The North Face, Columbia, Timberland, Carolina Boots, and Levi’s. The challenge is to know your markets well and the right price points. There is no substitute for being on the floor listening to customers. In that sense, we still run a mom-and-pop operation.

“Other challenges to competing are to create a critical mass so we can buy in volume with discounted pricing: You can’t do that as a small operator,” opines Philipson. “Then there is the need to create ‘multiple revenue streams’ by expanding the chain to blunt the impact of one or two major businesses in an area closing down or laying off a large number of employees. In small towns, it can be devastating when major employers downsize or close.”

Philipson ascribes much of the company’s success to his staff. “We rely on long-time employees who understand the importance of attracting and retaining customers by being knowledgeable about the products. Add to this the ability to choose staff who are people-friendly and glad to help customers without any high-pressure. The attitude [to be knowledgeable and helpful] starts with the leadership team: Dave Sawdy, senior vice president; Mike Palmer, CFO; Guy Viti, vice president of operations and merchandise; and Sandy Kelsey, vice president of human resources.” Herb Phillipson’s also relies on local partners to ensure its financial success: NBT for banking; Fitzgerald, DePietro & Wojnas CPAs, P.C. of Utica for accounting; and Saunders Kahler, LLP of Utica for legal work.

While most retailers stress the phrase “location, location, location,” Philipson adds his own quip: “… promotion, promotion, promotion. To be successful, we use a broad spectrum of advertising [channels] to reach our audience. We still depend on newspapers, radio, and TV as well as in-store promotions and area trade shows to spread the message. But we have also focused on redeveloping our website to sell gift cards online and to drive traffic to the stores. In addition, we utilize social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. Our Facebook account has more than 6,000 followers, [up nearly 100 percent since just last summer.]  We promote our Price-Fighter Club loyalty program, which now has more than 50,000 registered members. Under discussion is creating mobile apps and being able to buy product online.”

Another challenge for the growing retail chain is the region’s sluggish economy. “Central New York and the Mohawk Valley are tough markets without a lot of growth,” stresses Philipson, “but we are still bullish. Herb Phillipson’s is looking forward to seeing [economic] growth driven by nanotechnology, unmanned-aerial systems, and cybersecurity. We’re hopeful these and other developments will positively impact the area’s economy.”

Philipson, 58, a New Hartford native, joined the family business in 1980, shortly after receiving his bachelor’s degree in history from Union College. He became the company’s president in 2001. He and his wife Lisa, who is a community-education coordinator at Mohawk Valley Community College, live in New Hartford. The couple has three children.

Leadership style

Philipson describes his decision-making process to that of a tortoise. “My style is to spend a lot of time looking at opportunities to expand [the chain] and then to spend a lot of time evaluating the potential. I guess I am like a tortoise in that respect,” Philipson says reflectively. “I certainly have no ambition to be another Walmart, but there are opportunities to grow in the [brand-value, low-cost] niche where we feel comfortable. It just has to be the right fit.”

There seems little doubt that Philipson is focused longer-term on future growth. Herb Phillipson’s took 52 years to create a four-store chain; it took just a dozen years to open another six. The pattern of growth reflects an acceleration. The expansion into DeWitt and Oswego followed the move within the last year from a 10,000-square-foot distribution center to a 100,000-square-foot replacement. Philipson is also aware that expanding beyond 12 stores requires additional management controls, something he is already considering.

In the short term, however, the company president says he is focusing on opening two new stores and integrating them into his growing chain. Still, no one should be surprised by a future announcement that Herb Philipson’s is opening more stores. “We may be a small player,” acknowledges Philipson,” but we know how to compete with the big-box stores. Famous brands at low, price-fighter prices is still a winning formula.”        

SYRACUSE — The U.S. Department of Defense “this summer” should make a decision about cuts to U.S. Army bases that could include Fort Drum, home to the 10th Mountain Division.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh on May 21 made the comment while speaking with reporters at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

“We’re finishing that analysis right now,” said McHugh.

Supporters of Fort Drum are keeping a close eye on that process, concerned how any cuts might affect the North Country Army base.

McHugh admits he has a “particular soft spot in my heart” for Fort Drum, even in his role as Secretary of the Army.

McHugh previously represented the Watertown area and Fort Drum in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a Republican.

He also said the decision is “difficult wherever the cut comes from.”

“But I hate to see our force structure have to come out of any post, camp, or station, but that’s the reality of budgets and it’s really the only path available to us,” said McHugh.

Congress in 2011 passed a law saying that if lawmakers and the president couldn’t agree on a plan to reduce the nation’s deficit by $4 trillion, about $1 trillion in automatic, arbitrary, and across-the-board budget cuts would start to take effect in 2013, according to whitehouse.gov, the website of the White House.

The law is known as the Budget Control Act of 2011. The cut process is also referred to as the sequester or sequestration.

As a part of the Budget Control Act, the Army has been reducing the active-duty fighting force from its wartime high of 570,000, to 440,000 to 450,000 by the end of fiscal year 2017, according to the Fort Drum website. 

“Under sequestration, the Pentagon’s proposal states that Fort Drum could lose up to 16,000 soldiers and civilian jobs,” U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican currently representing the 21st Congressional District that includes Fort Drum and the North Country, said in March 2 remarks on the House floor.

Stefanik was among supporters who spoke during a March 20 rally at Jefferson Community College in Watertown ahead of a listening session with the U.S. Army.

SU visit

McHugh was visiting Syracuse University (SU) to learn more about the school’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and veteran and military-connected programs and services that SU offers.

The secretary had a chance to talk “about the challenges that the Army’s facing and the opportunities related to … tomorrow’s Army and also spending some time learning about Syracuse University’s commitment to serving and empowering military-connected students, veterans, and their families,” Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for veteran and military affairs and IVMF executive director, said in his remarks to the media before introducing McHugh.

McHugh also visited the Martin J. Whitman School of Management for an update on SU’s defense comptrollership program (MBA/EMPA), a military-degree program that represents a cooperative endeavor between SU and the Department of Defense (DOD). More than 1,600 graduates of this program have provided meaningful contributions in demanding management positions, SU contended.

McHugh also attended a discussion with the IVMF leadership team on the institute’s programs, research, community engagement, and collaborations, the school added.

An additional morning session followed, at which SU Chancellor Kent Syverud participated in a review of SU’s efforts to best serve veterans, military-connected students, and military family members who are students or employees at the university.                      

SKANEATELES FALLS — Welch Allyn, Inc., on May 13 announced it had inked an exclusive three-year agreement to provide onsite diabetic-retinopathy screening services for the largest primary care organization in eastern Tennessee.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The organization, Summit Medical Group, has 220 physicians who receive almost 1 million patient visits annually at 54 practice locations.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults, Welch Allyn said in a news release. With early detection, the sight-threatening disease can be treated and the risk of severe vision loss cut by more than 90 percent. But nearly half of all diabetic patients do not get the recommended annual retinal exam because they lack access to specialist care or didn’t comply with their doctor’s referral, the company added.

Using its RetinaVue Network, combining retinal imaging with a network of board-certified physicians, Welch Allyn said it enables retinal screening for diabetic retinopathy as part of a routine primary or convenient-care visit. Improving access and making the screening more convenient can lead to earlier detection and treatment of the disease to help prevent severe vision loss.

“The agreement with Summit Medical Group is a great opportunity for both organizations to work together to provide sight-saving solutions in primary care settings where there is the largest potential for impact on improving population health, while also lowering the cost of care,” Scott Gucciardi, senior vice president, of new health care delivery solutions at Welch Allyn, said in the release. 

RetinaVue retinal screening for diabetic retinopathy can also help both provider practices and payer systems to comply with quality-of-care metrics established for diabetic patients under various state and federal health-care programs and with insurance-plan accreditation, the company added.

Welch Allyn is headquartered in Skaneateles Falls and employs nearly 2,600 people in 26 different countries.         

ALBANY — New York state realtors completed the sale of more than 7,200 previously owned homes in April, up more than 1 percent from the same month in 2014. 

But, in the 16-county Central New York area, sales jumped more than 10 percent to 962 homes sold in April from 874 in the year-ago period.

That’s according to the housing-market report that the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) issued May 21.

The rise in activity among both homebuyers and sellers is a “sure” sign that Spring has arrived, Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR, said in the news release.

“Not only was there an uptick in April sales compared to a year ago, but also healthy increases in forward-looking market indicators such as pending sales and new listings,” said MacKenzie. 

He noted that April pending sales were up more than 10 percent statewide from a year ago and there was a 6.6 percent increase in newly listed homes.

“The increase in new listings begins to address the low inventory challenge experienced in many of the state’s housing markets, which has consistently caused a 

significant drag on closed sales,” said MacKenzie. “Viewed in a historical context, inventory levels still remain well below normal and far from the market peak.”

April 2015 pending sales in the state increased more than 10 percent from a year ago to reach 11,421.

The months supply of inventory dropped 12.4 percent at the end of April to 8.5 months supply. It was at 9.7 months at the end of April 2014. 

Realtors consider a 6 month to 6.5 month supply “a balanced market,” according to the news release. 

Inventory stood at 81,181, a decrease of 6.7 percent compared to April 2014.

The year-to-date (Jan.1 through April 30) sales total of more than 27,300 represents a 2.7 percent increase from the same period in 2014. 

The year-to-date (Jan.1 through April 30) statewide median sales price of $225,500 is up 1.8 percent from the first four months of 2014.

Central New York county data

Realtors in Broome County sold 113 existing homes in April, up nearly 19 percent from 95 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report. However, the median sales price fell nearly 13 percent to $94,500 from $108,450 a year ago.

In Jefferson County, realtors closed on 45 homes in April, down 10 percent from 50 a year ago, but the median sales price climbed more than 12 percent to $160,000 from more than $142,000 in April 2014.

NYSAR also reports that realtors sold 109 homes in Oneida County last month, up nearly 30 percent from 84 in April 2014. But, the median sales price slipped more than 6 percent to more than $111,000 from $119,000 a year ago.

Sales of previously owned homes rose nearly 15 percent to 318 in Onondaga County in April from 277 a year earlier, and the median sales price increased more than 3 percent to $134,000 from nearly $130,000, according to the NYSAR report.

All home-sales data is compiled from multiple-listing services in New York state and it includes townhomes and condominiums in addition to existing single-family homes, according to NYSAR.