SYRACUSE — New York officials have formally designated the SUNY Oswego Metro Center in the Atrium building in Syracuse as a branch campus of the university.

The New York State Education Department’s Board of Regents first approved the designation in January, SUNY Oswego said in a news release distributed on June 1. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Education Department later OK’d the designation in May.

As an official branch campus, people can complete “in-demand” degree and certificate programs at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center, located at The Atrium at 2 Clinton Square.

“Opened in downtown Syracuse in 2008, our off-campus site grew quickly into a significant asset for the Central New York region,” Deborah Stanley, president of SUNY Oswego, said in the news release. “Now as a branch campus, it will meaningfully extend our access and excellence.”

SUNY Oswego has offered courses for master’s degrees and graduate-certificate programs for more than six years, but the new designation allows students to take all courses necessary to complete a degree or certificate at the Metro Center, the school said.

With its new branch-campus status, the school has hired a student-resources adviser for the Syracuse campus to link students with support services that include financial aid, career counseling, and accessing library materials, according to the school’s news release.

SUNY Oswego established the Syracuse location as an extension site in 2008 “to help meet the growing needs of part-time adult students.”

Enrollment grew “faster than expected,” prompting the university to seek the state’s approval for a formal extension-center designation first and then the branch-campus status later, the school said. 

The enrollment figure grew from 61 students in the fall of 2008, when SUNY Oswego offered courses in two areas, to a total of 771 students in 2014, when the site offered 18 programs of study, it added.

In addition to providing advanced education and degrees, the SUNY Oswego Metro Center has also become a community resource, the school contends. 

The facility has developed academic and experiential partnerships with the region’s schools, colleges, businesses, and community agencies.

Community members can also rent the facility for their events, and employers can use it for training programs.

The Metro Center is also home to SUNY Oswego’s Active Aging and Community Engagement Center, which its website describes as an academic research center “promoting active aging through education, applied research and innovative community partnerships.”

SUNY Oswego has been “very engaged” in downtown Syracuse, Jill Pippin, SUNY Oswego’s dean of extended learning, contended in the news release. 

“The college has been collaborating closely with other regional collegiate and business entities to serve the area and looks forward to continue doing so with graduate degrees, certificates, and completion-undergraduate degrees.”

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO will use a $40,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) to establish an export catalyst pilot program.

The program will target the region’s middle-market businesses, according to a news release from CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for the 12-county region.  

The program will match export specialists with area companies to provide analysis and support for export growth.

Through mentoring and one-on-one skills training, company staff will “gain the knowledge and experience they need to continue to grow internationally,” CenterState CEO contends.

“Too often, middle-market companies face multiple barriers to growing their business internationally,” Bill Dehmer, managing director and market president for JPMorgan Chase, said in the CenterState CEO release. “Our support for CenterState CEO is one more way we are helping Central New York businesses successfully navigate a complex global marketplace.”

The export catalyst pilot program “builds” on the work CenterState CEO and its partners started through the CenterState metropolitan-export initiative, developed as part of the global-cities initiative, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase, “further advancing its joint global-trade strategy,” the release stated.

“For the last three years we have worked with businesses throughout the region, engaging them in global opportunities and are beginning to see results,” Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO, said. “We are grateful to JPMorgan Chase and the Brookings Institution for their continued support as we advance our strategies and goals to increase the number of businesses that are exporting. Through this program we will be well positioned to leverage global opportunities to create a more sustainable and productive economy.”

How it will work

The pilot program will match four to six companies with export specialists to provide market identification and assessment, entry requirements, and buyer-identification services.

The goal is to “catalyze export growth for companies that have a globally competitive product but lack experience or capacity for international sales,” according to the release.

The Central New York International Business Alliance (CNYIBA) will also work with businesses to help them “establish and grow their international sales.”

The total cost of the export catalyst pilot program is $52,000, and CenterState and the CNYIBA are contributing the other $12,000 not provided by JPMorgan Chase, according to a CenterState CEO spokeswoman.

“Fundamental to the expansion of sales outside our borders is a knowledge base to construct a successful road map to permit businesses in our community to flourish in the global marketplace,” Alan Fink, president of the CNYIBA, said in the CenterState CEO release. “The export catalyst pilot program brings to Central New York an exceptional opportunity for companies participating to gain a … resource to assist with the right choices for expansion of their international sales network and strategies for new market entry. Export sales do account for significant revenues for companies here locally and efforts of this kind will pave way to allow more Central New York companies to profit similarly.”

Following the pilot program, CenterState CEO plans to expand and create a permanent program to “ensure continued growth” for middle-market companies in the area. 

CHITTENANGO — Kinney Drugs opened its newly relocated Chittenango store May 27.

The new and expanded store is situated in a shopping plaza at 540 Genesee St., about two blocks from Kinney’s previous location at 703 E. Genesee St. The company says it has operated in the Chittenango market for the past 20 years.

Kinney Drugs plans a formal grand opening and ribbon cutting for June 13, according to a company news release.

Employees from the previous location, which was comprised of nine full-time and 25 part-time employees, now staff the new store, according to Caroline Tisdell, marketing communications coordinator for Kinney Drugs. She says the company does not have plans to increase the number of staff.

Kinney Drugs is leasing the property on which its new store sits, a location it has been pursuing for about three years, says Tisdell. The owner of the land is East Syracuse–based SMP Chittenango LLC, according to Madison County’s property records.

Syracuse–based Montreal Construction Inc. served as general contractor on the project. Subcontractors included Cicero–based AHR Mechanical, Inc., for electrical work, East Syracuse–based JOH Commercial Flooring Inc., Syracuse–based DBR Plumbing Inc., and Syracuse–based Quality Mechanical Services, LLC, for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

The new Kinney Drugs features a larger retail selection of nutritional, weight management, personal care, and beauty products, and will sell home medical equipment. The larger inventory is expected to boost sales, Tisdell told CNYBJ. She did not specify if the company has a targeted growth number.

The store also offers added health and wellness services, and has a pharmacy consultation room and a drive-up window for picking up prescriptions, according to the release.

Store and pharmacy hours are the same as the previous location.

Kinney Drugs is based in Gouverneur and is the drug store division of KPH Healthcare Services, Inc. It operates more than 100 stores in Central and Northern New York and Vermont, filling about 8 million prescriptions annually, making it the 4th largest chain drug retailer in the country, according to its website.