ONONDAGA, N.Y. — Onondaga Community College (OCC) has appointed Lisa Moore as vice president of development and executive director of the OCC Foundation. The school
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University (SU) is collaborating with Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) on an initiative focused
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Mackenzie Hughes LLP announced it has elected Neil J. Smith to the law firm’s partnership. Smith has been a member of the Syracuse–based
DeWITT, N.Y. — MACNY, The Manufacturers Association, announced that Tiffany M. Rubenstein has joined as director of human-resource services. She will oversee all human-resource services
The Syracuse region during the second half of 2014 led the state’s metro areas with year-over-year job losses, mostly caused by reported declines in educational-services
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York farms produced 1.49 billion eggs last year, up 5 percent from 1.42 billion in 2013, the USDA’s New York field office reported this week. The number of chickens that lay eggs averaged 5.05 million in 2014, up 5 percent from a year earlier, the field office said in a news
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York farms produced 1.49 billion eggs last year, up 5 percent from 1.42 billion in 2013, the USDA’s New York field office reported this week.
The number of chickens that lay eggs averaged 5.05 million in 2014, up 5 percent from a year earlier, the field office said in a news release. New York state had 6.51 million total chickens on hand last year, up 6 percent from 2013.
The total value of all chickens in the state was $18.9 million, as of Dec. 1, 2014, up 46 percent from Dec. 1, 2013. The average value of a bird increased from $2.10 to $2.90 in that one-year period, the release stated.
VERONA — After 28 years in media, Mary Jo Beach retired as the vice president/general manager of four radio stations, at Townsquare Media, in the Mohawk Valley to follow her dream. She fulfilled that dream by opening Oneida County’s first winery on Dec. 19. “In 2004, I took my first trip on a wine
VERONA — After 28 years in media, Mary Jo Beach retired as the vice president/general manager of four radio stations, at Townsquare Media, in the Mohawk Valley to follow her dream. She fulfilled that dream by opening Oneida County’s first winery on Dec. 19.
“In 2004, I took my first trip on a wine trail in the Finger Lakes, and I absolutely fell in love with winemaking,” exclaims Beach, the president of Villa Verona Vineyard. (The incorporated name is Vino Verona, LLC.) “It was fun and gave me a happy feeling. I just felt alive. I knew then and there that I wanted to be a part of this. I also knew I wanted to do something locally. This is how the dream began.”
Beach is no stranger to running a successful business. “I spent several years studying the wine industry, especially in New York,” she continues. “I also studied the demographics of the local market and even the traffic flow to determine the best site. That’s why I chose this location, which is about 1.5 miles west of the Turning Stone Resort Casino [on Route 365]. The traffic study confirms that 10,000 cars pass my door every day. In real estate, they say that the three most important things are location, location, location. That’s why I waited until 2013 before I bought this property. It’s the perfect location.”
Beach’s analysis of the wine industry in New York showed that it is not only a major industry, but also that consumption is trending up. A February 2014 report by the Stonebridge Research Group confirms her conclusions. Using 2012 data, Stonebridge identified 320 wineries statewide with 52 off-premise outlets. A total of 1,631 farms produced grapes on 37,000 acres. New York winery revenues alone totaled $553 million plus another $3.3 billion of non-New York state wines, and wine-related tourism added another $400 million from more than 5 million “wine visits.” Another beneficiary of New York’s growing wine business, which includes grape and grape-juice sales, is state and local government, pocketing $408.2 million in tax revenue.
Fast forward to December 2014, and the number of wineries approached 400, a 25 percent increase in two years. The state issued 41 new winery licenses just in 2014, and Wine Enthusiast magazine designated the Empire State as the “Wine Region of the Year (2014),” beating out the Champagne district of France, the Chianti region of Italy, the Sonoma Coast in California, and the Red Mountain area in the state of Washington. Jim Trezise, writing in his weekly column for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, also noted that in 2014 “[t]op awards went to 753 New York wines in major international competitions, along with rave reviews of wines rated 90 [points] or above in major consumer publications … $4.8 billion … is how much the New York grape and wine industry generated in 2012. [T]hat figure certainly now exceeds $5 billion … [New York is] the 30-year overnight success.”
A major investment
Beach is all in on Villa Verona. “The property, which includes a 1,500-square-foot house and a 1,600-square-foot barn set on two acres, cost me $115,000 plus another $100,000 to get the project up and running. The Mohawk Regional Economic Development Council helped out with a grant of $100,000, and I took out a loan of $400,000. For me, it’s a major capital investment. We have already made eight wines and are in the process of making four more. Of the 12 wines, seven are white, four are red, and there’s one blush made from a variety of grapes including old standards such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Riesling and even new hybrids developed by the Cornell [Cooperative] Extension program,” she says.
Beach continues, “We’re on track to produce 3,000 cases in our first year, with catchy names like ‘BFF’ (Bold, Fun, Fruity) and ‘5.0 Shades of Red.’ Villa Verona is currently buying grapes in juice form from Finger Lakes suppliers and relies on vendors to fill the bottles and print the labels; everything else is done on the premises.” Beach has converted the barn to a winery, which includes a tasting area and retail store. The next addition will be a bistro. Beach is the sole stockholder in the business.
The business plan
Beach’s business plan never relied on profit just from the winery. “I always knew that I would have to make Villa Verona a destination if it were to be profitable,” notes the winery’s president. “That means creating multiple revenue streams, including the retail store, the bistro, craft beers, and especially events. Most importantly, I want to create a wine trail here in Oneida County, because that’s what people really enjoy. I picture an oasis complete with tapas, cheese plates, wine, music, and a lovely setting. I know it’s … [counterintuitive] to encourage competition, but the wine trail is very important to the long-term business plan and will benefit both me and other local wineries.” Beach’s goal is to grow from her present three employees to 25 employees within five years.
To implement the business plan, Beach is relying on three decades of marketing and advertising experience. “I started out promoting via social media to gain area recognition,” avers Beach. “We already have 3,500 followers on Facebook, and we encourage all of our visitors to share their emails. Signage is obviously important, and so are the cards we’ve placed in [New York State] Thruway rest areas. We’re gearing up now for advertising in newspapers and on radio and TV. Another area we are beginning to develop is contacts in the bus-tour business. This region attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, and Turning Stone alone attracts 22,000 vehicles a day. Villa Verona has already been successful in featuring its wines in area restaurants, such as Teddy’s in Rome, Carmella’s [Café in New Hartford] … and I hope soon to announce a relationship with a major New York wine distributor.
The Villa Verona staff includes Beach; her daughter, Jennifer Beach Brillante, as the vice president for marketing; and Amy Fiore as the manager. The company has also retained Barry Tortalon as a wine consultant and head winemaker. Tortalon, who has 35 years of industry experience, is currently the winemaker at Rooster Hill Vineyards in Penn Yan. Lloyd Ploof, a Clarkson graduate with a degree in chemistry, who is Beach’s fiancée, also serves as a winemaking consultant. In addition to the support from her consultants and staff, Beach also relies on professional advice from local professional-services firms: Adirondack Bank assists with financing; Feldman & Company CPAs, LLP of Utica provides accounting; and legal services are provided by Dunn, Bruno & St. Leger, LLP of Oneida.
New York wine-business environment
“The best news is the quality and quantity of wine in this state has improved significantly to the point that we are recognized globally for producing world-class wines,” says Beach. “A large part of the credit goes to New York, which has become a real partner with the industry to help promote its popularity and growth. Back in 2005, New York passed a law permitting the direct shipment of wine. Under Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo’s administration, the state has really streamlined and simplified the process for selling wine, beer, and spirits and lowered the cost of doing business. To bolster smaller producers, Gov. Cuomo introduced the first statewide, surety-bond-assistance program to help women- and minority-owned businesses compete. This was followed by allowing wineries to offer complementary food and to sell additional products. The state has backed up its support of the industry by investing heavily in advertising campaigns and by sponsoring annual marketing events. This administration even set up a one-stop shop to help small producers comply with a blizzard of rules and regulations. I was pleasantly surprised when I applied for my winery and bistro licenses that the process only took six weeks.”
Beach, 60, is not only a Mohawk Valley native, but has also spent her entire vocational career here. She is a graduate of Trocaire College in Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In addition to her dream of creating a winery as a destination and putting Oneida County on the wine map by encouraging others to join her in building an area wine trail, Beach is also determined to seeing her family continue the commitment to the region.
The future ain’t what it used to be. — Yogi Berra UTICA — “The world is changing faster than any one of us can comprehend,” says Randall J. (Randy) VanWagoner, Ph.D., president of Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC), which was the first community college founded in the state. “That means the future
UTICA — “The world is changing faster than any one of us can comprehend,” says Randall J. (Randy) VanWagoner, Ph.D., president of Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC), which was the first community college founded in the state. “That means the future is here. Our role at MVCC is to get ahead of the future and plan a curriculum that meets our mission.
“In an increasingly competitive world,” he continues, “America’s economic strength depends on the education and skills of its workforce. In just five years from now, 35 percent of job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree and another 30 percent will require an associate degree. [Or viewed another way], … jobs requiring an associate degree are projected to grow almost twice as fast those requiring no college education. That means that America’s 1,100 community colleges, which currently enroll more than 6 million students, will need to accommodate another 5 million.”
On Jan. 9, President Barack Obama proposed to make “… two years at community colleges free for responsible students.” Full-time students could save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year. To receive the necessary funding, the community colleges must strengthen their programs by increasing the number of students who graduate, ensure that their programs are transferrable to local, four-year public colleges and universities, and attain high graduation rates that lead to degrees or certificates; the states must invest more in higher education, reduce the need for remediation and repeated courses, and allocate a significant portion of funding based on performance; and the students must attend school at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing their program. In addition to the free-tuition proposal, the president also proposed the American Technical Training Fund to establish 100 training centers targeted to help high-potential, low-wage workers. These centers are anticipated to have strong employer partnerships that include work-based learning and accelerated training.
“At first glance, this is a bold proposal,” opines VanWagoner, “that carries a $9 billion annual price tag. But remember that it was only a century ago that America opted for free secondary education not just to promote economic prosperity but also to ensure an educated citizenry, which is fundamental to a democracy. Our country thrived, in large part, because we had the most-educated workforce in the world. In today’s global economy, however, we can’t rest on our laurels. In retrospect, perhaps the president’s proposal isn’t radical at all: it’s just a continuation of our 100-year-old commitment.”
MVCC’s evolution
MVCC’s president then reminded this reporter why community colleges were established. “In 1946, millions of veterans were returning from WWII,” he notes. “The GI Bill guaranteed them free admission to higher education. The leaders in this community established MVCC to respond to the need and to mirror the community’s needs. Community colleges are unique because they are at the nexus where education, business, government, and the community intersect. Our mission included affordable tuition, an open-admissions policy, flexible course schedules, and convenient locations, all designed primarily for local students who are older, working, or need remedial classes. In 1946, MVCC sponsored two program clusters: one in engineering and the other in retail/business. Students in each program spent six weeks per semester in class and the other six weeks in the workforce garnering practical experience. While the curriculum may have changed over the past seven decades, the mission is the same.”
Today, the average age of students at MVCC is 24. “Half of our 7,000 students are on a career path and the other half have plans to transfer to a four-year institution,” states VanWagoner. “Most of them commute, and another 515 students live in residence halls. About 20 percent of entering students transfer on to a four-year college or university. Eighty percent of our students work while attending school. MVCC also serves a large refugee/immigrant population with [approximately] 250 students pursuing an ESL (English-as-a-second-language) certificate. Our graduation rate is 23 percent, which is on par with the average rate among SUNY community colleges. MVCC’s overall success rate rises to 41.7 percent when you include students who graduate or transfer within three years of enrolling full time. About 75 percent of the students are from Oneida County. The Utica campus enrolls 65 percent of our students, the Rome campus serves 12 percent, 12 percent study online, 8 percent take dual-credit classes in area high schools, and 4 percent study at other off-campus sites. The student body is 74 percent white, 6.5 percent African–American, 4 percent Asian, 5.5 percent Hispanic, and the remainder is either multi-racial or unknown.”
Funding
Trends in financial support of community colleges show that the burden is falling increasingly on students. “MVCC receives 27 percent of its funding from New York state, 22 percent from the county, 46 percent from tuition, and the remaining 5 percent from other sources such as grants,” stresses VanWagoner. “Student enrollment is countercyclical to the economy, which means in times of recession our enrollment grows, and when the economy recovers, our enrollment declines. Currently, funding from the state is based on enrollment, but the state share has been gradually shrinking in comparison to county and tuition revenues.
“Now, the state’s reimbursement system based on enrollment is about to change,” observes MVCC’s president, “and so is the federal contribution. New York will soon join 33 other states which have instituted performance-based funding. Government wants the same things we do: to graduate more students within a shorter time-frame; improve student retention rates; enhance job placement; boost post-graduation compensation levels; and create milestones for credits earned, for example, success rates in remedial coursework. A portion of our government funding will be dependent on meeting established goals along these lines. To me, it’s imperative that we meet the new standards without lowering our academic standards, inflating grades, or restricting our open-door policy.”
Partnerships with business
One thing that hasn’t changed is MVCC’s commitment to working with business. “The president’s proposal for free tuition wants community colleges to build partnerships with business to create career pathways,” posits VanWagoner. “We’ve been doing that since we opened our doors. The college works closely with area businesses on worksite-education programs that build essential skills. We design training that is relevant to the local market, including machine shops, the aviation industry, and the health-care community, and likely to lead to employment and careers. We are also designing courses for emerging industries: nanotechnology, which fits into our electronics and semi-conductor curriculum; unmanned aerial systems, which is an extension of our aviation-maintenance curriculum; and cybersecurity, which is a collaboration with Utica College and SUNY Polytechnic Institute. All three are turning the region into a technology center and regional powerhouse. Local employer reps sit on our advisory committees that shape the institution’s curricula, and more than 40 area employers offer paid internships to our students.”
VanWagoner returns to the president’s proposal with these thoughts: “Back in January, I wrote a blog entitled ‘A Big Idea for a Big Problem,’ ” he reflects. “Like most transformative ideas, we need time to consider all of the implications. Free tuition at community colleges would certainly accelerate a better-trained workforce, which will surely benefit the country economically and perhaps even help to close the wealth gap. It will also deal with the ballooning student-loan debt, which now surpasses all of America’s credit-card debt. (February figures put student-loan debt at $1.16 trillion.) The financial wreckage of our higher-education system is on display every day at our admissions office. Getting a degree while working is hard, but we also know that human beings try harder and perform better when they have some skin in the game. Should we ask students to contribute something to their education? In addition, America needs to deal with its … [obsession] that all high-school graduates should attend four-year institutions of higher learning regardless of their interests or level of preparedness. Society has a narrow understanding of success which has significant negative consequences. At minimum, the president’s proposal should begin a national conversation.”
MVCC, which was founded in 1946, operates from two campuses — one in Utica and one in Rome — and from off-campus locations. In the academic year 2014-15, the school enrolled 4,024 full-time and 3,124 part-time students. The full-time faculty and staff numbered 419 and total employment was 733. The projected annual budget was $52.6 million. In-state tuition was $3,810 and room and board cost $9,800. Sixty-nine percent of the students receive financial aid, and the college boasts nearly 44,000 alumni.
VanWagoner serves as the fifth president of MVCC, a position he has held since 2007. He came to the Mohawk Valley, having served as the chief academic officer at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha and as the chief student-affairs officer at Red Rocks Community College in Golden, Colorado. He received his graduate degrees from the University of Michigan. He and his wife, Jennifer, live with their two daughters in New Hartford.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Housing Visions Unlimited, Inc. — a nonprofit development, construction, and property management company focusing on affordable housing — announced it has hired
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