Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.
Sustainable-energy projects create sustainable growth at Taitem
ITHACA — Increased solar business is providing a sunny forecast for Taitem Engineering, PC for 2015. The Ithaca firm, recently selected as a preferred installer for the Solarize Tompkins program, expects to install more than 400 kilowatts of solar-energy systems in Tompkins County, and that’s just one of several projects on tap for the company […]
Become a Central New York Business Journal subscriber and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
ITHACA — Increased solar business is providing a sunny forecast for Taitem Engineering, PC for 2015.
The Ithaca firm, recently selected as a preferred installer for the Solarize Tompkins program, expects to install more than 400 kilowatts of solar-energy systems in Tompkins County, and that’s just one of several projects on tap for the company this year.
“We have a lot of different projects lined up,” says Theresa Ryan, marketing manager at Taitem. Along with the Tompkins County solar project, the firm has its eye on the Southern Tier and the Syracuse area as its next solar markets. Taitem will be busy in the New York City area with its Aeroseal duct-sealing services, has work lined up at Purity Ice Cream in Ithaca, is providing design work for EcoVillage in Ithaca, and is hoping to land the design bid for a project to repurpose the old Tompkins County Public Library.
On top of that, Taitem Engineering remains a busy statewide quality-assurance consultant for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Multifamily Performance Program, ensuring quality energy improvements, and provides energy audits for small businesses in Tompkins County.
“We have our hands in a lot of different things” Ryan says. “We’re growing, and we’re growing sustainably.”
While she didn’t provide revenue figures for the firm, Ryan says employment grew 20 percent in 2014 to 43 employees, including nine licensed professional engineers; six LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)-accredited professionals; certified energy auditors, energy managers, and solar/photovoltaic installers; a master plumber; and a master electrician.
The consulting firm specializes in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and structural engineering services, but has carved out a solid niche with its solar services and Aeroseal duct sealing.
In recent years, the company has worked on a number of LEED green-design projects including Gateway Commons and Maguire Automotive in Ithaca and the 4.2 million-square-foot Varyap Meridian project in Istanbul, Turkey.
Sustainable technology, particularly solar energy, has been a solid growth point for Taitem Engineering, Ryan says. “The technology is just getting better and better.”
The company’s name stands for “technology as if the earth mattered” and that is the philosophy for all the company’s work, Ryan explains. That’s why Taitem doesn’t just sell a solar system to a client. The firm also performs an energy audit. The key is to find out how a client can conserve energy and then pair conservation efforts with the best system to generate energy, she says.
“I think that’s where people are headed,” Ryan notes. “They want to build efficient buildings.”
Taitem Engineering makes sure to practice what it preaches, she asserts. In 2013, Taitem earned B-corporation status, which makes it a for-profit entity that includes a positive impact on society and the environment. Taitem has a triple bottom line, Ryan adds, that includes profit, people, and the planet.
“We’re very conscious of our footprint and what we’re doing,” she says. The firm composts and uses energy-efficient lighting and low-flow toilets at its office, located at 110 S. Albany St.
Taitem Engineering (www.taitem.com) celebrated its 25th anniversary in December. Ian Shapiro founded the firm in 1989. Three years ago, the firm became a partnership with six senior staff members joining Shapiro as owners.
Lou Vogel became the firm’s president in 2014. Shapiro is Taitem’s chairman.
CNY Computer Repair opens store in Liverpool
LIVERPOOL — CNY Computer Repair has opened an 800-square-foot location at 612 Oswego St. in the village of Liverpool, near the intersection with Tulip Street. The business offers diagnostic services, internal cleaning, system optimization, back-up services, data transfer, and system rebuilds. The firm announced the location opening in a news release in mid-January. Kevin Fairbanks,
Become a Central New York Business Journal subscriber and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
LIVERPOOL — CNY Computer Repair has opened an 800-square-foot location at 612 Oswego St. in the village of Liverpool, near the intersection with Tulip Street.
The business offers diagnostic services, internal cleaning, system optimization, back-up services, data transfer, and system rebuilds.
The firm announced the location opening in a news release in mid-January.
Kevin Fairbanks, owner, launched CNY Computer Repair in March 2010. He had been conducting similar work under the name Fairbanks Computer Technologies since 1997.
Fairbanks initially operated CNY Computer Repair from his home. He then moved the firm to the Oneida area in 2012 and leased workspaces to handle computer repairs. By then, CNY Computer Repair also had national accounts for retail restaurants, which represented the “bulk” of the business, he says.
“The store fronts weren’t really making money, so I closed them down,” he adds. Fairbanks decided to pursue space in the Syracuse area at the end of 2013.
CNY Computer Repair is one of five subsidiaries of Kevin Fairbanks & Associates, LLC, which all operate from the same Liverpool location.
Besides CNY Computer Repair, Kevin Fairbanks & Associates also includes Computer Help Wizard, which Fairbanks describes as “remote services that we cover worldwide.”
In addition, the subsidiaries include CNYCCTV, which supplies, installs, and maintains equipment for closed-circuit televisions used for surveillance; CV
Technologies, which services national accounts for retail-restaurant chains; and Oneida Web Development, LLC, under which Fairbanks handles website design and hosting, he says.
The whole operation employs five, part-time traveling technicians. Fairbanks hopes to add two to three additional employees, if not more, during 2015, he adds.
All the employees provide services for all the subsidiaries except Oneida Web Development, says Fairbanks.
Fairbanks spent between $3,000 and $5,000 to open the Liverpool office, he says. The cost covered the painting work and some remodeling.
He found the space initially on craigslist, called the property owner, and signed the lease on Dec. 1, Fairbanks says.
CNY Computer Repair services the needs of the general public and about 70 small to medium-sized businesses. He also will augment the work of other vendors who have clients with larger employee counts of 250 or more people, he says.
The business handles “a lot” of virus removals and also sells new and refurbished computers and accessories.
“I want to grow and cover more of a market here locally for small-to-medium-sized businesses as well as the residential community, offering repair services out of the shop here,” he says.
Fairbanks declined to disclose how much revenue CNY Computer Repair generated in 2014, but said revenue increased 20 percent — enabling the company to turn a profit. He’s hoping the computer-repair company will grow its revenue 10 percent to 15 percent in 2015.
Fairbanks graduated from Bishop Ludden High School in 1993 and then joined the U.S. Air Force.
When he returned from duty in 1997, he launched Fairbanks Computer Technologies.
Fairbanks has been interested in computers since he was a child, noting most of his education on computers is “self taught” and used his knowledge while serving in the Air Force.
“Going into it, I had already played enough with electronics that I had a basic foundation, but they gave me an additional education,” he says of the Air Force.
He later enrolled in classes at Le Moyne College in 2002 but eventually decided to focus on his computer-repair work.
More than a decade later, Fairbanks enrolled at Columbia College in July 2013 and is currently pursuing a degree in management of information systems and business administration through online classes, he says.
Governor’s New Health-Insurance Tax Proposal is Contradictory to the Goal of Lowering Costs
We have heard a lot from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office about the success of New York’s health-insurance exchange, [the NY State of Health]. The exchange
CenterState CEO launches business competition, The Germinator
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO on Friday launched its latest regional business competition, which it calls The Germinator. The competition’s name, a metaphor for growth,
EFC approves loans for Madison, Jefferson County clean-water projects
Communities in Jefferson and Madison Counties will use interest-free loans for projects that seek to improve drinking water and wastewater systems. The board of directors
Tully Rinckey names Kelly as managing partner for Syracuse office
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Tully Rinckey PLLC, an Albany–based law firm that operates an office in Syracuse, has named Donald Kelly as managing partner for the
Cuomo launches $40 million NY Prize microgrid competition
ALBANY, N.Y. — NY Prize, the state’s $40 million energy competition, is now accepting proposals for microgrids that meet the “energy and resiliency needs” of
State awards CenterState CEO $1.5 million for Grants for Growth program
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO’s Grants for Growth program will use $1.5 million in state funding to manage technology commercialization and pre-seed stage company investment.
Ithaca-area company wins NIH grant funding for HIV/AIDS test
LANSING, N.Y. — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Rheonix, Inc. a grant to finish development of a point-of-care test for HIV/AIDS. The
YMCA seeks to fill 300 jobs at new Baldwinsville–area fitness center opening this spring
LYSANDER, N.Y. — The Northwest Family YMCA plans to hold two job fairs in March to fill 300 positions in advance of its opening this
Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.