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Reflections from the PGA Championship
I was fortunate to see the world’s best golfers in action while attending the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford Aug. 8-11 The major tournament was estimated to have produced a nearly $80 million economic impact on the greater Rochester region, according to the economic-development group, Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE). […]
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I was fortunate to see the world’s best golfers in action while attending the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford Aug. 8-11
The major tournament was estimated to have produced a nearly $80 million economic impact on the greater Rochester region, according to the economic-development group, Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE). The sporting event production, construction, service, and real estate industries were among the biggest beneficiaries.
As I walked the grounds of Oak Hill during the tournament — including the course, the practice areas, the media center, and the concession areas — I was struck by what a monstrously large logistical undertaking putting on an event like this is. Daily crowds of more than 30,000 spectators mobbed Oak Hill on the weekend, and surely, a good number of them made the drive in from Central New York. Add it in thousands of tournament volunteers and workers and hundreds of media members, and what you have is the population of mid-sized city occupying only about 350 acres.
As I watched the play on the eighth hole, I could hear the constant noise of shuttle bus after shuttle bus coming and going down the country club’s main road.
You could also see the effect of the crowds when Friday morning rainfall turned many of the trampled down spectator pathways on the edges of the fairways into a muddy goo. However, the tournament grounds crew was ready with wood chips to make the walk less slippery.
Another indication of what a massive effort it is to stage a tournament like this is the advance work required. Ryan Cannon, championship director, and John Handley, sales and marketing director, and others from the PGA moved to Rochester two years in advance to work on getting ready for this event. And those folks will now move onto the New York City metro area to begin preparing for the 2016 PGA Championship held at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ.
The PGA Championship, which boasts a field of 156 golfers from around the world, is the fourth and final major championship in the professional golf season. It is nicknamed “Glory’s Last Shot.” And this year’s event produced glory with the winner Jason Dufner setting scoring records and wowing crowds with his super-accurate approach shots on his way to victory. I was lucky to see Dufner up close in the second round as he shot a record-best 63 for a championship round in Oak Hill history.
But I also greatly enjoyed some of the unsung moments that played out on the course with barely any people watching. For example, I was able to see some of the final players left on the course late Friday afternoon fight to make the cut. And there were maybe 20 people watching tops. Rather than crowd roars, you heard polite clapping or a sole voice saying, “good birdie.” It was still very much appreciated by the players.
What a great event.
Adam Rombel is editor-in-chief of The Central New York Business Journal. Contact him at arombel@cnybj.com
New York’s initial unemployment claims fall by 4 percent
The number of people applying for new unemployment-insurance benefits in New York state in the week ending Aug. 3, fell by 712, or almost 4
Family Business Spotlight: Lisa Conway of Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution, LLC
We all may have read blogs, self-help articles, or books that address the topic, “Can you have it all?” Today, I share with you a question-and-answer session with a businesswoman who can answer that question affirmatively through her actions. Meet Lisa Conway, director of marketing at Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution, LLC in the town
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We all may have read blogs, self-help articles, or books that address the topic, “Can you have it all?” Today, I share with you a question-and-answer session with a businesswoman who can answer that question affirmatively through her actions.
Meet Lisa Conway, director of marketing at Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution, LLC in the town of Clay. Conway represents the second generation at the family business — she’s the daughter of Tom Belge, president of Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution.
The company, which employs 20 people, offers general and contract warehousing, distribution, fulfillment, and other services. Pioneer occupies 390,000 square feet with customers including Wegmans Foods, Southern Wine and Spirits, Hospira Pharmaceuticals, Sysco Foods, Verizon, Amerada Hess, Intersurgical, Associated Spring, and Walmart.com.
Conway makes it all sound easy, even with her full plate of being a wife, mother of three children — Jaydon, 6, Jacob, 4 and Lia, 1 — as well as daughter, sibling, employee, and own person.
Q: What was your first job at Pioneer?
A: My first job here involved mainly office work, but I do remember one summer at age 14 when one of our customers needed us to help remedy a mistake that it had made when making its product. And I, along with another person, had to spend an entire summer adding an ingredient to their product. Which meant basically, I started right in with whatever needed to be done; I did it.
Q: The most memorable thing you learned from your father?
A: One thing, oh my, that is a hard question — he has taught me so much. I think I would have to say the value of the dollar. He really instilled that into all of us from a young age. He always made us work hard for what we have. I worked through high school and college and I think that really helped a lot with how we live our lives and value what we have.
Q: Most memorable thing learned from your mother?
A: To be strong! When I was little, she never let me be too girly. She always wanted me to be independent and be able to stand on my own two feet. On the other hand, she taught us how to be caregivers, by example. She took great care of us.
Q: Who was the greatest inspiration and influence on you life?
A: I cannot pick one person. I would definitely say my parents. Absolutely my parents, but each in different ways.
Q: What is the company’s greatest success?
A: One of the things we pride ourselves in is we keep clients for years and years and years. I would say our greatest success is how long we keep our clients. Not only our clients but also our employees — our turnover is very minimal.
Q: Your greatest personal success?
A: Do you mean besides my family and children — because they would have to be my greatest success? I have so much to be grateful for. I was successful before I came back here to the family business in finance, and I feel I have been successful here professionally.
Q: What is the biggest thing you have contributed to Pioneer Warehousing since you have been here?
A: We recently implemented a warehouse-management system. It was a big deal. We used to do everything by hand and Excel spreadsheets. I researched it and implemented it and it has made a world of difference on how we manage our warehouse.
Q: How do you support the community?
A: We have been part of, and a big supporter of, the local transportation club, which supports local students and scholarships. We do as much as we can. We participate and support where and when we can. We support several local children’s sports teams, employee bowling leagues, and other community events like that.
Q: When did you realize you emerged from the shadows?
A: When I came back to the business, I was a little timid working with the people who had been here for years. It took a couple years before I was confident enough to realize I had some really good ideas. I feel my dad has really started to trust me with projects, being innovative, and trying to grow the company. The proof of that is that he feels comfortable taking longer vacations. He is not handing me the reins, but he is giving me more responsibility.
Q: Words to live by?
A: Be honest and follow your heart. Being a trustworthy business partner is most important.
Q: Advice for other future leaders at family businesses?
A: Work hard and be who you are. It is tough in a family business. You need to earn the respect from everyone; it is not just handed to you because of who you are. I chose to be here.
Q: What is the best thing about being a family business?
A: We are a small family business, so there is camaraderie and the opportunity to share in the joy, the ups, the downs, and be able to talk to someone on the fly. I not only have a dad but I have a friend and a great coworker. I really love it. It’s always an open-door policy. I would never be able to share my ideas and implement so much so quickly in corporate America.
Q: The worst thing about being a family business?
A: For me, I lose myself sometimes. I forget I am talking to my boss; it’s hard to draw lines. In staff meetings, sometimes I forget that I am talking to the boss and not my dad. Right now, we are living with my parents as our house is being built. So we are together all the time, and at the moment, it is a little different than usual.
Q: What do you do in your leisure time?
A: I coach both boys in soccer. I am training for a triathlon and going to the park with the dogs and the husband and kids. I spend as much time with my family as I can.
Q: Do you have a great story about Pioneer?
A: After the big blizzard in the early 1990s, our roof caved in. We had a lot of product in our warehouse and it was a Friday night. All of our employees came in and worked together to relocate the product and clean up. It was weeks of working long days and nights. They worked their butts off. They brought crocks and platters of food with them so they could just continue working long hours. The employees made it work. When it was over, our company was stronger than ever. If we didn’t have the support from the employees, the outcome could have been much different. I was not here then, but my dad, and his partner at the time, Ray Dionne, led them through this.
Q: What do you see as the future of Pioneer?
A: The future for the company I see is in order fulfillment. Most people know that we do general warehousing, but where I see the future is e-commerce. We are a logistics company, from placement of the orders to the delivery. We pull the orders from the Internet, pick them, pack them, ship them, and track them. The client does not have to do anything but take care of its business.
Q: How is the company handling succession planning?
A: My succession planning with my father is probably on the five-year plan. I have been here for about five years and have learned a lot and we still have some to go. The one thing that I feel was very important is that I went away from the family business and did my own thing first. I earned my business degree, worked in real estate, and at Wells Fargo for several years before I came into the business full time. I would definitely want the same thing for my children. I would love it if they wanted to work with me in the future but I will encourage them to go out and work with others first.
Q: How do you benefit from the New York Family Business Center?
A: I have met so many great people. We all have so much more in common than you would ever think. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people is very important. I have a jam-packed schedule, but making time for peer-group discussions is a great part of the day. After each session, I come back and talk to my father about what I might have learned from my peers. Maybe not every time, but usually I am able to implement something that someone might have mentioned or suggested during these sessions.
Q: Do you have any comments about the statistic indicating that a large percentage of women will be taking over their family business in the next decade?
A: I have a lot to say about that. Women have so much to offer that is different than men. We have different characteristics, different strengths, and different time frames. We take action. There is so much that has not been tapped into yet that we have to offer. I look forward to watching my daughter grow and see what she will be able to do.
Donna Herlihy is the executive director of New York Family Business Center (www.nyfbc.com), a Syracuse–based not-for-profit that gives family owned business owners and managers opportunities to interact and learn from each other and from family business professionals.
StartFast gears up for second annual Demo Day event
SYRACUSE — StartFast Venture Accelerator’s second Demo Day, set for Thursday, Aug. 22 at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse, promises to be bigger and better than last year’s inaugural event. The gathering, which features technology companies pitching themselves to investors after spending the summer participating in StartFast, sold out the Everson Museum auditorium last
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SYRACUSE — StartFast Venture Accelerator’s second Demo Day, set for Thursday, Aug. 22 at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse, promises to be bigger and better than last year’s inaugural event.
The gathering, which features technology companies pitching themselves to investors after spending the summer participating in StartFast, sold out the Everson Museum auditorium last year.
This year, the event, which keeps the same format, moves to the Landmark in order to accommodate more people. All the more room to facilitate the growing excitement that Demo Day generates, says Chuck Stormon, a managing director at StartFast.
Demo Day is the culmination of StartFast, a 100-day mentorship-driven startup accelerator that provides an opportunity for up to 10 startup companies to spend the summer in Syracuse working on their business.
On Demo Day, each team has seven minutes to pitch their business to the collective pool of investors in attendance. The day begins with a networking breakfast, features an investors-only lunch where teams can talk in more depth with potential investors, and wraps up with an after party at Al’s Wine & Whiskey Lounge on Clinton Street.
Along with the five StartFast teams — Glyphr of Syracuse (ww.glyphr.cc); WedWu of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (www.wedwu.com); Falcon of Los Angeles (www.thefalconapp.com); Symcircle of San Francisco (www.symcircle.com); and Calester of Hamilton, Ontario (calester.com) — this year’s Demo Day also features five additional companies that have participated in other upstate New York accelerator programs including StartUp Labs in Syracuse, HTR Launchpad in Rochester, Z80 Labs in Buffalo, and the 2013 Syracuse Student Sandbox.
“We’re really celebrating entrepreneurship across the region and presenting 10 great investment opportunities,” Stormon says.
Glyphr has already seen benefits from just being involved in StartFast, says Michael Quigley, Glyphr’s COO and president.
“Leveraging StartFast’s world-class network of technology thought leaders, Glyphr has been able to increase awareness of its brand, grow its user base, and refine its product offering in a short period of time,” he says. Glyphr offers a 3D visualization plugin for tablet magazines and ecommerce websites to increase engagement levels and sales rates.
“They are revolutionizing how 3D models are created,” Stormon says of Glyphr, for whom he and Nasir Ali, also managing director at StartFast, have high hopes on Demo Day.
Demo Day spotlights another of the teams, Falcon, by using its mobile app, designed to drive customers to vendors and sponsors, within the Demo Day app available in the iTunes store for use on Demo Day.
Last year, eight companies participated in StartFast and Demo Day, with three of those companies now “seeing quite a bit of success,” Stormon says. He declined to name the businesses, but says when they are ready to share their stories, he hopes it helps generate more interest in StartFast and the Syracuse region.
“Graduates are our best ambassadors,” he says.
StartFast, a private, investor-backed program modeled on the TechStars program started in Boulder, Colo., is a program of Upstate Venture Connect, located at 235 Harrison St. in Syracuse, a nonprofit group that encourages the development of small, innovative companies in upstate New York.
Along with offering access to mentors, StartFast also provides participating companies with seed money — $6,000 cash per founder up to $18,000 per company — co-working space, free and discounted services from places like Amazon Web Services, and post-program support. In return, StartFast receives 6 percent of the company’s equity in the form of common stock.
StartFast (startfast.net) investors include members of the Seed Capital Fund of CNY, Cayuga Venture Fund, and angel investors across the region. StartFast is a member of the Global Accelerator Network, a global consortium of mentor-driven, independently owned and operated startup accelerator programs.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
Kishmish continues growth trend
SYRACUSE — With a newly created leadership position to head up the sales and marketing department, network and IT services provider Kishmish, Inc. is on track to generate double-digit growth this year. Founded in 1999, Syracuse–based Kishmish (www.kishmish.com) has produced steady growth yearly since its inception, averaging sales increases between 28 and 30 percent
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SYRACUSE — With a newly created leadership position to head up the sales and marketing department, network and IT services provider Kishmish, Inc. is on track to generate double-digit growth this year.
Founded in 1999, Syracuse–based Kishmish (www.kishmish.com) has produced steady growth yearly since its inception, averaging sales increases between 28 and 30 percent annually, says President Matthew Holt. But now the company is ready to take things to the next level with the goal of reaching sales of $2 million this year.
To facilitate and service that sales growth, Holt expects to increase employment as well. He currently has 18 employees, which are a mix of full-time staffers and independent contractors. While he didn’t divulge the ratio of full timers to contractors, Holt says he expects to transition one to three of his contractors to full-time status by the end of the year to keep up with the company’s growing workload.
Kishmish, headquartered in a 3,500-square-foot office at 217 Montgomery St., provides network services and IT services, including assisting a company’s IT department or acting as a client’s IT department. “Our goal is to be a partner to all our clients and be able to service them in all levels of technology,” Holt says. “I think we’re pretty special in that we can deliver infrastructure from soup to nuts” and pair that with support right on down to the end-user level. The firm can provide its services on premises or in the cloud and also include web and web-application services.
So far, Kishmish has had a winning combination of services and client support that has generated strong sales and the steady year-over-year growth, Holt says. If Kishmish hits its $2 million revenue goal this year, that will equal growth of about 28 percent. Much of that has come from expanding services with existing clients, he notes.
Kishmish has also seen growth from client referrals, and Holt credits the company’s mission of providing great service while breaking away from some of the IT stereotypes. “IT is not a very well respected part of an organization,” Holt says. Often people view IT employees as rushed and not taking the time to explain things such as how to perform a certain task. “We like to help redefine what the IT guy looks like,” Holt says, noting the firm does so by providing exceptional service.
Mark Hollingshead, president of sales and marketing, says that has helped build a solid reputation for Kishmish and helped make his new job a little easier. Hollingshead joined the company about two months ago in the newly created position and is tasked with bringing sales to the next level, Holt says.
Hollingshead, who previously served as vice president of small business banking at Bank of America, says a big part of his job is educating companies about how to leverage technology to improve efficiency and increase sales. Most businesses, he says, approach technology reactively instead of taking a proactive approach. Kishmish can conduct a technology evaluation to help businesses develop not only a plan to update their technology but also a budget.
“Most people look at technology as an expense, not an investment,” Hollingshead says. He’s out to change their minds. “You have to be serious about technology because it’s not going away.”
Currently, Kishmish does not do much in the way of “cold calling” potential clients. Instead, Hollingshead says the firm prefers to leverage existing clients who recommend their services to others. Kishmish serves clients across New York and in 15 other states around the country. “We can do excellent work from anywhere,” Holt notes. The goal is to provide services in all 50 states eventually, however there is a lot of growth opportunity right here in Central New York that Kishmish hopes to capture first, Hollingshead says. That opportunity could even include acquisitions if the right company came along. Ideally, Hollingshead says he sees Kishmish acquiring a number of small independent contractors whose business has started to grow too large for them to manage on their own. Those types of acquisitions would bring new clients to Kishmish while bringing new support and services to the former contractors and their clients.
Kishmish provides web services ranging from website design to interactive marketing; network services including network design, carrier services, and cloud services; and a full range of support. Some of the company’s clients include The Redford Center in Sundance, Utah; the U.S. Green Building Council Connecticut Chapter; and The Ritz-Carlton Residences in Vail, Colo.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
Growth fuels employment at ICS Solutions Group
ENDICOTT — Growth is the name of the game in 2013 at IT service and support provider ICS Solutions Group, which has seen its revenue jump just over the past few months and now needs to add employees to keep up with the demand. ICS President Kevin Blake attributes the growth to several factors,
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ENDICOTT — Growth is the name of the game in 2013 at IT service and support provider ICS Solutions Group, which has seen its revenue jump just over the past few months and now needs to add employees to keep up with the demand.
ICS President Kevin Blake attributes the growth to several factors, the first of which is the still-struggling economy. “When the economy goes down, people outsource,” he says. He declined to share specific revenue numbers for ICS but says a good portion of the growth stems from companies spending their IT dollars more wisely. For some, that might mean doing away with an internal IT department and completely outsourcing it. For others, it means contracting with a company for special projects or other needs that its own IT department cannot handle.
ICS has also generated growth from an array of new offerings, including a help desk service it now offers to business clients and local governments, says Travis Hayes, chief technology officer. Over the years, ICS has invested a lot of time and money into perfecting its own help desk system, he says. It just made sense to start offering that system to clients in need.
So far, a number of local governments, including Tioga County, are using ICS’s help desk system with great success, he notes. It gives clients an internal help desk ticketing system so end users can submit a ticket when they have an IT issue, and also provides an array of metrics that help clients see where they spending their IT time and how to make improvements, Hayes says.
ICS has averaged annual sales growth of 25 percent from year to year, a trend Blake expects to continue and the main reason ICS needs to hire new employees as soon as it can find qualified candidates. “We’re walking away from deals right now because we can’t meet demand,” he says.
As a result, ICS currently needs to hire between three and five new employees — both level 1 help desk employees and level 3 engineers — adding to its current staff of 53 to meet current and future demand. “We’re looking for a mix of people,” Hayes says. Potential candidates need to be tech savvy, but also need to be “warm and fuzzy” and able to interact with customers in a personable way, he says. That friendly approach is another key to ICS’s success, Blake says.
Other services ICS offers include disaster prevention, data recovery, off-site backup, network services, and could services.
Blake and Travis, who purchased ICS in 2005, expect additional growth at the company to come from a mix of expanded services with existing clients, adding new clients, and even from acquiring other companies. That strategy served the company well in 2010 when it acquired Microtech Computer Center, expanding ICS’s reach into the Syracuse market.
Headquartered at 111 Grant St. in Endicott, ICS (www.icsnewyork.com) also has an office at 2518 Erie Blvd. E. in Syracuse and serves clients in Binghamton, Elmira, Oneonta, Syracuse, Ithaca, Rochester, northern New York, and northeastern Pennsylvania.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
SRC transfers bioforensics group to SU
SYRACUSE — Syracuse University (SU) late last month announced the signing of an agreement with SRC, Inc. that transfers the assets and employees of its bioforensics group to the school. The Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute (FNSSI) in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences signed the agreement with SRC, a nonprofit-research company headquartered
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SYRACUSE — Syracuse University (SU) late last month announced the signing of an agreement with SRC, Inc. that transfers the assets and employees of its bioforensics group to the school.
The Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute (FNSSI) in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences signed the agreement with SRC, a nonprofit-research company headquartered in Cicero.
As part of the agreement, three SRC scientists become SU employees and continue their research as part of FNSSI.
FNSSI is the nation’s first program to focus on scholarship in forensic and national-security sciences, according to the university.
It works to advance the scientific base and capabilities of forensic science and to train both forensic scientists and those in allied professions, SU said.
Syracuse University has had a “long-standing collaboration with SRC,” so the nonprofit was aware of what SU was aiming to accomplish in developing the FNSSI, says George Langford, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences.
SRC had also been examining areas in which it wanted to grow during its own process of “strategic planning,” Langford says.
“So, it was a perfect match in terms of their interest in having the bioforensics group develop in a different direction and our interest in having them come and join us,” Langford says.
The agreement will build on the work that SRC’s bioforensics group has already started, according to Langford.
In acquiring its core competencies, which includes bioinformatics and the analysis of environmental signatures, the bioforensics group “enhances and underscores” FNSSI’s commitment to forensic-science training and research, according to Langford.
The agreement “significantly” contributes to the research capacity within FNSSI, while benefiting the nation’s forensic and intelligence communities, he adds.
“This transition is a great example of how our research and development partnerships can make a larger impact on keeping America safe and strong,” SRC president Paul Tremont said in the July 24 news release announcing the transfer, adding that FNSSI will help the group’s technology grow and prosper.
The relationship
FNSSI launched in November, 2011, and is physically located inside SU’s Lyman Hall. It began as an activity within the chemistry department, Langford says.
Some faculty members in The College of Arts and Sciences had been conducting basic research that was of interest to both SU and SRC, which prompted further discussions between the organizations, says James Spencer, executive director of FNSSI.
“There’s really a strong synergy,” says Spencer.
Spencer also serves as the college’s associate dean for science, mathematics, and research, as well as chemistry professor.
As the bioforensics units at SU and at SRC began to grow and expand, “it made sense that at some point … [it] might be valuable to combine them,” Spencer adds.
SRC eventually opened a dialogue with SU about the possibility transferring the bioforensics group into FNSSI.
“It was just a logical connection,” Spencer says.
The timing of the transition also comes at a time with a growing need for methodologies involving bioterrorism threats, chemical detection and analysis, and sample source and origin, according to Spencer.
“We have strong capabilities in chemical detection and analysis and we have developing capabilities in the biological forensics, but to have now, an expert group in bioforensics can bring their DNA capabilities to the institute … really makes for a strong program,” Langford says.
FNSSI stands to gain “state-of-the-art” DNA capabilities, along with expertise in complex worldwide-biological systems, including powerful research tools that determine the geospatial origins of biological samples, Spencer contends.
The samples include heroin, cocaine, and other plant-based materials, he adds.
The three transferred employees include David Knaebel, a biological ecologist and a former professor at Clarkson University with expertise in plant and microbial DNA and genomics, according to Spencer.
“He’s coming back to academia from SRC,” he adds.
The other two employees are research scientists Molly Cadle-Davison and Michael Marciano, he adds.
The agreement calls for FNSSI to acquire nearly $1 million in biochemical-research equipment, in addition to specialized research materials, inventions, and scientific expertise, according to SU.
SRC and its for-profit manufacturing subsidiary, SRCTec, together employ more than 1,000 people at 15 locations in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
ITA: New York exports set new record during first half of 2013
New York merchandise exports totaled a “record” $45.7 billion during the first half of 2013, a seven percent increase compared to the nearly $43 billion exported during the same time period in 2012. That’s according to data that the International Trade Administration (ITA) released on Aug. 8. The ITA is part of the U.S.
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New York merchandise exports totaled a “record” $45.7 billion during the first half of 2013, a seven percent increase compared to the nearly $43 billion exported during the same time period in 2012.
That’s according to data that the International Trade Administration (ITA) released on Aug. 8. The ITA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The new export data indicate states nationwide have more businesses marketing their products abroad and creating “thousands” of new jobs in their local communities, Francisco Sánchez, undersecretary of commerce for international trade, said in a news release.
“This data confirms that our efforts to help American businesses compete globally are having an impact right here in New York,” Sanchez said. “The U.S. is selling more goods and services to the rest of the world than ever before. The International Trade Administration will continue to do everything we can to assist New York businesses as they increase their exports and create jobs.”
New York’s merchandise export sales in the first half of 2013 outpaced the 2012 figures in many destinations, including a 774 percent rise in sales to South Africa; a 51 percent increase to the United Arab Emirates; a 45 percent increase to Switzerland; a 37 percent increase to China; and a 17 percent rise in exports to Hong Kong, the ITA said.
“Key” merchandise export categories, according to the ITA, include miscellaneous manufactures, primary-metal manufactures, used or second-hand merchandise, transportation equipment, and computer and electronic products.
“This latest export data shows that New York companies are thriving in the international market,” Rosanna Masucci, director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Buffalo. “Exports continue to support and strengthen our state’s economy and create new jobs for workers in our communities.”
The ITA’s U.S. Commercial Service, its trade-promotion arm, connects U.S. companies with international buyers. The U.S. Commercial Service has more than 100 offices in the U.S. and in American embassies and consulates in more than 70 counties, according to the ITA.
State AG settles with dozens of CNY contractors over home-improvement law violations
Home-improvement contractors in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown, and Binghamton regions were among those reaching a settlement with the state over violations of New York’s law
Survey: NY manufacturing conditions improve for a third month
Conditions for New York manufacturers improved “modestly” for a third consecutive month in July. That’s according to the August 2013 Empire State Manufacturing Survey
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