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NYPA issues report on building energy use in New York
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) recently announced the completion of a report on the energy use of New York government buildings that provides a
Feldmeier Equipment to build new plant in Little Falls, create 80 new jobs
LITTLE FALLS —Feldmeier Equipment, Inc. of DeWitt, which specializes in the fabrication of stainless-steel storage and processing equipment, today began construction on a “significant” expansion of the company’s operations in Little Falls. Gov. Andrew Cuomo today announced the project in a news release. The expansion will result in the creation of 80 new
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LITTLE FALLS —Feldmeier Equipment, Inc. of DeWitt, which specializes in the fabrication of stainless-steel storage and processing equipment, today began construction on a “significant” expansion of the company’s operations in Little Falls.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today announced the project in a news release.
The expansion will result in the creation of 80 new jobs and the retention of nearly 300 existing jobs.
The $8 million project consists of constructing and equipping a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility along the Riverside Industrial Parkway, along with additional investment in machinery and equipment at Feldmeier’s existing facilities in Little Falls and DeWitt.
“Growing up in Little Falls, I have always considered it home,” Robert Feldmeier, Sr., founder of Feldmeier Equipment, Inc., said in the news release. “My father worked in this town, [and] my business career started here. It is an important part of Feldmeier’s history and future. We want to see it grow and prosper.”
The projects will make the company “more competitive” and help it maintain a “strong presence” in the Northeast, according to the governor’s office.
“The creation of this new facility and added investment in the company’s existing local operations not only support the creation and retention of nearly 400 jobs, but it also furthers the commitment that this family-run company has made to New York State and our other industries such as breweries and yogurt producers,” Cuomo said in the news release.
Empire State Development (ESD), New York’s primary economic-development agency, is supporting the expansion and upgrades with a total investment of $750,000 through the combination of a $200,000 capital grant and $550,000 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits.
Both incentives are performance-based and tied to project completion and job-creation commitments. ESD’s assistance was “necessary” in order to keep the expansion in New York, according to the governor’s office.
Feldmeier Equipment also has manufacturing facilities in Alabama, Iowa, and Nevada, the state said.
The Herkimer County location competed with sites in both Iowa and Nevada for this expansion. ESD believes 190 existing jobs in New York were “at risk” if the firm decided to expand at either out-of-state site.
The family-owned operation began in 1952 when founder Robert Feldmeier, Sr. developed the world’s first Triple Tube Heat Exchanger. Since then, a long list of innovative and patented ideas helped Feldmeier to emerge as “an industry leader for stainless steel processing equipment,” the governor’s office said.
Today, the company services the pharmaceutical, biotech, cosmetic, food, and dairy industries with five facilities throughout the U.S.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Upstate Shredding acquires Ithaca scrap yard
ITHACA — Upstate Shredding, LLC, the largest, privately owned scrap dealer on the East Coast, and its sister business Ben Weitsman & Son, Inc. announced the acquisition of the assets of Reamer Recycling, Inc. in Ithaca. The all-cash transaction will close in about a month, Upstate Shredding said in a news release. It didn’t
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ITHACA — Upstate Shredding, LLC, the largest, privately owned scrap dealer on the East Coast, and its sister business Ben Weitsman & Son, Inc. announced the acquisition of the assets of Reamer Recycling, Inc. in Ithaca.
The all-cash transaction will close in about a month, Upstate Shredding said in a news release. It didn’t disclose the price or other financial terms.
The company’s post-purchase plans include paving the facility, renovating its buildings, and installing new equipment, Adam Weitsman, president of Upstate Shredding and Ben Weitsman, said in the release.
“We will also be landscaping the property and installing brand new fencing as we make this location much more aesthetically appealing for the neighbors and the community,” Weitsman said.
Bill Reamer, Reamer Recycling’s former owner, will “stay on” to assist the incoming management team during the short transition period. Reamer owned the recycling company, located at 105 Cherry St., for about 12 years.
The site has been home to recycling operations for more than 75 years, according to Upstate Shredding. An earlier owner, Wallace Industries, sold the business to Reamer in 2002.
The new Upstate Shredding operation is the firm’s second location in Ithaca, joining the nearby steel-distribution center at 132 Cherry St.
In addition to the Ithaca facilities, Ben Weitsman also operates New York scrap yards in Syracuse, Binghamton, Owego, Rochester, Albany, Allegany, and Jamestown, along with Pennsylvania locations in New Castle and Scranton.
The Albany location, a retail-scrap yard and export-shipping facility at the Port of Albany, opened last weekend.
The firm also has plans to build a new scrap-metal recycling facility in Liberty in Sullivan County.
Upstate Shredding also plans to install a shredder at the scrap yard in New Castle, Pa. The company maintains its primary shredder at the location in Owego.
The company expects to process 1 million tons of ferrous scrap and 200 million pounds of nonferrous scrap by 2014.
The Upstate Shredding and Ben Weitsman plan for expansion includes additional yards in both New York and Pennsylvania.
Discussions on future possible acquisitions are under way, the business said.
Upstate Shredding-Ben Weitsman generated more than $500 million in revenue in 2012.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
EFC okays loans for wastewater-improvement project in Union Springs
The New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. (EFC) has approved a low-cost financing package to improve the wastewater treatment and collection systems in the Cayuga County village of Union Springs. The EFC board of directors approved an interest-free loan worth more than $560,000, along with an additional three-year loan of a similar amount at
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The New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. (EFC) has approved a low-cost financing package to improve the wastewater treatment and collection systems in the Cayuga County village of Union Springs.
The EFC board of directors approved an interest-free loan worth more than $560,000, along with an additional three-year loan of a similar amount at market rates for a total three-year financing package of more than $1.1 million, the agency said in a news release.
EFC is the arm of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration that provides low-cost financing to help local governments afford new wastewater and drinking-water infrastructure.
EFC helps communities like Union Springs afford water-quality projects at interest rates that aren’t available to smaller communities, Matthew Driscoll, president and CEO of EFC, said in the news release.
“We use our Triple-A credit rating and with more than $13 billion in assets to operate the largest revolving-loan fund in the country and help local governments in New York state to protect public health, improve the environment, and create the infrastructure necessary for economic growth,” Driscoll said.
Driscoll is a former mayor of the city of Syracuse.
Union Springs plans to install new pumps and make improvements to the grit-removal and coarse-solids handling systems in the village’s wastewater-treatment plant. Crews will also line about 4,000 linear feet of gravity sewer to prevent water from infiltrating the wastewater-collection system, according to EFC.
A gravity-sewer system is used to collect wastewater from multiple sources, which then uses gravity to convey the wastewater to a central location, according to the Water Environment Research Foundation, an Alexandria, Va.–based scientific-research organization that focuses on stormwater and wastewater issues.
Union Springs will also install flow meters on existing sewer lines at three locations.
The project won’t increase the size of the present sewer system or treatment plant, EFC said. Once the work is finished in 2015, it is anticipated that EFC will refinance the short-term loans with a 30-year financing package, the agency said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
VESTAL — “From 2008 until 2011, [our] sales averaged in the $50 million [a year] range,” says Kenneth (Ken) Elliott, the CEO of Matco Electric Corporation, Inc. “In 2012, we experienced a 50 percent jump.” The company, formerly located in a 17,000-square-foot building on N. Jensen Road, moved its headquarters in April to a
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VESTAL — “From 2008 until 2011, [our] sales averaged in the $50 million [a year] range,” says Kenneth (Ken) Elliott, the CEO of Matco Electric Corporation, Inc. “In 2012, we experienced a 50 percent jump.”
The company, formerly located in a 17,000-square-foot building on N. Jensen Road, moved its headquarters in April to a 26,000-square-foot facility at 3913 Gates Road in Vestal to help facilitate its growth.
NBT Bank provided the financing to acquire and upgrade the building. Matco also has offices in Ithaca, Elmira, and Albany, and does a lot of work in the Syracuse area. Matco, which currently employs 320, is a full-service electrical contracting company providing electrical and technology services, including high-voltage, fire-alarm, power, lighting, specialty low-voltage, and construction-management. The firm maintains a fleet of 90 vehicles to service its customers.
“Jim (James F.) Matthews started the company 48 years ago,” says Mark Freije, Matco’s president and a 50/50 stockholder with Elliott. (Elliott and Freije are currently buying all outstanding shares held by former Matco president Ronald Barber.) “[Matthews] was a real entrepreneur, who also ventured into auto dealerships, electronics manufacturing, entertainment, insurance, and real estate. Jim was an enthusiastic hockey fan (and former player), who brought the first professional hockey team — The Broome Dusters — to Binghamton.” (Matthews died in 2011 at age 77.)
Matthews sold Matco Electric in 1999 to Celebrity Partners, of which American Capital Strategies, Ltd. (ACS), a publicly traded, private-equity firm, and global asset manager based in Bethesda, Md., was a minority owner.
“At that time, much of the U.S. construction industry experienced ‘roll-ups’ [in which] large manufacturing firms acquired smaller firms, such as Matco, and rolled them into one [entity],” says Elliott. “We were rolled up with Port City Electric (another firm Matthews had owned in Mooresville, N.C.) and Consolidated Electric (Norwood, Mass.) into an entity called StarCom Holdings. ACS bought out the other partners in 2003 and renamed the group Constar International. By 2007, the other two companies in the group were [underperforming], and American Capital closed them.
“In November 2007, ACS notified us that they may either shut down Matco or seek bankruptcy protection. Mark, I, and Ron (former president Ronald Barber) then asked Constar International (owned by ACS) to sell the company’s assets to local management. M&T Bank provided the financing, and we closed the deal on Dec. 26, 2007.” Matco is currently a sub-chapter S corporation, and the two principals also own a real-estate company — Gates Road Holdings, LLC — in which they share ownership equally.
Elliott and Freije invested in Matco just before the “Great Recession” paralyzed the economy. “Despite the scary economic times, we have a solid list of long-time customers,” says Elliott. “In health care, we do work for United Health Services, Lourdes Hospital, Bassett Healthcare, [SUNY] Upstate Medical [University], and Guthrie. In [higher] education, our customers include Cornell University, Ithaca College, Syracuse University, and the SUNY universities, plus a number of [primary and secondary] schools in the region. We also serve manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, IBM, Universal Instruments, Raymond Corp., and BAE Systems. Matco did much of the electrical work on the Destiny project, and we service a number of retailers such as Dick’s [Clothing and Sporting Goods]; Best Buy; Sam’s Club; and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
“We focus most of our attention on the Southern Tier, northern Pennsylvania, Central New York, and the North Country,” says Freije. “Still, Matco follows its customers across the U.S., doing electrical work in [states such as] California, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, and New England. Our work is 95 percent commercial with a small portion assigned to residential. About 60 percent of our work is government [based] and the [remainder] comes from the private sector.”
While enjoying the rapid sales growth of the company, Elliott and Freije are cautious in their projections for 2013. “Last year [generated] an unusual amount of growth,” says Elliott. “It was a strong year in part because of the late flooding in 2011. Mark and I thought [our growth] was an anomaly, so we lowered our projections. Sales [however] for the first six months of this year are well ahead of our projections.”
Part of Matco’s growth is coming from new services offered by the company. “The company offers TEGG Services, which we introduced seven or eight years ago,” says Freije, “and we have had good success with it. (TEGG is not an acronym; it’s a brand name.) TEGG is a preventive-maintenance program designed to protect commercial and industrial facilities from electrical failures, [electrical] fires, business interruption, and property damage. The results are guaranteed if a TEGG contractor certifies that an electrical component is in good working order: The component will be replaced free of charge.” Matco is part of an international network of independently owned, local contractors selected by TEGG to implement the program.
“TEGG utilizes high-tech [procedures] to keep equipment from blowing up,” continues Freije, “which includes infrared thermography, ultrasonic testing, voltage and ampere diagnostics, power-factor testing, power-quality analysis, and surge-protection analysis. These programs pay for themselves by preventing unplanned power outages and electrical fires. OSHA is pushing the program to mitigate accidents and deaths. We charge the customers an annual fee for the service, monitor their systems, and share our reports with the customers. The company is projecting continuing growth in this area.”
“Matco is also growing because of the expanding use of 3-D modeling, which we call BIM (building-integration modeling),” adds Elliott. “Traditional building design used to rely on two-dimensional drawings. BIM software lets us create a virtual-information model that starts with the design team, involves the contractor and sub-contractors, and then the owner/operator. Vital information isn’t lost; it’s retained through the operational life of the building and even its demolition … Today, our customers are demanding BIM. For example, we used BIM on Destiny, which was a paperless project.”
Elliott says that Matco’s sales are also rising because of the demand for LED lighting, the interest in solar services, and the meteoric growth of the gas-distribution industry demanding new compression stations and office facilities.
The company’s growth is steered by an executive team with Elliott as CEO and Freije as president. Other members include Kathy Towery, treasurer; Greg Smyder, senior project manager; Becky Johnson, human-resources manager; Devin Ashman, senior project manager; and Marty Lewis, senior project manager.
Elliott is originally a native of Massena, who attended Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University). He graduated in 1983 with a degree in engineering management. Elliott joined Matco after college “even though the company offered me 40 percent less than my other offers,” he says. “Jim [Matthews] was a heck of a salesman. He convinced me there would be opportunities at Matco not offered at the competing companies. I worked in sales, estimating, project management, and even drove a truck, before becoming the general manager in 1993 and CEO in 2010.”
Elliott’s 30-year tenure with Matco is matched by Freije with 31 years. “After a year at Delhi [University], I started working at the company as an electrician’s apprentice,” says Freije … “My dad was an electrician … I joined IBEW 325 (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) and worked my way up to journeyman, foreman, supervisor, project manager, and became president [of Matco] in 2010.”
Matco’s success has also been helped by a number of regional firms. “We have worked closely with Kevin O’Hara at M&T Bank (Binghamton office) for our financing,” says Elliott. “Matco has also relied on Piaker & Lyons for its accounting. Our legal work is handled by John Dowd (John G. Dowd, Attorney), who acts as our general counsel and by Hinman Howard & Kattell, LLP, both located in Binghamton. Mang handles our insurance needs, and we depend on The Partners [Insurance & Financial Services Agency] to manage our employee benefits and consult on human resources.”
Elliott and Freije are optimistic about Matco’s future. “We have a well-trained staff with little turnover,” says Elliott. “Despite the fact that we have a number of competitors, our record of customer retention is excellent. We’re in a problem-solving business, and we need to listen to our customers and stay up with the technology. Today, every foreman has a laptop on the job, because everything is done electronically. Our focus is always on material- and labor-saving devices and procedures that improve our productivity; we make small improvements regularly.”
Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com
CNA returns to downtown Syracuse
SYRACUSE — The local unit of CNA (NYSE: CNA), a Chicago–based commercial-insurance provider, on Aug. 12 opened its new 26,000-square-foot office space in AXA Tower II at 120 Madison St. in downtown Syracuse. The move brought about 120 positions to downtown Syracuse, says Roy Orr, vice president for the east zone of commercial clients
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SYRACUSE — The local unit of CNA (NYSE: CNA), a Chicago–based commercial-insurance provider, on Aug. 12 opened its new 26,000-square-foot office space in AXA Tower II at 120 Madison St. in downtown Syracuse.
The move brought about 120 positions to downtown Syracuse, says Roy Orr, vice president for the east zone of commercial clients for CNA.
The move “is part of the CNA strategy to move closer to our customers and business partners,” Orr says.
“The AXA Towers provide the professional environment that aligns with our strategic vision,” he adds.
The firm now occupies the eighth and ninth floors of Tower II.
The move marks a return to downtown for the commercial-insurance provider.
Orr began with CNA when it previously operated in the iconic downtown office buildings when they had the name of Mutual of New York (MONY) in the early 1970s.
For the past five years, CNA had operated in a similar-size space at 443 Electronics Parkway in Salina, says Orr.
First Republic Corp. of America, headquartered in New York City, owns the building in which CNA previously operated, according to a firm spokesperson.
The firm worked with local broker to complete a market survey to determine the buildings that could accommodate its space requirements. CNA also sought a space that satisfied other criteria, such as proximity to agents, accessibility, parking, and other amenities, he added.
“There were several buildings that we looked at,” Orr says.
CNA did not disclose the name of the local broker involved.
CNA has signed a five-year lease for its new space with AmTrust Realty Corp., which owns the AXA Towers. CBD Companies serves as the property manager for the AXA Towers.
Crews had moved furniture during the preceding weekend, and local employees reported to the new location to begin the new week on Monday, Aug. 12, Orr says.
CNA employees are utilizing the Harrison Parking Garage, across the street, for parking, Orr says.
Orr, who is based in the local office, has oversight for all of the firm’s claim centers on the East coast.
The Syracuse office, which supports CNA’s agents and underwrites commercial policies across the entire upstate New York area,also serves as the claims-processing center for the Northeast, Orr says.
CNA Financial Corp. on July 29 announced it earned $194 million, or 72 cents per share, during the second quarter that ended June 30. The figures compare with the $166 million, or 62 cents per share, during the same time period a year ago.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
EPA awards grants targeting the water quality of Onondaga Lake
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded two grants totaling $260,000, aimed at improving the water quality in Onondaga Lake and its watershed. “These two grants … will really advance our work to address pollution in Onondaga Lake,” Judith Enck, administrator for EPA Region 2, said during an Aug. 8 conference call.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded two grants totaling $260,000, aimed at improving the water quality in Onondaga Lake and its watershed.
“These two grants … will really advance our work to address pollution in Onondaga Lake,” Judith Enck, administrator for EPA Region 2, said during an Aug. 8 conference call.
EPA Region 2 includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, Enck said.
The federal agency awarded the Lowell, Mass.–based New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) a $200,000 grant to hire an Onondaga Lake watershed coordinator for a two-year period.
The EPA also awarded the Onondaga Environmental Institute of Syracuse a $60,000 grant to train people to develop, build, install, and maintain controls on stormwater using sustainable infrastructure, the agency said.
Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that “protects, restores, or mimics” the natural-water cycle and “enhances” quality of life for communities, the EPA said in a news release.
Aimee Clinkhammer, NEIWPCC’s Onondaga Lake watershed coordinator, will work with community groups, businesses, local governments, and the Onondaga Nation to develop strategies for the restoration of the physical, chemical, and biological health of the Onondaga Lake watershed.
Clinkhammer started in the position during the week of Aug. 5, Enck said. Clinkhammer previously served as a project specialist in the Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE) Center for Sustainable Community Solutions, according to the SyracuseCoE website.
Clinkhammer will also initiate outreach efforts with groups to explain or promote restoration of, and access to, Onondaga Lake and other natural areas within the watershed.
In addition, Clinkhammer will work with local governments in assessing the impacts of proposed projects, land-use planning, and other local decisions on the integrity of Onondaga Lake, the EPA said.
Enck acknowledges the effort to clean up Onondaga Lake has had “progress,” but the body of water “really needs more attention.”
“But we know that more work needs to be done. And that’s why EPA decided to put some of our limited resources into having an EPA-funded coordinator focused just on this work,” Enck said.
The Onondaga Lake watershed covers 285 square miles and encompasses two counties, one city, 18 towns, six villages, and the Onondaga Nation territory, according to the website of the Onondaga Lake Partnership (OLP).
OLP provides “a framework for government agencies to cooperate as they restore and conserve water quality, natural resources, and recreational uses of the lake to the benefit of the public,” the organization said on its website.
The Onondaga Environmental Institute will use its EPA grant to sponsor two green-infrastructure training workshops for low-income, unemployed adults at the L&M Training Center at 232 W. Borden Ave. on Syracuse’s south side.
Participants will learn how to create and maintain green infrastructure, including rain gardens, bioretention basins, rain barrels, and green roofs.
In addition, the program will include training on life skills, job readiness, workplace safety, and exposure to a variety of “green” careers, according to the EPA.
This grant is part of the EPA’s National Urban Waters program, which supports communities in their efforts to access, improve, and benefit from their urban waters and the surrounding land, the agency said.
Meanwhile, a $1 billion cleanup project on Onondaga Lake continues. Morristown, N.J.–based Honeywell International has been a large part of the cleanup effort due to its 1999 acquisition of Allied Signal, which operated a location near Onondaga Lake. Work has included design and engineering, cleanup of upland industrial sites, the construction of a barrier wall to keep groundwater from entering the lake before it can be treated, dredging the bottom of the lake and removing tons of contaminated sediment, and capping the bottom.
The EPA, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and the state Department of Health are overseeing the project.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
NFIB: small-business optimism up ‘marginally’ in July
Small-business optimism “sighed” in July, with a monthly index that measures the optimism up 0.6 points for a reading of 94.1, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which released the index Aug. 13. The optimism index rose “marginally,” the NFIB said on its website. The latest report continues the “historically
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Small-business optimism “sighed” in July, with a monthly index that measures the optimism up 0.6 points for a reading of 94.1, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which released the index Aug. 13.
The optimism index rose “marginally,” the NFIB said on its website.
The latest report continues the “historically weak” trend of owner confidence, which has led some observers to suggest the NFIB should rename the monthly survey the “Small Business Pessimism Index,” the organization said in a news release.
The NFIB, headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., advocates for the nation’s small businesses.
The two labor-market indicators remained weak, but both improved and are beginning to push into “normal” territory, according to the NFIB.
July was “another slow month for jobs” among NFIB’s 350,000 business owners, with the average increase in employment coming in at a negative 0.11 workers per firm, the third consecutive negative monthly reading.
Owners have stopped reducing employment, but they have not resumed hiring, the NFIB notes.
In addition, about 20 percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, which is up 1 point, and “a good omen” for the unemployment rate, the NFIB said.
Another 15 percent indicated their use of temporary workers, which is up 3 points from June.
The NFIB notes the federal health-care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, provides incentives to increase the use of temporary and part-time workers. It also notes an increase of 360,000 part-time jobs in June, along with a loss of 240,000 full-time jobs.
Job creation plans rose two points to a net 9 percent planning to increase total employment, “the best reading” since August 2012, according to the NFIB.
But, overall, the data doesn’t indicate a lot of “promise” for new job growth, the organization said.
Uncertainty about the future remains “endemic” among job creators, with only nine percent of respondents believing that now is a good time to expand their businesses, the NFIB said.
The small-business community registered the fourth-highest optimism reading since December 2007, when the economy slipped into official recession, William Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist, said in the news release.
He called it “an attempt to ‘make lemonade’ from the lousy bushel of lemons the administration has handed” the small-business community.
The level is still “well below” the average reading of 100 in the prior 35 years and still half a point below the December 2007 reading, Dunkelberg cautioned.
“Unfortunately, nothing is being done to allay the most pressing concerns identified by job creators, [which include] dealing with rising health-insurance costs, regulations, tax complexity, energy costs and general-economic uncertainty. The President wants a deal on ‘corporate taxes,’ but most small businesses are not incorporated. Energy policy is more confused than ever and the volume of new regulations is mounting. Should I even mention the mounting problems with Obamacare? We are in the ‘tankeroo,’ not sinking, but trying to stay afloat,” Dunkelberg said in the news release.
Additional indicators
The net percentage of all owners reporting higher-nominal sales in the past three months improved a point, rising to a negative 7 percent compared to the prior three months. The net percentage of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose 2 points, to 7 percent of all owners.
These expectations remain “depressed” and are not the kind that will generate a lot of new employment or new orders for inventories, the NFIB said.
Reports of positive-earnings trends improved one point in July to a negative 22 percent, restoring them to May’s numbers. The index found four percent of owners reduced worker wages and 19 percent said they raised compensation, yielding a seasonally adjusted net 14 percent that reported higher worker wages, which is unchanged.
A net 11 percent have plans to raise employee wages in the coming months, which is up five points, according to the NFIB.
Credit remains a “non-issue” for small employers, five percent of whom say they weren’t satisfy all their credit needs in July, which unchanged from June and May, and the lowest reading since February 2008. The index found about 30 percent of owners surveyed met all their credit needs, and 52 percent explicitly said they did not want a loan. Add in the respondents who didn’t answer the question, and the index found a total of 65 percent that are not interested in borrowing, according to the NFIB.
The net percentage of owners expecting better business conditions in six months was a net negative 6 percent, two points worse than June’s reading, the NFIB said.
The report is based on the responses of 1,615 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of July.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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
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