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CenterState Chamber Alliance expects more members
SYRACUSE — CenterState CEO and the Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce are launching a partnership that could eventually include chambers of commerce throughout the region. The organizations announced the CenterState Chamber Alliance on June 7. The partnership makes each group’s member services and benefits available to the other. That includes networking programs, education and training […]
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SYRACUSE — CenterState CEO and the Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce are launching a partnership that could eventually include chambers of commerce throughout the region.
The organizations announced the CenterState Chamber Alliance on June 7. The partnership makes each group’s member services and benefits available to the other.
That includes networking programs, education and training sessions, and member discounts.
The two groups will maintain their local identities, management teams, board control, member-relations efforts, and services. They will actively market each other’s programs and events and promote cross-member participation, according to CenterState CEO.
CenterState CEO President Robert Simpson expects the alliance to add more members. The group is in talks with other chambers now and the response has been positive.
“Inviting other chambers to be a part of this makes sense,” he says. “Finding ways to collaborate and support small businesses is a logical step for us to take.”
Any future additions to the alliance would retain their local identities and leadership as well, Simpson says.
The effort creates a stronger, more regional voice for advocacy, he adds. When policy and regulatory issues affecting businesses arise in Albany or Washington, D.C., the chambers plan to coordinate and make their case together to lawmakers.
Advocacy is a hallmark of chambers across the country, says Sam Berardino, chairman of the Mohawk Valley Chamber board of directors.
“We’ve done a good job partnering with our elected officials,” he says. “We’ve captured their attention and they listen and act. But we’re just one chamber.
“If we really want to promote meaningful, sustainable growth, we need to work together and we know that.”
It’s a critical time for businesses to push their agenda with legislators, he adds.
“There are numerous forces out there lobbying at all levels for anti-business policies,” Berardino says. “That’s why it’s more important than ever for large regional chambers to be a voice for members.
CenterState CEO, based in Syracuse, is the result of a merger between the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York. It has 2,000 member companies.
The Mohawk Valley Chamber, based in Utica, represents about 900 businesses. The chamber has been working with CenterState CEO affiliate Benefit Specialists of New York to provide health-benefit services for its members for the past three years.
The alliance should help members grow their businesses, says Jane Amico, vice president of chamber services at CenterState CEO. Firms in Central New York now have an easier way to make contacts in the Utica–Rome area.
In fact, CenterState has already received at least one call from a member looking for introductions in the Mohawk Valley.
“It puts people in connection with one another,” Amico says of the partnership.
The alliance will also help improve member discounts. CenterState CEO’s group purchasing programs in areas like office
supplies, human resources, and energy will get better as more members use them and vendors provide deeper price reductions for the larger group.
Scaling up those discount programs is another key reason for expanding the alliance, Simpson says.
Excellus: Generics slated to hit shelves could save $714M Upstate
New generic medications set to appear in pharmacies in 2012 and 2013 could save more than $714 million per year in prescription-drug spending in upstate New York, according to estimates released June 12 by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. The savings would come from patients switching to generic versions of 35 brand-name prescription drugs with expiring patents. Generics
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New generic medications set to appear in pharmacies in 2012 and 2013 could save more than $714 million per year in prescription-drug spending in upstate New York, according to estimates released June 12 by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
The savings would come from patients switching to generic versions of 35 brand-name prescription drugs with expiring patents. Generics can start to appear shortly after patents expire, and costs to patients typically start to plummet in about six months, according to Rochester–based Excellus, which is Central New York’s largest health insurer.
“2012 is a big year,” says Joel Owerbach, the insurer’s vice president and chief pharmacy officer. “In terms of numbers, it is big. In terms of impact drugs, it is big.”
For 2012, Excellus tallied 26 brand-name medications with generic versions it expects to become available. A total of 449,000 users in 39 upstate counties spend nearly $731 million per year on the brand-name drugs, the insurer estimated.
Those users would cut prescription-drug spending by a total of $585 million if they switched to appearing generic versions, Excellus said.
One of the headline drugs coming off patent in 2012 is Avapro, Owerbach says. The blood-pressure prescription is used by 32,200 people in upstate New York. Annual savings of nearly $27 million would be realized if all users switched to Avapro’s generic version, irbesartan, according to Excellus estimates.
For 2013, the insurer listed nine brand-name drugs it expects to become available as generics. About 80,600 users spend almost $162 million annually on those brand-name medications. Generics could save $129.6 million per year.
Prescription-drug spending makes up between 15 percent and 17 percent of health-insurance premiums, Excellus said. Therefore, slashing spending on medications can help keep premiums down, according to Owerbach.
“It means tens of millions of dollars we don’t have to put into our premiums, so we can put out an affordable product,” he says. “If you happen to be using one of these drugs, depending on what your benefit is, you’re going to be paying less on a generic. Additionally, it makes it more affordable for employers to be able to provide drug-benefit coverage for their employees.”
A total of more than 529,000 upstate residents use the 35 drugs that Excellus expects to come out as generics by the end of 2013. Savings vary depending on the medication, but generics are often drastically less expensive, the insurer found.
For example, patents covering the heart medication Plavix expired in May, and the generic version, clopidogrel, started making its way into pharmacies. A 30-day supply of the brand-name Plavix cost about $230, but a 30-day supply of generic clopidogrel could be found for as little as $10, Excellus noted.
About 61,700 upstate residents are on Plavix, according to the insurer. Switching them to the generic would net savings of $101.7 million per year, it estimated.
Lowering the cost of drugs can have long-term effects, Owerbach says. Patients are more likely to take lower-priced drugs as prescribed — and when they don’t skip doses, they are less likely to have serious medical issues.
“People who are compliant with statin drugs tend to have less long-term medical costs,” he says. “They don’t get as many heart attacks. That helps lower medical costs and keeps premiums low.”
Excellus is encouraging doctors and patients to consider generics. Last year, it set a target of an 80-percent generic fill rate in upstate New York.
In the insurer’s commercial business, the rate was about 77 percent in the first quarter of this year, Owerbach says. It was likely around 75 percent in Central New York, although no regional breakdown is available yet, he adds.
“We try to promote a dialogue and a conversation to continually educate doctors and educate consumers to say there are lower-cost options and alternatives,” Owerbach says. “The good news is we expect 85 percent to 90 percent of people who start on a generic will continue on a generic, because the drug works for them.”
Excellus based its estimates on data from October 2011 to March 2012 from its pharmacy-management division. Its cost-savings calculations assumed 100 percent of brand-name drug users would change to generics and that generics would cut costs by 80 percent.
Small-business optimism slips in May; firms ‘treading water’
A monthly measurement of small-business owners’ optimism nationally stabilized in May, diminishing incrementally after registering ups and downs in April and March. The Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) dipped one-tenth of a point in May. It registered 94.4, which is low by historical standards and matches slow growth
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A monthly measurement of small-business owners’ optimism nationally stabilized in May, diminishing incrementally after registering ups and downs in April and March.
The Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) dipped one-tenth of a point in May. It registered 94.4, which is low by historical standards and matches slow growth in employment and gross domestic product, according to the business organization.
May’s indication of relatively steady optimism levels comes after contrasting gains and losses over the last two months. The index fell 1.8 points in March, then rose 2 points in April.
Even so, small-business owners adjusted some of their views during May. They shifted their sales expectations downward while cutting back on negativity about the economy as a whole.
A seasonally adjusted net 2 percent of owners expected higher sales over the next three months, the NFIB found. That’s down 4 points from April, when a net 6 percent anticipated higher sales.
And a net negative 2 percent predicted better business conditions in six months, seasonally adjusted. Although the indicator is negative, it is up 3 points from April, when a net negative 5 percent of owners foresaw improving business conditions. The negative result indicates more business owners expect worse conditions than better conditions.
The NFIB calculates net percentages by subtracting pessimistic survey answers from optimistic answers. A positive net percentage indicates more optimistic business owners, but a negative percentage shows predominant pessimism.
New York director’s comments
Small-business owners in New York State are keeping their outlooks steady, according to NFIB New York State Director Mike Durant. Their feelings are similar to those reflected in the business organization’s optimism index, which is developed from a national survey, he adds.
“It’s great that they’re treading water, but at the same time you’re not going to move the needle very far when you have more regulations, a potential minimum-wage hike — all the things we’re seeing at a national and state level,” he says.
Even if New York’s legislative session expires this month without the passage of a minimum-wage increase, which many business owners fear, fall elections are breeding uncertainty, Durant says.
“They’re keeping one eye on Washington, D.C. and the fogginess that exists there with the presidential election,” he says. “They’re playing wait-and-see.”
Other survey findings
Hiring plans edged up 1 point in May, the NFIB’s national survey found. A seasonally adjusted net 6 percent of small-business owners said they planned to increase hiring in the next three months.
Hard-to-fill job openings also increased. Seasonally adjusted, 20 percent of owners reported having positions they were unable to fill, an increase of 3 points from April.
And plans to boost inventories rose. A seasonally adjusted net 2 percent of business owners indicated they wanted to increase inventories in three to six months, up 2 points from 0 in April.
But business owners were satisfied with their current inventory levels. The seasonally adjusted net percent of owners who said their inventories were too low was unchanged from April at 0. Also unchanged was the portion of business owners who rated the next three months as a good time to expand. It slotted in at a seasonally adjusted 7 percent for the third straight month.
Plans to make capital outlays receded 1 point. Seasonally adjusted, 24 percent of business owners planned capital expenditures in the next three to six months.
Expectations for credit conditions lowered as well, slipping 2 points in May. A net negative 10 percent of regular borrowers expected borrowing to become easier over the next three months. In other words, most business owners thought borrowing will become more difficult.
Finally, earnings took a hit, as a seasonally adjusted net negative 15 percent of business owners reported their earnings were higher in the last three months when compared to the prior three months. The result was down 3 points from April and indicates most business owners experienced worsening earnings.
Taxes claimed the top spot as the single most-important problem cited by business owners. In May, 22 percent said taxes were their single biggest problem. They were followed closely by poor sales, cited by 20 percent, and government regulations and red tape, which was named by 19 percent.
The NFIB, a nonprofit organization representing members in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., calculated the Small Business Optimism Index after surveying 681 of its members in May.
St. Joseph’s names Women and Children’s Service Line leaders
SYRACUSE — St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center has named an administrator and medical director for its Women and Children’s Service Line, cementing a new organizational structure it has been using for much of the last year. “We’re structuring how we deliver care,” says Gael Gilbert, director of Maternal Child and Inpatient Psychiatric Services at St.
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SYRACUSE — St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center has named an administrator and medical director for its Women and Children’s Service Line, cementing a new organizational structure it has been using for much of the last year.
“We’re structuring how we deliver care,” says Gael Gilbert, director of Maternal Child and Inpatient Psychiatric Services at St. Joseph’s and the administrator of its Women and Children’s Service Line. “We’re hopefully making it more efficient, more patient friendly, more staff friendly, and more provider friendly.”
The service line encompasses the hospital’s labor and delivery section, intensive-care nursery, postpartum mother-baby area, low-risk birthplace area, women’s medical surgical unit, and primary-care areas. More than 150 staff members work in the line’s areas. The idea is to bring people together from different units to help improve aspects like safety and efficiency.
The main service-line committee is made up of about 15 people and meets on a monthly basis. It also has subcommittees to work on specific issues, and it calls in ad-hoc members to help with certain focus areas, such as purchasing or marketing.
Service-line committee members aren’t all department heads, according to Dr. James Brown, who was named the line’s medical director.
“A lot of times you’ll have managers and their higher-up chairmen making decisions, but you won’t have the everyday people that are working on the front lines and can recognize that you can’t do something this way because of an issue,” he says. “So, now we have the frontline people being a part of the process. They can tell us what will work because they’re living it every day.”
For example, the hospital’s new emergency room is not close to its labor and delivery unit, Brown says. And while most mothers-to-be enter the hospital through its main entrance, a few go through the emergency room.
Employees at the main entrance know how to take a mother to the labor and delivery unit smoothly, according to Brown. But the Women and Children’s Service Line has been working to help the hospital’s emergency-room staff — its nurses and physicians — move soon-to-be mothers safely and efficiently, he says.
“Those are examples you find throughout the network,” Gilbert says. “We’re the experts in women’s and children’s [health care]. We want to make sure we’re working with other areas.”
The Women and Children’s Service Line is the fourth service line at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center. St. Joseph’s also has cardiac, orthopedic, and behavioral-health service lines. The first of those lines, cardiac and behavioral health, were informally established in 2005 and then set up formally in 2008.
St. Joseph’s Women and Children’s Service Line has reduced costs and improved efficiency, Gilbert says. But, she declined to share specific data because she says it is competitive information.
In trips around the country, Brown has seen other hospitals implementing service lines, he says. Hospitals typically start with orthopedics and cardiac surgery, although some, such as Rochester General Hospital, also have women and children’s service lines, he adds.
As St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center’s Women and Children’s Service Line administrator and medical director, respectively, Gilbert and Brown communicate with each other daily and meet weekly.
“Theoretically, every single person who works at St. Joseph’s is impacted by this,” Gilbert says. “Services for women and children touches every single department in the hospital, whether it be radiology, whether it be admitting, whether it be marketing.”
St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center is a nonprofit hospital with 431 beds and a health-care network that serves patients from Onondaga County and 15 surrounding counties. It is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis.
Crouse program trains EMS providers in Lean Six Sigma
SYRACUSE — Crouse Hospital is using a new training program to try to straighten the road for ambulances and emergency medical service (EMS) providers. The program teaches Lean Six Sigma strategies. It is an attempt to boost medical-care quality and improve interactions between hospitals and EMS organizations. Lean strategies zero in on eliminating waste, while
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SYRACUSE — Crouse Hospital is using a new training program to try to straighten the road for ambulances and emergency medical service (EMS) providers.
The program teaches Lean Six Sigma strategies. It is an attempt to boost medical-care quality and improve interactions between hospitals and EMS organizations.
Lean strategies zero in on eliminating waste, while Six Sigma techniques center on removing the causes of errors and limiting variability in business processes. The techniques were developed by manufacturers and are often still associated with that industry.
However, they can be applied to health care, according to Dr. Michael Jorolemon, the Crouse program’s lead organizer and senior quality officer for emergency services at the hospital. Crouse has used Lean Six Sigma for several years, but this is the first time it is bringing in EMS providers to work on the techniques, he says.
“This has not been done any place that we’ve been able to find,” he says. “I sit on the Quality Improvement Committee at the National Association of EMS Physicians. Nobody there had ever heard of anything like this before.”
The course includes instruction and application. Participants are broken into groups that examine specific issues, such as EMS offload delays and turnaround operations — how an EMS crew prepares for its next call.
“It’s providing a structured way to attack problems,” Jorolemon says. “In health care and EMS, often we like to jump to solutions. But having a very structured, proven methodology allows for the generation of some new ideas.”
Jorolemon predicts the course will lead to increased efficiency and cost savings for the hospital and participating EMS organizations. But, he doesn’t have firm savings projections yet, as class participants have not finished their projects.
“There will be decreasing wait times to free up staff to get back into service sooner,” Jorolemon says. “So that means maybe a second crew doesn’t need to be activated, saving costs. Or more importantly, they are available sooner to take care of the next patient.”
Jorolemon started organizing the course about a year ago, after hearing a suggestion at a Crouse listening session with EMS providers.
Faculty members from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Quality & Applied Statistics teach the training sessions, which are held at Crouse’s Marley Education Center at 765 Irving Ave. in Syracuse. The course started at the beginning of April and is being held weekly through the end of June.
A total of 21 EMS providers make up the class, and they represent 15 different organizations from Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, and Onondaga counties. Providers come from professional and volunteer agencies. They consist of a mix of positions, including paramedics, training officers, directors of operations, general managers, and technicians.
“You get the frontline workers who actually work the process and the administrative and operational management members who can see how to make it happen,” Jorolemon says. “You don’t have somebody coming up with an idea and not understanding what’s needed to make it happen. And vice versa, you’re not having someone from up high making a decision and not really understanding how it impacts the frontline staff.”
In July, participants will issue reports on their group projects. Those reports are slated for Crouse’s EMS listening session, which brings together between 125 and 150 EMS providers, Jorolemon says.
He hopes the groups’ findings will spread beyond participating organizations. For example, he wants to roll results into the protocols that govern EMS procedures throughout Central New York.
Participants will be certified at Lean Six Sigma’s Green Belt level once the course is complete, Jorolemon says.
“It gives the tools needed to be the project manager and help not only these projects, but future projects,” he says. “And that’s our hope: that this will continue within their agencies.”
A grant from the State University of New York Community College Workforce Development Training Grant Program is funding the Crouse classes. The grant is for just over $40,000, with in-kind and cash matches from employers totaling almost $12,000, according to Bruce Hamm, assistant director of workforce development at Onondaga Community College.
Crouse is picking up any additional costs, such as parking, breakfast, and lunch expenses, Jorolemon says. He hopes to run another version of the class next year, but has not yet solidified plans to do so.
Participant response
Rural/Metro Medical Services of Central New York is sending four employees to Crouse’s Lean Six Sigma classes. They are working on a project evaluating the readiness of ambulance groups.
That includes looking at everything from the vehicle check-out process to what providers do between calls, says Troy Hogue, Rural/Metro Syracuse area manager and one of the Rural/Metro employees at the class.
“Are there more efficient, smarter ways to do things?” he says. “Are there ways for other people to do these things for the crew so they show up set, prepared, and ready to hit the road?”
The weekly classes typically include instruction sessions followed by group breakouts, according to Hogue. The breakout sessions allow participants to apply skills right away, he adds.
“We’ve been through some similar, more traditional quality improvement [at Rural/Metro],” he says. “Some of the techniques are things that we’ve used before, and there are some new techniques.”
Rural/Metro Medical Services of Central New York, headquartered at 488 W. Onondaga St. in Syracuse, employs more than 300 people. It serves a six-county area in Central New York.
Crouse Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital licensed for 506 acute-care beds and 57 bassinets. It serves more than 23,000 inpatients, 66,000 emergency-services patients, and more than 250,000 outpatients per year from 15 counties in Central New York and Northern New York. The hospital is located at 736 Irving Ave. in Syracuse and employs 2,700 people.
NY follows national trends on debt, according to Fed data
Residents of New York State weren’t immune to national trends when it came to handling debt at the beginning of this year, a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows. The New York Fed’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, released May 31, found that the total debt balance for
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Residents of New York State weren’t immune to national trends when it came to handling debt at the beginning of this year, a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows.
The New York Fed’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, released May 31, found that the total debt balance for the nation declined slightly in the first quarter of 2012. Total debt balance dropped from $11.54 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $11.44 trillion in this year’s first three months.
New Yorkers followed suit, according to the report’s measurements of debt by state, expressed on a per capita basis. Per capita debt in New York fell from $49,570 to $49,440.
The debt drawdown may not be solely the result of consumers choosing to pay off loans or eschewing further borrowing, according to Wilbert van der Klaauw, vice president of the microeconomic studies function at the New York Fed and co-author of the quarterly debt report.
“There’s a question of how much of consumers’ debt pay down is voluntary or the product of tightened credit standards,” he said in an email. “It’s more difficult now to take out home-equity lines of credit or second liens.”
Still, van der Klaauw conceded that consumers are working to reduce debt on a national level.
“Our research suggests that while tightened lending standards have played a major role in declining liabilities of the household sector, consumer-initiated reductions in debt have contributed as well,” he said.
Nationally, mortgages made up the largest portion of consumer debt — $8.2 trillion. Student loans were next at $904 billion, followed by auto loans at $737 billion, credit cards at $679 billion, and revolving home equity at $612 billion. Other forms of debt accounted for $319 billion.
New York State residents also had a majority of their debt in mortgages. Per-capita mortgage debt in the state was $34,050 in the first quarter of 2012.
Student loans were the next-highest source of debt in the state at $4,610 per capita. Revolving home equity slotted in below that at $3,780 per capita, followed by credit cards at $3,320, auto loans at $2,670, and other forms of debt at $1,010.
The New York Fed highlighted student-loan debt in this month’s report. Nationwide, student-loan debt reported on consumer credit reports increased by $30 billion from the end of 2011 to $904 billion in the first quarter of this year.
It is not yet clear how ballooning student debt will affect young consumers’ spending habits, van der Klaauw said.
“In terms of their future ability to spend and to buy homes, outstanding student loan debt can have some effect,” he said. “We don’t know enough about how big that impact will be. Those who have delinquent student loans will see their credit scores affected.”
Nationally, the percentage of student loans that were delinquent for 90 or more days increased in the first quarter of 2012. It rose to 8.69 percent, from 8.45 percent the previous quarter.
However, delinquencies of 90 or more days for all other forms of debt fell slightly. Auto loans and “other” forms of debt tied for the largest decline, 0.27 percentage points. Auto loans fell from 4.82 percent delinquent for 90 days or more to 4.55 percent, while “other” delinquencies slipped from 10.51 percent to 10.24 percent.
For all forms of debt combined, the portion of loans delinquent for 90 or more days fell from 7.14 percent to 6.96 percent.
“Delinquency rates are coming down on most forms of debt,” van der Klaauw said. “Bankruptcies and foreclosures are coming down a little bit overall. Overall, those numbers are good.”
Contractors believe Solarize Madison will help their firms shine
Two upstate New York companies are brightening their outlook for 2012 after being selected as contractors for a new solar-power group-purchasing program in Madison County. The program, Solarize Madison, selected Rochester–based Arista Power, Inc. and Endicott–based ETM Solar Works to install photovoltaic solar-power systems in Madison County. Arista Power will sell direct-buy systems, which owners purchase
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Two upstate New York companies are brightening their outlook for 2012 after being selected as contractors for a new solar-power group-purchasing program in Madison County.
The program, Solarize Madison, selected Rochester–based Arista Power, Inc. and Endicott–based ETM Solar Works to install photovoltaic solar-power systems in Madison County. Arista Power will sell direct-buy systems, which owners purchase outright, while ETM will lease out systems.
Solarize Madison calls for the companies to install a combined minimum of 30 systems in 2012. It is open to a variety of individuals and organizations, including businesses, farms, homeowners, and municipalities.
The program is an attempt to lower the cost of a solar-power system by using group purchasing. So, a business or homeowner purchasing or leasing a solar array through Solarize Madison will pay less than if it had contracted with a solar company independently — up to 80 percent less, according to initial estimates.
The program’s contractors expect to receive benefits as well.
“We look at the Solarize Madison program as a great way to get the word out about solar in general,” says Gay Canough, president of ETM Solar Works. “Yes, the homeowners in the program are going to get some special deals, but I think the most important thing to us is getting the word out, letting people know about solar so that more people will think about going solar.”
ETM Solar Works, founded in 1988, already has some customers in Madison County — it operates in a 75-mile radius around Binghamton, according to Canough, who owns ETM along with her husband, Lawrence Lehman. But participating in Solarize Madison will give the company a greater presence in the county, she predicts.
It will also be worth about $500,000 in revenue, Canough estimates. ETM generated $2 million in revenue in 2011 and anticipates $2.5 million in revenue in 2012.
The firm, which is headquartered in 3,700 square feet of a building it owns at 300 North St. in Endicott, plans to hire one or two new workers this fall. It currently has nine employees.
Arista Power foresees similar benefits from its affiliation with Solarize Madison, although it likely won’t be doing any hiring, according to Cherrie Mahon, its vice president of investor relations and corporate communications. The company currently has 16 employees.
Arista Power has not done any work in Madison County previously, Mahon says. Instead, its work has been in the Rochester area and surrounding counties.
“It’s a great way for us to get into Madison County,” she says. “It’s not that far for us.”
Arista Power, which was founded in 2001 as a research-and-development company specializing in wind power, has only been doing solar installations since the end of 2009. The company wants to use the Solarize Madison program as a way to spread its name and increase awareness of solar energy, Mahon says.
“What we want to do, and what we’ve committed to doing, is marketing and word-of-mouth events,” she says. “We want to get the community involved in it.”
Arista Power expects to generate about $400,000 in revenue by installing direct-buy systems through Solarize Madison. That would bump its 2012 revenue up to $7.5 million, Mahon says.
The company generated slightly less than $800,000 in revenue in 2011. Much of the firm’s anticipated revenue jump between 2011 and 2012 is largely due to military contracts the company had been working on that were not payable until this year, Mahon adds.
Arista Power is headquartered in 20,000 square feet at 1999 Mt. Read Boulevard in Rochester. The firm is publicly traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the ticker ASPW.
Solarize Madison background
Solarize Madison’s contracts with Arista Power and ETM are for this year, according to Janet Myers, the program’s project manager. If the program continues next year, which has not yet been decided, it will undergo a new request-for-proposal process to pick contractors, she says.
The Solarize Madison program is modeled after similar initiatives in Oregon and Massachusetts, according to Myers, who is working toward a bachelor’s degree in renewable-energy technology at Morrisville State College. It has support from the Madison County Planning Department, the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board, and the Renewable Energy Training Center at Morrisville State College.
“Most of the other Solarize programs have been strictly residential,” Myers says. “We’re opening it to all of Madison County, whether it be a homeowner, business owner, farm owner, or municipality.”
Those who are interested in purchasing or leasing a solar system through the program will have to sign up by Sept. 30, according to Myers. So far, 12 people have expressed interest — and the program has yet to start a public push, she adds.
Acquiring a solar-power system through Solarize Madison could cut costs by about 80 percent, Myers says. That estimate is for a small system generating less than 50 kW, and it includes federal and state tax credits, as well as incentives from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
The cost-savings analysis doesn’t include one additional incentive that will be available to some homeowners. The Madison County Planning Department is offering grants of $2,000 for the first 15 homeowners who purchase photovoltaic systems through the program. That $2,000 incentive is funded from a grant from the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board’s Climate Change Innovation Program, and it will not be available for those who choose to lease solar-power systems.
Myers hopes Solarize Madison sparks a rash of installations. From 2003 to the end of 2011, just 26 photovoltaic systems were installed in Madison County, she says.
Auburn and Rochester hospitals end affiliation talks
AUBURN — Auburn Community Hospital will not affiliate with Rochester General Health System after the two parties ended four months of discussions. The health-care providers
Housing Visions, residents reap rewards of green-home construction
SYRACUSE — The benefits of green building don’t evaporate after the last pieces of drywall are in place for a Central New York nonprofit housing organization. They trickle down long after work is complete, according to Benjamin Lockwood, the director of development at Housing Visions, a 501(c)(3) that focuses on revitalizing neighborhoods by building and
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SYRACUSE — The benefits of green building don’t evaporate after the last pieces of drywall are in place for a Central New York nonprofit housing organization.
They trickle down long after work is complete, according to Benjamin Lockwood, the director of development at Housing Visions, a 501(c)(3) that focuses on revitalizing neighborhoods by building and managing affordable housing. The Syracuse–based organization has been building all its homes to meet federally backed Energy Star efficiency standards for about the last four years, he says.
“Not only are we building them, we’re managing them,” Lockwood says. “The more sustainable the products can be, the less it’s going to cost to operate them as they age.”
Housing Visions typically installs power-saving equipment like tankless water heaters and efficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, he continues. It pays attention to details during construction.
For example, the organization makes sure buildings have proper drainage, eliminating the possibility that water damage could lead to future energy losses. And, it invests in airtight walls, windows, and doors.
“Our buildings are sealed so tightly now that we introduce ventilation into the buildings to ensure that we’re getting the proper amount of airflow into them,” Lockwood says.
The nonprofit received a 2012 Energy Star Leadership in Housing Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in April for building more than 200 Energy Star-certified units since 2010. It has built 206 Energy Star-certified units since that year — 78 in Syracuse, 58 in Oswego, 33 in Rome, and 37 in Utica.
The energy-efficient homes benefit both Housing Visions and its residents, according to Lockwood. The organization estimates that the power-saving units it built since 2010 will save their residents a total of more than $92,000 on utility bills.
“If you can save someone 20, 30, 40 percent on their energy bills, and they’re low income, that’s a huge savings,” Lockwood says.
Housing Visions started to invest heavily in green building after the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which provides some funding for the organization, launched a green-building initiative in 2007, according to Lockwood. That initiative prompted the Syracuse–based organization to work to build units that meet Energy Star standards.
Now, the nonprofit is aiming for one of its current projects to achieve U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification, the highest of four LEED levels. The project is an $8.1 million, 50-unit apartment building for homeless veterans slated for the former Jewish Community Center on East Genesee Street in Syracuse.
Housing Visions plans to pursue LEED certification for the project because, at 45,000 square feet, the facility will be larger than a typical home the organization builds. Most of the time, it builds homes to a LEED level, but opts not to apply for certification.
“We generally build to a very high standard,” Lockwood says. “But the cost to get LEED certification generally outweighs any plaque you’d get.”
Housing Visions was founded in 1990 and is based in about 7,500 square feet of space it owns at 1201 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse. Its other offices include locations in Oswego, Utica, Rome, and Cortland.
The organization completes between 60 and 100 units every year, Lockwood estimates. About half of the units it finishes are rehabilitated existing structures, and half are new construction, he says.
Between 85 and 100 people work at Housing Visions, depending on the number of projects it has active. Its employment levels have steadily increased since eight years ago, when it had 15 to 20 workers, according to Lockwood.
The nonprofit’s employees include construction workers who work on its projects. However, it also uses labor from outside contractors, and it turns to outside consultants to draw architectural designs.
Housing Visions has between 30 and 40 employees working in Syracuse, and it generated $14 million in revenue in 2011, according to Lockwood. It is projecting revenue will grow to between $16 million and $18 million in 2012, he says.
Revenue sources include developer fees and fees associated with property management, Lockwood says. In addition, the organization specializes in low-income housing tax credits.
AECC expects acquisitions before year’s end
DeWITT — A DeWitt–based environmental consulting firm has been growing rapidly since its launch in 2009. AECC had nine employees when it was founded and is up to 25 people now. Company President Bryan Bowers originally expected to have that many employees after five years. “Things are going well and much faster than anticipated,” he
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DeWITT — A DeWitt–based environmental consulting firm has been growing rapidly since its launch in 2009.
AECC had nine employees when it was founded and is up to 25 people now. Company President Bryan Bowers originally expected to have that many employees after five years.
“Things are going well and much faster than anticipated,” he says.
AECC is on pace to generate revenue of $3.5 million to $4 million in 2012, up from $2 million in 2010 and $850,000 in 2009. AECC completed 375 projects for clients last year, up from 308 in 2010 and 159 in its first year in business.
The firm served 175 clients in 2011, up from 150 in 2010, and 90 in 2009.
AECC’s key areas of expertise include environmental-site investigation and remediation, wetland work, environmental health and safety compliance, and industrial hygiene, including work with lead paint and mold issues. Bowers says the growth has been driven by some key hires he’s made since founding the business.
Clients in the field, he notes, tend to follow individuals rather than companies. That means the employees he’s hired in recent years have often brought business relationships with them.
In the past year, he says he’s added staff members with expertise in some of the firm’s critical business areas.
The company has managed to shift with changing market forces in recent years. When AECC first launched, about two-thirds of its work came from municipalities.
Now, the balance has shifted toward the private sector as municipal funding for environmental projects has been tight, Bowers says. AECC has managed to keep growing despite the change.
“We’re kind of a unique blend of both [municipal and private-sector clients],” he says. “We’ve managed to capture more work on the private side the past two years.”
AECC opened its fourth office in November 2011. The company added Albany to its list of locations, which also includes Rochester, Auburn, and its home base in DeWitt.
The company already had some customers in the Albany area and Bowers says the market should provide fertile ground for expansion. The office there is headed by Joseph Campisi, who Bowers says has been a mentor of his.
Campisi lives in the Albany area and has a number of contacts in the market, Bowers adds. He has more than 25 years of experience in environmental consulting.
The Albany location has two other AECC staff members as well. Bowers says he’s planning more additions to the office this year.
Companywide, Bowers expects to add 10 more employees by the end of the year.
He’s also eyeing acquisitions. Bowers says he’s in talks with several firms in Central New York and other markets. The company could close on up to two acquisitions by the end of the year.
AECC may also open more offices on its own in the years ahead. The Buffalo and Hudson Valley markets are two potential targets for the company, Bowers says.
The growth has resulted in tight quarters for AECC at its 2,000-square-foot headquarters at 6296 Fly Road. The firm is looking to move into a 5,000-square-foot to 10,000-square-foot space in the next three months, Bowers says.
Bowers, AECC’s sole owner, graduated from Le Moyne College in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He worked as a field technician for Pearl River, N.Y.–based Lawler, Matusky & Skelly Engineers, LLP after graduation.
Bowers then moved back to the Syracuse area and worked for the local office of Los Angeles–based AECOM (NYSE: ACM), and Environmental Compliance Management Corporation (ECMC) in Chittenango.
He then joined Geomatrix of DeWitt as an industrial-hygiene project manager in the summer of 2006.
San Diego, Calif.–based Kleinfelder acquired the DeWitt office of Geomatrix in April 2007. Bowers remained with the company until January 2009, when he left to launch AECC.
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