Caché opens new store on Destiny USA’s first level

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SYRACUSE — The women’s clothing store Caché is now open in a new location on Destiny USA’s first level. Caché previously operated a full-price store

Syracuse Crunch to feature Ephesus light show to raise banner on opening night

Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Technology

SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Crunch will debut an Ephesus light show at the Onondaga County War Memorial during its banner-raising ceremony to open the 2013-2014

Rochester’s HCR Home Care to expand further in Central New York

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Health Care, Regional News

HCR Home Care, a Rochester–based home-care agency, has plans to expand into Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, and Jefferson counties. It already operates locations in Cortland and

Federal Reserve rolls out new $100 bill to banks

Banks & Credit Unions, Insurance & Financial Services

The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday it began supplying banks with a redesigned U.S. $100 bill that includes new security features to help deter counterfeiters.

Destiny USA adds PUMA to its first level expansion area

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

SYRACUSE — Destiny USA today announced the addition of sport-lifestyle brand PUMA to the first level of its expansion area. PUMA brings a mix of

Cuomo: 82,000 jobs available on Jobs Express website

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Technology

Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced that more than 82,000 positions are available on the state’s Jobs Express website. Jobs Express connects job seekers to

OCC opens newest campus building, Academic II

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Health Care

ONONDAGA — Onondaga Community College (OCC) on Saturday, Oct. 5 welcomed the public to see the school’s newest building, Academic II. The school formally opened

CenterState CEO announces new Grants for Growth funding round

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SYRACUSE — CenterState CEO, the area’s main economic development and chamber of commerce organization, announced it is accepting applications for the 11th round of its Grants for Growth program. To date, the program has invested $2.25 million in 41 companies, leveraging $43.5 million in matching and follow-on funding through the program, according to CenterState CEO.

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SYRACUSE — CenterState CEO, the area’s main economic development and chamber of commerce organization, announced it is accepting applications for the 11th round of its Grants for Growth program.

To date, the program has invested $2.25 million in 41 companies, leveraging $43.5 million in matching and follow-on funding through the program, according to CenterState CEO.

Grants for Growth is a seed program that supports innovative applied research projects between universities and industry to improve business competitiveness and create jobs, the organization says. Companies can apply for the award in one of two categories based on their growth stage: $25,000 “Proof of Concept” grants for early-stage companies, and $150,000 “Concept to Marketplace” investments for later-stage companies.

“The academic research and development happening at educational institutions across our region provides growing businesses opportunities to create new investment, new products, and new jobs,” Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO, said in a news release. “Grants for Growth is an effective tool to drive these relationships; as it provides the support needed to accelerate products to market. We also realize that not every company has the same needs, so we are excited to support companies based on their current stage of development.”

Companies are encouraged to apply for Grants for Growth at www.thetechgarden.com by Dec. 1, 2013.

CenterState CEO says that to date, the Grants for Growth program has:

• Created 55 patents

• Engaged entrepreneurs from across seven CenterState New York counties

• Connected growing companies to 129 professors at six colleges and universities

• Created 108 jobs

• Created the potential for 679 new jobs

• Generated the potential for $46.2 million new revenue

The program receives funding from the New York State Senate via Senator John A. DeFrancisco.

“Grants for Growth is a proven job stimulator and provides great returns to these growing companies and ultimately our community” State Senator DeFrancisco said in the release. “During the program’s 10th round, we saw the highest level of interest from small and emerging companies looking to take part. The program’s value is obvious which is why I proudly continue my support.”

One of the programs most recent grant recipients, Rapid Cure Technologies, of Syracuse, is teaming up with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry to develop and manufacture unique resins, coatings, inks, and adhesives, according to the release. The firm specializes in formulating and supplying customized, rapid-cure chemistries and processes that save energy and space, while increasing quality and productivity. The $150,000 investment Rapid Cure Technologies received in Round 10 is already being used to advance its products to market while bringing the firm additional exposure and demand.

“As a new start-up company, Rapid Cure Technologies is utilizing the Grants for Growth funding to overcome key organizational hurdles and build execution into our strategy,” Tim Shaughnessy, president & CEO of Rapid Cure, said in the news release. “This program allowed us to create and capture new demand for our product and grow as an organization.”

For every $18,041 invested in the Grants for Growth program, a job that pays more $68,000 is created, CenterState CEO contends.

Grants for Growth also gives companies across the 12-county CenterState region more access to the extensive resources available at area colleges and universities. In turn, those universities and research centers gain additional capacity to transfer the latest knowledge and skills to targeted industrial clusters, CenterState CEO says.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com

Community Foundation pledges $1 million to support Say Yes Syracuse

Health Care, Nonprofits, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — The Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF) today announced its board of directors voted to renew its $1 million commitment to the Syracuse chapter of Say Yes to Education, called Say Yes Syracuse. The gift continues the Community Foundation’s annual support of the Say Yes tuition promise, the nonprofit said in a news

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The gift continues the Community Foundation’s annual support of the Say Yes tuition promise, the nonprofit said in a news release.

The Community Foundation made its first $1 million pledge in 2009, and the pledges conclude in 2014, according to the CNYCF.

The pledge represents the largest investment the organization has ever made to a communitywide initiative, the Community Foundation said.

The financial commitment provides $200,000 per year to pay for Say Yes scholarships while the organization builds an endowment to fund the scholarships permanently.

The CNYCF board “quickly” recognized the potential of Say Yes to “galvanize” the community around education reform and economic development, Peter Dunn, president & CEO of the Community Foundation, said in the news release.

“The tuition promise is at the core of the Say Yes model, an incentive for students to persevere toward graduation and reinforce the message that college is a realistic and affordable option. We felt it was a priority to make that promise a reality for the first graduating class and those that followed,” Dunn said.

In 2011, SRC, Inc. committed $5 million in matching dollars to launch an endowment campaign. To date, Say Yes Syracuse has raised 70 percent of the funds required to complete the match, CNYCF said.

The ultimate goal is to build a $20 million endowment that the Community Foundation will manage to provide a “perpetual” source of scholarship dollars, according to the organization.

In addition to overseeing the investment of the Say Yes endowment funds, the Community Foundation works closely with Say Yes to administer the scholarship program and distribute “last-dollar aid” to colleges on behalf of the scholarship recipients, CNYCF said.

The Say Yes Scholarship Endowment campaign has attracted significant funding from a number of foundation, corporate, and individual donors, the Community Foundation said.

The donors include the Allyn Foundation, a private family foundation based in Skaneateles Falls; the DeWitt–based Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation; and Clay–based Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, which have each committed $500,000 toward the endowment, CNYCF said.

Neil Goldberg, president of Raymour & Flanigan, co-chairs the campaign with Allen Naples, regional president of M&T Bank.

M&T was an early donor to the effort with a gift of $100,000, according to CNYCF.

Say Yes Syracuse is a collaboration that brings together the Syracuse City School District, Syracuse University, the Syracuse Teachers Association, the Syracuse Association of Administrators and Supervisors, the city of Syracuse, Onondaga County, and the Washington, D.C.–based American Institutes for Research, which describes itself as “one of the world’s largest behavioral and social-science research organizations” on its website.

The collaboration also involves a diverse group of Syracuse–area corporate, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations, and a number of public and private higher-education partners, according to the Community Foundation.

Established in 1927, the Central New York Community Foundation is the largest charitable foundation in the region with assets of more than $143 million, the organization said.

It awarded $8.3 million in grants last year to nonprofit organizations and since its inception has invested more than $120 million in the community, according to its website.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Empire Center relaunches as independent think tank

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Subscriber Only

The Empire Center for Public Policy, which started in 2005 as a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, has relaunched as an independent, nonprofit think tank, E.J. McMahon, the center’s president, announced Friday. The nonpartisan, Albany–based Empire Center will “stay focused on presenting ideas to make New York a better place to live,

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The nonpartisan, Albany–based Empire Center will “stay focused on presenting ideas to make New York a better place to live, work and do business,” McMahon said in a news release.

“At the same time,” he added, “we will highlight obstacles to greater growth and prosperity in the Empire State, including high taxes, excessive spending and debt, unfunded liabilities, and costly public-sector collective bargaining mandates.”

The Empire Center says it played a “key role” in developing and promoting New York’s local property-tax cap, which was enacted in 2011. The center has also called public attention to the $250 billion in unfunded retiree health-care promises made by state and local governments in New York; documented and explained the causes of New York’s public pension-funding crisis; and analyzed recent state tax increases, according to the news release. Some key recommendations in the center’s January, 2010 “Blueprint for a Better Budget” were adopted in subsequent state spending plans.

The Empire Center sponsors the website www.SeeThroughNY.net, which features searchable online databases of government salaries, pensions, union contracts, government spending, and other information.

Lawrence Mone, president of the Manhattan Institute, said the institute’s spinoff of the Empire Center was “a tribute to the Center’s solid work and growing effectiveness.”

”The Institute is proud to have nurtured and built the Empire Center to the point where it can stand on its own as an organization focused on policy research and education in New York State,” Mone said in the release. “The Manhattan Institute will continue to work closely with the Empire Center while strongly encouraging private-sector support for the Center’s activities.”

McMahon will also remain affiliated with the Manhattan Institute as a senior fellow with the Center for State and Local Leadership, Mone said.

Empire Center for Public Policy, Inc. has received approval from the IRS to be fully exempt from federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, meaning contributions to the Empire Center are deductible to the full extent provided by law, according to the news release.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com

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