Pathfinder Bank expands its Syracuse branch plans

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SYRACUSE — Pathfinder Bank is expanding its planned downtown Syracuse branch office even before it opens. The Oswego–based community bank had expected to open a 1,500-square-foot office focused on lending in Pike Block by about Oct. 1. But now, Pathfinder is shifting gears to open a 2,600-square-foot office that will offer a broader range […]

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SYRACUSE — Pathfinder Bank is expanding its planned downtown Syracuse branch office even before it opens.

The Oswego–based community bank had expected to open a 1,500-square-foot office focused on lending in Pike Block by about Oct. 1. But now, Pathfinder is shifting gears to open a 2,600-square-foot office that will offer a broader range of services, including accepting commercial deposits, according to Thomas W. Schneider, president and CEO of Pathfinder Bank and its holding company, Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBHC).

“I anticipate strong demand in the marketplace as we’ve had in our lending capabilities and want to be in position to respond quickly to meet market needs,” Schneider says in an interview.

The office, which will be Pathfinder’s first-ever physical location in Syracuse, is now expected to open around Nov. 1, he says. It will employ a minimum of four full-time equivalent employees. Pathfinder employs 111 people companywide.

Pathfinder is enlarging its plans for the branch in part because of opportunity — additional space came available at Pike Block — and in part because it wants to accommodate future growth.

“We were fortunate that [the space] was available. At the same time, we started to assess how quickly we might outgrow the 1,500 square feet,” Schneider says. He says the bank is adding a “a sliver of space” between its originally planned location and space that CenterState CEO will occupy at Pike Block. “We were very happy to be able to have the space,” he says.

The Pike Block is a combination of the Chamberlin, Witherill, Wilson, and Bond Buildings at the corner of South Salina and West Fayette Streets, and is being developed by VIP Development Associates, Inc. (VIPDA). The development includes residential apartments that have started opening, as well as planned commercial tenants like Tim Hortons Café and Bake Shop and Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches — in addition to Pathfinder and CenterState CEO.

The Pathfinder branch office will primarily focus on making small business, commercial real estate, commercial term, and industrial loans, and accepting commercial deposits. But with the larger space, the bank is setting the stage for a possible, full-scale retail branch office, accepting consumer deposits.

“We particularly want to be able to service commercial deposits and if the market demand seems ready for retail then we’ll have the ability to be able to provide that quickly,” Schneider says. “If you look at the residents moving into the downtown area, in and around the Armory Square area, we expect that retail demand to build and we’ll be able to meet it.”

Pathfinder Bank, founded in 1859 as Oswego City Savings Bank, says it’s the oldest financial institution in Oswego County. And until recent years, it focused almost exclusively on that county.

But for the last eight years, Pathfinder has been actively making loans into the Syracuse market and generating some of its best growth there, according to Schneider. Its growth in small-business lending helped spark the bank to open its first retail branch office in Onondaga County in early 2011 — on Route 31 in Cicero. The bank’s other seven branches are all in Oswego County.

Pathfinder Bank’s Cicero office has generated steady growth, amassing $40 million in deposits by the end of June 2012, according to the latest FDIC data available.

Pathfinder expects to spend about $400,000 total to open the Pike Block branch. That covers everything — equipment, furniture, and design layout — but the people, says Schneider.

The bank will work with VIPDA and its parent VIP Structures, a Syracuse–based design-build firm, on the design phase and build-out of the office. Pathfinder has also hired DeWitt–based Design Specialists, Inc., headed by Krista J. Taskey, to provide interior design and space-planning services, says Schneider.

Pathfinder Bancorp, the holding company for Pathfinder Bank, reported net income of $823,000 in the second quarter, up 14 percent from $721,000 in the year-ago period.

Pathfinder’s earnings per share rose to 33 cents in the second quarter from 24 cents in the year-earlier quarter.

The banking company had total loans of nearly $338 million as of June 30, up slightly from total loans of almost $334 million as of Dec. 31, 2012.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com

Cornell: Leek moth threatens Northern New York’s onion farms

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Health Care, Subscriber Only

The Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) associations of Northern New York are asking farmers to report any findings of leek moth, a pest that prefers onions, garlic, chives, shallots, leeks, and other similar crops. Cornell University and CCE researchers — working with a Northern New York Agricultural Development Program grant to trap the pest to

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Cornell University and CCE researchers — working with a Northern New York Agricultural Development Program grant to trap the pest to identify its range — say that if the leek moth takes hold in the major onion-production areas of New York, the economic damage could be significant to the $54 million industry.

“The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) grant will help us determine where leek moth is, how fast it is spreading, and will help growers properly time control treatments,” Cornell Cooperative Extension of Clinton County Executive Director Amy Ivy, a horticulture specialist, said in a news release.

Masanori Seto, with the Cornell University Department of Entomology at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, says the current distribution of leek moth includes Clinton, Essex, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties as well as one county in Vermont.

A nocturnal pest, the leek-moth adult is rarely seen unless trapped, according to researchers. Leek moth was first spotted in the U.S. in Northern New York in 2009 in garlic and onions in a home garden in Plattsburgh (Clinton County.) The pest was identified in St. Lawrence County, near Canton, in 2010. Commercial growers in Essex and Jefferson counties reported finding leek moth in their fields in 2012, the news release said.

The adult leek moth is speckled brown, black and white with a white spot halfway down its outer pair of wings, researchers say. The adult survives the winters in northern New York and becomes active in the spring. The larva feeds mainly on plant leaves, from inside. It sometimes bores downward into the plant bulb and leaves feeding damage, according to researchers.

Leek-moth damage stunts plant growth, introduces rot, reduces the storage life of onions and garlic, and hurts the marketability of the crops, according to the news release. Cornell University entomologist A. M. Shelton is evaluating insecticidal treatments in his Ithaca campus lab. He is developing a growing day-degree model to help growers target the right times to apply insecticides to crops, the release noted.

As part of the NNYADP-funded grant, Shelton is also investigating ways to use biological-control agents effective in controlling leek moth.

“Eradication is not realistic, so we are learning to properly time treatments to reduce leek moth populations and the associated crop damage,” Ivy said in the release.

Two insecticidal products are currently approved for use on organic crops and three for use in conventional farming, the release noted.

Ivy encourages growers to implement the cultural practices currently available to growers to prevent leek-moth infestation. Those practices, the release explained, include the use of row covers right after planting to prevent adults from laying eggs on host crops, crop rotation, delayed planting, good field and harvest hygiene, scouting and destruction of leek moth pupae or larvae, and early harvesting before the final seasonal flight occurs.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program says it funds on-farm research, technical assistance, and outreach projects to support the productivity and economic viability of farms across New York state’s six northernmost counties.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com

NYPA issues annual report, detailing progress on sustainability initiatives

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Subscriber Only

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) recently announced it has issued an annual report tracking its first three years of implementing a sustainability-action plan. Unveiled in 2010, NYPA developed the three-year plan to encourage a “greater culture of sustainability” in every aspect of the Authority’s operations, NYPA said in a news release. The

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The New York Power Authority (NYPA) recently announced it has issued an annual report tracking its first three years of implementing a sustainability-action plan.

Unveiled in 2010, NYPA developed the three-year plan to encourage a “greater culture of sustainability” in every aspect of the Authority’s operations, NYPA said in a news release.

The report measures progress on 39 action items addressing such concerns as carbon emissions, water conservation, renewable energy, and green buildings, according to NYPA.

The plan incorporates NYPA’s “triple-bottom-line” definition of sustainability, which includes environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic prosperity, the Authority said.

The need to operate in a more sustainable manner became “especially apparent” in 2012 after the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy, Gil C. Quiniones, president and CEO of NYPA, said in a news release.

“Under the leadership of Gov. Cuomo, New York state has implemented a variety of initiatives to protect the environment, combat climate change and create green jobs. Here at the Power Authority, we are doing our part to help create a safer, cleaner, healthier future for all New Yorkers,” Quiniones said.

NYPA’s sustainability plan calls for publication of an annual-sustainability report with updates on all 39 action items, “as a way of increasing transparency within the Power Authority,” the organization said.

This latest report includes progress achieved during the year 2012 as well as the two previous years.

NYPA’s sustainable accomplishments for 2012 include additional certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

The USGBC, headquartered in Washington, D.C., renewed the gold-level designation on NYPA’s administrative offices in White Plains following a “more stringent recertification process,” the Authority said.

The report is available online at: http://www.nypa.gov/sustainability/SUSTAINABILITY-REPORT2012.pdf.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Unshackle Upstate issues new plan for job growth and tax relief

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Subscriber Only

Unshackle Upstate, a business-advocacy organization, has released its new economic-revitalization agenda (ERA) for Upstate. The proposal includes five points designed to deliver “broad-based” tax relief and stimulate job growth across upstate New York, Unshackle said in a news release. Citing upstate New York’s history of high taxes, economic decline, and population loss, the

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Unshackle Upstate, a business-advocacy organization, has released its new economic-revitalization agenda (ERA) for Upstate.

The proposal includes five points designed to deliver “broad-based” tax relief and stimulate job growth across upstate New York, Unshackle said in a news release.

Citing upstate New York’s history of high taxes, economic decline, and population loss, the organization emphasized the “importance” of enacting this plan in the 2014 legislative session.

Upstate communities have been “victimized by a three-headed monster for decades,” Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, said in the release.

“Our New ERA for Upstate plan will help combat the burdensome taxes, high unemployment rates and population losses that have plagued Upstate for far too long,” said Sampson. “This five-point plan will reduce taxes for people and businesses that need it the most. It will also create thousands of good-paying jobs and boost the Upstate economy.”

The plan calls for reducing state income taxes by 25 percent for Upstate residents earning less than $50,000 annually, which would cost about $225 million annually, Unshackle said.

It also calls for eliminating the 18a energy assessment for Upstate manufacturers, which would cost about $190 million in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, according to Unshackle Upstate.

The cost would decrease in succeeding years as the state phases out the tax, the organization added.

Unshackle Upstate’s plan also calls for reducing the corporate-franchise tax (9-A) for Upstate businesses and eventually repealing it altogether in 2018. The reduction would cost about $273 million in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

In addition, the organization would like lawmakers to reduce the state sales tax from four percent to two percent in Upstate counties that have had “significant” declines in population and high unemployment rates.

Unshackle Upstate also wants New York to develop the Marcellus Shale for natural-gas drilling, which it contends would generate about $78 million in state revenue in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

In total, the plan will cost $860 million, which is equivalent to 0.6 percent of the projected 2014 state budget, according to Unshackle Upstate.

The plan addresses what Unshackle has been calling for “since day one, real and impactful tax relief for Upstate,” Lou Santoni, president and CEO of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, said in the news release.

“Equally important is the recognition that natural-gas development will positively reshape the Southern Tier and Upstate economy. These are things that need to be done if New York is serious about improving Upstate,” Santoni said.

Unshackle Upstate is a coalition of more than 80 business and trade organizations representing upwards of 70,000 companies and employing more than 1.5 million people.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Bryant & Stratton focuses on employability of its graduates

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Health Care, Subscriber Only

CLAY — Once college students earn their degrees, the next step is to either further their education or begin pursuit of their first job. To help its students prepare for their job search, the local campuses of Bryant & Stratton College in mid-July held an “Employability Week” that included an alumni panel, student workshops,

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CLAY — Once college students earn their degrees, the next step is to either further their education or begin pursuit of their first job.

To help its students prepare for their job search, the local campuses of Bryant & Stratton College in mid-July held an “Employability Week” that included an alumni panel, student workshops, and a webinar that focused on advice for a job search.

The college held workshops at the campus at 8687 Carling Road in Clay and the one at 953 James St. in Syracuse.

In promoting the event, Bryant & Stratton College Online on June 5 announced it collaborated with Arlington, Va.–based Wakefield Research on a survey that found 80 percent of young adults aged 18 to 34 believe they have skills, experience, and education necessary to advance in their career path.

At the same time, the school also cited a December 2012 report from McKinsey & Company, Inc. entitled “Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works,” which indicates 39 percent of employers maintain jobs aren’t filled because entry-level candidates don’t have the necessary skills.

McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a New York City–based a management-consulting firm.

Bryant & Stratton organized activities to have students focus on professional and “soft skills,” says Kristen Aust, systems manager of career services for all campuses of Bryant & Stratton, which has a local office in Syracuse.

The soft skills include “…problem solving and time management and accountability and how important all those things are in the work place,” Aust says.

The school began the week with an alumni panel featuring former students who spoke about their experiences after graduation. They also talked about how they secured internships and landed their first job after college.

Bryant and Stratton also conducted a series of student workshops on July 16, which it referred to as “Employability Day.”

The workshops focused on résumé building, how to handle job interviews, and their online presentation on social-media websites, such as LinkedIn.

That same day included a lunch hour with a fashion show that focused on the types of apparel considered appropriate for the workplace, the school said.

Later that week, the activities concluded on July 19 with additional workshops on résumés and cover-letter writing. In addition, the school also presented an “Employability Summit,” a webinar conducted in Buffalo that included human-resource representatives from companies such as Marriott International (NYSE: MAR), Redmond, Wash.–based Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Clayton, Mo.–based Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

The representatives discussed what they look for in candidates during the hiring process and offered tips for improving a candidate’s interviewing skills.

“How to really present yourself and be able to articulate your academic preparedness in relation to helping a company and how you can have a positive impact on the things that are important to them,” Aust says.

Medical employment

Bryant & Stratton College also hosted a “Medical Employer Panel” on Aug. 14 at its downtown campus at 953 James St. in Syracuse.

Representatives from the Upstate University Hospital Community Campus, the New York State Society of Medical Assistants, and St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center participated in the event. The panelists discussed their educational backgrounds, training exams, the interview process, day-to-day responsibilities, and local opportunities for entry-level positions, the school said.

The two Syracuse–area Bryant & Stratton campuses offer health-care degree programs for students interested in work as a medical-administrative assistant, in health-services administration, and in medical assisting, the school said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

CH Insurance acquires programming accounts from NYCM Group

Insurance & Financial Services, Small Business, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — CH Insurance Brokerage, Inc., an independent agency located on the bottom floor of AXA Tower I in downtown Syracuse, on July 1 closed on its acquisition of certain workers’-compensation programs from NYCM Group in Cicero, which is no longer in business. CH Insurance declined to disclose the acquisition cost but used agency

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CH Insurance declined to disclose the acquisition cost but used agency assets to complete the transaction, says Joseph Convertino, Jr., who along with his father, Joseph Convertino, Sr., co-owns the agency.

The programming accounts serve electrical contractors and automotive and service-industry programs.

“It’s an added client base obviously with revenue,” says Joseph Convertino, Jr.

The acquisition also means Anthony (Tony) D’Amato, who managed the programs, has also joined CH Insurance and will serve as a senior-client advisor.

Joseph Convertino, Jr. believes the sales expertise and sales agents at CH Insurance will drive those workers’-compensation programs to “the next level.”

NYCM Group catered to a “niche market” with workers’-compensation policies, D’Amato says.

“Most of the programs that were managed were geared at contractors,” D’Amato says.

The workers’-compensation environment is “difficult” for contractors in New York, and the number of carriers in the marketplace was “shrinking,” which made it difficult to continue programs going forward, he adds.

D’Amato points to New York’s Scaffold Law, which is more than 125 years old, as one reason why.

Under the legislation, if contractors fall from an elevated position, they can’t directly sue the employer under New York’s workers’-compensation law, but they can sue the general contractor or the property owner in a general-liability suit, according to D’Amato.

That third party can then bring a lawsuit against the workers’-compensation insurance carrier and increase the cost of a given claim, he adds.

With the risk of those higher claims, several carriers aren’t “really interested” in offering workers’-compensation policies for contractors, he adds.

D’Amato’s former business partner delivered word of the NYCM Group closure on the firm’s website.

“It is with great sadness and regret that we announce that NYCM Group has closed its doors and has gone out of business,” wrote David Francey, CEO of NYCM Group, in an online letter to its clients and agents dated July 1.

“The many challenges that faced the workers’-compensation industry and lack of markets to develop products and place business were too great and made it difficult to sustain our operations. Therefore, the decision was made to close the business,” Francey wrote.

Francey has since retired, D’Amato says. D’Amato and Francey were among a group of five people who owned the NYCM Group.

NYCM Group isn’t to be confused with Edmeston, N.Y.–based New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Co. (NYCM Insurance).

NYCM Group was managing a few other programs; one was sold to another agency out of state, another was “closed up,” D’Amato says.

“There is really nothing more of NYCM Group,” D’Amato says.

Joining a new agency

CH Insurance was familiar with D’Amato’s work for about a decade because the agency utilized NYCM Group as a partner for its clients, Joe Convertino, Jr. says.

“I thought it was a good synergy to bring him in and grow that business but also have him do other things to help CH,” Convertino, Jr. adds.

D’Amato’s additional responsibilities will include working in claims management, large-account marketing, and sales, the younger Convertino says.

D’Amato had mentioned the NYCM Group situation to the Convertinos during a conversation near the end of May, and eventually “we ended up getting together,” Joseph Convertino, Sr. says.

“It was fairly fast,” Convertino, Jr. notes.

The programs CH Insurance bought existed with a specific carrier, which CH declined to name.

“That insurer made an agreement with Tony and his team that they would provide the coverage,” according to Convertino, Sr.

The program adds another piece of business to CH’s book of business, which allows the agency to call on electrical contractors and automotive personnel that aren’t in this program.

CH Insurance also serves firms in the hospitality, manufacturing, health-care, whole sale, distribution, and retail sectors.

“As an independent agent, we write workers’ comp[ensation policies] for all those classes,” the younger Convertino says.

Founded on March 31, 1999, CH Insurance Brokerage, Inc. operates in a 4,500-square-foot space in AXA Tower I at 100 Madison St. in Syracuse.

The agency employs 25 people (including D’Amato) between offices in Syracuse and Rochester, along with its DHH Insurance Agency, LLC and Schillaci Agency, both in Rome.

CH Insurance leases space with CBD Companies, the property manager at the AXA Towers.

The Convertinos declined to disclose the agency’s revenue information, only saying that it “increased” between August 2012 and August 2013.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Susan Budrakey & Associates announces new owner, office location

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Small Business

DeWITT — Susan Budrakey & Associates, an independent-branch office of Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. in DeWitt, today named Mary Ann Pierce as its new

Oneida Healthcare appoints physician to board

Health Care

ONEIDA — Janice Eastman Bach, M.D., has been appointed to the Oneida Healthcare board of trustees. Bach has practiced at Child Health Associates since

Delta Engineers promotes Cempa to CFO

Manufacturing & Engineering

ENDWELL — Delta Engineers, Architects, & Land Surveyors, P.C. has promoted Darlene M. Cempa to CFO. She is now responsible for company cost control,

New York’s initial unemployment claims jump 19 percent

Employee Benefits & Human Resources

The number of people applying for new unemployment-insurance benefits in New York state in the week ending Aug. 24 increased by nearly 19 percent to

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