In New York state, 19,122 people filed for new unemployment-insurance benefits in the week ending May 11, up from the year-to-date low of 18,627 claims
SYRACUSE — St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center today announced the opening of its office of patient experience, which focuses on all patient interactions throughout its
New York realtors’ completed sales of existing single-family homes, townhomes, and condos rose 8.5 percent in April compared to the year-ago period, while the median
SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Crunch is still dropping the puck on what has been, so far, an undefeated hockey post season. The Crunch on May 17 earned a berth in the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Eastern Conference final, completing a four-game sweep of the Springfield Falcons. The team had earlier swept its first-round opponent, the
SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Crunch is still dropping the puck on what has been, so far, an undefeated hockey post season.
The Crunch on May 17 earned a berth in the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Eastern Conference final, completing a four-game sweep of the Springfield Falcons.
The team had earlier swept its first-round opponent, the Portland Pirates, in three games.
The Crunch on May 21 announced that Syracuse will either face the Providence Bruins or the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beginning Saturday May 25.
The Game 7 matchup between Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was scheduled for the evening of May 22 after the weekly press time for The Central New York Business Journal.
A Bruins series victory would mean Syracuse would start the Eastern Conference final on the road, while a Penguins come-from-behind series win would give the Crunch home-ice advantage.
The entire organization is “ecstatic,” says Howard Dolgon, owner of the Syracuse Crunch, an affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
“To get to the playoffs, it’s an entirely new season, and certainly to date, our players have stepped up their game,” Dolgon says.
The team’s success is good for the local economy and good for the visibility of the market, Dolgon adds.
The team has even adopted the phrase “All In,” which is meant to encourage the community to support the squad during its playoff run.
“Didn’t matter if you’re a five-year-old girl, or a 90-year-old grandfather, we wanted you to be ‘All In’ in support of our playoff run,” Dolgon says.
Between the buttons, posters, and merchandise the team is selling, Dolgon says the phrase has been “well received.”
Despite the team’s success, Dolgon wasn’t happy with the fan support at the Onondaga County War Memorial following Game 3 against Springfield on May 15 and expressed his displeasure publicly. The game attracted a paid crowd of only 3,267 fans.
“I was disappointed, and I was just very honest about it,” he says.
The fans displayed their ability to “bounce back” in the clinching game against Springfield on May 17, he says. That game attracted 5,090 fans, and the crowd was loud.
Dolgon believes a vocal fan base at the War Memorial gives the Crunch a home-ice advantage. Despite his ownership, Dolgon has always perceived his squad as being the community’s team.
Dolgon admits that qualifying for the playoffs doesn’t mean an automatic commitment from the team’s season-ticket holders for purchasing playoff tickets.
“So you’re starting out with a much smaller base of [pre-sold] tickets,” Dolgon says.
When asked if he thought television coverage might affect attendance at the War Memorial, Dolgon believes fans can use it as an excuse, but it’s not necessarily a reason for not attending the games.
When Crunch games are televised, Dolgon says the team is exposing its brand for three hours and he hopes fans realize what they’re missing by not attending the games.
Dolgon would tell Crunch fans that 30 AHL teams started the season with hopes of winning the Calder Cup.
“Now, your team is one of four remaining, and that’s pretty special,” he says.
He also addressed ticket prices for Crunch playoff games that include a $1 surcharge the AHL mandates.
“Beginning in the second round and through the finals, the league receives the majority of the ticket revenue,” Dolgon says. The AHL allocates the money generated to the player pool for playoff payments, players’ travel, officiating, and other expenses, Dolgon says.
“We’re not, as a team, receiving even half of that ticket price in our revenue,” he adds, noting that’s same situation for all AHL teams.
Citing its status as a private company, the Syracuse Crunch doesn’t release its revenue information.
“We have been a profitable organization for all but probably two of our years,” Dolgon says, noting those years were the in the late 1990s
The Syracuse Crunch, in partnership with Onondaga County and SMG, announced in July 2012 that the team reached a long-term agreement on a lease extension for home games at the War Memorial through 2024.
SMG, a West Conshohocken, Pa.–based firm that provides entertainment and convention-venue management, is in charge of managing the War Memorial.
Dolgon and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney negotiated the agreement, which extends the current lease for an additional five years through the 2023-2024 season.
The team didn’t disclose terms of the extension, its monthly rent to play its games in the arena.
“It was a fair deal for both parties,” Dolgon says.
The New York state government hauled in $8.6 billion in tax collections in April, up 25.2 percent from the year-ago period. Collections were also almost
SYRACUSE — The StartFast Venture Accelerator has announced the five teams that will participate in its summer program beginning May 28. StartFast is a program
SYRACUSE — The owner of a local event-planning company and her husband have acquired a building in downtown Syracuse and have plans to launch an additional, separate venture. Nicole Samolis, president of The Events Company at 230 Harrison St., and her husband, Kevin Samolis, the firm’s chief of staff, have acquired the Wells & Coverly
SYRACUSE — The owner of a local event-planning company and her husband have acquired a building in downtown Syracuse and have plans to launch an additional, separate venture.
Nicole Samolis, president of The Events Company at 230 Harrison St., and her husband, Kevin Samolis, the firm’s chief of staff, have acquired the Wells & Coverly building on South Salina Street.
The Samolises purchased the building for $350,000 from its previous owner, Michael Ades.
They will serve as landlords for the retail stores operating on the building’s first floor, including Downtown Jewelry, Payless ShoeSource, and Bergan’s Men’s Clothing.
The Samolises are planning a $3 million construction project to convert the structure’s 10,000-square-foot second and third floors into space for hosting events like weddings, the couple says.
The new venture is called SKY Armory, but they emphasize that nothing is changing at their original business.
“This is 100 percent separate from The Events Company,” says Kevin Samolis, vice president of SKY Armory.
Since its inception in 1996, The Events Company has evolved into an event-planning and production company, says Nicole Samolis, who also serves as president of SKY Armory.
“And so this really becomes a natural transition into another opportunity for us to continue growing,” she says.
Founded in March, SKY Armory will have 47 employees, including 15 full-time workers.
The Samolises declined to provide a revenue projection for 2014, but if they’re able to open in December as planned, they’d like to host 10 to 20 events before the end of the current year and a total of 80 events in its first full year of operation.
Pursuing a space for events
The Samolises have been watching what others in the event-planning industry have done around the country “in taking non-traditional spaces and creating them into event spaces,” Nicole Samolis says, noting that Syracuse has limited ballroom space for those organizing events for 250 to 300 people.
About five years ago, they started wondering about the possibility of having their own venue. Their goal was to remain in a downtown setting, and find a space that would be, as she described it, an “urban, chic, refabbed, repurposed, kind of industrial space.”
Nicole Samolis learned about the building’s availability while attending the annual State of the City address in 2012, where she spoke with Richard DeVito and Robert Doucette of Paramount Realty Group.
“At that time, we were looking actually to lease a floor in a building,” she says.
Paramount’s leasing director, Steve Case, showed the Samolises some spaces with available floors, including the Wells & Coverly building.
They weren’t interested at first, but eventually decided to pursue the buying the entire structure.
The building wasn’t on the market for sale, but Case approached Ades about the potential transaction.
“We were able to make the sale happen,” Nicole Samolis says.
The Samolises were searching for a place with the capacity for holding big events, along with the necessary parking.
The upper floors of the Wells & Coverly building have that space and the parking availability.
“This particular building has a parking garage that has a pedestrian bridge that attached right to its second floor,” she says.
The structure currently has three addresses on the South Salina Street for the retail locations operating on the first floor. But the Samolises are hoping for an address on the South Clinton Street side.
Kevin Samolis on May 20 submitted an application to the Onondaga County Planning Commission for a new address because they plan to build a new entrance on the Armory Square side of the structure.
“It’s not atypical for a building to have separate mailing addresses,” Kevin Samolis says.
Acquisition, construction plans
In the acquisition transaction, The Wladis Law Firm of DeWitt represented the Samolises in the deal, and attorney James Messenger, Jr. represented Michael Ades, the couple says.
The acquisition closed on April 30, according to Kevin Samolis. The couple used a loan from M&T Bank to fund the acquisition, he adds.
They’re anticipating the construction project will cost about $3 million. Zausmer-Frisch Scruton & Aggarwal, a design-build firm in Syracuse, is handling the construction project.
Besides developing the building’s second and third floors, the construction will include building an addition that will serve as the entrance with a “grand stair case and elevator,” according to Nicole Samolis.
Construction crews will “gut” each floor, exposing the structure’s original brick, she adds.
“The second floor has hardwood floors that we can salvage, so we’re going to refinish those,” she says.
The third floor will have some exposed brick and columns which will require some treatment. The work will also target the ceiling rafters, exposing the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, which will be replaced.
“Each floor will have a catering kitchen on it,” she says.
In a May 16 blog post on their website (www.skyarmory.com), the Samolises wrote: “We think bridal couples are going to love SKY Armory for weddings. Our first potential bride is coming in tomorrow for a sneak peak at our plans.”
The building also needs a new roof, Kevin Samolis adds.
The Samolises plan to attach the name “Wells” to the second-floor ball room, and “Coverly” to the ball room on the third floor to keep the building connected to its retail history.
“If you’re from Syracuse or you’re of a certain age, people have fond memories of Wells & Coverly,” Nicole Samolis says.
Prior to its closure in the early 1980s, Wells & Coverly was an upscale men’s department store, which would make suits “from scratch,” according to Kevin Samolis.
M&T Bank, KeyBank, and others will be among the banks serving as lenders for the construction project. The Samolises are also pursuing a 504 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
An SBA 504 loan may be used for the financing of fixed assets like real estate or equipment, according to the SBA’s website. Certified-development corporations administer that program, including the Greater Syracuse Business Development Corp.
The hope to have the financing secured in early June, Kevin Samolis says.
“We’re trying to run this whole project like an event,” Nicole Samolis says, snapping her finger and adding, “Specific deadlines.”
The Samolises will use mostly bank loans and some of their own personal assets to help pay for the project. They don’t plan to use any finances from The Events Company to help pay for the project.
And even though the two ventures, The Events Company and SKY Armory, are separate, the Samolises will have shared offices for both entities, the couple says.
When asked about the name, the Samolises say they’ve been working with Cowley Associates, a website design, marketing and advertising agency in Syracuse, to handle their marketing.
They chose SKY Armory because “the sky has no limits,” Nicole Samolis says.
“And at our venue, there are no limits,” she adds.
SALINA — SWK Technologies, Inc., a Livingston, N.J.–based business-software reseller with an office in Salina, is working to add to its presence in the Central New York market. But the firm isn’t yet to ready to divulge all the details. “We are actively looking and we have one we’re actively starting negotiations with in the
SALINA — SWK Technologies, Inc., a Livingston, N.J.–based business-software reseller with an office in Salina, is working to add to its presence in the Central New York market.
But the firm isn’t yet to ready to divulge all the details.
“We are actively looking and we have one we’re actively starting negotiations with in the greater Syracuse area to take over their client base,” says Crandall (Chip) Melvin, CFO of SWK Technologies, Inc.
The targeted firm in question has about 125 clients, he adds.
Growth through acquisition is how SWK Technologies has expanded in upstate New York.
SWK entered the Central New York market by acquiring Melvin’s company, AMP-Best Consulting, Inc. in 2006. The firm grew its presence with the acquisition of certain clients from DM Systems, Inc. of Syracuse the following year.
SWK is a reseller of accounting, human-resources, and customer-relationship-management applications from Sage Software of Irvine, Calif.
SWK, a subsidiary of SilverSun Technologies, Inc. (OCTBB: SSNT), is also a certified developer for Sage, meaning it can modify and customize Sage applications and even create new programs based on Sage code.
The software-reselling industry has gone through a series of consolidations over the years, Melvin says.
The SWK business model is to “go out and acquire smaller resellers that either … don’t have the resources to take it to the next level … don’t have the expertise to take it to next level, or … maybe [are] looking at retiring and sun-setting their practice,” Melvin says.
About SWK Technologies
The firm focuses on business-to-business transactions and has about 250 clients in the Syracuse area.
“Our specialization is in light, specialty manufacturing,” Melvin says.
SWK’s clients are mainly mid-market companies, which it defines as ranging in size from $5 million in annual revenue to more than $150 million.
Over the past 15 to 20 years, the Central New York economy is moving toward specialized manufacturing, Melvin contends. The smaller firms are replacing the big manufacturing companies, such as New Venture Gear, Chrysler, and General Motors, he says.
“This is also a transportation and distribution hub,” he says, noting the Syracuse’s location at the intersection of two Interstate highways, 81 and 690. “Our software fits very, very well into that sweet spot of light manufacturing and wholesale distribution,” he says.
Many SWK clients also have operations in Rochester, Buffalo, and Albany, so the company refers to the upstate New York markets as the “Thruway Corridor.”
“We view the Syracuse market as being kind of all of Upstate,” he says.
SWK Technologies, Inc. operates a local office in a cobblestone house at 6834 Buckley Road in Salina. Melvin owns the approximately 10,000-square-foot home, he says.
Jeffrey Roth serves as CEO of the software reseller.
The firm employs about 75 full-time workers, including nine in the Salina office. The employees include two sales executives, two field consultants who provide on-site visits for clients, three people who serve in administrative roles, and an employee who handles telephone support, according to Melvin.
SWK anticipates increasing its employee count to more than 100 by the end of the year, including five additional employees in the Salina office, Melvin says.
The Salina office is the center of the firm’s accounting and administrative functions, Melvin says. SWK Technologies operates in 18 states and has clients in all 50 states and in foreign countries, including Canada and nations in Latin America, Melvin says.
SWK generated more than $13 million in revenue in 2012, and Melvin projects the firm will produce revenue of $17 million in 2013.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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