SYRACUSE  —  After spending years closing a public-perception gap about Onondaga Community College (OCC), Debbie L. Sydow says she is gratified to receive an award recognizing her contributions to the sales and marketing profession.

Sydow, OCC’s president, has been named the recipient of the Central New York Sales and Marketing Executives (CNYSME) 2012 Crystal Ball Award. CNYSME gives the award annually to a local businessperson for contributions to the sales and marketing vocation. The Crystal Ball Award also recognizes efforts in community development and support.

“In recent years, through a very focused, comprehensive strategic plan, we’ve been able to help the Central New York community get a very clear understanding of what Onondaga Community College has to offer,” Sydow says. “A lot of that has been through more effective communications.”

When Sydow arrived at OCC in 2000, the community viewed the institution inaccurately, she contends.

“It was considered to be a college that for high-school students would be their last choice, not their first,” Sydow says. “In general, the college didn’t have the level of respect that everyone I talked with believed it deserved.”

CNYSME, founded in 1935, provides training and development, networking, and other opportunities and resources to sales and marketing professionals in Central New York. The organization will recognize Sydow and local sales and marketing professionals at its 36th Annual Crystal Ball and Sales & Marketing Excellence Awards (SMEA) banquet on Thursday, March 8 at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center. SMEA recipients represent several local businesses (see write-ups inside). The event begins in the Regency Ballroom with a 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m., and the awards ceremony.

“We selected Debbie Sydow because of her hard work and dedication to OCC and to the community,” says CNYSME President Katherine Rech. “She’s a great leader for the community and a great marketing person at OCC. She markets the college as a great institution for education.”

Branding study

In 2002, Sydow launched an identity project at OCC. The college conducted a two-year branding study, interviewing guidance counselors, prospective college students, high-school students, and alumni.

OCC used information from that study to try to show the Central New York community that it provides students with a high-quality education, according to Sydow.

“If a student needs counseling, academic tutoring, or any kind of additional support, we provide that,” Sydow says. “It’s our brand, our promise.”

To help push that brand, the college unveiled a new crest in 2005, featuring the word “Onondaga.” Major upgrades to its campus have also helped, according to Sydow.

She has overseen a capital improvements program that resulted in more than $100 million being invested in campus facilities. Improvements range from updated classrooms to new residence halls that opened in 2006 to the SRC Arena and Events Center, which opened in December. 

The college also receives a marketing boost from Syracuse Jazz Fest, Sydow says. The annual Jazz Fest brings thousands of people to campus every year, helping OCC showcase its facilities, she says.

“I’m trying to effect the kinds of changes that will elevate educational levels for the entire community,” Sydow says. “I want to stress that it’s an ongoing challenge not just for Onondaga Community College, but [also] for higher education to communicate with changing groups of students and changing markets.”

The college, which has about 12,700 students, can no longer simply rely on published materials to attract prospective students, Sydow says. It is now working to develop mobile applications and materials that can be viewed on mobile devices. 

It is also keeping an eye toward adults who are returning to school to upgrade their skills and qualifications for obtaining the jobs of tomorrow. They have a high potential to drive enrollment growth, according to Sydow.

Past Crystal Ball Award winners include John Stage, founder and CEO of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que; Peter J. Coleman, Jr. the publican (saloonkeeper) of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tipperary Hill; Edward Levine, president and CEO of Galaxy Communications, LP in Syracuse; John MacDougall, founder and president of Nice-N-Easy Grocery Shoppes; Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor; and Jack Webb, president and CEO of Alliance Bank, N.A.   

ELMIRA — Hardinge, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDNG) reported that sales rose 11 percent and net income jumped 69 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 from the year-ago period as the machine-tool market recovered and it boosted sales to North America.

Elmira–based Hardinge announced net income of $3.2 million, or 28 cents per share, in the latest quarter, on sales of $91 million, up from net income of $1.9 million, or 17 cents, on sales of $82 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

“We delivered another solid quarter that culminated in a year of strong performance as we grew sales and demonstrated the
operational level inherent in our business,” Hardinge President, Chairman, and CEO Richard Simons said during a Feb. 16 conference call to discuss the company’s earnings report with investors and the media.

For the year, the machine-tool manufacturer reported a 33 percent increase in sales to $341.6 million. Net income rebounded strongly from a net loss of $5.2 million, or a 46 cent loss per share, in 2010 to net income of $12 million, or $1.02 per share. In 2010, the company said it suffered from both a weak global economy and supply-chain delays for some raw materials.

Hardinge benefited in 2011 from a strong rebound in the machine-tool industry as well as from efforts it has made in the past several years to expand its domestic market, reduce its capital requirements, and improve efficiency. 

Strong sales in North America bolstered the company, particularly during the fourth quarter, Simons said. While overall sales were up 11 percent for the quarter from a year earlier, sales fell 10 percent in Asia. However, a more than 100 percent increase in North America sales from $15.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 to $31.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 drove sales and profit growth, Simons said. Yearly sales to North America grew from $31.6 million in 2010 to $90 million in 2011. 

Sales to Europe, which is struggling with its own economic woes, dropped 13 percent to $26.4 million in the fourth quarter, and Simons said he expects those sales to remain relatively stable this year and not to affect overall sales growth.

In 2012, Hardinge should benefit from continued economic recovery as well as facility improvements the company made in 2011, Simons said. 

“We invested $17.2 million in 2011 to more than double our manufacturing capacity in China and for adding a facility and equipment for productivity enhancements in Switzerland,” he said. The increased capacity and productivity should enable Hardinge to grab more market share, he said.

In all, the company boosted capital expenditures to $19.2 million in 2011, from $3.7 million in 2010 and $3.2 million in 2009.

“We believe the long-term growth trend still makes sense,” Simons said. “We feel confident we can grow our business by targeting customers that value our quality, speed, and flexibility.”

The goal, he said, is to grow Hardinge’s sales faster than the machine-tool consumption rate. To make sure Hardinge is first in customers’ minds, he said the corporation will participate in a number of trade shows such as the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago this September and the MACH 2012 Exhibition in England in April. The company will also hold an open house at its Elmira headquarters in June, grand-opening ceremonies for its new factory in China in May, and an open house at some point at its Switzerland facility.

Hardinge shares had surged in price, leading up to the Feb. 16 earnings report, rising 35 percent from $8.05 at the end of 2011 to $10.86 at the close of trading Feb. 15. The company’s stock price fell more than 8 percent to $9.95 on Feb. 16, after the earnings report and conference call. 

Hardinge (www.hardingeus.com) employs about 400 people in Elmira and another 700 in Asia and Europe. The company manufactures machine tools for the aerospace, agricultural, transportation, consumer-goods, communications, electronics, construction, defense, energy, pharmaceutical and medical-equipment, and recreation industries.