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.       

DeWITT –– DUMAC Business Systems, Inc. — a company that distributes point-of-sale (POS) systems, and develops inventory and corporate-reporting software — is planning and executing a series of growth initiatives.

Last year, DUMAC’s annual revenue spiked 50 percent from 2010 levels, and the business-systems provider added 22 employees, according to DUMAC officials. That brought the 60-year-old firm’s total to 104 workers. 

DUMAC has clearly come a long way from 1952, when William McCarthy and Hugh Duskee began it as a two-person startup.

The company is now owned by William’s sons, Howard McCarthy and David McCarthy, his grandson Phillip McCarthy, and Shaun O’Brien, a DUMAC employee since 1990.

DUMAC’s products and services span three different vertical markets including the independent grocery market, quick-service restaurants, and table-service restaurants.

In addition to being a dealer for POS hardware manufacturers such as Panasonic, Fujitsu, IBM, and NCR, DUMAC is also a developer of its own software. DUMAC SBOnet (Smart Back Office) is a web-based inventory and reporting software application, says Howard McCarthy, CEO and chairman of DUMAC.

SBOnet provides inventory tracking for thousands of quick-service restaurants across the country, as well as near-real-time reporting of sales, labor, and food costs. McCarthy says the software also integrates an application named “staff scheduler,” which is specially designed for labor scheduling for the quick-service clients. SBOnet is available on the Apple Inc. App Store.

He says SBOnet’s market share is growing every month.

“That’s a very rapidly growing part of our business,” McCarthy says.

In addition to developing SBOnet software and distributing hardware that runs POS systems, DUMAC also provides installation service and training to its clients.

“We train them how to use it,” says Shaun O’Brien, president and COO of DUMAC. “In a quick-service restaurant somewhere around the country, if someone purchases a new system, we would send a team of people to do the installation and then a team of people to do the training and do a stand-by for them when they go live with the system.”

McCarthy says one of the key factors behind DUMAC’s success is the quality of service it provides. He says the firm offers 24/7 support in customer service. He says the company also has a number of user-group meetings, where it meets with clients regularly and gets feedback from them.

“Our service to the customers and our support is separating us from all the other companies, which is why we’ve grown so fast,” says McCarthy.

Consumers encounter DUMAC distributed products in the check-out line at supermarkets, and the front counter at fast-food restaurants. DUMAC provides the touch-screens and computerized cash registers to quick-service restaurants nationwide such as Wendy’s, Arby’s, Popeyes, and KFC. The company also provides order-entry devices to table-service restaurants in New York State, including local eateries such as Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub & Restaurant, Lemon Grass, and The Inn Between Restaurant. Clients also include independent grocery stores from northwestern Pennsylvania to Maine. Locally, Nojaim Bros Super Market, Nichol’s Supermarket, and Struppler’s Supermarket are DUMAC customers, using its scanners, electronic scales, and credit-card terminals.

DUMAC also sells closed-circuit television systems to its clients.

McCarthy says the multi-tasking company now has clients in almost every state in the U.S., and recently started providing service to customers in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Canada, and Aruba. He says the company expects to continue expanding internationally this year.

HQ project

Last October, the fast-growing DUMAC began remodeling the inside of its headquarters, located at 19 Corporate Circle in the town of DeWitt, to accommodate the growth in staff. DUMAC also took over 6,000 square feet of vacant space in the 26,000-square-foot building it owns, and has added a museum in its lobby.

“Based on the history of the company, we have a long heritage of equipment that we worked on over the years,” says O’Brien, “and we have created a museum of sorts with all of that legacy equipment and the history of equipment that’s gone through the ages, including equipment that has been reconditioned and repaired by Will McCarthy years ago, and on up through equipment that’s been refurbished today to display in our lobby.”

The historical equipment on display includes old cash registers, credit-card terminals, scanners, and scanner scales. The museum will also showcase newer devices such as  today’s cutting-edge POS systems.

O’Brien says DUMAC staff is handling the headquarters remodeling, and the team is putting finishing touches on it now. The museum will be completed prior to the company’s open house in late summer, which will be a part of DUMAC’s 60th anniversary celebration.

O’Brien says DUMAC expects continued growth this year. He couldn’t provide a specific revenue projection for 2012.

“We will be continuing to expand this year,” he says, “and we will be adding staff this year as needed.” He says the company is looking for support analysts and installation technicians, for both its headquarters in DeWitt and its branch office in Houston, TX.

O’Brien says DUMAC also plans to open its second branch office in Massachusetts this fall, and expand the company’s professional and educational services.  

Upstate New Yorkers signaled a greater willingness to spend for the fourth consecutive month in February, even as statewide and national consumer confidence stagnated.

The overall consumer-confidence index for upstate New York climbed 2.4 points to 71.9 in February, according to a survey from the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI). Upstate residents felt more comfortable about their current situation than they did about the future, the survey found.

Still, both current and future confidence grew in Upstate. Current confidence increased 3 points to 76.9, and future confidence climbed 1.9 points to 68.6 in the region.

While upstate residents continued to follow a recent trend of rising confidence, statewide consumers were lukewarm in February. Consumer confidence in New York State as a whole remained unchanged since January, suspended at 74.8, according to SRI.

It is lingering just under the SRI index’s break-even point of 75. That is the point at which consumers indicate equal amounts of optimism and pessimism. Readings below 75 show that more consumers responded to the survey with negative answers than positive ones. Any results above 75 indicate more consumers gave positive answers.

“These are fascinating figures to me,” says Douglas Lonnstrom, professor of statistics and finance at Siena College and SRI founding director. “If we go back to January, [statewide] consumer confidence was up about 8 points. And in February, we stayed absolutely flat — no movement at all. One thing is offsetting the other.”

Current confidence rose across New York State in February, but was offset by consumers cutting back on their outlook for the future. New York State’s current confidence climbed 1.5 points to 73.5, and its future confidence dipped 0.9 points to 75.7.

The metropolitan New York City area counterbalanced Upstate’s confidence gains. New York City’s overall-confidence index went down 1.3 points to 76.9. Its current confidence ticked up 0.4 points to 71.6, but its future confidence skidded 2.4 points to 80.3. 

Consumer confidence in New York State was similar to that measured nationally by the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index. Overall national consumer confidence edged up 0.3 points to 75.3 in February from 75.0 in January, according to that index. Current national confidence slipped 1.2 points to 83. Meanwhile, future national confidence inched up 1.2 points to 70.3.

A separate survey report measuring national consumer confidence, issued by The Conference Board on Feb. 28, showed U.S. confidence jumping to 70.8 in February from 61.5 in January. 

New York buying plans

New Yorkers’ buying plans fell in February in five categories that SRI measures. That’s a reversal from January, when buying plans rose in each one of those five categories.

“That does not surprise me, given that the consumer-confidence index held the same,” Lonnstrom says. “People have got to feel better before they start buying, and that didn’t happen this month.”

The share of consumers who indicated they plan to buy a car or truck fell 1.4 points to 11.9 percent. The portion who said they plan to buy computers dropped 0.4 points to 15.9 percent.

Consumers’ plans to purchase furniture declined 1.9 points to 19.7 percent, and plans to buy homes eroded 0.3 points to 3.7 percent. Finally, plans to spend on major home improvements tumbled 3.1 points to 14.2 percent.

Gas and food prices

A majority of upstate New Yorkers continued to express concerns about gasoline and food prices, the survey found. However, the portion of consumers worried about those prices decreased in February — a fact that surprised Lonnstrom.

“I thought that concern would shoot up,” he says. “Gas prices have gone up 20 days in a row.”

In February, 67 percent of upstate New Yorkers said gasoline prices posed a problem, down slightly from 69 percent in January. And 69 percent expressed concerns about food prices, down from 75 percent in January. Finally, 56 percent of upstate survey respondents indicated both gasoline and food prices were a problem, which was down from 60 percent in January.

Statewide, 59 percent of residents named gasoline prices as a problem, which was even with last month. The share of residents naming food prices as a problem was 66 percent in February, lower than January’s reading of 71 percent. And 49 percent of state residents claimed both gas and food prices posed a problem, lower than January, when 51 percent cited both gas and food.

Residents may be getting used to higher food prices, Lonnstrom says. But survey results show that concern for gas prices jumped in the second half of February, he adds.

“We’re flirting with four bucks a gallon, talking about five bucks,” he says. “If that happens, that’s going to hurt consumer confidence.”

SRI conducted the survey by making random telephone calls to 804 New York State residents over the age of 18 in February. Margin of error does not apply to the consumer-confidence index results because they are derived from statistical calculations, according to SRI. However, buying plans have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points, the institute said.