Opens new office in Big Flats that employs 8 people

BIG FLATS — Vestal–based Southern Tier Dermatology & Aesthetics has opened a new medical-practice location at 950 County Road 64 in Big Flats.

“Our move to Big Flats gives us the chance to bring our brand of care, expertise, and individual attention to the residents of the Elmira area,” Dr. Colleen Crandell, who co-owns and operates Southern Tier Dermatology & Aesthetics with Dr. Curt Fenkl, said in a news release announcing the new location.

Crandell and Fenkl began looking for a location in the Elmira area last spring due to a lack of such care in the region and requests from patients who live in that area but were visiting the Vestal office, says Stephen Donnelly, president of Dynamic Innovation Group, and the medical practice’s public-relations spokesman.

“We are so glad we’ve opened our clinic in Big Flats and have been able to make a difference already,” Fenkl said. “There’s a definite need.”

Southern Tier Dermatology & Aesthetics, headquartered at 200 Plaza Drive, Vestal, has a practice diagnosing pre-cancerous moles, particularly in teens and young adults, using dermoscopy. Dermoscopy gives visibility to the skin underneath a mole to help determine whether a biopsy should be performed. The process can help doctors detect melanoma in 65 percent to 80 percent of cases, the release said.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 76,250 people will be diagnosed with melanoma this year, and 9,180 people will die from it. Melanoma accounts for fewer than 5 percent of all skin cancers — with skin cancer being the most common of all cancers — but melanoma causes the majority of skin-cancer deaths. The risk of getting melanoma is about 1 in 50 for whites, 1 in 1,000 for African Americans, and 1 in 200 for those of Hispanic descent.

More than 2.2 million cases of basal- and squamous-cell skin cancer are diagnosed each year, according to the Cancer Society. The organization believes fewer than 2,000 people die each year of non-melanoma skin cancer, with that rate declining from year to year.

“In dermatology, you need to evaluate each patient individually and give them systemic and systematic treatment,” Fenkl said. “We at Southern Tier Dermatology & Aesthetics are very aggressive in our treatment to get them better.  It is easy to treat serious concerns in dermatology once patients are properly seen and properly diagnosed.”

Crandell and Fenkl worked with realtor Trisha Ackerman of Pyramid Brokerage to find the 1,600-square-foot office, Fenkl said. The practice spent about $200,000 to renovate the space and acquire equipment. The Big Flats office employs eight people with plans to add staff as the number of patients grows. Southern Tier Dermatology & Aesthetics currently has 25 employees companywide, including several that work at both the Vestal and Big Flats offices.

Along with the new Big Flats office, Crandell and Fenkl have plans to open an office in Utica later this year as well. Southern Tier Dermatology & Aesthetics (www.stdermatology.com) also plans to eventually expand into a new, larger building in Endwell, the release noted.

The goal with all the locations, Donnelly said, is to provide patient care, create jobs, and offer a dermatological resource for primary-care physicians to which they can refer patients.                 

SAYRE, Pa. — Guthrie Health recently launched a mobile-search tool that allows patients to find information on Guthrie physicians from their mobile devices.

To access the search, patients and others need to use the browser in their smart phone to visit www.guthrieproviders.org, where they can launch a mobile-friendly search of Guthrie physicians by name, specialty, or location, the organization says.

The application serves as a companion to eGuthrie, a secure patient portal used by more than 24,000 Guthrie patients to track test results, request prescription refills, and communicate with their health-care provider. Patients may enroll in eGuthrie with an authorization code from their physician’s office, Guthrie Health says.

Guthrie Health includes Guthrie Healthcare System and Guthrie Clinic. Guthrie Healthcare System provides inpatient, outpatient, and home-based services through Corning Hospital, Troy Community Hospital, Robert Packer Hospital, Guthrie Home Care, and Guthrie Hospice. Guthrie Clinic provides primary and specialty physician care at 25 regional clinics. Guthrie Health says it provides care for 200,000 patients annually within an 11-county area of service in northern Pennsylvania and across the Southern Tier.

BINGHAMTON — Entrepreneurs have a chance to win a $5,000 prize as the fourth-annual BLDC-EAP Business Plan Competition is under way.

The city of Binghamton, Binghamton Local Development Corporation (BLDC), and Broome Community College’s Broome Triad Entrepreneurial Assistance Program (EAP) sponsor the program, which awards the prize to the best plan for developing a business in the city of Binghamton.

“The BLDC-EAP Business Plan Competition is another way we’re encouraging entrepreneurs to take a stake in our increasingly dynamic local economy,” Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan said in a news release. “This competition helps grow our small business community by providing the winner not only with a cash prize but also helpful training for all those who are starting a company or are interested in doing so.”

The competition seeks to cultivate local business development, highlight BLDC financing programs, and raise awareness about community resources for small-business growth. Participation in the contest gives entrepreneurs access to training, networking, and start-up capital opportunities. New to this year’s competition is the addition of professional consultation with both the law firm of Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP and the accounting firm of Piaker & Lyons.

In order to be eligible, entrepreneurs must plan to base their business within the city limits, must have plans to start a business or have an existing business no more than five years old, and must have been a client of the EAP at some point since September 2005 or attend a free one-day workshop on business-plan development. The workshop is March 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in room 201 of the Decker Building at Broome Community College. To register, call (607) 778-5012. Seating is limited to 40 people.

Contest participants must submit their application, and register for the workshop if necessary, by March 15. Contest organizers will announce the finalists on April 11. Finalists must submit a written business plan by May 24 and make oral presentations regarding their plans on June 19 or 20. Contest organizers will announce the winner on June 28.

For more information about the contest and an information packet, visit http://www.cityofbinghamton.com/viewarticle.asp?a=3728.

Contest judges will include three representatives from the BLDC and three from EAP with experience and expertise in entrepreneurship, finance, and business education. The BLDC provides the prize money from its marketing and outreach committee budget.         

SYRACUSE — A startup company based in the Syracuse Tech Garden is developing a digital music stand with a 20-inch touch screen.

The product will allow musicians access to a library of scores and sheet music. The stand will also be WiFi capable and allow collaborative networking with others. The company will start by offering music that’s now in the public domain, which includes thousands of pieces.

The sheet music will be uploaded to the device, known as the MyMuzik stand, via the company’s website. It will be displayed as a digital image.

The stand will include a foot pedal that will allow for hands-free page turning. The software powering the device will also include features like zoom, rotation, scrolling, and allow for annotation.

A conductor of a full ensemble using the product could even send messages and notes to all the devices at once, according to the company.

The stand is aimed at organized ensembles and professional musicians, says Alice Yu, interim director of marketing and development at iMuzik, LLC, the company developing the stand.

While there are plenty of iPad apps available to handle digital sheet music, iPad screens are small. Musicians are accustomed to having full-size sheet music spread across a stand, she notes.

The MyMuzik product seeks to replicate the same dimensions as an actual, physical page of music. IPads, Yu says, are more suited for hobbyists or traveling musicians.

Professionals, she adds, never asked the iPad question.

“Serious musicians get it,” she says. “An orchestral score is huge. It’s tough to shrink that down.”

The hardware for the product is ready now, produced by computer manufacturer Seneca Data of Cicero. The software should be ready to go in about a month, iMuzik CEO Robert Jandura-Cessna says. 

IMuzik plans to test the product with musicians of Symphony Syracuse — a group of musicians that formed after the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy in 2011. He is hoping to organize a concert using the MyMuzik stands this summer. 

Jandura-Cessna founded the company in March 2011 after working on the idea for several months. After studying abroad and running a small business in Poland for more than two years, he says he returned to the U.S. and founded iMuzik to unite two of his passions. 

“Business is something I’ve always done and I know it’s something I’m going to pursue for the rest of my life,” Jandura-Cessna says. “Music is also.”

He funded the startup of iMuzik with money left over from his business, a lingerie shop he started in Krakow. The company has also received some financial support from family. 

IMuzik is now working with CenterState CEO in a new program aimed at helping the business find debt and equity financing, Jandura-Cessna says.

IMuzik held an event at the Tech Garden in December to help develop its software. About 20 coders, software developers, and designers came together for the two-day event, Hacking-4-Muzik.

 The group split into two teams that spent 54 hours hashing out their own versions of software to power the stand. Two members of the winning team continue to work on development of the software, Jandura-Cessna says.       

SYRACUSE — A two-year-old information-technology firm in Syracuse is striving to move beyond the connotations that usually accompany working in the IT space.

“We don’t want to be a break-fix company,” Syracuse Technologies, LLC President Jeff Brinson says. “We try to be more proactive.”

That’s something that most IT companies would say, of course, Brinson notes. But actually putting it into practice can be difficult.

It takes time for clients to get comfortable enough with a firm for its experts to make recommendations, which naturally involves a cost. Customers need to know that their vendor is not just trying to sell them something, Brinson says.

“It takes a while to build that trust so they know we truly are trying to make it better,” he says.

It’s a challenging road, but it’s the direction Brinson says he is taking his business.

The firm launched in 2009. At the time, Brinson was working with Presentation Concepts of Baldwinsville, an audio-visual company that had also started an IT group.

New owners decided to refocus Presentation Concepts on its audio-visual work so Brinson decided to strike out on his own in the IT field. He was able to take a few of Presentation Concepts’ IT customers with him since the company was leaving that business, he says.

Another former Presentation Concepts employee, Matt Musumeci, is Brinson’s partner in Syracuse Technologies.

The firm employs five people, plus a stable of contractors. Brinson says he hopes to add another two or so employees in the next year.

Syracuse Technologies focuses on small businesses with five to about 100 users. Companies of that size account for a good portion of the Syracuse market, Brinson says.

Professional-services firms, and especially accounting firms, are a key group of customers, he adds. For example, accountants frequently employ Syracuse Technologies to handle data backup.

Syracuse Technologies can also allow the customers of those firms to back up their data. Partnering with its clients on services like that is one way in which Syracuse Technologies is working to expand its business, Brinson says.

Those relationships usually offer better results than just cold calling, he adds.

The firm also handles IT for the Oncenter. It recently completed a major project retooling the center’s server system and added wireless capabilities to the entire facility, Brinson says.

Syracuse Technologies also works with National Tractor Trailer School in Liverpool.

The firm offers Web development and design, Brinson says. The company has partnered with marketing firms to help its clients generate worthwhile content for their sites, he adds.

In addition, the company brought a vice president of business development on board last year. The position is meant to help speed up Syracuse Technologies’ growth, Brinson says.

“We want good, steady growth,” he adds.      

ITHACA — Synairco, Inc. of Ithaca is trying to make air conditioning more efficient and more environmentally friendly.

The company is commercializing a new type of air conditioning that eliminates the use of harsh chemical refrigerants and uses less electricity than traditional systems, President Crista Shopis says.

The company recently won a $50,000 grant through the Syracuse Center of Excellence Commercialization Assistance Program (CAP) to help move its technology closer to market. The money will allow Synairco to work with Air Innovations of Cicero to produce assembly drawings for a larger size system.

The prototype unit Synairco has crafted to this point is small and only suitable for residential use, Shopis says. The new unit would allow the company to test in a very large home or small office building.

The grant will reduce the engineering expense of creating the system so a potential early adopter would have to pay only for building the unit.

In addition to grants, Synairco expects to raise private financing at some point. Shopis says the firm is probably 18 months to two years from fully commercializing its system.

The company expects to build the units itself and sell them through representatives.

Since air conditioning was first developed, not much has changed, according to Synairco. The systems pass air over a coil maintained at a temperature of 45 degrees to cool and dehumidify it.

The process requires chemicals that are potentially hazardous and uses lots of electricity, Shopis says.

Synairco’s technology allows air to be cooled and dehumidified with a coil kept at 60 degrees. The higher temperature means geothermal technology can be used to maintain the correct coil temperature rather than refrigerants and a power-hungry condensing unit, according to the company.

The firm grew from Ithaca–based Taitem Engineering. Taitem President Ian Shapiro originally had the idea for the system and several years ago won some grant funding to analyze the concept and build a prototype. Shopis, who is also a project engineer at Taitem, worked on those early efforts.

She and Shapiro eventually connected with an Ithaca–area entrepreneur, Charles Hamilton, and began working out whether a company could be built around the new technology. A student at the Cornell University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management also helped in the effort.

The student, Adam Conderman, graduated in June and is now Synairco’s vice president of business development. Shapiro and Hamilton are board members.

Synairco shares space with Taitem at the moment, Shopis says. The company incorporated in January 2011.

In addition to winning the CAP grant, Synairco is in line for another grant, but Shopis says she can’t discuss details of that funding yet. The company also won $15,000 in last year’s Creative Core Emerging Business Competition. The firm won the contest’s green business category.