MVHS adds Albert, Brumsted, and Singh to board of directors

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UTICA, N.Y. — The Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) recently added three new members — Waleed Albert, John R. Brumsted, and Savneet Singh — to its board of directors. Dr. Albert is an infectious-disease specialist at MVHS, as well as at Rome Memorial Hospital. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Trenton Affiliated Hospitals […]

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Rome Community Foundation awards Q3 grants

Health Care, Nonprofits, Regional News, Subscriber Only

ROME, N.Y. — The Rome Community Foundation has awarded $20,300 in grants to five Rome area charitable organizations in its latest distributions for the third quarter of 2023. The grants ranged in value from $500 to $6,300. Abraham House received $6,300 to abate a bat problem, Zion Episcopal Church was allocated $6,000 to paint the

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Preferred Mutual Insurance supports Chenango Arts Council’s performance series

Insurance & Financial Services, Nonprofits, Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

NEW BERLIN, N.Y. —Preferred Mutual Insurance Company recently presented the Chenango Arts Council with a $5,000 donation to support its performance series. The funds will help the council sustain its programs for communication, expression, education, and the opportunity to connect with others. Its mission is to explore, enlighten, and inspire all things art and connect

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After merger, CNY Pomeroy Appraisers is now Colliers Syracuse

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Insurance & Financial Services, Small Business, Subscriber Only

MANLIUS, N.Y. — CNY Pomeroy Appraisers, a long-established appraisal firm based in Manlius, has merged its operations with Seattle, Washington–based Colliers Valuation & Advisory Services (Colliers). The deal became official on Aug. 1, Susan Baldwin, managing director of the local office, tells CNYBJ in an email. Colliers didn’t include any financial terms of the merger

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The deal became official on Aug. 1, Susan Baldwin, managing director of the local office, tells CNYBJ in an email. Colliers didn’t include any financial terms of the merger agreement in its Aug. 7 announcement.

CNY Pomeroy Appraisers is located at Liberty Square at 100 E. Seneca St. in Manlius, per its website. The firm offers a range of real-estate valuation services including financing, litigation, easements, estate planning, and condemnation.

Baldwin will serve as the branch’s market leader in the capacity of managing director. Donald Fisher, who along with Baldwin, has been leading CNY Pomeroy Appraisers, will move forward as the title valuation-services director, according to Baldwin.

Colliers Valuation & Advisory Services is a provider of real-estate valuation services. The firm works with clients across sectors that include industrial, office, multifamily, special use, and financial services.

In its announcement, Colliers said, “CNY Pomeroy’s team of skilled professionals will be joining in this transition, ensuring continuity and consistency in delivering top-tier valuation services to clients. Their vast network of industry connections and dedication to exceptional client service, will continue with the advance technology Colliers will provide.”

CNY Pomeroy Appraisers started discussions about a merger back in March, according to Baldwin.

“This is a great opportunity to expand our services to meet more of our client needs,” said Baldwin said in the Colliers news release. “We are excited to move on to a new platform, especially having more tools with technology to provide greater service to our clients.”

As of Oct. 3, the firm’s website still lists the firm as CNY Pomeroy Appraisers, but Baldwin tells CNYBJ the site will eventually transition to Colliers Syracuse.

The addition of the Syracuse–area office “aligns with Colliers Valuation’s commitment to expanding its reach and presence in key markets, empowering the firm to cater to a broader range of clients seeking unparalleled real-estate valuation services.”

“The opportunity to expand our footprint throughout Western New York and increase our level of specialty services was the focus of our recruitment drive,” Tony O’Sullivan, executive managing director/Northeast region, said in the release. “Susan and her team at CNY Pomeroy are recognized as seasoned professionals in the industry and their extensive knowledge of the Upstate New York real estate market make them an invaluable asset to the Northeast.”

SFCU merges with Edge Federal Credit Union

Banks & Credit Unions, Insurance & Financial Services, Nonprofits, Regional News, Small Business, Subscriber Only

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. — Edge Federal Credit Union has merged with Sidney Federal Credit Union (SFCU) in a deal approved by Edge members on Sept. 19. The combination helps solidify SFCU’s entry into Onondaga County while also providing Edge members new products and enhanced services, SFCU President/CEO Jim Reynolds says. Edge got its start in 1956,

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LIVERPOOL, N.Y. — Edge Federal Credit Union has merged with Sidney Federal Credit Union (SFCU) in a deal approved by Edge members on Sept. 19.

The combination helps solidify SFCU’s entry into Onondaga County while also providing Edge members new products and enhanced services, SFCU President/CEO Jim Reynolds says.

Edge got its start in 1956, founded by the teachers in the Liverpool Central School District. It includes a branch office at 7545 Morgan Road in Clay, as well as in-school, student-run branches at Liverpool High School and Baldwinsville’s Charles W. Baker High School.

Those ties to education as well as similar philosophies are what made the merger attractive, Reynolds contends. Talks between the two organizations began in earnest about nine months ago when Edge put out a request for proposals. Edge was looking for a merger partner since CEO Theresa Lotito Camerino is retiring at the end of this year.

“She knew we were moving into the market and have the same philosophy about member services,” Reynolds says.

Sidney Federal Credit Union broke ground this summer on its first Syracuse–area branch at 8062 Brewerton Road in Cicero. The project follows the credit union’s expansion of its membership field in late 2022 to include Onondaga, Cortland, Essex, and Hamilton counties. SFCU expects that branch to open in January 2024.

Edge brings about $65 million in assets to SFCU and boosts the credit union’s assets to more than $920 million. It also brings membership to over 70,000 across SFCU’s 11-branch network with the addition of Edge’s 2,600 members. SFCU also retained Edge’s seven employees.

Reynold’s says Edge’s two student-run branches, as well as a strong financial-education background was really appealing to SFCU as it looks to broaden its own financial-education offerings.

“We realize members are struggling right now,” he says. SFCU wants to offer more in the way of education and tools to members to help them manage and make the most of their money, especially in these times of high inflation. “It’s challenging times right now,” Reynolds says.

SFCU was already working to bolster its educational offerings, making sure to include a community room in the plans for the Cicero branch so it can hold financial-wellness seminars, first-time homebuyer classes, and other educational events.

“We can learn a lot from Edge and what they’ve been doing in the schools,” Reynolds notes.

SFCU has also been hard at work updating the products and services it offers to members.

It recently rolled out new online application and origination processes for business loans and mortgages. With hopes to expand its mortgage and home-lending business, the credit union is also working on expanding the home equity products it offers, Reynolds says.

Home buying may have cooled off with the current high interest rates, he says, but SFCU will be prepared with new products and technology when things turn around.

Headquartered in Sidney, Sidney Federal Credit Union also serves residents in Chenango, Delaware, Fulton, Madison, Montgomery, Otsego, and Schoharie counties and portions of Broome, Oneida, and Herkimer counties. Its other branch locations include Sidney, Oneonta (2), Green, Norwich (2), Walton, Delhi, Hancock, Bainbridge, and Amsterdam.

St. Joseph’s Health to expand lab services in $9.1M project

Health Care, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — Construction is underway on a $9.1 million project that St. Joseph’s Health says will expand laboratory services and result in dozens of new jobs. As announced earlier this year, the health-care system is divesting its co-ownership of Laboratory Alliance of Central New York (LACNY) in January. The project allows for the expansion of

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Broome Leadership Institute class of 2024 announced

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Nonprofits, Regional News, Small Business, Subscriber Only

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The Greater Binghamton Education Outreach Program (GBEOP) has kicked things off with the 2024 class of the Broome Leadership Institute, a community leadership training and development program. GBEOP is the nonprofit affiliate of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce. The goal of the program is to identify community leaders across a variety

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Two upstate projects get $5 million from DMCS program

Health Care, Manufacturing & Engineering, Regional News, Small Business, Subscriber Only, Technology

Two upstate New York–based projects will use $5 million each through the federal Defense Manufacturing Community Support (DMCS) program. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) had selected the two projects as finalists for funding, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) announced back on Sept. 8. DoD awarded the funding to the NYS Microelectronics Defense

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Two upstate New York–based projects will use $5 million each through the federal Defense Manufacturing Community Support (DMCS) program.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) had selected the two projects as finalists for funding, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) announced back on Sept. 8.

DoD awarded the funding to the NYS Microelectronics Defense Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Workforce (Upstate Defense) Consortium project, along with Cornell University’s New York Consortium for Space Technology Innovation and Development (NYCST), Schumer announced Sept. 25.

Specifically, the senator said, “The projects would help train and connect workers to good-paying jobs in microelectronics and aerospace, boost research and innovation in these fields in Upstate NY and strengthen supply chains in high-tech manufacturing vital to our national security.”

“Today, the Department of Defense has confirmed what I have long known: that Upstate NY is on the rise as a world leader in high-tech manufacturing, vital to our national security and economic prosperity,” Schumer said in a news release. “This $10 million will allow these trailblazing projects from the Upstate Defense Consortium and Cornell University Space Technology program to train the next generation for good-paying jobs in communities from Rome to Syracuse to Ithaca, and breathe new life into Upstate NY’s legacy in manufacturing to take us to the next frontier in the technology of the future.”

About the Upstate Defense Consortium

Schumer said that the Upstate Defense Consortium is a partnership between Empire State Development, CenterState CEO, the Griffiss Institute, Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), and FuzeHub.

It is focusing on orienting their workforce-development strategies and programming around the region’s defense firms.

In addition, the consortium will work with a wide variety of industry partners, including Micron Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MU); TTM Technologies; Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE: LMN); Saab; JMA Wireless; SRC; AIM Photonics; and the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome.

The Upstate Defense Consortium will build on Central New York and the Mohawk Valley’s “legacy of leadership” in defense manufacturing, aiming to leverage an “ongoing, once-in-a-generation transformation” in the region’s microelectronics industry to “strengthen” national security innovation and expand defense manufacturing capabilities across the area.

Specifically, the Upstate Defense Consortium will help expand education and workforce-training programs for the microelectronics industry at Syracuse University, Griffiss, and with CenterState CEO, and bolster STEM-focused fellowship, internship, and other education and training programs to connect job seekers with defense manufacturing and major tech companies.

The consortium will also invest in attracting new defense-manufacturing companies to the region with workshops and procurement training to strengthen supply chains across the region needed for the semiconductor industry.

The project will address current and future workforce needs of the “rapidly growing” microelectronics industry, including supporting Micron’s proposed $100 billion memory fab project that is expected to create upwards of 50,000 jobs across upstate New York, and also focuses on expanding access to and participation in the microelectronics industry workers from underrepresented communities.

“Our region has built a legacy of expertise and innovation around the defense and microelectronics industries that is being leveraged for unprecedented growth,” Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, said in Schumer’s release. “To meet this moment, we must continue to foster innovation, attract new companies to the region, and ensure there is a robust talent pipeline to support this progress. Along with our partners at Empire State Development, the Griffiss Institute, Syracuse University’s (SU) Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), and FuzeHub, CenterState CEO will scale programs to ensure all growth is accessible and equitable.”

About NYCST

Cornell University’s project, officially submitted to the competition by the New York Consortium for Space Technology Innovation and Development, will address the need for advanced defense space-technology manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities. The aim is collaboration among universities, research institutions, industry experts, and government agencies in New York state.

NYCST will drive innovation and workforce development in the space-technology industry and includes initiatives in workforce development, facility upgrades, research and development (R&D) projects, and support for small businesses.

The expected outcomes include a skilled workforce, enhanced manufacturing capabilities, increased research and development in critical areas, long-term economic growth, job creation, and a “robust” national defense space technology industrial base. The project’s implementation strategy includes several key components, including upgrading space technology facilities at sites central to the region, expanding workforce development, strengthening R&D, small business programs, and more.

“At Cornell Engineering, we are committed to making a difference,” Lynden Archer, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell University, said in the Schumer release. “This consortium provides a powerful example of how partnerships between pioneering thinkers and leaders can enhance our impact. We appreciate the work Senator Schumer has done to foster the collaborative spirit throughout New York that makes such an ambitious project possible.”

About DMCS

The DoD’s Defense Manufacturing Community Support program is designed to support long-term community investments that strengthen national security innovation and expand the capabilities of the defense manufacturing industrial ecosystem. The program designates and supports consortiums as defense-manufacturing communities to strengthen the national security industrial base.

To qualify for funding through the DMCS program, communities must demonstrate “best practices in attracting and expanding” defense manufacturing by bringing together key local stakeholders and using long-term planning that integrates targeted public and private investments.

Kabari Wellness Institute opens new location in Rome

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Health Care, New York News, Regional News, Small Business, Subscriber Only

ROME, N.Y. — Seneca Falls–based Kabari Wellness Institute has recently opened a second location at 214 W. Liberty St. in Rome. The business celebrated a ribbon cutting on Aug. 31 with the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce and Rome Area Chamber of Commerce. Kabari Wellness Institute provides integrated health and wellness services with a holistic

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VIEWPOINT: The Importance of Showing Thought Leadership

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

Many professionals understand the significance of building awareness of their expertise and thought leadership, but often grapple with how to do so. Thought leadership goes beyond mere expertise; it is a process that entails building authentic, collaborative relationships within one’s industry, identifying patterns, recognizing emerging trends, and cultivating a code of values and integrity that

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An example of an industry where thought leadership is especially critical these days is health care, where organizations and leaders are facing unprecedented shifts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare survey, only 48 percent of Americans now rate U.S. health care as “good” or “excellent.”

While there are many factors influencing this perception, including costs and political partisanship, health-care leaders must have strong communications with their employees, patients, and communities to navigate the post-pandemic era and the ongoing transformation of health care. One highly effective means of achieving this is through elevating their thought leadership through op-eds.

The Relevance of Op-Eds in Times of Transformation

Op-eds are written viewpoints that allow professionals to demonstrate their thought leadership and drive change during these transformative times. By crafting compelling arguments supported by data and personal experiences, op-eds can empathize with and educate patients, open doors to new opportunities, shape health-care policies, and contribute to the broader conversation about the future of health care.

As VICE News Editor Chloe Angyal once wrote about the power of op-eds, “It matters who writes op-eds. It matters which ideas make it to the op-ed pages. Because a lot of them don’t stay there. Op-eds become books. … Op-eds become job offers. Op-eds become consulting gigs. Op-eds become speaking opportunities. Op-eds become funding offers. Op-eds become meetings with senators. Op-eds become policy. … It matters who writes op-eds, because it matters who gets to do all the things [that] can come after.”

Choosing Topics Wisely

The key to a powerful op-ed lies in the passion behind it. Start by identifying topics that resonate deeply with you and issues that you wish people understood better. Health-care leaders likely already stay informed about current events and health-care developments. That finger on the pulse of health care is an asset for placing op-eds because news outlets often seek timely responses to significant industry news stories. If you possess relevant expertise or share experiences related to topics in the news, these connections can serve as a launching point for your op-ed.

Do remember that it’s important to engage with your communications department, public-relations agency, or consultants in the op-ed writing process. They can help you refine your ideas and guide you through drafting and pitching your op-ed effectively.

Crafting a Compelling Op-Ed

A well-structured op-ed effectively conveys its message and resonates with the audience. Aim for an article length of 800-1,200 words, keeping your argument concise and clear. Use plain language to ensure accessibility for a wide readership. Here is a suggested structure for your op-ed.

Lede: This is your opening paragraph that should grab readers’ attention. You can start by recounting a current event or study, or sharing an anecdote that illustrates the issue you are addressing.

Thesis: State your central argument forcefully and concisely. This should be the core message you want readers to take away from your op-ed.

Supporting Evidence: Health-care leaders often talk about the importance of being data-driven. The same holds true in op-eds. Present data, expert quotes, scholarly references, or personal stories that back up your health-care thesis. The combination of human stories and data will make your op-ed compelling and relatable.

Application and Reflection: Use the evidence you presented to reinforce your thesis and explain its significance to the readers. Show them why they should care about the issue and its implications.

Conclusion: Circle back to the theme or story mentioned in the lead and restate your thesis to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Pitching and Publishing

To get your op-ed published, you need to identify publications that are interested in the topic you’ve covered. Make sure to check each publication’s website for op-ed criteria, including word count/length and potential exclusivity requirements.

There are two ways to approach publications with your op-ed:

1. Pitch: Send a concise email to the editor outlining your article’s idea, why readers will care, your qualifications to write on the subject, and a short bio. Make sure your subject line clearly indicates that it’s a timely pitch if relevant. Many editors will only accept pitches from authors with whom they’ve worked before.

2. Submit on Spec: This is the more typical path if you haven’t written for a publication previously. To submit on spec, you must write the entire op-ed first and then submit it with a short pitch.

Be patient if you don’t hear back immediately. Follow up after a reasonable period, often one to two weeks for a piece that isn’t time-sensitive, or one day for a piece that is.

If your op-ed gets rejected, don’t take it personally. Accept feedback graciously. If the editor invites you to submit again, wait at least a month and try again.

Publication Day and Beyond

If your op-ed gets accepted, congratulations. Op-eds are a versatile form of content that can be repurposed across different platforms. Maximize your article’s reach by reusing it on your company’s social-media accounts and your own, in-organization newsletters, the company’s website, and any other owned media assets. Engage with readers who comment on your op-ed, especially those who have genuine questions about the issue, but avoid engaging in heated debates.

Finally, be proud of yourself for advancing the ideas about which you are passionate, especially during this time of transformation.

Virgie Townsend, JD, is director of public relations at Strategic Communications, which says it provides trusted counsel for public relations, including media strategy, media outreach, monitoring, and analysis.

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