Charles Thomas Allen was born in Syracuse on Jan. 26, 1887. His British father died when Allen was just an infant. Allen’s mother, Minnie Newman Allen, raised in Pompey, brought up her young son in Syracuse. Mrs. Allen would later marry Henry Keene and become a stepmother to Keene’s son, Leon Henry Keene. Charles Allen […]
Charles Thomas Allen was born in Syracuse on Jan. 26, 1887. His British father died when Allen was just an infant. Allen’s mother, Minnie Newman Allen, raised in Pompey, brought up her young son in Syracuse. Mrs. Allen would later marry Henry Keene and become a stepmother to Keene’s son, Leon Henry Keene.
Charles Allen began his long, industrial career as a toolmaker at the H.H. Franklin Manufacturing Company, makers of the air-cooled Franklin automobile in Syracuse, eight years after the company opened in 1902. Allen learned the craft of making automobile parts and worked his way up to become a master mechanic and tool foreman during World War I. At H.H. Franklin, he directed the retooling for Franklin’s role in producing Wright-Martin and Rolls-Royce airplane engines in the summer of 1918. Allen left H.H. Franklin Manufacturing in 1920 and joined Borgeson Tool & Machine Company, located at 501 E. Water St. in Syracuse. He soon became Borgenson’s VP and secretary, subsequently leaving in 1922 to form his own tool company.
At age 28, with $20,000 in capital, Charles Allen founded the Allen Tool Corporation at 211 Wyoming St. in Syracuse in October 1922. On the same day that Allen incorporated his company, the Lafayette Country Club and the Walker Dishwashing Corporation also received incorporation certificates. Allen Tool opened with seven employees and 14 machines. Some of the company’s first products included tools, jigs, dies, and specialty machinery. Allen believed in his employees training under the tutelage of experienced tool and die makers — hands-on training was his preferred form of education.
Allen invested in modern equipment and became a leader in fabricating machines that made diverse consumer products. In 1934, Allen Tool created a machine that made containers for dispensing table salt through an aluminum spout. The machine could make 52 containers per minute. At the time, Allen also was designing machines that could turn heels for women’s shoes and weigh packaged gelatin. During the prior year, the company made a machine that could make 19,000 yards of waterproof fishing line per day. Allen Tool also fabricated the original machinery that made milk cartons for Sealtest Dairy.
Under Allen’s guidance, Allen Tool Corporation expanded from a small shop with only a few employees in the 1920s, to about 20 in the 1930s, and to a larger business of over 100 employees by the early 1940s.
Angered by the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, Charles Allen offered a $200 cash reward to the first American flyer that would bomb the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, or Osaka. His offer was the second cash offer sent to the Syracuse Herald Journal newspaper; the first $100 came from the Funda-Austin Construction Company in Syracuse. Allen Tool Corporation also joined many other local businesses in promoting buying defense bonds and stamps throughout World War II. Many employees regularly invested as much as 14 percent of their wages in buying the bonds and stamps to finance America’s war contributions. Donald W. Darrone, Allen’s son-in-law, and company VP and assistant treasurer, spearheaded the employee contribution program during the war.
Beginning as early as January 1942, orders for tools, dies, gauges, jigs, fixtures, and other small tools for defense production poured into Allen Tool. To fulfill the ever-increasing orders, the company employed 40 toolmakers who worked 60-hour weeks. The tools made by Allen Tool employees went toward making airplane-engine parts, machine guns, gun mounts, range finders, and other supplies. The company also played a vital role in retooling the Brown-Lipe-Chapin Company in Syracuse so that business could make airplane machine guns.
In November 1947, the Allen Tool Corporation moved into its own building at 308 Maltbie St. in Syracuse. The building was originally constructed for the Syracuse Supply Company about 20 years earlier. The 30,000-square-foot building was completely refurbished with new oil heating and air conditioning. The building also had its own railroad siding and sufficient parking for employees. Donald Darrone was handling much of the management and operational direction for the move. By then, 25 employees had been with the company since it began 25 years earlier.
By the early 1950s, the Allen Tool Corporation was a member of the National Tool and Die Manufacturers Association (NTDMA) along with several other local tool and die companies. The group expressed its pride in advancing the industrial capacity of Syracuse and announced to the public that the NTDMA was ready to answer the country’s call for defense contractors if the occasion arose.
As Armistice Day officially became Veterans Day on Nov. 11, 1954, Charles Thomas Allen suddenly passed away at his home at 300 Strathmore Drive in Syracuse at the age of 68. Always an early riser, Allen had spoken with his wife, Ethel, at 6 a.m., before he collapsed and died. His death came as a shock to his family, friends, and employees who fully expected him to show up at work that Thursday. Noting his early arrival at work each day, Allen previously said, “[T]he boss gets here in time to sweep out in the morning.” That day it was not to be. Allen was survived by his wife, along with two daughters, Doris (who was married to Donald Darrone) and Mrs. Virginia Doolittle, nine grandchildren, and his brother, Frank. He was buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Syracuse.
Charles T. Allen was praised as an industrial genius who could design and produce specialty jigs, tools, and sophisticated machines for diverse industries. He also was recognized as a leader in improving working efficiency and plant conditions, and earned wide admiration from fellow industrialists. Personally, Allen was described as a quiet and reserved man who had a keen sense of humor. He loved to hunt and fish and was a member of the Konosioni Lodge 950 of the Free and Associated Masons, as well as the Tigris Shrine Temple.
Upon Charles Allen’s death, his son-in-law, Donald Darrone, was elevated to company president and treasurer, and Allen’s widow, Ethel, became company VP and secretary.
The early 1960s was a busy time at Allen Tool Corporation. In 1962, Allen Tool acquired the Syracuse Special Machine Company and operated that company as a division. L. Edward Potter, founder and former president of Syracuse Special Machine Company, became sales manager of the newly established division.
That same year, Allen Tool began to work with the Florida Research and Development Center of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, a division of United Aircraft Corporation, to construct a fuel injector for the new RL10 liquid hydrogen engine that propelled the Centaur space vehicle into space. NASA successfully launched the Centaur in late November 1963 using the RL10 engine, utilizing Allen’s fuel injector. The RL10 engine also propelled the later Saturn IV rocket into outer space. The RL10 engine was later used in the Pioneer-Jupiter Explorer and the Mariner-Mars Orbiter space probe missions.
Allen Tool had existed for 44 years by 1966 and was still going strong with 120 employees. The company served the needs of the electronic, electrical, automotive, aviation, aerospace, appliance, dairy, transportation, and nuclear-power industries. The company served both local clients such as Carrier, Crouse-Hinds, General Electric, General Motors, and Chrysler, as well as national industrial clients. Two employees had worked for the company for 30 years and four had worked for 25 years. The average length of employment was nine years, and company officials touted that the longer an Allen Tool employee stayed at the company, the more proficient that employee became. The company offered a four-year apprenticeship program that combined classroom education with hands-on experience. Throughout the 1960s, Allen Tool officials routinely placed ads in the Syracuse newspapers praising their employees for being a valuable asset to the company’s success.
With Darrone at the company helm, Allen Tool continued to succeed and hire lathe operators, horizontal boring mill operators, grinders, toolmakers, machinists, and machine designers to continue creating the tools, dies, and specialty machines needed to keep American industry humming along. By the early 1980s, Allen Tool made machines to produce candles, vehicle mechanisms, jet engine components, razor blades, and countless other products. Along with continuing to serve their local clients, Allen’s client list grew to include IBM, Ford Motor Company, Kodak, and Xerox. “We’re in the business of increasing manufacturing productivity and we see this as one of our country’s top priorities this decade,” Richard Darrone, company VP and Charles Allen’s grandson, said in the Skaneateles Press newspaper in 1981.
However, a positive manufacturing outlook began to fade in the early 1980s, as the U.S. experienced two recessions in three years, and manufacturing output suffered. By March 1983, Allen Tool was struck with lagging sales and intense competition in the tool manufacturing industry. The company laid off seven of its 90 to 100 employees that January and reduced the remaining employees to a 32-hour work week.
In March 1984, Donald Darrone became the chairman of the board at Allen Tool Corporation and Richard became company president and CEO. Richard was a 1963 graduate of Syracuse University and chairman of the Factory Management Council of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY). Also that year, Ethel Allen retired as secretary, and her daughter, Doris, succeeded her mother in that position.
Business improved for Allen Tool Corporation again in the mid-1980s and the business began hiring wirers, toolmakers, and machinists.
By August 1989, Allen Tool had merged with Mac-Law Tool & Aircraft Parts Corporation, manufacturers of aerospace parts from prototype to production to become Mac-Law and Allen, Inc. Raymond Ryan was the newly merged corporation’s president, which was located at 1860 Erie Boulevard E. in Syracuse. It combined Mac-Law’s ability to make aerospace parts with Allen’s ability to make tools, jigs, fixtures, and specialty machinery.
In an effort to consolidate its operation at its Erie Boulevard location, Mac-Law sold the Allen Tool building at 308 Maltbie St. to Pioneer Development Company for $325,000. Pioneer Development planned to renovate the building and convert it into office space. Until the renovation project commenced, Mac-Law officials leased the building to finish a project previously undertaken by Allen, and then moved about 60 employees to its main building on Erie Boulevard. In 1989, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Mac-Law and Allen Tool $1.3 million in defense contracts. Defense contracts comprised 75 percent of the company’s business.
According to Raymond Ryan, Mac-Law and Allen continued to face stiff competition from other tool and machine making companies and coped with cuts in defense spending. Also, when Mac-Law took over Allen Tool, Allen was about two years behind in fulfilling its contracts. The company was incurring exorbitant overtime costs and its debts mounted.
Mac-Law and Allen, Inc. failed to pay the Internal Revenue Service $468,937 in taxes, Social Security payments, and unemployment insurance in 1990. In turn, the IRS filed liens against the company in February and March 1991 to try to collect the owed money. In addition to the IRS, Merchants National Bank & Trust Company, a major creditor, foreclosed on a loan and seized the company’s bank account of about $110,000. Mac-Law and Allen officials tried to sell the company in January 1991 without success and Merchants Bank foreclosed the business. At the beginning of 1991, the company still employed about 70 workers; however, that April almost all of those employees were laid off when Merchants Bank foreclosed. Allen closed its doors in June 1991 and Merchants Bank filed a judgment against the company for more than $2.2 million.
But the story of Allen Tool Corporation does not end there. Reminiscent of the mythical Phoenix that rose from its own ashes in Greek mythology as a symbol of renewal and rebirth, Allen Tool Phoenix, Inc. emerged from the ashes of the bankrupt Mac-Law and Allen, Inc. Cheryl Maines, current president of Allen Tool Phoenix, Inc., witnessed the decimation of Mac-Law and Allen. She and her co-worker, Richard Dick Cook, struck out on their own to create the new company the day after Mac-Law and Allen closed in 1991. It was not an easy task for Maines and Cook; Maines said it was unnerving. Looking back on that time, Maines said in 1999, “[I]t becomes your entire life. For seven days a week, you have to stay right with it.” A few days after dedicating themselves to creating Allen Tool Phoenix, Maines and Cook hired their first two employees, formerly employed by Mac-Law and Allen, and established the new business. They convinced several Mac-Law and Allen customers to keep sending their parts orders to Allen Tool Phoenix, including Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Maines’ husband, Ken, joined the company in 1993 as its controller. Allen Tool Phoenix leased space at 6057 Corporate Drive in DeWitt and purchased some used machinery, including some from the former Allen Tool Corporation. They tirelessly worked long weeks and re-established the long legacy of the original Allen Tool Corporation.
Sometime in 1996, Allen Tool Phoenix moved from 6057 Corporate Drive in DeWitt to its present location at 6821 Ellicott Drive in DeWitt, and company officials continued to advertise for toolmakers for the revived business. Cheryl Maines, newly minted owner and company president with Cook’s retirement in 1997, was looking that year to augment her staff with “top-shelf, competent employees.”
Allen Tool Phoenix was well on its way to not only surviving its first few years of redeveloping the company, but also thriving in a highly competitive industry by the end of the 20th century, and the company’s success continues today.
Allen Tool Phoenix is a flourishing company in 2023, and this year celebrates its 32nd anniversary. It is an AS9100D / ISO 9001:2015 certified, precision machine shop specializing in CNC machining, fabricating, thread rolling, assembly, and prototyping, serving the aerospace, defense, and commercial markets. It is a woman-owned business with Cheryl Maines continuing to direct it. Hearkening back to the days of Charles Allen’s apprenticeship program, Allen Tool Phoenix offers its own apprenticeship program. In addition to daily on-the-job training, the firm’s apprentices attend Onondaga Community College for their related classroom instruction. Recognizing that its employees strongly contribute to the success of the company, Allen Tool Phoenix will undoubtedly continue to prosper well into the 21st century.
Thomas Hunter is curator of collections at the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.
Employee stress is a “critical” issue for talent attraction and retention. That’s according to the 2023 Health on Demand Report that Mercer Marsh Benefits released April 13. Mercer Marsh Benefits is a health and benefits consultancy and a business of Marsh McLennan. The 2023 Health on Demand report surveyed more than 17,500 employees in 16
Employee stress is a “critical” issue for talent attraction and retention.
That’s according to the 2023 Health on Demand Report that Mercer Marsh Benefits released April 13. Mercer Marsh Benefits is a health and benefits consultancy and a business of Marsh McLennan.
The 2023 Health on Demand report surveyed more than 17,500 employees in 16 markets across the globe about their priorities for health and well-being, “highlighting the voice of the employee so employers can better address their needs.”
The survey found almost half of all employees (47 percent) report feeling stressed in everyday life. When asked what factors put them at risk for burnout at work, the top three were work pressures (54 percent), poor leadership (39 percent), and toxic culture (37 percent).
Addressing employee stress and burnout starts with addressing psychological safety in the workplace, Mercer Marsh Benefits noted.
Only 58 percent of employees agreed or strongly agreed that they feel free to speak their mind without fear of negative consequences. Leading employers are tackling the underlying causes of workplace stress as part of a “comprehensive and inclusive” benefits strategy.
It includes reviewing job design and supervisor competencies, creating a culture of belonging and inclusive decision making, and offering benefits such as reduced cost mental-health treatment and virtual counseling.
Nearly 70 percent of employees globally believe their organization would support them in an emergency or time of need, the report found.
Beyond work stressors, 21 percent of employees are concerned about affording health care, with women (26 percent), and single mothers in particular (32 percent), significantly more likely to lack confidence that they can afford needed health care than men (18 percent).
Employers are in a “unique and critical” position to address health care gaps by exploring benefits and employee-experience strategies that balance human and digital health delivery and respond to the “different needs of a diverse workforce,” per the report.
Additionally, the findings indicate that employees who believe their company cares about their health and well-being are much more likely to be “thriving,” or feeling positive about their health, wealth, and careers. The findings also indicate a positive correlation between higher levels of benefits and employee satisfaction.
In fact, employees who receive 10 or more benefits are more likely to believe their employer cares about their health and well-being, are less likely to move to a different employer, and are more confident that they can afford the healthcare their family needs.
Hervé Balzano, president, health, Mercer & global leader, Mercer Marsh Benefits highlighted the importance of offering a wide range of benefits.
“In recent years, employees’ health and well-being have been put under pressure by multiple crises — ranging from economic and geopolitical conflicts to the global pandemic,” Balzano said. “Our research shows how these challenges, along with multiple pressure points facing healthcare systems, have brought to light significant gaps in protection for workforces. This is particularly true among groups such as low-paid workers, caregivers, and women.”
Balzano went on to say, “The findings from Health on Demand clearly show that by providing comprehensive benefits, employers can address these risks, protect their employees and ultimately create a foundation for them to thrive at work and beyond.”
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Crouse Health will hold a free recruitment event on April 27 at the PressRoom Pub at 220 Herald Place in downtown Syracuse. It is scheduled between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Crouse Health currently has openings for positions that include registered nurses (RNs), surgical technologists, addiction treatment counselors/therapy aides, respiratory therapists, cardiac
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Crouse Health will hold a free recruitment event on April 27 at the PressRoom Pub at 220 Herald Place in downtown Syracuse. It is scheduled between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Crouse Health currently has openings for positions that include registered nurses (RNs), surgical technologists, addiction treatment counselors/therapy aides, respiratory therapists, cardiac techs, nursing assistants, and case managers.
“We are actively seeking mission-focused clinical staff members who want to bring their talents to an environment that supports our culture of caring, passion, fun and a dedicated focus on the patient experience,” Dr. Seth Kronenberg, president and CEO of Crouse Health, said in a release.
Crouse noted that it recently announced pay increases for experienced RNs and new graduates, which go into effect June 4.
The health-care provider’s other benefits include opportunity for incentive pay; affordable comprehensive benefits (health, dental, vision); hospital contribution to 401k; “inclusive culture;” advanced education programs; tuition support; nurse residency/academy program; and “supportive family environment,” per its release.
Those attending will have the chance to meet Crouse clinical leaders. The PressRoom Pub will also provide some food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Those seeking more information can contact Crouse human resources at (315) 470-7521, crousehr@crouse.org, or visit crouse.org/careers.
ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College says its upcoming graduation ceremony will include speakers from the Classes of 2023 and 1980, along with an honorary-degree recipient who was originally scheduled to graduate in 1994. Four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Larry Hirschhorn will deliver the main address at Ithaca College’s 128th commencement ceremony on May 21, the
ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College says its upcoming graduation ceremony will include speakers from the Classes of 2023 and 1980, along with an honorary-degree recipient who was originally scheduled to graduate in 1994.
Four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Larry Hirschhorn will deliver the main address at Ithaca College’s 128th commencement ceremony on May 21, the college announced April 18.
In addition, graduating senior Francesca Infante-Meehan will speak on behalf of the Class of 2023.
Ithaca College will also recognize civil-rights activist and award-winning filmmaker Loki Mulholland with an honorary degree at the ceremony, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. that day in Glazer Arena of the Athletics and Events Center.
“We look forward to celebrating the Class of 2023 and honoring our distinguished guests,” Ithaca College President La Jerne Terry Cornish said in the school’s news release. “As our graduates prepare to begin this next exciting chapter in their lives, I am sure that they will draw inspiration and encouragement from the experiences of our speakers.”
Hirschhorn
Hirschhorn earned his bachelor’s degree in acting from Ithaca College in 1980 and began his professional career on stage. He later switched to producing after getting his master’s degree from New York University in educational theatre, Ithaca College said.
He was the founder/artistic director of Melting Pot Theatre Company, which first brought “Miss Evers’ Boys,” “Woody Sez,” and “Cobb” to New York City. He has since gone on to produce some of the most awarded plays and musicals on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on national tours, and in London, the college said.
He is currently on the producing teams of “Hadestown,” which won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Musical; and the revival of “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” starring Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan. His two productions currently in development include musical stage versions of the films “Benny & Joon” and “The Flamingo Kid.” Additionally, he is the producer of the animated short film “A Cow in the Sky,” featuring rap artist Aminé, which will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June.
Hirschhorn has stayed actively involved with Ithaca College’s theatre program throughout his career, the school noted. He co-chaired the fundraising drive for the 2009 renovation of Dillingham Center for the Performing Arts, where he also established a theatre library; regularly participates in field studies week in New York City, which sees Ithaca College students travel to the Big Apple to meet with theatre alumni; and endowed an annual scholarship for theatre majors.
He was honored by the Ithaca College Alumni Association in 2016 with the Professional Achievement Award, which recognizes alumni who have achieved national, regional, or local distinction in their professions, who acknowledge the importance of their Ithaca College education in reaching their career goals, and who have demonstrated long-standing loyalty to the college.
Infante-Meehan
Infante-Meehan will earn a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts management and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing.
Besides her classroom work, her on-campus activities included serving as the marketing manager for the Center for Theatre and Dance; student assistant with the Marketing & Creative Group in the Division of Marketing and Enrollment Strategy; director of communications for the Class of 2023; and GREEN Tour leader for the Jumpstart program.
In the local community, Infante-Meehan has worked with the Cherry Artspace as a production associate and with the activist nonprofit Civic Ensemble as the digital media and marketing intern for the production “Streets Like This,” where she worked “intimately” with the homeless population in Ithaca to help create a show based on their first-hand experiences in the streets, the school said.
Infante-Meehan spent the spring of her junior year studying at the Ithaca College London Center. After interning at J.P. Morgan last summer in the Securities Services Leadership Program, she will be returning to the company to work as a full-time analyst after graduation.
Mulholland
Ithaca College will award Emmy-winning filmmaker and author Loki Mulholland an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.
A civil-rights activist in the “mold of his celebrated mother,” Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, he told her story in the illustrated children’s book “She Stood for Freedom” — which was nominated for the 2017 Amelia Bloomer Award — and film “An Ordinary Hero,” which appeared on PBS.
His other notable, award-winning documentaries include “After Selma”; “The Evers,” on Showtime; and “The Uncomfortable Truth,” on Amazon Prime, which dives into the 400-year history of institutional racism in America.
Mulholland founded and serves as executive director of the Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Foundation, which takes a multi-faceted approach to educating people in anti-racism, and he regularly speaks around the country on issues of race and social justice.
He joined his mother for a Day of Learning series event at Ithaca College last fall, “Students as Advocates and Change Agents,” advising students about how they can have an impact on issues of injustice.
Mulholland studied cinema and photography in the Roy H. Park School of Communications and would have graduated from the college in 1994 had he “not gotten stuck in Russia for a short time after studying and working abroad, consequently missing his final year,” the school said.
Following his campus visit last fall, administrators in the Park School determined from his transcripts, his business degree from the University of Phoenix, and credit for his professional film work that he had ultimately qualified for his Ithaca undergraduate degree, which he was awarded in December 2022.
Currier Currier is an attorney with Baron & Budd, PC of Dallas, Texas and advocates for victims of asbestos-related diseases. She is licensed to practice in both New York and Texas. Currier previously worked as a solo practitioner “serving our local community.” She has also worked at Lockheed Martin with executive leadership in human-resources strategic
Currier is an attorney with Baron & Budd, PC of Dallas, Texas and advocates for victims of asbestos-related diseases. She is licensed to practice in both New York and Texas.
Currier previously worked as a solo practitioner “serving our local community.” She has also worked at Lockheed Martin with executive leadership in human-resources strategic planning, per the Midstate Mutual announcement. Currier has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a law degree from Texas A&M School of Law and resides in Auburn.
“I would like to thank the members on my appointment,” Currier said in the release. “I am honored to serve such a distinguished and well-respected company and I value the opportunity to join alongside its talented directors.”
Flanagan, Jr.
Flanagan has 27 years of law-enforcement experience, including the last 25 with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. Flanagan recently retired from the sheriff’s office holding the rank of detective lieutenant assigned as the executive officer of criminal investigations division. He resides in Warners.
“I thoroughly enjoyed serving my community the last 27 years as a police officer, and I am now excited to serve the policyholders of Midstate Mutual,” Flanagan said. “I look forward to representing them the same way I represented the Sheriff’s Office — with honesty and
WATERTOWN, N.Y. — The Jefferson Economic Development Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation is providing grant funding for both Jefferson-Lewis BOCES and the Clayton Local Development Corp. to help strengthen career and workforce development in the region. The Clayton Local Development Corporation will use a $3,000 grant award for a one-time study of
WATERTOWN, N.Y. — The Jefferson Economic Development Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation is providing grant funding for both Jefferson-Lewis BOCES and the Clayton Local Development Corp. to help strengthen career and workforce development in the region.
The Clayton Local Development Corporation will use a $3,000 grant award for a one-time study of available workforce housing in the St. Lawrence River community, a “seasonal destination that boasts a strong tourism economy.” Results of the study will help officials develop plans to address future housing needs. The study will also address the impact of second homes, short-term rentals, and tax-exempt properties within the housing stock of the Thousand Islands Region.
In addition, Jefferson-Lewis BOCES will use a $3,600 grant to help it conduct an annual Career Camp in July. Up to 40 students from local school districts entering eighth and ninth grades are expected to attend one of two weeklong camps that enable youths to explore careers through hands-on experiences.
The camps often serve as an introduction to life skills and career and technical educational opportunities that BOCES offers while “instilling a career and goal mindset for participants.”
Grant funding will help with transportation expenses and instructor stipends. The grant was made possible, in part, by $1,600 in support from the Herring College Fund of the Community Foundation.
“With a rolling application this year, the Community Foundation is pleased to support two timely requests through the Jefferson Economic Development Fund,” Max DelSignore, the foundation’s assistant director, said. “Local nonprofits impact economic development in different ways. We look forward to area agencies exploring this funding opportunity further to enhance their mission and the communities they serve.”
About the Fund
The Jefferson Economic Development Fund was established at the Community Foundation to support programs, projects, and efforts that help stimulate economic development and promote general welfare in Jefferson County. The fund was originally created in 1958 and administered by the Jefferson County Chambers of Commerce. A group of regional business leaders established the nonprofit entity to encourage economic development and growth. The Community Foundation now stewards this charitable fund.
This year, the application for the Jefferson Economic Development Fund is available on a rolling basis with grant decisions made quarterly.
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation says it has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO), the Florida–based parent of Syracuse–based Brown & Brown Empire State, recently announced it has appointed Robert Mathis as its chief legal officer. Mathis will also serve on the senior leadership team of the national insurance-brokerage firm. Before joining Brown & Brown, Mathis served as a senior VP for KBR, Inc.,
Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO), the Florida–based parent of Syracuse–based Brown & Brown Empire State, recently announced it has appointed Robert Mathis as its chief legal officer.
Mathis will also serve on the senior leadership team of the national insurance-brokerage firm.
Before joining Brown & Brown, Mathis served as a senior VP for KBR, Inc., where he had direct responsibility in the global energy, technology, and international government-services areas of the business. Mathis has also held various legal roles for both international and domestic organizations, including Holland & Knight LLP, Enron India Private Limited, Prisma Energy Europe Limited, Enron Corp, and Lockard Group. Mathis is a graduate of the University of Florida (bachelor’s and law degrees) and is an active and licensed member of the Florida Bar. He will be based at the Brown & Brown headquarters campus in Daytona Beach.
Brown & Brown, through its subsidiaries, offers a broad range of insurance products and related services. It has more than 15,000 employees and about 500 offices worldwide. The insurance-brokerage firm makes frequent acquisitions of insurance agencies a key part of its growth strategy.
Brown & Brown Empire State is headquartered at 500 Plum St. in Syracuse’s Franklin Square area. It also has an office in Vestal.
More Americans than ever are growing older and healthier these days. Consider the fact that, on average, we were lucky if we lived past 47 years of age at the beginning of the 20th century. Yet nowadays most men and women in the U.S. can look forward to celebrating birthdays well into their 70s. In
More Americans than ever are growing older and healthier these days. Consider the fact that, on average, we were lucky if we lived past 47 years of age at the beginning of the 20th century. Yet nowadays most men and women in the U.S. can look forward to celebrating birthdays well into their 70s. In fact, the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University tells us that the number of people who make it past their 100th birthday has just about doubled over the past two decades.
To be sure, the COVID pandemic has taken its toll, causing an increased mortality rate in general among the elderly, as well as a time out when it comes to expanded life spans. Not long ago, the Washington Post reported that “unlike flu, which impacts both the very young and the very old, the coronavirus appears to put mostly older people at higher risk of severe disease and death.”
Going forward, the question is: will life expectancy in the U.S. resume its growth in the future. It most likely will, say the experts. But it is not because medical science is on a quest for immortality; rather, the goal is to alleviate the illnesses that come with aging. As the website, Lifespan.io, put it: “The immune system keeps us safe from the constant invasion of viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens, helping us to stay healthy and free from diseases. However, the immune system begins to break down as we get older and we become ever more vulnerable to diseases and infections. To solve this problem, scientists are exploring therapies to regenerate the immune system so that it is better able to fight back against diseases as it did in youth.”
According to the National Library of Medicine, the risk factors of aging are the human pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. “Aging research has experienced an unprecedented advance over recent years, particularly with the discovery that the rate of aging is controlled, at least to some extent, by genetic pathways and biochemical processes conserved in evolution … the final goal [is] identifying pharmaceutical targets to improve human health during aging with minimal side-effects.”
What it all comes down to is what Abraham Lincoln allegedly said: “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
John Grimaldi writes for the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC), a senior-advocacy organization with 2.4 million members. He is a is a founding member of the board of directors of Priva Technologies, Inc.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Northland Communications, a Central New York–based telecommunications provider, recently announced that it continues to create new positions and add more employees. Northland Communications says it has consistently grown to meet current and prospective customer growth over the last couple of years. The company is projecting increasing its workforce by an additional 12.5
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Northland Communications, a Central New York–based telecommunications provider, recently announced that it continues to create new positions and add more employees.
Northland Communications says it has consistently grown to meet current and prospective customer growth over the last couple of years. The company is projecting increasing its workforce by an additional 12.5 percent this year.
“We’ve added quite a few positions, with the goal of meeting demand and setting ourselves up for future success operationally,” Theresa Jalowiec, VP of people and talent at Northland Communications, said in a news release. “Between evolving technology and extending our expertise, we are thrilled to be part of the economic growth of our communities.”
The release also announced a couple new employees that Northland recently added as part of its growth. Northland Communications welcomed Patrick Creedon, a provisioning specialist, and Kucjok Ater, a network operations center (NOC) technician, to the company. Northland also announced that Lenny Racquet has transitioned from his role as a cabling specialist to a lineman.
Creedon works to process orders and interfaces with technicians, customers, and vendors regarding due dates and cutover procedures, while Ater helps troubleshoot service issues and resolve any customer concerns. Racquet now works with Northland’s line crew, constructing both aerial and buried infrastructure for Northland’s dedicated fiber network across Central New York.
Northland Communi-cations offers cloud-based voice, data, and equipment services to businesses over its reliable fiber-optic network. It has offices in both Syracuse and Holland Patent.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Paid internships for 150 undergraduates are available at five state university campuses this summer through the SUNY Chancellor’s Summer Research Excellence Fund. The campuses include Binghamton University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy, SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. announced April 12. This will
ALBANY, N.Y. — Paid internships for 150 undergraduates are available at five state university campuses this summer through the SUNY Chancellor’s Summer Research Excellence Fund.
The campuses include Binghamton University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy, SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. announced April 12.
This will be the first year of a paid-internship program that’s expected to grow in the number of campuses and students participating after this pilot, SUNY said.
The internship program will expand research opportunities to students with financial need, first-generation students, and others who may face barriers to “securing research experiences.”
Besides Binghamton, SUNY ESF, and SUNY Poly, the participating campuses also include the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University.
“Every student should have the opportunity to participate in an internship or other experiential learning on their path to a college degree, and through this internship program students will be offered a robust experience right from their home campus and at no additional cost,” King said in a SUNY news release. “Expanding paid summer research internships is a concrete, powerful way to expand economic opportunity and increase social mobility especially for so many college students whose economic or familial circumstances might have barred them in the past.”
The SUNY Chancellor’s Summer Research Excellence Fund, which is supported by SUNY’s Empire Innovation program, covers all student costs for the internship including, “but not limited to,” student stipend/salary, tuition/fees, housing, meal plans, childcare, and transportation, per SUNY.
“We’re thrilled to be part of this pilot program, which will give underserved students access to opportunities in today’s leading fields of research,” Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said in the release. “[Artificial intelligence (AI)], cybersecurity, nursing — these things matter and will only become more important in the future, and we’re proud to help facilitate the growth of tomorrow’s researchers and problem-solvers.”
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