ANCA adds Boggess, Trombley to board of directors

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SARANAC LAKE — The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) recently added two clean-energy leaders to its board of directors. Sarah Boggess, VP of external affairs at ReEnergy Holdings LLC, and Troy Trombley, government and community relations manager at the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG), joined the board. Boggess and Trombley both bring […]

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Bonadio’s Hammond named secretary/treasurer of NYSSCPA board of directors

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SYRACUSE — Timothy J. Hammond, principal and talent ambassador at The Bonadio Group, in its Syracuse office, was recently elected secretary/treasurer of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) board of directors for the 2022-2023 term. He began his term of office on June 1, along with the NYSSCPA’s other new officers,

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Onondaga County hotels see more than 17 percent increase in occupancy in May

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Onondaga County hotels served more guests in the fifth month of this year than they did in May 2021, continuing a streak of business gains this year as the industry bounces back. The hotel-occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county rose 17.5 percent to 59.5 percent

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Competition aims to create food & agriculture innovation hub

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, Nonprofits, Regional News, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only, Technology

ITHACA, N.Y. — Grow-NY, a food and agriculture innovation business competition, does more than just hand out a $1 million top prize. The contest draws businesses to the 22-county region that spans Central New York, the Finger Lakes region, and the Southern Tier as it seeks to grow a food and agriculture innovation hub. Why

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Grow-NY, a food and agriculture innovation business competition, does more than just hand out a $1 million top prize.

The contest draws businesses to the 22-county region that spans Central New York, the Finger Lakes region, and the Southern Tier as it seeks to grow a food and agriculture innovation hub.

Why agriculture? “It’s the tie that binds those three regions,” says Grow-NY Program Director Jenn Smith. With more than 40 percent of New York’s working farmland and 20,000 people employed in food and agriculture businesses, it just made sense to look there when seeking an area that could benefit from Upstate Revitalization Initiative funding. The regional economic development councils for the three regions agreed, which allowed Empire State Development to collect the funding and distribute it to Cornell University for the program.

The program hosts a yearly business competition that attracts high-growth food and agriculture startups from around the world and makes them aware of what the area has to offer.

“There are a lot of reasons for startup companies to be looking at our region,” Smith says, noting the region is within 500 miles of more than 100 million consumers.

Competition entrants must operate in a food or agriculture field including foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, and dairy products; fuels such as ethanol; fibers including animal and plant fibers; raw materials such as livestock feed; and processes or systems to improve development, growth, production, distribution, delivery, or processing.

Entrants must be early stage and have a scalable business model. Winners must commit to operating in at least one of the three regions for at least 12 months — and agree to repay the award if they don’t meet that requirement.

While the criteria are strict, winners can walk away with a hefty prize, Smith says. The competition awards a $1 million top price, two $500,000 prizes, and four $250,000 prizes.

Last year, more than 300 companies applied for Grow-NY. Applications this year opened on May 16 and will close on July 1. After that, 10 panels of three members each will work their way through the applications and each panel will pick two eligible entrants to move forward.

Grow-NY essentially serves as an accelerator program, and the 20 finalists spend the first three months going through a business development phase, Smith says.

A final summit takes place Nov. 15-16 where the finalists get to pitch their businesses and the judges select a winner.

In the four years since Grow-NY started, 21 startup companies have moved forward with their plans in New York, bringing in $65 million in follow-up funding and creating more than 200 jobs, Smith notes.

Last year’s winner Every Body Eat of Chicago committed to establishing a wet allergen-free processing facility in the region to make allergy-free versions of things like dips. The company manufactures and sells foods free of 14 common allergens and corn.

“We don’t have something like that in Central New York,” Smith notes. Every Body Eat plans to act as a co-packing facility, providing an opportunity for existing small companies to add allergy-free products and even for people to create new companies.

“We call that feeding two birds with one stone,” Smith says.

The counties included in the Grow-NY (www.grow-ny.com) region are Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties in the Central New York region; Genesee Livingston, Monroe, Orleans, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties in the Finger Lakes; and Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties in the Southern Tier.

AAA’s new Watertown Travel & Insurance Center is a more efficient size

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Insurance & Financial Services, Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — AAA’s new Travel & Insurance Center in Watertown is a “much more efficient size and member-friendly office,” Elizabeth Carey, director of public relations and corporate communications for AAA Western and Central New York, says. The new 1,800-square-foot space is located at 19472 U.S. Route 11 in Watertown, not far from its previous

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The new 1,800-square-foot space is located at 19472 U.S. Route 11 in Watertown, not far from its previous location on Outer Washington Street.

The new office includes an open floor plan with less paper storage and more electronic features and wireless connectivity for AAA associates to assist visitors. AAA offers travel, insurance, membership, and other services from the new office.

“Having a modern, up-to-date location is key to meeting the needs of our members,” Tony Spada, president and CEO of AAA Western and Central New York, said. “We look forward to utilizing this office concept in Watertown to meet the needs of our growing membership base.”

Area officials, community partners, and members of the board of directors joined the organization for a ribbon cutting for the new location on June 7. The Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce assisted AAA with the ribbon cutting.

“It was a short move across the parking lot, but visitors will notice big changes at the new facility that is more modern and user friendly,” Barbara Park, manager of the AAA Watertown Travel & Insurance Center, said. “We are already seeing that with increased foot traffic at the new location, and we invite everyone to stop out at the grand re-opening.”

Besides Park, the new Watertown location has four additional employees, Carey tells CNYBJ.

Area partners, including towing contractors, law enforcement, offered their support at the June 7 formal-opening event. The New York State Police used the opportunity to remind the public about traffic safety.

“Many area residents will visit this office in coming weeks to get maps and more when they head out on summer road trips,” Jack Keller, public information officer with the New York State Police, Troop D, said “Please remember to drive safely, obey traffic laws, and slow down, move over for roadside workers.”

ESD redesignates Tech Garden, Shipley Center as innovation hot spots

Small Business, Subscriber Only, Technology

The Tech Garden in Syracuse, Griffiss Institute Business Incubator in Rome, and the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva are among several regional incubator programs that Empire State Development is redesignating or certifying under its Business Incubator & Innovation Hot Spot support program, per a June 9 announcement. Administered and overseen by NYSTAR,

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Administered and overseen by NYSTAR, the state’s Business Incubator & Innovation Hot Spot support program provides operating grants to the centers throughout their five-year designations.

NYSTAR is ESD’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation.

The state-certified business incubators accelerate the development of early-stage companies through an array of support resources and services specifically designed to meet the needs of startup companies. Innovation hot spots also coordinate regional entrepreneurial ecosystems and can offer support and incentives to local businesses.

About $12.1 million in state funding from the Business Incubator & Innovation Hot Spot Support Program was awarded to the 14 newly designated and redesignated programs across the state as part of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative.

Innovation Hot Spots

The five innovation hot spots that earned redesignation have “delivered significant impacts for their regional economies and innovation ecosystems, fostering new collaborations, encouraging local entrepreneurship and supporting growth and job creation within startups and early-stage companies,” ESD said.

They include the Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse; the Shipley Center for Innovation at Clarkson University in Potsdam; and the Southern Tier Startup Alliance, which is based in Ithaca.

Business Incubators

The six New York State-certified business incubators — which were awarded redesignation for the “impact they’ve generated thus far” — take a “more targeted approach” than the regional innovation hot spots to meet the “entrepreneurial support needs” of communities or specific industries.

They include the CNY Biotech Certified Business Incubator in Syracuse; the Griffiss Institute Business Incubator in Rome; and the Binghamton Incubator Program, which involves the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator and the Start-Up Suite pre-incubator at Binghamton University.

Cornell Ag and Food Tech Park

NYSTAR is recognizing the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva as one of three newly state-certified business incubators, ESD said in its June 9 announcement.

Besides the Cornell Ag and Food Tech Park, NYSTAR is added Communitas America and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, both based in New York City.

Each of the business incubators will have a different primary area of focus, such as lowering barriers to business entry for BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) entrepreneurs, cultivating new agriculture technology companies, and turning medical discoveries into commercial products.

Now part of NYSTAR’s statewide network of innovation resources, the three Business Incubators will receive state funding as well as administrative support and assistance.

The three newly designated centers will receive a total of $1.875 million in operating grants.

The Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park operates a 20,000-square foot incubator facility in Geneva, providing office, manufacturing, and laboratory space to startups and emerging companies in agribusiness industries. The Tech Farm, the park’s incubator, will partner with the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture at Cornell AgriTech to better coordinate, market and deliver its services and provide access to facilities to support companies and new technologies in the ag and food industry.

Program overview

In total, NYSTAR has designated 10 innovation hot spots and 20 state-certified business incubators — including the five hot spots and nine business incubators just designated or redesignated.

NYSTAR also oversees the state’s network of Centers for Advanced Technology, Centers of Excellence, New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers and more. Across its programs, it has more than 70 NYSTAR-backed centers across the state that are actively working to generate technology-driven economic growth.

Collectively, they provide innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders with “access to the support they need to solve challenges and grow companies, often connecting academia and industry to spark collaborations that lead to new discoveries and job creation,” ESD said.

Broome County hotel occupancy rises nearly 19 percent in May

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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Broome County hotels saw another increase in guests in May compared to a year earlier, as the hospitality industry continues to rebound from the pandemic, according to a new report. The hotel-occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county rose 18.9 percent to 63.7 percent in May,

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NBT Bank creates chief diversity officer role

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NORWICH, N.Y. — NBT Bank is taking the next steps in its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by creating and filling a full-time chief diversity officer position. “It’s pretty clear in the research over time that a diverse workforce and a diverse leadership team provide better results,” says John H. Watt, Jr., president and CEO

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NORWICH, N.Y. — NBT Bank is taking the next steps in its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by creating and filling a full-time chief diversity officer position.

“It’s pretty clear in the research over time that a diverse workforce and a diverse leadership team provide better results,” says John H. Watt, Jr., president and CEO of NBT.

Since 2016, NBT had two different employees who served as a diversity officer while also performing their normal jobs, he says, but it was time to create a full-time position to handle the duties.

NBT had a well-qualified candidate in house, and Karen Sastri stepped into her new role as chief diversity officer in mid-April. She not only provides continuity for already established initiatives, but also works with bank leadership to establish new programs and best practices that will help NBT recruit, retain, and develop a diverse workforce.

Sastri, a 25-year employee, previously worked in NBT’s human-resources department, so the transition to the new job was an intuitive one that fit well with her previous experience with recruitment, employee relations, training, and development.

“I was honored to be asked,” Sastri says. She earned her bachelor’s degree from University at Albany and holds a strategic human resources business partner certification. She serves on the boards for the Chenango United Way and Dollars for Scholars and is a member of the Norwich Boys Soccer Boosters. Sastri joined NBT in 1996.

Diversity isn’t a new thing at NBT, she notes. Currently, seven of the 11 executive leaders and 55 percent of the overall management team members are women. However, diversity needs to be constantly nurtured and inclusivity must be fostered.

The goal is to promote a workplace where people can come to work and be their authentic selves, she says, and feel welcomed and supported while doing so.

“The companies that are successful are the ones that encourage inclusion,” Watt notes. NBT already has several initiatives around inclusion including roundtable discussions where employees can speak up, company community events, and empowerment workshops. These events give employees a voice, and the bank can learn from them and make the workplace a richer environment, he adds.

Diversity and inclusion initiatives can even go beyond employees to customers, Sastri says. NBT is focused on keeping its branches a welcoming space for customers and remains connected in the communities it serves to causes and organizations it deems important.

While the main intention is to ensure people feel seen and heard, accepted, and welcomed, Watt says NBT also has an obligation to its shareholders. Fortunately, he adds, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace leads to happy employees who deliver strong results.

Headquartered in Norwich, NBT Bank offers banking and wealth-management services in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut. The bank employs about 1,800 people, with more than 700 of those employees in branch offices. Parent company NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ: NBTB) has $12.1 billion in total assets.

New York manufacturing index rises in June but remains negative

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The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index rose 10 points in June but stayed in negative territory at -1.2. The index — the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector — had declined significantly in May, falling 36 points to -11.6. The June reading — based on firms responding to the survey — indicates

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The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index rose 10 points in June but stayed in negative territory at -1.2.

The index — the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector — had declined significantly in May, falling 36 points to -11.6.

The June reading — based on firms responding to the survey — indicates business activity “was little changed” in New York state, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its June 15 report. A negative reading on the index indicates a decline in the sector, while a positive number points to expansion or growth in manufacturing activity.

The survey found 28 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 29 percent said that conditions had worsened, per the New York Fed.

Survey details

After plunging below zero the prior month, the new orders and shipments indexes climbed into positive territory in June, pointing to a “small increase” in both areas, the New York Fed said.

The unfilled-orders index fell to -4.3, its first negative reading in over a year, indicating that unfilled orders “shrank.” The delivery-times index fell 6 points to 14.5, suggesting that delivery times lengthened, though at the “slowest pace in over a year.”

The inventories index rose 9 points to 17.1, indicating that inventories expanded.

The index for number of employees increased 5 points to 19.0, pointing to a solid increase in employment, and the average workweek index came in at 6.4, indicating a small increase in hours worked.

The prices-paid index rose 5 points to 78.6, several points below its recent record high, and the prices-received index edged down to 43.6, signaling “ongoing substantial increases” in both input prices and selling prices.

Optimism about future conditions was “subdued” for a third consecutive month. The index for future business conditions fell 4 points to 14.0.

Delivery times are expected to decline over the next six months, as are unfilled orders, while increases in prices and employment are expected to continue in the months ahead, the New York Fed said. Capital spending and technology spending plans remained firm.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.

CNY closed homes sales fall 10 percent in May, median sales price rises over 5 percent

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Realtors in a six-county region of Central New York sold 622 homes in May, down 10.2 percent from 693 homes in the year-ago month. The CNY monthly median sales price hit $181,250 in May, up 5.4 percent from $172,000 in May 2021, according to the latest housing-market report released by the Greater

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