American Heart Association

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DENISE MCGRAW has returned to the American Heart Association (AHA) as a development director. She most recently served as executive director of Girls on the Run Upstate NY, Inc. Before that, McGraw worked at the AHA as a development director for the Syracuse Heart Challenge for five years. In her role as a development director […]

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KIRSTEN ELLEBY

People on the Move, Subscriber Only

KIRSTEN ELLEBY was recently named Syracuse University’s new deputy athletics director and senior woman administrator. She joins the Orange after almost six years as associate athletics director for student-athlete enrichment and senior woman administrator at the University of New Orleans. At Syracuse, Elleby will serve as chief Title IX officer, represent Syracuse Athletics with her

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AmeriCU’s Gwak appointed to Leadership Greater Syracuse board of directors

Banks & Credit Unions, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Nonprofits, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jin Gwak, AmeriCU Credit Union’s chief digital & information officer, recently joined the board for Leadership Greater Syracuse (LGS), a nonprofit organization that offers a yearlong civic-leadership training program. Gwak, who was a member of the LGS Class of 2015, joined the credit union in 2013. In her role as chief digital

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Podiatry Services of CNY leases space for DeWitt office

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Health Care, Subscriber Only

DeWITT, N.Y. — Podiatry Services of CNY, PC recently leased 950 square feet of space for an office at 6900 Highbridge Road in DeWitt. Chris Savage of Cushman & Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Company helped arrange the transaction, representing the landlord. Robert T. Cluse is listed as the owner of the 6900 Highbridge Road property, according to

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Clement joins Beardsley Architects + Engineers

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Manufacturing & Engineering, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

AUBURN, N.Y. — Beardsley Architects + Engineers recently added Alex D. Clement as a senior architect in its Syracuse–area office. Clement has 13 years of experience working with governmental, commercial, industrial, educational, and residential clients, the firm said in a release. He works collaboratively to solve design problems with complex constraints and to develop spaces

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Hancock Estabrook adds Ithaca Law firm Barney, Grossman & Dubow

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Regional News, Small Business, Subscriber Only

Barney, Grossman & Dubow traces its history back about 50 years, providing legal services that focus on commercial and residential transactions, small-business formation and management, trusts and estate planning, probate and estate administration, and municipal law. Hancock Estabrook added attorney Peter G. Grossman as a partner in the municipal, real estate and trusts & estates

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The Compound brings butter and cheesy goodness to Utica

Regional News, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

UTICA, N.Y. — Butter and cheese lovers have a new dining option in Utica now that The Compound has opened its restaurant at 104 Genesee St. The Compound, which also has a Clinton location at 11 West Park Row, is the brainchild of husband-and-wife duo Sharrone and Anna Sofer. The Utica–area natives moved back to

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UTICA, N.Y. — Butter and cheese lovers have a new dining option in Utica now that The Compound has opened its restaurant at 104 Genesee St.

The Compound, which also has a Clinton location at 11 West Park Row, is the brainchild of husband-and-wife duo Sharrone and Anna Sofer. The Utica–area natives moved back to the region during the summer of 2019 from Austin, Texas and brought some of that city’s eclectic and funky vibe back with them.

The Sofers also had a side business selling the compound butters they used to make. Somewhere along the way, the pair got the idea to pair their flavored butters with their love of grilled-cheese sandwiches and open a restaurant. After spotting an available space in Clinton, they crunched some numbers and decided to take the plunge.

“It was a big risk, especially given the climate at the time,” Sharrone Sofer says. The Compound’s first location opened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The one thing that saved them during the pandemic, he says, is that the Clinton location is so small — it only has four tables at its maximum — that the business was already geared toward takeout.

It turns out their 12 gourmet grilled-cheese sandwiches were a hit. According to his numbers, Sharrone says they needed to sell 40 sandwiches a day to make the enterprise viable for him and Anna to run.

“It turned out to be a lot more than we could handle just she and I,” he says. The couple added some employees and were in the process of considering adding on a food truck, he says, when fate intervened in the form of Utica Coffee Roasting Company owner Frank Elias.

“We almost pulled the trigger” on a food truck, Anna Sofer says, when Elias made them aware of a space available a few doors down from his coffee shop and urged them to consider opening a location there.

The 2,000-square-foot space, once home to Utica Bread — but vacant for several years after the bakery relocated to Main Street near Union Station — was just what they were looking for, she says.

“We were not ready, but in typical us fashion, decided to jump in,” Anna Sofer quips. The couple signed a lease with building owners Tim Hardiman and Chris Taglo in December and, with their contractor Isaac Nomo, began renovating it to match their vision.

The Sofers invested $25,000 of their own money and raised another $15,000 with a Kickstarter campaign. They also obtained a $40,000 loan from Bank of Utica and $40,000 in financing for restaurant equipment from NJ Flihan & Co. on Bleecker Street.

The result is a funky space featuring various works by local artists on the wall, used books for sale, kitschy items like a hot pink cuckoo clock, a disco ball, and a much larger menu than the 800-square-foot Clinton restaurant.

“It’s all about fun and comfort,” Sharrone Sofer says.

Along with indoor seating, there is also a cheese case and a menu that includes burgers, loaded toasts, and baked potatoes. The Compound also has access to shared event space on the second floor of the building, which will allow it to host pop-up events.

The restaurant had its soft opening the second week of March and celebrated its grand opening March 15.

To spread the word along with the butter, the Sofers rely on their social-media pages on Facebook and Instagram, where they have more than 11,600 followers.

“We partner with a lot of local influencers,” Anna Sofer adds. They are also working with several organizations including the Central New York Cheese Trail and hold pop-up events where they invite local makers in to sell their wares to continue to spread the word.

So far, the response to the new eatery, which is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., has been great, the Sofers say.

“We love Utica,” Anna Sofer exclaims. “We are really invested in the new Utica.”

Onondaga County awards nonprofits COVID-19 Fund grants

Health Care, Nonprofits, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A group of 10 Onondaga County nonprofits will use grant money awarded from the county’s COVID-19 Response Fund. Ryan McMahon, Onondaga County executive, on March 9 announced the awards during an event held at AccessCNY, located at 1603 Court St. in Syracuse. As the county explained in its news release, the COVID-19

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A group of 10 Onondaga County nonprofits will use grant money awarded from the county’s COVID-19 Response Fund.

Ryan McMahon, Onondaga County executive, on March 9 announced the awards during an event held at AccessCNY, located at 1603 Court St. in Syracuse.

As the county explained in its news release, the COVID-19 Response Fund sought to “address the human-service needs and improve quality of life for the populations in Onondaga County disproportionately impacted by the COVID19 pandemic.”

The effort had a “specific focus placed” on the county’s youth and senior-citizen populations. The fund had $1 million available, with maximum funding awards of $100,000 each.

Grant recipients

Onondaga County provided a list of the 11 grant awards to 10 recipients and a description of how the nonprofits will use the funding.

AccessCNY will use two funding awards. The one grant, totaling nearly $99,000, will connect people who live with a developmental disability, acquired brain injury, or mental-health diagnosis, with needed services including increasing attendance at medical appointments, decreasing food insecurity, and reducing feelings of social isolation.

The second grant, a more than $94,000 award, is for caregiver training. The funding will allow AccessCNY to increase outreach and collaboration across systems and develop curriculum to provide educational resources and supports to unpaid caregivers of individuals with a mental-health diagnosis.

ACR Health will use its $100,000 grant for a mobile health-services team. The money will help the organization enhance outreach, education, harm reduction, and prevention services for people with opiate-use disorder and/or those at increased risk for HIV/STDs.

Aurora of Central New York, Inc. will use its $100,000 for a safe outreach project for people with vision and hearing loss. The grant will allow Aurora to ensure proper access to — and utilization of — mental and physical-health services using appropriate sign language interpretive services for the Deaf New American Community and American Deaf individuals. It will also use the funding to help reduce isolation for seniors with vision or hearing loss by providing training in adaptive and assistive technologies.

CirCare was awarded a nearly $79,000 grant for a parent project. It will use the money to implement the Parent Project Model, an evidence-based curricula helping parents develop strategies to handle “some of the most difficult” behaviors exhibited in their school-aged children.

Contact Community Services, Inc. plans to use its $100,000 grant award for a TeleCare project to make telephone-reassurance calls for isolated and vulnerable older adults, including daily wellness checks and medication reminders.

Elmcrest Children’s Center was issued a $100,000 grant for non-traditional childcare at Northside Early Education Center. The organization will use the money to implement a pilot program to provide center-based licensed childcare during non-traditional hours (5 p.m.-12 a.m.) for parents working second shift.

Empower Parkinson, Inc. will use a more than $77,000 grant award for expansion of services for people with Parkinson’s Disease. The funding will help pay for efforts to expand provision of services including boxing, other fitness activities, education, support, and socialization for people living with Parkinson’s Disease.

PEACE, Inc. plans to use its $100,000 grant award for a program focused on aging-in-place senior home modification. The funding will help PEACE improve the physical environments of Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) eligible seniors so that they’re able to stay in their own homes safely. This includes activities such as ramp installation, doorway widening, and modifications to accommodate medical devices.

Reach CNY, Inc. will use its grant of nearly $51,000 for a childbirth-education program for refugee and immigrant women and families. The funding will help Reach CNY use certified childbirth educators and trained medical interpreters to provide childbirth-education classes for pregnant women in Onondaga County whose first language is Somali, Arabic, Swahili, or Kinyarwanda.

Syracuse Northeast Community Center was awarded a $100,000 grant to improve and expand existing basic needs and senior services while working toward implementation of a full “food farmacy program” model.

New York state manufacturing activity contracted in March

Banks & Credit Unions, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Manufacturing & Engineering, Nonprofits, Subscriber Only

Empire State index fell to lowest level since early in pandemic The Empire State Manufacturing survey general business-conditions index declined nearly 15 points in March to -11.8, reaching its lowest level since early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The index — the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector — had moved back into positive

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Empire State index fell to lowest level since early in pandemic

The Empire State Manufacturing survey general business-conditions index declined nearly 15 points in March to -11.8, reaching its lowest level since early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The index — the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector — had moved back into positive territory in February to 3.1. It plummeted in January to -0.7, ending 18 months of positive numbers including the 31.9 reading in December.

The March index number — based on firms responding to the survey — indicates business activity “declined” in New York “to its lowest level since May 2020,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a March 15 news release. A negative reading on the index indicates a decline in the state’s manufacturing sector, while a positive number shows expansion or growth in manufacturing activity.

The survey found 24 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 35 percent reported that conditions had worsened, the New York Fed said.

The March index number fell short of the consensus economists’ forecast of a reading of 5.5, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Survey details

The new-orders index fell to -11.2, and the shipments index moved down to -7.4, “pointing to declines” in orders and shipments, the New York Fed said.

The unfilled-orders index came in at 13.1. The delivery-times index climbed 11 points to 32.7, pointing to a “substantial” increase in delivery times, and inventories rose at the “fastest pace in years.”

The index for number of employees dropped 9 points to 14.5, pointing to a modest increase in employment levels, and the average-workweek index moved down to 3.5, indicating a slightly longer workweek.

The prices-paid index edged down 3 points to 73.8, while the prices-received index rose 2 points to a record high of 56.1, signaling “ongoing substantial” increases in both input prices and selling prices.

Firms were generally optimistic about the six-month outlook.

The index for future business conditions climbed 8 points to 36.6. Longer delivery times, higher prices, and increases in employment “are all expected in the months ahead,” and capital spending plans “remained firm.”

The New York Fed 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.

2022 Nonprofit Awards Event Supplement

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Click to Read the 2022 Nonprofit Awards Event Supplement

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