Cooperative Federal buys Erie Boulevard building for branch, headquarters

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union (Cooperative Federal) has purchased the building at 1816 Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse, which will become the credit union’s headquarters and largest branch. Once the Erie Boulevard office opens, it will replace the credit union’s branch at 723 Westcott St., which is about one mile from the […]

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Once the Erie Boulevard office opens, it will replace the credit union’s branch at 723 Westcott St., which is about one mile from the new location, per its website.

Cooperative Federal also has offices at 800 N. Salina St., 401 South Ave., and 516 Burt St. Those branches will remain open, but the credit union does plan to close the second-floor portion of its North Salina Street location. That’s where its community development and administration offices currently operate, but will relocate to the new Erie Boulevard headquarters, according to its website.

Ed Kiesa of CBRE/Syracuse and Karen La Cannata-Larocca of Sutton Real Estate sold the 4,370-square-foot medical-office space for $600,000, per a news release forwarded to CNYBJ. Anil Verma was the previous owner of the property, according to Onondaga County’s online property records. A sign outside the office lists Dr. Anil Verma as having once operated a practice inside the building.

The building sale was finalized in the final days of 2021, says Meagan Weatherby, development and communications manager for Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union, tells CNYBJ in a Feb. 1 phone interview.

The projected opening date for the member-service areas of the facility is this fall, but back-office areas will be open by the summer, per the “Frequently Asked Questions” page on the purchase and move posted on the credit’s union’s website.

Cooperative Federal does plan to have some buildout work conducted inside the office, including a new counter for tellers and new office spaces.

“Checks all the boxes”

The credit union’s location on Westcott Street looks like a small house, which doesn’t have any off-street parking, says Weatherby.

“We need … more inside space to have enough office space for our loan officers and financial counselors,” she adds.

During the pandemic, Cooperative Federal has also had to restrict the number of people it permitted in its lobby area to ensure enough social distancing inside.

The majority of credit-union members who use the Westcott Street location are coming by automobile, she notes. Some members have also suggested Cooperative Federal offer a drive-thru option for transactions as well.

The Erie Boulevard location “checks all the boxes” because it is only about a mile away from the Westcott location.

“It is accessible to the members who are in the Westcott and east-side neighborhoods, and it is more convenient for members who are traveling from other parts of the city to this office,” says Weatherby.

Despite the upcoming move, Cooperative Federal still wants to maintain a presence in the Westcott neighborhood.

“Our intention is to retain the building and to make sure that our ATM there is available to members who commonly use that branch until we’re able to secure a different location for [the ATM],” says Weatherby.

Cooperative Federal is considering some different options for the ATM’s new location in the Westcott business district. The credit union may also lease space inside the Westcott Street building when it vacates the space later this year, she added.

Besides the member-service amenities and “much-needed space,” the Erie Boulevard building offers “community-wide visibility and a modern, energy-efficient building,” the credit union said.

“It was just a perfect opportunity that we had to pursue and evaluate, and when we finished the evaluation, it worked,” says Weatherby. “And we decided not to pass it up.”

NBT names Truesdale commercial process management leader

Banks & Credit Unions, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Insurance & Financial Services, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

VESTAL, N.Y. — NBT Bank recently announced the promotion of Kellyanne Truesdale to commercial process management leader. Truesdale will work to drive improvements in both employee and customer experience while also serving as compliance coordinator for the banking company’s commercial division. She joined NBT Bank in 2007 and most recently served as commercial relationship manager.

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KeyCorp to pay first-quarter dividend in mid-March

Banks & Credit Unions, Insurance & Financial Services, New York News, Subscriber Only

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) — parent of KeyBank, the No. 2 bank ranked by deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York area — has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 19.5 cents per share of its common stock for the first quarter. The dividend is payable on March 15, to holders of record as of the

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ACFCU pins growth plans on expansion into Onondaga County

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AUBURN, N.Y. — The opening of its first branch office in Onondaga County later this year is the first step of what Auburn Community Federal Credit Union’s (ACFCU) leader hopes will be several growth steps for the financial institution. A 2016 charter change allowed the credit union to offer membership to those who live, work,

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A 2016 charter change allowed the credit union to offer membership to those who live, work, worship, or attend school in Onondaga County. Since then, it has attracted about 500 members in the county, says Saverio (Sam) Scro, CEO of ACFCU.

“We’ve wanted to get into Onondaga County for closer to 10 years,” Scro says. The larger population in Onondaga County — more than 475,000 compared to about 75,000 in its home Cayuga County — offers the credit union a strong opportunity to grow, he notes.

ACFCU hired P.W. Campbell Contracting Co., Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to conduct a study, with the Liverpool and North Syracuse areas scoring highly as possible locations. The credit union was looking for either an empty lot to build on or an easy-to-renovate existing building, Scro says.

While more consumers are using online and mobile banking, “It really is important to have a physical location,” he says. When it comes time to discuss a loan, for example, people still want to have those conversations in person, Scro contends.

ACFCU decided to buy the former M&T Bank branch building at 7538 Oswego Road in the town of Clay.

“We saw it was a former bank, so it’s got the canopy for drive-thrus, and it’s got plenty of parking,” Scro notes. About 28,000 cars drive by the location daily, and a traffic light makes for easy ingress and egress. “It did check all the boxes,” he says.

ACFCU purchased the property — containing a one-story, 3,100-square-foot building on 1.1 acres of land — from M&T Bank for $861,000 on Nov. 24, according to Onondaga County’s online property records.

William P. Evertz of Pyramid Brokerage Co. handled the transaction for the credit union while Joyce MacKnight, also of Pyramid, represented the bank. P.W. Campbell will oversee the project renovations.

While ACFCU hoped for a late spring opening, that has already been pushed back into summer, Scro notes. That is partly due to delays and hurdles caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, making it difficult to line up the other companies needed for the renovations.

Once completed, the new branch will employ between five and 10 people, Scro says. ACFU’s Auburn branch manager will be moving to the Clay office, he notes, but the credit union will still be looking to hire several new employees. It currently has 19 total employees. Scro says he will use both traditional employment advertising as well as work with corporate headhunters to fill those positions.

Scro’s hope is that this branch will be just the first of multiple branches in Onondaga County. “Our goal is to open at least two more offices,” he says. ACFCU currently has its main branch and headquarters in Auburn as well as an office in the Weedsport area.

With additional Onondaga County branches, Scro believes the credit union could double its membership from nearly 7,900 to more than 15,000.

With $120 million in total assets, Auburn Community Federal Credit Union (www.auburnfcu.org) serves those who live, work, worship, or attend school in Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego, and Madison counties.

Five Star Bank to offer digital bitcoin services

Banks & Credit Unions, Regional News, Subscriber Only, Technology

WARSAW, N.Y. — Five Star Bank, a subsidiary of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISI), announced that it will become one of the first financial institutions in the U.S. to enable its banking clients to securely buy, sell, and hold bitcoin, powered by NYDIG. NYDIG is a bitcoin company based in New York City. Five Star

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NYDIG is a bitcoin company based in New York City. Five Star Bank, based in Warsaw in Wyoming County, provides banking services across the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, and Western regions of New York state.

Through this partnership, Five Star will enable customers to transact bitcoin securely through its banking mobile app and online-banking platform. It will also help them overcome barriers to adoption such as crypto wallets and key management, which are “often traditionally done through unregulated entities,” Five Star said.

Five Star Bank accountholders are anticipated to be eligible to transact bitcoin “seamlessly and securely” by the end of the second quarter, according to a bank news release.

“We are thrilled to introduce a new — and trusted — digital banking option for customers to effortlessly acquire, sell, hold, and manage bitcoin alongside their traditional financial assets,” Martin Birmingham, CEO of Five Star Bank, said. “Thanks to NYDIG, we are creating a safe, efficient, and more user-friendly way for our customers to manage their digital transactions.”

NYDIG contends that its bitcoin platform meets the industry’s “highest” regulatory, audit, and governance standards, enabling financial institutions, like Five Star Bank, to maintain strict compliance programs, while “enhancing the digital banking experience” for customers.

The firm’s “full-stack” bitcoin platform allows account holders to manage their bitcoin investments, alongside their traditional financial assets, which is “particularly innovative not only for the financial institution, but the banking industry,” Five Star contends.

“We knew it was in the best interest of our customers to build upon our digital-service menu in a way that better supports their interests, including an investment appetite for cryptocurrency. This is an area of the market that we have all seen grow exponentially over the last several years,” Sean Willett, chief administrative officer of Five Star Bank, said. “Some early investors have jumped into crypto headfirst, while most consumers have expressed an interest in a more secure and reliable way to transact bitcoin. We’re proud to be a part of that solution and view our partnership with NYDIG to be just one of many upcoming technology and banking-as-a-service innovations that will drive Five Star Bank forward.”

Five Star cited a 2021 survey that NYDIG commissioned as indicating that 81 percent of respondents said they’d be interested in purchasing bitcoin from their bank if the service was available. In that same survey, 71 percent of those responding who already owned the digital asset said they would be willing to switch their primary bank to one that offered bitcoin-related products and services, per its release.

By integrating bitcoin along with the bank’s suite of digital-banking products, Five Star Bank hopes to not only meet current customer needs, but also reach new customers, “including expanding outside the New York footprint.”

Five Star Bank plans to begin roll out of bitcoin services starting with an initial phase-in during the second quarter of this year. More details on timing and rollout will be made available in the near future, the bank said.

Five Star Bank is a $5 billion community bank offering consumer and commercial banking and lending services to individuals, municipalities, and businesses through a network of more than 45 branches. Its Central New York branches include offices in Auburn, Seneca Falls, Geneva, Ovid, Horseheads, and Elmira. Five Star Bank has about 560 total employees

Visions CEO enters Credit Union Executives Society Hall of Fame

Banks & Credit Unions, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Insurance & Financial Services, New York News, People on the Move, Regional News, Subscriber Only

The top official of Endwell–based Visions Federal Credit Union has earned Hall of Fame recognition. Tyrone Muse, president and CEO of Visions, is now a member of the Credit Union Executives Society (CUES) Hall of Fame. CUES, which says it is a talent-development leadership organization, on Dec. 28 announced the winners of its annual awards and

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The Summit FCU donates $3,000 to Syracuse PAL

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Summit Federal Credit Union (FCU) on Jan. 14 donated $3,000 to the Syracuse Police Athletic/Activities League (PAL) in an event held at the Syracuse Police Department. The presentation was arranged to follow and acknowledge National Law Enforcement Day on Jan. 9, the Summit said. Syracuse PAL partners with the Syracuse Police

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Summit Federal Credit Union (FCU) on Jan. 14 donated $3,000 to the Syracuse Police Athletic/Activities League (PAL) in an event held at the Syracuse Police Department.

The presentation was arranged to follow and acknowledge National Law Enforcement Day on Jan. 9, the Summit said.

Syracuse PAL partners with the Syracuse Police Department, New York State Police, DeWitt Police Department, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s office, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department, Onondaga County Probation Department, the Syracuse City School District, community volunteers, and interns to provide mentoring for Syracuse youth.

January is also National Mentoring month, “making this donation doubly meaningful,” the Summit noted.

Founded in July 2021, the Syracuse Police Athletic/Activities League (PAL) says it allows community youth to interact with law enforcement in a “constructive manner” to keep kids safe and “on a path to success, but their aspirations go well beyond that.” Involvement in programs like sports and other activities “provide a sense of belonging, purpose, and pride,” league organizers contend.

“The importance of Syracuse PAL can’t be overstated,” Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner said. “In times when we are seeing our victims and suspects of crime getting younger and younger, engaging our youth in a positive way is more important than ever. I’m grateful for the contributions made by The Summit Federal Credit Union and appreciate their commitment to the Syracuse community. This donation will help keep the program funded and allow us to continue the vital work of building relationships with our youth.”

Twanda Christensen, the Summit’s VP of marketing and community engagement, added, “Each time that The Summit donates to a program such as PAL, we create a partnership, and we look forward to engaging with PAL as it continues to grow and impact the Syracuse community.”

The Summit says it has deep roots in the Syracuse region. In 2010, the Syracuse Federal Credit Union (FCU) merged into The Summit. Syracuse FCU was comprised of many credit unions that had joined over the years, including the former Syracuse Police FCU, which was originally established in 1959.

Tompkins Financial to pay Q1 dividend on Feb. 15

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

ITHACA, N.Y. — Tompkins Financial Corp. (NYSE: TMP) recently announced that its board of directors approved payment of a regular quarterly cash dividend of 57 cents per share for the first quarter. The dividend is payable on Feb. 15, to common shareholders of record on Feb. 8. The dividend is the same amount that the

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NBT Bank opens new permanent branch office in DeRuyter

Banks & Credit Unions, Construction, Design & Real Estate, Regional News, Subscriber Only

DeRUYTER, N.Y. —  NBT Bank recently marked the opening of its new permanent branch office at 750 Utica St. in DeRuyter. The bank began serving the DeRuyter community in September 2020 at its temporary location in the Genevieve D. Staley Civic Center. “When we first entered the DeRuyter community we saw a need for local, relationship-based

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OPINION: State Wage Board decision pushes N.Y. farmers closer to the brink

Opinion, Subscriber Only

[The Jan. 28] decision by the Farm Laborers Wage Board [to lower the overtime threshold for farm workers to 40-hours per week] demonstrates how completely tone-deaf Albany bureaucrats are to the needs of the state’s agriculture industry. Despite hours of testimony, multiple financial reports, and real-world accounts of the devastating impacts a lower overtime threshold will

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Despite hours of testimony, multiple financial reports, and real-world accounts of the devastating impacts a lower overtime threshold will bring, the state Wage Board’s decision has forced the state’s farmers closer to the brink of ruin. Roughly 70 percent of those who participated in public hearings voiced their support for keeping the 60-hour threshold. But, by a vote of 2-to-1, the voices of farmers and farmworkers were irresponsibly ignored.

“Now is not the time to put additional pressure on New York’s farmers.”

Recently, I submitted testimony to the board calling for it to consider the enormous challenges facing New York farmers. Those challenges — an oppressive tax and business climate and an innate competitive disadvantage against other states — have been greatly exacerbated by recent economic conditions as well as COVID-19.

Now is not the time to put additional pressure on New York’s farmers. Supply chain and labor shortages borne from COVID-19 have proven to be highly damaging. Further, the overtime threshold was already recently adjusted down to the current 60-hours per week yielding additional costs. At some point, New York state is going to break the industry altogether, and that is going to spell disaster for the farmers, the consumers, and the businesses reliant on the industry.

[In] lowering the threshold to 40-hours per week, the consequences will be objectively catastrophic. A study from Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development lays out a grim future. It warns of cuts to investments in the state’s agricultural sector, a replacement of laborers through mechanization, and an exodus of workers to other states.

And as I noted in my testimony, similarly, a recent report by Farm Credit East projects changing the overtime threshold to 40-hours per week and pairing that change with an increase in minimum-wage costs, would result in an overwhelming 42 percent spike in labor costs. That is an economic kiss of death.

Throughout our history, farming has always been among New York’s most important and essential industries. [Now], New York’s short-sighted, Democrat-driven Wage Board has committed to regulate a cornerstone industry right out of existence.

William (Will) A. Barclay, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. This article combines a column Barclay penned before the Jan. 28 Farm Laborers Wage Board decision with a statement he issued after the decision.

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