Weedsport office building sold for $100,000

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WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — The commercial property located at 8941 N. Seneca St. in the village of Weedsport was recently sold for $100,000. The more than 2,500-square-foot-building, located on about one-sixth of an acre, had housed Malvaso Insurance and the Yates Law Firm. The insurance agency remains in operation at other locations, while the owner of […]

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M&S Fire Protection receives NYS service-disabled veteran-owned business certification

New York News, Nonprofits, Small Business, Subscriber Only

New York Office of General Services (OGS) Commissioner RoAnn Destito recently announced that a Canastota company specializing in in fire safety and prevention services has been certified as a service-disabled veteran-owned business (SDVOB). The New York OGS Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development (DSDVBD) issued the certification to M&S Fire Protection LLC, which provides an

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210 Teas plans to open at 108 East Washington St. late this summer

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A new tea company, called 210 Teas, expects to be up and running late this summer in a storefront at 108 E. Washington St. The business, owned by Kahssia Hills, will lease about 1,700 square feet in the White Memorial Building, in a space that was formerly home to Roji Tea. Matt

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Utica’s Black River Systems wins nearly $12 million contract from U.S. Air Force

Manufacturing & Engineering, Regional News, Subscriber Only

UTICA, N.Y. — Black River Systems Co. Inc. of Utica has been awarded an $11.97 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for Cognitive Algorithms for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Contested and Degraded Environments (CASCADE) software and hardware prototype. The scope of this contract is to research “unique and innovative techniques and algorithms that provide the

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Weekends on Walton outdoor dining resumes for a second summer

Health Care, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A portion of Walton Street in Syracuse’s Armory Square will be dedicated to people eating outside for part of the weekend the next few months. Outdoor dining in Armory Square known as “Weekends on Walton” resumed on Fridays and Saturdays during the first weekend in June. The City of Syracuse launched the

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A portion of Walton Street in Syracuse’s Armory Square will be dedicated to people eating outside for part of the weekend the next few months.

Outdoor dining in Armory Square known as “Weekends on Walton” resumed on Fridays and Saturdays during the first weekend in June.

The City of Syracuse launched the outdoor-dining initiatives in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic to help generate business for Armory Square restaurants.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh on May 27 announced the return of Weekends on Walton outside the Hops Spot at 116 Walton St. City officials haven’t yet determined how long the outdoor-dining initiative will continue in 2021.

The 100 block and part of the 200 block of Walton Street will close to traffic, allowing storefront businesses to use of the public right of way (ROW) to “maximize” the outdoor space to service customers.

“Like so many cities across the country, we had to look at how we deliver our services as the City of Syracuse … how we use our City assets, including the right of way, to support our businesses and our residents in ways that we haven’t done before,” Walsh said in his remarks on Walton Street. “And one of the ways that we were able to do that, at a time when we knew that it was less safe to be indoors, we were able to open up our right of way, our sidewalks and our roads throughout the city, but in particular, here on Walton Street in Armory Square to allow businesses to put tables out and to spread out to make sure that they could serve their customers in a safe way.”

Walsh went on to say that the outdoor dining attracted patrons who shopped at other downtown businesses.

“It’s something that, as we looked back on the season, we said, you know what, why would we not continue to do that. It just makes too much sense,” Walsh added.

Changes this year include a shorter weekend closure continuing from 7 a.m. on Friday mornings to 7 a.m. on Sunday mornings. An additional change will include the closure of the 200 block of Walton Street up to the Creekwalk, leaving the remaining portion of the block open to traffic and for parking.

The Weekends on Walton initiative is a collaboration between the city’s Department of Neighborhood and Business Development (NBD) and the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, with help from the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Services; Department of Public Works; Central Permit Office; and the Syracuse Fire Department.

NYCUA works with Inclusiv to help credit unions pursue CDFI, MDI designations

Banks & Credit Unions, Nonprofits, Subscriber Only

The New York Credit Union Association (NYCUA) recently announced it has formed a new partnership with New York City–based organization called Inclusiv. The two advocacy organizations have agreed to work together to raise awareness about the benefits of credit unions becoming certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI), while providing important resources to

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The New York Credit Union Association (NYCUA) recently announced it has formed a new partnership with New York City–based organization called Inclusiv.

The two advocacy organizations have agreed to work together to raise awareness about the benefits of credit unions becoming certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI), while providing important resources to New York credit unions that are interested in obtaining their CDFI certification or MDI designation.

Through this new partnership, Inclusiv will become the official financial inclusion and community-development support center of NYCUA, per an April 28 news release. In that capacity, the two organizations will work together to provide training, guidance, and assistance to New York credit unions to increase participation in CDFI, MDI, and low-income programs.

An area credit union says getting certified has provided it and its customers a boost.

“Becoming a CDFI in late 2019 is one of the best choices that we have made as an organization. We are the only Oswego County–based CDFI and we have been able to grant an average of 83% of all loans to our CDFI target markets and 70% of all loan dollars to our target markets over the past two years. That translates into nearly $35 million for our members residing in either low-income areas or investment areas of Oswego County. Those numbers make a difference to thousands of members,” Bill Carhart, CEO of Oswego County Federal Credit Union, said. “Inclusiv has played an instrumental part in our education and helping us navigate the grant opportunities that exist in the low-income credit union and CDFI worlds. Their dedicated staff has helped lead us down a path that will benefit our members for years to come and will lead to direct success for our organization.”

About the relationship

For more than 100 years, NYCUA has served as the trade association for the state’s credit unions, which collectively hold more than $100 billion in assets and serve more than 6 million members. Albany–based NYCUA works to advance the interest of New York credit unions through its advocacy, education, unity, and support initiatives. NYCUA’s membership includes 17 CDFI, 42 MDI, and 150 low-income-designated credit unions.

Inclusiv is a CDFI intermediary and national network of nearly 400 community development credit unions (CDCUs) that works to help low- and moderate-income people and communities achieve financial independence through credit unions.

Inclusiv specializes in supporting credit unions committed to financial inclusion and addressing racial equity. The Inclusiv network is comprised of CDFI certified, MDI designated, and low-income designated credit unions, with combined assets of $184 billion and serving near 14 million predominantly low-income, as well as minority consumers.

NYCUA is a longtime associate member of Inclusiv, and the two organizations have worked together for years on a variety of initiatives, including legislative advocacy, education, and Inclusiv’s Hispanic outreach program, Juntos Avanzamos.

The relationship between the two organizations became more formalized after Congress passed its economic-stimulus bill in December 2020, which included $12 billion for CDFIs. Both Inclusiv and NYCUA strongly supported the appropriations measure and advocated for its passage.

CEO FOCUS: Help is Here for Firms Seeking State Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grants

Business Mentors, Small Business, Subscriber Only

We have heard directly from so many businesses, about the multitude of challenges they face, having been hit hard by the pandemic, including gaps in critical grant funding. [On June 3], along with New York State Assemblyman Al Stirpe, and the South Side Innovation Center, we announced opportunities are available for assisting companies in accessing the state’s

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The $800 million program targets funding to small and micro businesses and small for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations to help them recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. Flexible grants up to $50,000 can be used for operating expenses, including payroll, rent or mortgage payments, taxes, utilities, personal protective equipment, or other business expenses incurred during the pandemic. The program prioritizes socially and economically disadvantaged business owners, including minority- and women-owned business enterprises, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses, and businesses located in economically distressed communities. By focusing on businesses with annual gross receipts of between $25,000 and $500,000, it ensures that small New York state businesses are not competing with substantially larger companies for relief. And it provides relief for smaller businesses that may not have been able to access adequate funding from other government stimulus programs.

The program is administered by Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and began accepting applications on June 10. CenterState CEO, the South Side Innovation Center, Onondaga Small Business Development Center, and the Cortland Chamber of Commerce have been designated by ESDC to provide technical assistance.

This means CenterState CEO will work with prospective applicants to understand requirements of the program, ensure that this opportunity is right for them and that their questions are answered quickly and efficiently so that they are well positioned to submit competitive applications. This is work our staff at CenterState CEO does daily, using our network of in-house expertise, agency staff, membership, and service providers to respond to business needs of all kinds. We will also work alongside our partners at the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance to reach out to minority-owned small businesses, whom we know have suffered disproportionately from the economic fallout of the pandemic. Look for webinars in the coming weeks to spread the word about the program’s requirements and benefits.

Finally, I’d like to thank and recognize Assemblyman Al Stirpe for his advocacy efforts in support of this funding and of our region’s small businesses. As chair of the Assembly Small Business Committee and co-chair of an Assembly Working Group focused on New York’s economic recovery from COVID-19, he led the effort to create the COVID Small Business Recovery Grant Program and advocate for its inclusion in the final state budget.

To learn more about this program and its eligibility requirements, you can visit Empire State Development’s website, or contact CenterState CEO Director of Community Investment Andrew Obernesser at aobernesser@centerstateceo.com.

Robert M. Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This article is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on June 3.

Small firms in Oswego awarded $225K in COVID-19 grants

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Nonprofits, Regional News, Small Business, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

OSWEGO, N.Y. — More than 30 small businesses in the city of Oswego will use funding from the city’s COVID-19 REVIVAL grant program. Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow on May 25 announced the recipients of the grant program, which is funded through the federal government’s American Rescue Plan, per a news release on the City of

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ARPA LLC buys downtown Syracuse building next door to previous purchase

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — ARPA LLC, a partnership that last year bought the property at 430 E. Genesee St. in downtown Syracuse, has recently purchased the neighboring property at 420 E. Genesee St. from AccessCNY Inc. Matt Funiciello of JF Real Estate represented AccessCNY in its building sale and also represents ARPA LLC in the leasing

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Poll of unemployed Americans reveals return-to-work barriers

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Subscriber Only

One in eight expect to never work again Thirty percent of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic to not expect to return to work any time this year, and 13 percent say they never expect to return to work. That’s according to poll results released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 4. The

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One in eight expect to never work again

Thirty percent of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic to not expect to return to work any time this year, and 13 percent say they never expect to return to work.

That’s according to poll results released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 4.

The poll also found that 16 percent of those who lost jobs during the pandemic believe it’s “not worth” searching for a job because of the money they currently earn from unemployment benefits and are not actively seeking work.

Some other poll findings include:

• Almost half (49 percent) of respondents report they are “not active” at all or “not very active” in searching for a job. Less than one-third (32 percent) say they are “strongly active” in their job search.

• Six in 10 respondents (61 percent) say they are in no hurry to return to work.

• One in eight (13 percent) have turned down at least one job offer in the past year.

• Over one-quarter (28 percent) of respondents agree that “there are a lot of people who are not looking for work because they can do almost or just as well collecting unemployment benefits.”

• Some additional common factors cited for not seeking employment include childcare and other family-care needs (24 percent), lack of available jobs in sectors that are still suffering (28 percent), and COVID-19 concerns (26 percent).

• Almost one in four survey respondents (23 percent) say they lack the skills or experience necessary for most of the jobs available right now.

The poll was conducted among 506 Americans who lost jobs during the pandemic and have not returned to full-time employment. Data was collected May 17-20, 2021. The poll has an overall survey margin of error +/-4.4 points at the 95 percent confidence level. A full report of the poll results can be accessed at https://www.uschamber.com/report/poll-the-covid-19-unemployed.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, founded in 1912, that describes itself as “the world’s largest business organization representing companies of all sizes across every sector of the economy.”

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