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APRIL 25, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 1CNYBJ.COM
BRIEFS 2
M3 STORY 4
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE 6
THE LIST 11
INDEX:
The Central New York Business Journal269 W. Jefferson St.Syracuse, N.Y. 13202-1230
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MV NEW HIRES & PROMOTIONS: People on the Move News. Page 6.
VOL. 16 I No. 3 I April 25, 2016 I $2.50CNYBJ.COM
M O H AW K VA L L E Y
BUSINESS JOURNALBUSINESS JOURNAL
COMMEMORATIVE PUBLICATION:Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards.
Section B.
MOHAWK VALLEY MANUFACTURERS
Ranked by No. of MV Employees
Rank
NameAddressPhone/Website
MV EmployeesCompanywideAnnualRevenue
Products Manufactured Locally
Top Local Executive(s) YearEstab.
1. Remington Arms Co.14 Hoefler Ave.Ilion, NY 13357(315) 895-3200/remington.com1,3003,400 $808.9M
firearms
Paul V. Merz, VP Operations1816
2. ConMed525 French RoadUtica, NY 13502(315) 797-8375/conmed.com800
3,500 $719.2M medical devices and equipment for orthopaedic,
general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery,
gastroenterology, cardiac monitoring, and critical-carespecialties Curt R. Hartman, CEO
1970
3. Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc. (Giotto
Enterprises)161 Clear RoadOriskany, NY 13424(315) 736-2206/fiberinstrumentsales.com
420420 $75M communication fiber-optic connectors, cable and test
equipment; safety relays, injection molded plastic
components, CNC machining, sheet metal fabricationFrank Giotto, President, CEOKirk Donley, SVP of Sales
Susan Grabinski, SVP of Accounting & CFOMark Cushman, VP Marketing
1985
4. PAR Technology Corp.8383 Seneca TurnpikeNew Hartford, NY 13413
(315) 738-0600/partech.com400
1,300 $229M provides hardware, software, and services including
point-of-sale systems, property-management systems,
and government technical contract servicesKaren Sammon, CEO & President
1968
5. Human Technologies2260 Dwyer Ave.Utica, NY 13501(315) 724-9891/htcorp.net 385480 NA narrow-web sewn harnesses, carriers, strapping, safety
devices, wiring harnesses, federal and NYS uniform
programs, embroidered and screen printed products,
plug and play LED light tubes, warehousing, anddistribution
Timothy Giarrusso, President & CEO 1954
6. Revere Copper Products, Inc.One Revere ParkRome, NY 13440(315) 338-2022/reverecopper.com
342342 NA manufacturer of copper and copper-alloy sheets, strips,
plates, bars, and extruded profiles Michael O'Shaughnessy, President & CEO
Ryan O'Shaughnessy, VP OperationsGretchen Daniels, VP Procurement
Joseph Schoeck, VP Sales & Marketing
Timothy Rosbrook, VP Human Resources
1801
7. Indium Corporation34 Robinson RoadClinton, NY 13323(315) 853-4900/indium.com 300700 NA
materials manufacturer and supplier to the global
electronics, semiconductor, thermal management, thin-
film, and solar markets Gregory P. Evans, President & CEOMike McKenna, CFORoss Berntson, VP SM
Ning-Cheng Lee, VP Technology
1934
8. Harden Furniture Co., Inc.8550 Mill Pond WayMcConnellsville, NY 13401
(315) 245-1000/harden.com250250 NA
furniture manufacturer
Gregory M. Harden, President & CEO 1844
9. Central Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired507 Kent St.Utica, NY 13501(315) 797-2233/cabvi.org213252 $48.9M nitrile, latex, and synthetic examination gloves,
medical supplies, kitting, office supplies, textiles,
neckerchiefs, garbage bags, flashlights, work gloves,
disposable wipes, biodegradable products
Rudy C. D'Amico, President & CEO1929
10. Gehring-Tricot Corp.68 Ransom St.Dolgeville, NY 13329(315) 429-8551/gehringtextiles.com175210 $33M highly engineered warp knit, circular knit, and stretch
woven fabrics used in industrial, military applications,
composites, athletic, and safety applicationsSkip Gehring, President & CEO
Paul Gutowski, EVPLaura Donna, VP FinanceGary Farquhar, VP Manufacturing
Bill Christmann, VP Sales
1946
11. Burrows Paper Corporation501 W. Main St.Little Falls, NY 13365(315) 823-2300/burrowspaper.com
171845 NA
manufactures more than 100 million pounds of
specialty paper annually, including machine-glazed,
machine-finished, and creped papers that are used in a
variety of industrial processes and in food, medical,
and pharmaceutical packaging
Philip Paras, Pres & COO, CFOElizabeth Hoey, VP HR
John Sterzinar, VP ManufacturingDuane Judd, VP, Sales
1919
12. Bartell Machinery Systems, LLC6321 Elmer Hill RoadRome, NY 13440(315) 336-7600/bartellmachinery.com
153160 NA highly engineered industrial machinery systems for the
tire, oil & gas, and wire industries; 80% of products are
exported outside the US Patrick J. Morocco, PresidentJeff DiOrio, Controller
Paul Gatley, VP of EngineeringBrian Turvey, SVP of Sales & Marketing
Bill Rostiser, VP of Operations
1940
13. Sovena USA1 Olive Grove St.Rome, NY 13441(315) 797-7070/sovenausa.com150160 $250M branded and private-label olive oils, vegetable oils,
frying oils, organic oils, vinegarsLuis Arriba, CEOFrank Talarico, CFOGabi Estevez, COO
1991
. ECR International, Inc.2201 Dwyer Ave.Utica, NY 13501(315) 797-1310/ecrinternational.com
1506,500 NA
designs, manufactures, and markets boilers, air
conditioners, furnaces, and related HVAC equipment Ronald J. Passafaro, President & CEO 1928
15. F.X. Matt Brewing Company811 Edward St.Utica, NY 13502(315) 624-2400/saranac.com
124131 NA
beer & soft-drink beveragesNicholas O. Matt, Chairman & CEO
Fred Matt, President 1888
16. Fiberdyne Labs, Inc.127 Business Park DriveFrankfort, NY 13340(315) 895-8470/fiberdyne.com
100100 NA
fiber-optic networking products and cabling
installation services; LED lighting products, sign sales,
advertising billboards Anthony Polus, CEO/PresidentAl Amendolare, CFOChad Polus, VP Operations
Peter Polus, VP Sales & Marketing
1992
17. Riverhawk Company215 Clinton RoadNew Hartford, NY 13413(315) 768-4855/riverhawk.com
9090 NA
rotating equipment accessoriesEdward Gunn, General Manager
1993
18. F.E. Hale Manufacturing Co.120 Benson PlaceFrankfort, NY 13340(315) 894-5490/halemfg.com
4242 NA
manufacturer wood office and library furnitureproducts
James Benson, CEO & CFOBrooke Benson, Marketing Manager
Michelle Keib, National Sales Manager
1907
19. C & H Plastics, Inc.145 Conger Ave.Waterville, NY 13480(315) 841-4101/chplastics.com4141 NA thermoplastic injection molding, part design, rapid
prototyping, assembly, and packaging Diane Humphrey, CEOWilliam Clark, PresidentRollin Bateman, VP Sales & Engineering
Larry Winfield, VP Manufacturing
1970
20. GEA Farm Technologies, Inc.4754 State Route 233Westmoreland, NY 13490
(315) 853-3936/gea.com 3918,000 NA
barn and dairy equipmentTodd Finn, Director of Manufacturing
Operations 1981
21. MSi Molding Solutions Inc.6247 State Route 233Rome, NY 13440(315) 736-2412/moldingsolutionsinc.com
3636 $4.5M molded and fabricated plastic components, assemblies,
and packagingTom Bashant, President
David Garcia, Operations 2006
22. Sherrill Manufacturing102 E. Senecca St.Sherrill, NY 13461(315) 280-0727/sherrillmfg.com
3535 NA
flatware manufacturer
Gregory L. Owens, CEO & Partner
Matthew A. Roberts, President & Partner2005
23. Empire Fibreglass Products Inc.P.O. Box 1006Little Falls, NY 13365(315) 823-4030/empirefiberglass.com
3131 NA chemical storage/process vessels, scrubbers, platforms,
grating, stairs, duct systems, stacks, and special
entertainment parks structures Thomas Baum, PresidentNeil F. Baum, VPJames Tylor Schmid, Mechanical Engineer
Frank Mendl, Production Manager
1961
24. CTM151 Industrial DriveFrankfort, NY 13340(315) 894-4377/ctm-corp.com
2525 NA precision engineering and fabrication shop; federal
firearms license and ITAR registration from prototypeto production Steven M. Naegele, CEOJohn J. Piseck, VP SM 1969
25. Original Herkimer County Cheese Company
2745 State Route 51 S.Ilion, NY 13357(315) 895-7428/originalherkimercheese.com
2424 NA
NY State cheddar and cold pack productsMichael E. Basloe, President
Robert N. Basloe, VP of Operations andFinance 1949
THE LIST:
MOHAWK VALLEY
MANUFACTURERS11
NEW FORTUS GROUP CEO DRIVING GROWTH
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PROJECT FIBONACCI CONVERTS STEM TO STEAM
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ROWE DIGITAL STAYS AGILE IN NEW MARKETING WORLD
PAGE 5
Mohawk ValleyAWARDSPresented By:
Mohawk ValleyLEGACY
2 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I APRIL 25, 2016CNYBJ.COM
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Editor, The Mohawk Valley Business Journal
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HOW TO REACH US
Utica–Rome, other CNY areas add jobs in last year, Labor Department says
The Utica–Rome, Syracuse, and Watertown–Fort Drum regions all gained jobs in the past 12 months.
That’s according to the monthly em-ployment report that the New York State Department of Labor issued on March 24.
The Utica–Rome metro area gained 1,300 jobs, a 1.1 percent increase, in the same period.
The Syracuse region added 300 posi-tions between February 2015 and this past February, an increase of 0.1 percent.
The Watertown–Fort Drum region added 1,100 jobs in the past 12 months, a rise of 2.7 percent.
New York state as a whole gained more than 130,000 jobs, an increase of 1.4 per-cent, in the last year. The state economy added more than 25,000 jobs between January and February, an increase of 0.3 percent.
Private-sector jobsThe Utica–Rome area added 1,100 pri-
vate-sector positions in the last 12 months, a gain of 1.2 percent, according to the state Labor Department data.
The private-sector job gain of 100 posi-tions in the Syracuse region in the past year equals the number of private-sector jobs lost in the same time period.
The Watertown–Fort Drum region gained 1,300 private-sector jobs, an increase of 4.6 percent in the last 12 months, according to the report.
New York state’s economy added nearly 123,000 private-sector jobs, a 1.6 percent gain, in the last 12 months, with most of those positions located Downstate.
The state also gained nearly 19,000 pri-vate-sector jobs, a 0.2 percent increase, in the last month, the state Labor Department reported.
The state’s private-sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York state employers that the U.S. Department of Labor conducts.
New York state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent in February from 4.9 percent in January, the department said in its news release. The 4.8 percent statewide jobless figure slipped below the national unem-ployment rate of 4.9 percent in February.
The February figure of 4.8 percent is also down from 5.7 percent a year prior, accord-ing to department figures.
The federal government calculates New York’s unemployment rate partly based upon the results of a monthly telephone survey of 3,100 state households that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts.
UTICA — The Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce recently moved its offices from 22 Genesee St. to the Landmarc Building, located at 520 Seneca St. in Utica.
The telephone number, (315) 724-3151 and officehours (Monday throughFriday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.)remain the same, thechamber said.
Founded in 1896 as the Utica Chamber of
Commerce, the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce says it continues to be the area’s regional chamber representing the
community for nearly 120 years. In March 2012, the Greater Utica Chamber was awarded accredited status by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This honor puts it among the top 3 percent of chambers nationwide.
Maria CarbonaroAssociate [email protected]
Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce moves to Landmarc Building
USDA: New York farmland increases slightly in 2015
New York state’s total land in farms rose slightly to 7.2 million acres last year from 7.18 million acres in 2014, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service New York field office.
The average farm size in the state for 2015 was 203 acres, up 1 acre from the prior year.
New York had an estimated 35,500 farms in 2015, unchanged from 2014, according to the field office.
The USDA classifies farm numbers and land in farms by six economic sales classes. Farms and ranches are classified into these six sales classes by summing the sales of agricultural products and government-program payments. Sales class breaks occur at $10,000, $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000. Producers were asked dur-ing the 2015 mid-year surveys to report the value of sales based on production during the 2014 calendar year.
Here are the highlights in changes in the number of farms, farmland, and average size of farms in New York state:
Changes in the number of farms by sales class are:
• Sales Class $1,000 - $9,999 at 16,700farms, unchanged.
• Sales Class $10,000 - $99,999 at 11,600,unchanged.
• Sales Class $100,000 - $249,999 at 3,300farms, decreased by 200 farms.
• Sales Class $250,000 - $499,999 at 1,800
farms, increased by 100 farms. • Sales Class $500,000 - $999,999 at 1,000
farms, unchanged.• Sales Class $1,000,000 or more at 1,100
farms, increased by 100 farms.
Farmland changes by sales class are:
• Sales Class $1,000 - $9,999 at 1.45 mil-lion acres, increased by 50,000 acres.
• Sales Class $10,000 - $99,999 at 1.80million acres, increased by 20,000 acres.
• Sales Class $100,000 - $249,999 at 850thousand acres, decreased by 50,000 acres.
• Sales Class $250,000 - $499,999 at 800thousand acres, unchanged.
• Sales Class $500,000 - $999,999 at 650thousand acres, unchanged.
• Sales Class $1,000,000 or more at 1.65million acres, unchanged.
Average size of farms by sales class are:
• Sales Class $1,000 - $9,999: 87 acres,increased by 3 acres.
• Sales Class $10,000 - $99,999: 155 acres,increased by 2 acres.
• Sales Class $100,000 - $249,999: 258acres, increased by 1 acre.
• Sales Class $250,000 - $499,999: 444acres, decreased 27 acres.
• Sales Class $500,000 - $999,999: 650acres, unchanged.
• Sales Class $1,000,000 or more: 1,500acres, decreased by 150 acres.
APRIL 25, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 3CNYBJ.COM
Let Annese Be Your Connection to the Future: www.annese.com/Utica.
GrowthOver the last five years, Annese has added more than 50 new jobs across many departments throughout our seven offices in New York State. In 2016, we have plans to increase headcount by another 20 employees.
EvolutionAnnese is relocating several of our offices to
larger spaces to accommodate growth and gain greater visibility in our communities. We have
established a unified interior design across each workplace and collaboration spaces to reinforce
our corporate culture.
InnovationAnnese’s corporate strategy is focused on
deepening our expertise around an evolving portfolio of today’s emerging technologies.
“To go from a $100M to $200M takes additional investment in people and resources, That’s really where our focus is going to be.”
—Jeff Fasoldt, EVP & CFO of Annese
We’ve Moved to Utica!Annese is a technology solutions integrator with more than four decades in business, and we’re thrilled to announce that our founding office in Herkimer recently relocated to an upgraded facility in Utica. This strategic move, as well as recent moves in Buffalo and Syracuse will accommodate regional growth and greater visibility. Annese’s roots throughout Central New York date back to the company’s inception and the region has served as a centralized hub for our remaining offices across the state.
BY NORMAN [email protected]
ROME — “Make your lives extraordinary … be individuals,” John Keating, played by Robin Williams, says to his high-school students in the 1989 movie “Dead Poets Society.” “Carpe Diem,” he continues: “Seize the day.”
Williams’ character inspired his stu-dents through unorthodox teaching meth-ods: standing on a desk to look at life differently, ripping out the introduction to a poetry book which rated poetry by means of a mathematical formula, and even inviting students to create their own style of walking.
Motivating U.S. students to understand and explore the power of their potential is a national priority. Last year, President Obama announced a $240 million initiative underwritten by the private sector to en-courage youngsters to pursue STEM (sci-ence, technology, engineering, and math) fields. The initiative included a national
competition to create media that inspires young people, a promise by 120 universi-ties to train more than 20,000 engineers, and a CEO commitment to expand effec-tive STEM programs to another 1.5 million students within the year. The president previously inaugurated a program to pre-pare 100,000 STEM teachers over a de-cade. To date, his “Educate to Innovate” campaign has generated more than $1 billion in financial and in-kind support for STEM programs.
STEAM“STEM is very important, but we need
to tie science and the arts together,” as-serts Andrew (Andy) Drozd, president and chief scientist at ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC. “Everyone is focused on innovation to transform our economy in the 21st century. To accomplish this, we need to add an ‘A’ to STEM for art, creat-ing the … [acronym] STEAM. I think back on what is the first great period of scien-tific discovery — the Renaissance (1300-
1600). Da Vinci was a painter, scientist, and inventor; Michelangelo was a sculptor, painter, and architect; and Copernicus was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, economist, and jurist, just to name a few. These men all blended science with art and design. Their example is my motiva-tion for launching Project Fibonacci.”
Project Fibonacci STEAM Youth
Conference, conceived by Drozd, is sched-uled from July 31 to Aug. 6 at the Beeches Professional Campus in Rome.
Drozd has hired Daniel Kostelec as the STEAM outreach coordinator. “This is a first-of-its-kind event in the Mohawk Valley,” says Kostelec. “We’re reaching out
Project Fibonacci converts STEM into STEAM
Andy Drozd, center, and Dan Kostelec, second from left, lead a team at ANDRO Computational Solutions, which cre-ated the fi rst Mohawk Valley Youth STEAM Conference, called Project Fibonacci, to inspire students to fi nd their pas-sion in blending the arts and science. The weeklong conference kicks off July 31 at The Beeches with an anticipated attendance of 250-300 students.
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4 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I APRIL 25, 2016CNYBJ.COM
M3 Placement & Partnership hopes national certification spurs growthBY ERIC [email protected]
UTICA — The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) has certified M3 Placement & Partnership of Utica as woman-owned.
WBENC notified the Utica firm of its certifi-cation in January.
Founded in 1997, the Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit WBENC is the “largest third-party certi-fier of businesses owned, controlled, and operated by women” in the U.S., accord-ing to its website.
Founded in 2011, M3Placement & Partnership
is the d/b/a name of M3 Business Service Network.
The WBENC certification follows M3’s cer-tification as a New York minority and wom-en-owned business enterprise (MWBE) in 2013, says Mary Malone McCarthy, founder, CEO, and sole owner of M3 Placement & Partnership.
The MWBE certification provides an “added value” for companies that seek its staffing ser-vices and need to work with a woman-owned business in the process.
McCarthy spoke with MVBJ on March 25.After securing the statewide certification,
M3 opted to pursue national certification, says McCarthy.
“We decided to go on to the national certifi-
cation as we’re looking to grow our footprint, and to work with organizations that would value the certification,” she adds.
McCarthy describes M3 as a “boutique executive-search firm,” which also focuses on professional services for … temporary, con-tract, and temp-to-direct hires.
The firm recruits and places employees in the health care, finance, manufacturing, technol-ogy, hospitality, and nonprofit sectors, she says.
To qualify for the WBENC certification, a firm must demonstrate that 51 percent of the company is “owned, managed, and directed by a woman or women on a daily basis,” according to a news release M3 issued on March 1.
The process included “extensive” documen-tation and an on-site visit. The process lasted about nine months, she says.
Miranda Curtis, program manager, for the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO) traveled up from New York City to in-terview McCarthy “to confirm whether or not I’d be eligible for the certification.” McCarthy says.
WPEO comprises two of the 14 regional-partner organizations of the WBENC, accord-ing to the WPEO website.
The certification wasn’t the only recent change for M3 Placement & Partnership in recent months, according to McCarthy.
M3 moved into its new office at 110 Lomond Court in Utica in October after initially operat-ing at 4350 Middle Settlement Road in New Hartford.
About M3The firm operates in a 1,500-square-foot
space at its Lomond Court location. M3 leases its space from property owner Brian Gaetano.
“Because of the growth and my employees, I had to expand it,” says McCarthy.
M3 has four full-time em-ployees, including McCarthy. She hopes to hire one addition-al full-time employee to handle recruitment and placement du-ties in the coming months.
McCarthy declined to dis-close how much revenue M3 generated in 2015, but notes that the firm “doubled” its sales compared to 2014.
“We’d like to double again [in 2016], but that’s … aggressive growth,” she adds.
McCarthy says that it’s “hard to say” how many clients for which her firm has provided staffing services.
M3 has “thousands” of job candidates named in its database, “many” of whom might currently be working in jobs but are confidentially “want-ing to explore new opportunities for growth.”
“So, it’s not a database of people [who] aren’t actively working,” McCarthy adds.
She credits “the trust we were building with our candidates and our clients” for the addi-tional sales in 2015.
“We were getting a lot of referrals and we were getting a lot of continued business from our existing [clients],” says McCarthy.
M3 doesn’t collect a fee from its job candi-dates, she notes.
Future plansM3 would like to expand with offices in
both Albany and Syracuse and “take our model that’s working well here [in Utica] and grow it into other markets.”
But as of now, McCarthy has no immediate plans for expansion and files the idea under “future plans and goals.”
M3 is also exploring the pos-sibility of starting a human-resources (HR) arm to provide consulting for companies “that
aren’t quite big enough to have a full-time HR person on staff.”
Such an option would be a “great opportu-nity” for smaller organizations that need to fill an MWBE requirement, she contends.
But, unlike the expansion idea, the plan for an HR arm is “sooner than later.”
OriginPrior to launching M3 Placement
& Partnership, McCarthy spent more than 15 years as senior VP at Northland Communications, a company her family owns. She was responsible for the firm’s public rela-tions, marketing, and customer relations.
Before her service with the family busi-ness, McCarthy worked as a regional man-ager for the staffing unit of Olsten Corp. in Albany, which Adecco, a Switzerland–based staffing company, acquired in 1999.
She launched M3 in June 2011. “I absolutely loved [the work at Northland]
but always had that passion to create some-thing on my own, independent of the family business,” she adds. n
McCarthy
New York AG says Rome nurse struck and verbally abused nursing-home patient with dementia BY JOURNAL [email protected]
ROME — A Rome nurse is ac-cused of “striking and verbally abusing” a 94-year-old female nursing-home patient last sum-mer.
Timothy Lambert, 35, is ac-cused in the alleged incident at Bethany Gardens Skilled Living Center, a nursing home located at 800 West Chestnut St. in Rome, the office of New York State Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman said in a news release issued April 8.
Lambert is alleged to have approached a 94-year-old fe-male resident from behind,
grabbed her by the forearms, and raised her arms above her head, Schneiderman’s office said. He then allegedly bent down, leaning into her neck, while still holding her arms and using profanity.
Lambert then let go of her arms, approached her from the front, and grabbed her hands, as described in the state AG’s release. Before he left the floor, he “put his finger in her face.”
The alleged victim was as-sessed and found to have a “fresh handprint-type bruise” on her left forearm, the release stated.
The alleged victim suf-fers from advanced dementia
and osteoporosis. The entire incident, which allegedly oc-curred on July 7, 2015, was captured on video surveillance, Schneiderman’s office said.
Lambert is facing charges of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically dis-abled person in the first degree and willful violation of health laws, according to the AG’s re-lease.
He’s been arraigned in Rome City Court, where he entered a mandatory plea of not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.
Judge Gregory Amoroso set the next court appearance for May 16. n
Paradigm Consulting receives WBE certificationBY JOURNAL [email protected]
UTICA — Laurie Schoen, president and CEO, and Amy Mielnicki, execu-tive VP, of Paradigm Consulting, Inc., recently announced that their firm has been granted Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) certifica-tion by Empire State Development’s Division of Minority and Women Business Development.
Paradigm Consulting says it pro-vides group retirement consultation and investment advisory services in Central New York, as well as across
the United States. The firm is head-quartered in the Utica Business Park at 133 Business Park Drive.
The WBE certification may ben-efit an organization that receives state funding and is required to create re-lationships with minorities or women-owned businesses, Paradigm said in a news release.
Under state law, a WBE is a business enterprise in which at least 51 percent is owned, operated, and controlled by citizens or permanent-resident aliens who are women, according to Empire State Development’s website. n
Laurie Schoen, president and CEO (left), and Amy Mielnicki, executive VP (right), of Paradigm Consult-ing, with their Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) certification from New York State.
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APRIL 25, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 5CNYBJ.COM
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half. — John Wanamaker
BY NORMAN [email protected]
NEW YORK MILLS — John Wanamaker was a merchandising genius. In 1875, his eponymous company was the first depart-ment store in Philadelphia, and he went on to open stores in New York City, London, and Paris. He established the policies of “one price” and “returnable goods” and created the “money-back guarantee.” The retail innovator also created the price tag, placed the country’s first half-page and full-page newspaper ads, and hired the world’s first, full-time copywriter. His marketing strategy revolutionized the retail industry.
Fourteen decades later, Kevin Rowe has the answer to Wanamaker’s dilemma. Rowe can tell you not only which half of your advertising dollars is wasted, but he can also tell you whether any of your marketing dollars are wasted and which dollars are productive. He is the founder and chief strategist at Rowe Digital, LLC, a search-engine, marketing firm that offers enterprise solutions along with advanced analytics to mid-size and large corpora-tions.
In the 60 years after Wanamaker’s death in 1922, marketing changed only to the ex-tent that mass-media channels — radio and television — were added to the advertising options. It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that digital marketing made its debut, when an agency developed a campaign for sev-eral auto companies to prompt magazine readers to return inserted reply cards. The readers who responded received a floppy disk, which contained multi-media content promoting the auto companies and offering test drives. Today, technology has revolutionized marketing by targeting and measuring multiple campaign channels in real time at a fraction of the cost previously required.
Digital marketing“Digital marketing, in its simplest terms,
is the promotion of products, services, and/or brands via one or multiple forms of electronic media,” explains Rowe. “It dif-fers from traditional marketing primarily by using channels and methods of organi-zation to analyze marketing campaigns and to understand what efforts are working, all in real time. Digital marketers monitor what customers are viewing, how often, how long, and what content works. While the Internet may be the most popular chan-nel, digital marketers also need to monitor wireless-text messaging, content, mobile instant messaging, mobile apps, podcasts, electronic billboards, digital television, and radio channels, to name just some digital media.”
Consumers are driving the digital-mar-keting revolution, because they now have access to information anytime and any-where they choose. Companies no longer
control the message they want to share with the public. Digital media provides a growing source of news, entertainment, shopping, and social interaction, which means that consumers are listening more to the media, friends, relatives, and peers
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Rowe Digital stays agile in new marketing world
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Kevin Rowe, founder and chief strategist at Rowe Digital, LLC, plots his digital marketing at the fi rm's offi ce in New York Mills. Rowe Digital focuses on helping Fortune-500 companies and recently created a PR analytics fi rm and a rapid-concept testing service.
SEE ROWE, PAGE 10
6 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I APRIL 25, 2016CNYBJ.COM
ARCHITECTS
CARRIE HOOD has joined Bonacci Architects, pllc as architectural designer and project manager. She studied architecture at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island and brings more than 15 years of experience in architectural design, construction docu-mentation, and supervision of construction projects to the firm.
BANKING & FINANCE
First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. has named MICHAEL PRINCE first VP, senior retail manager in the CNY area. Prince, a retail banking professional with more than 16 years of experience in the financial-services industry, will man-age 26 retail branch offices in Syracuse, Utica, and the North Country. He has been with First Niagara since 2012, where he was most recently the sales and service integration manager. Prince also has held leadership roles in credit and wealth management. He received his bachelor’s de-gree and MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Strategic Financial Services, Inc. of Utica announced that MARK ABDALLA has joined the team as a research analyst. He is a Carnegie Mellon University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in eco-nomics, a master’s degree in economics with a focus on statistical analy-sis from Boston University, and an MBA from Cornell University. Most recently, Abdalla was a research associate at Manning & Napier Advisors, near Rochester. Prior to that, he held positions with BNP Paribas and Miller Howard Investments.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Fortus Healthcare Resources has appointed JEREMY ENCK as president and CEO. He is currently the VP of sales at Fortus Healthcare Resources and has been with the com-pany since 2007. Enck
started out with Fortus as a project coordi-nator, and by 2009, he developed the Travel Placement Division (also known as Fortus Group Travel) from near ruin to a competi-tive force in the industry. He has been VP of sales since 2010. Enck will report to founder Michael Maurizio, who has served as presi-dent and CEO of the company since 1993 and will remain chairman of the board.
INSURANCE
MICHELLE M. KLEIN has been hired as an account manager for Scalzo, Zogby & Wittig, Inc. She began as a student intern at the insurance agency in February 2015 and was hired upon completion of her internship. Klein holds an associate degree from Mohawk Valley Community College and will earn her bachelor’s degree in risk manage-ment and insurance from Utica College in December.
MANUFACTURING
Indium Corp. has promot-ed THERESA SCHACHTLER to supervisor of sales ad-ministration and LISA CLARK to inside sales su-pervisor. Schachtler joined Indium in 1993. She has held various positions within the sales depart-ment, most recently as su-pervisor of inside sales and indirect sales channel part-ners. Schachtler earned her bachelor’s degree in professional studies, busi-ness/public management from SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Clark joined Indium in 2005. She has served as account specialist and inside sales team leader. Clark earned her bachelor’s degree in busi-ness administration from Marist College in Poughkeepsie and also completed leader-ship training from Dale Carnegie.
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New Fortus Group CEO driving growthBY NORMAN [email protected]
UTICA — On Feb. 22, Fortus Healthcare Resources, a d/b/a of Fortus Group, Inc., announced the appointment of Jeremy Enck (pronounce INK) as the new presi-dent and CEO of the health-care employ-ment agency. Enck reports to Michael Maurizio, chairman and founder of the company.
“Fortus was a pioneer in the dialysis industry placing nephrology profession-als in dialysis centers,” notes Enck, “but over the years we have diversified to pro-vide hospitals and health-care groups with RNs (registered nurses) and LPNs (li-censed practical nurses), social workers, dieticians, sur-geons, clinicians, executive-level management, ne-phrologists, bio-med technicians, and administra-tors. Currently, we are continuing to diversify and grow both our travel and contract divi-sions.”
Enck steps into his leadership role with a company that is a fixture on the Inc. 5000 list of America’ s fastest-growing compa-nies. Maurizio founded the company in 1993 and posted $120,000 in gross revenue the first year. In 2009, Fortus generated $2.6 million; in 2012, $6.2 million; and in 2015, north of $10 million. The headquar-ters staff numbers 37, plus 90 contractors who are placed nationwide. Maurizio set up a real-estate company — Performance Plus, LLC — which owns the 8,000-square-foot headquarters building located at 2717 Genesee St. He also established Fortus Group Travel, Inc., an S corporation, for the travel division. In addition to its Utica location, the placement agency has offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Summerfield, North Carolina (near Greensboro).
Expansion“Diversification is driving our growth,”
says Enck. “While our permanent-place-ment business has remained steady, the travel division has grown dramatically. Last year alone, travel, which now represents more than half of our revenue, grew 41 percent. This year, I project adding another $4 million from Fortus Travel alone, and in 2017 more than 40 percent [in consolidated sales]. Just look at the growth in the num-ber of contractors we’ve added. In 2014, we employed 45, in 2015 we had 70, by year’s end we’re on course to reach 130, in 2017 we should be at 180, and the following year well over 200.”
In addition to the travel division’s growth, Enck is also focused on a number of other areas. “For our larger clients, who deal with a number of staffing agencies, MSPs
(managed-service provid-er) are becoming popular. An MSP is an outsourced agency that manages an organization’s temporary staffing, working as an unbiased management interface between the clients’ hiring managers and the staffing vendors. Fortus already has the necessary software to manage this program, which we currently use for credentialing our contractors. While MSP is in its infancy stage here, it offers a real growth opportunity. Fortus is also looking at RPO (recruitment-process outsourcing: the buyer’s brand is being promoted rather than the provider’s), which plays to our
strength of provid-ing consultative and customizable recruiting for time-limited proj-ects that require onsite managers.”
Locum tenens physician staffing, which involves
doctors temporarily substituting for oth-ers, is another area Enck is considering. “There is a growing demand for doctors to staff the nation’s hospitals,” he says. “The problem of creating an adequate sup-ply to meet the growing demand will take decades to correct. This is a huge opportu-nity, but the cost of malpractice insurance is a barrier to entering the field. The key to entry is to have the volume to warrant pursuing locum tenens.”
One way to acquire the necessary vol-ume for the temporary placement of physi-cians is through merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activity. “M&A is an option we are pursuing seriously,” asserts Enck. “Mike [Maurizio] has spent the last 18 months looking at staffing agencies that specialize in areas that complement our strengths. We are particularly interested in the areas of labor/delivery, ambulatory surgery, on-cology, emergency medicine, and pediat-rics. Mike and I work as a team: he finds the opportunities, and I vet them. We have made some offers to date, but have yet to close a deal. Clearly, a single transaction could catapult our growth.”
Enck is also following the rapid growth of high-tech in the Mohawk Valley. “I think this will be good for our recruiting,” he opines. “I can see the possibility of develop-ing a specialty in nanotech recruiting.”
The Fortus approachHealth-care agency placement is recog-
nized as a highly competitive industry. “We have competition from all sides,” acknowl-edges Enck. “The direct placement busi-ness is saturated with small companies, while the contracting field is dominated by Fortune–500 companies. Our success
SEE FORTUS, PAGE 8
Enck
8 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I APRIL 25, 2016CNYBJ.COM
is tied to our experience in specialized disciplines, the personal touch with our clients, and the fact that we treat our con-tractors like colleagues. [To this last point], Fortus has set up a service-excellence team that responds to our contractors’ needs. It’s a 24-hour concierge service to help our contractors deal with the daily routine of renting cars, making travel arrange-ments, handling licensing issues, dealing with housing questions, and more. It’s the human approach that is truly appreciated by our contractors.”
Fortus extends the human approach through its use of social media. “My first impression of Fortus Healthcare Resources,” says Jillian Ducato, Fortus’s marketing/public-relations manager, “was the personal and friendly approach the recruiters used compared to other health-care recruiting agencies. Part of my ef-forts is to express this through our social media and other marketing efforts. Since joining the Fortus team, I have introduced focused social ads which allow us to reach our target market nationwide. I believe it’s important to utilize social media to help build the Fortus brand and to open a door of communication with our clients. Social media is an effective way of letting our clients know who we are as a com-pany.” Enck adds: “Social-media market-ing shows the power of engagement. It’s a great vehicle for bringing candidates to our recruiters. It’s like a fisherman casting a wide net.”
While Enck attributes Fortus’s success to experience, the personal touch, and the service-excellence team, he saves his highest praise for the staff. “We have a ter-rific leadership team,” he intones. “Mike and I are supported by Melaina Cannistra as account manager; Kathy Cano, direc-tor of compliance and human resources; Andy Barberio, senior account executive and surgery-team leader; Rebecca Urtz, senior account executive and recruiting coordinator; and Victor Gerace, expedien-cy-team coordinator. We also enjoy a very talented … [production staff]. Fortunately, there are plenty of smart and well-educat-ed people [living in the Mohawk Valley] where there are limited opportunities for good-paying jobs. Fortus invests a good deal of time and money training each hire to be knowledgeable and to be sure new employees fit our corporate culture … No
one becomes a salesperson unless first starting as a recruiter: that’s the only way to understand the business. We also stress promoting from within, so our employees see opportunities for advancement. In an industry noted for its high employee turn-over, we enjoy a very low turnover which tells me our policies are working.” Enck also has praise for local professionals who help the company grow. “We work with the Bank of Utica and First Niagara Bank for our financial needs, Kowalcyk, Deery & Broadbent, [LLP] for our legal services, and Vin Gilroy oversees our accounting.”
Changing health-care landscapeEnck is very optimistic about the
health-care-placement industry and Fortus’s current position. “Health care is experiencing the perfect storm,” quips Enck. “Health-care staffing has been growing because more people are being covered by insurance at the same time the Baby Boomers are aging. Add to this a growing regulatory burden and a changing reimbursement methodology, which are requiring increased staffing in order to comply. Then [throw into the mix] … the number of doctors and nurs-es who are retiring. [In short,] demand is increasing while supply is decreasing. It’s a crisis for the country, but a tremen-dous opportunity for Fortus.”
Enck’s observation is borne out by industry research. According to a first-quarter 2016 report by Capstone Partners, LLC, a mid-market, investment-banking firm specializing in health-care staffing, the $14.9 billion industry is highly frag-mented with more than 2,200 firms, many operating only on a local or regional basis. The report notes that M&A activity re-mains brisk, especially with companies that specialize in higher-growth segments and those positioned to capitalize on clini-cian shortages. Capstone notes that pub-licly traded health-care staffing companies are currently trading at a 30 percent-plus premium with a median EBITDA (earn-ings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) multiple of 11.5x.
Patricia Pittman, coordinator of the GW Health Workforce Institute at George Washington University, writes recently that by 2022, nearly one in eight U.S. jobs is projected to be in the health-care sec-tor. Pittman points to demographics and
technology as the primary drivers, with much of the growth coming in non-hos-pital settings. Even so, she forecasts a 14 percent increase in hospital employment between 2012 and 2022, which means adding another 826,000 health-care jobs. LinkedIn’s “2015 Job Changers” reports that Millennials present another challenge for health-care providers, because they, more than previous generations, are look-ing for opportunities for advancement and challenging work. LinkedIn finds that this cohort is quite willing to change jobs, a burden for the providers and a windfall for placement agencies.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates that over the next few years 526,800 nurses will retire, with a significant portion retiring in 2016. In addition to retirement putting pressure on the supply of clinicians, many states are passing laws mandating physicians to work fewer hours. It’s likely that RNs will undertake more duties traditionally reserved for doctors. Conclusion: nurses are hot property, and recruiters will have to be creative to attract talent. Other staff-ing trends include a growing demand for technicians and a new demand for employees with “soft skills” such as listen-ing, communicating, and good customer service. The last trend is growing from a benchmark that formerly only measured the technical aspects of care to one that now also measures customer satisfaction.
Enck’s optimism is also confirmed by a November 2015 report entitled “Healthcare Staffing Market Overview,” published by Harris Williams & Co., a mid-dle-market, investment bank. Its research indicates that this industry is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 6.6 percent, which includes allied health, per-diem nursing, travel nursing, and locum tenens. Average weekly pay rates for each category are: allied health, $1,280; per-diem, $720 (assumes two days worked per week); travel, $1,080; and locum tenens, $7,250. The study, which notes that hospi-tal personnel costs now consume 54 per-cent of total annual expenses, also shows that “health-care facilities are moving to an operating base of fixed labor supple-mented with a component of variable labor in order to align staffing costs with patient-census variability.” Harris Williams goes on to cite the focus on improved quality,
which is also driving demand for skilled personnel. One striking statistic is the rap-idly rising shortage of nurses and physi-cians. In 2012, 41 percent of U.S. hospitals reported an RN vacancy of more than 5 percent; in 2015 the number jumped to 66 percent reporting. In 2013 the country posted a physician shortage of 11,000; the projected shortfall in 2025 is 72,800, with a growing geographic imbalance.
Enck’s backgroundEnck was born in Oneonta and graduat-
ed high school there in 1998. He received an associate degree in sports medicine from Morrisville State College and in 2002, a bachelor’s degree from Mansfield University. His early employment included stints in Oneonta and Cooperstown at A.O. Fox Hospital’s HealthLinks @ Foxcare and selling cars for his uncle, Gary Enck. In 2004, while considering a move to North Carolina, Enck met the president of Milford Academy, which was planning a move to New Berlin, New York from its location in Connecticut. He joined Milford as a coach, which included some recruit-ing of athletes. Fortus reached out to Enck in February 2007, attracted by the “re-cruiting experience” listed on his résumé. His response was total surprise, since he didn’t know there was a staffing industry and didn’t consider himself a recruiter. After being interviewed for four months, Enck landed a job at Fortus as a project co-ordinator working with key account man-agers on nationwide health-care searches. In early 2009, he took over responsibility for the travel division, which had been created in 2006 and was experiencing problems. In 2010, Maurizio promoted him to VP of sales with responsibility for the hiring and development of the entire sales force. Enck resides with his wife and two sons in New Hartford.
Fortus is sitting in the catbird seat. Demand for qualified, health-care profes-sionals is far outstripping supply, and the providers are desperate for help. Enck refers to this as the perfect storm. Every storm needs a captain to steer the ship, and Maurizio has chosen well. Enck sees unlimited opportunities with Fortus, which has a solid reputation both with clients and contractors, is financially strong, and has a clear vision to plot a path to continuous growth. n
FORTUS: Enck is very optimistic about the health-care-placement industry Continued from page 7
Kelberman Center names Jacobson managing directorT he Kelberman Center, an
affiliate of Upstate Cerebral Palsy, has promoted Jean
Jacobson, to managing director of clinic and education services.
Jacobson has served as its director of early childhood Autism services since 2006, the organization said in a news release. She is a licensed clini-
cal psychologist with more than 20 years of experience with the Autism Spectrum Disorder.
In her new role, Jacobson oversees the Kelberman Center’s outpatient
clinic services, early childhood pro-grams, consultation programs, and district training programs.
She received her doc-toral degree from the University of South Carolina and complet-
ed her internship at Stony Brook University.
The Kelberman Center, which is headquartered in Utica and has an office in Syracuse, says it’s a regional center for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It services in-clude evaluation and diagnosis, in-dividualized education and services, social and life skills enhancement, and training and research. n Jacobson
APRIL 25, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 9CNYBJ.COM
to high schools, colleges, universities, gov-ernment, and business to create a unique opportunity for students to discover their passion, explore a career, and realize their dreams. The program includes a wide variety of topics: the cosmos, neurosci-ence, the human body, art, graphics, pho-tography, music, math, engineering, and science.”
Kostelec’s goal is to show the students that “Science without art lacks imagination; art without science has no form.” Project Fibonacci’s specific goals include broad community involvement; motivating and enlightening the next generation; creating scholars, musicians, artists, and engineers; making the Mohawk Valley an entrepre-neurial hub, and helping to attract local tourism.
“We have established several bench-marks for grading the success of the pro-gram. First, will we draw the 250 to 300 attendees projected? Second, how many will return in 2017? Third, did the program generate a [financial] surplus to aid subse-quent programs? Fourth, how many local internships were created? Fifth, what was the level of interest from private industry? And sixth, did the program have a positive impact on local college enrollment?” says Kostelec.
For this year’s conference, Drozd and Kostelec are planning on 75 percent of the attendees being 11th and 12th graders, with the other 25 percent college students.
“The tuition for the conference is $1,500,” says Kostelec, “It covers food, lodging, in-ternationally recognized keynote speakers, transportation for offsite tours, and inci-dentals. The program is not accredited this year, but we are planning on affiliating with a local college in the future to grant credits. Also, this year there is no designated schol-arship fund, but any surplus earned this year will go to seed next year’s event, which will include scholarships. I am happy to say that in lieu of a designated 2016 scholarship fund, a number of local school districts and companies have voluntarily provided schol-arship assistance.”
FibonacciWhen this reporter asks why the proj-
ect is named Fibonacci, Drozd smiles. “Leonardo Fibonacci (the son of Bonacci, 1170-1250) was a medieval mathematician who discovered a branch of mathematics that neatly describes emergent patterns in the realms of science, engineering, na-ture, art, and music,” explains Drozd. “He introduced the decimal system and the use of Arabic numerals into Europe and wrote extensively on business problems, such as how to calculate profit, how to price goods, and how to convert currencies. He is best known for the Fibonacci sequence (each succeeding number is the sum of the two preceding numbers), which appears in many different areas of mathematics and science.” Fibonacci was recognized all across Europe for his innovations, and his hometown of Pisa gave him a salary in recognition of his advising on matters of ac-counting and teaching the citizens of Pisa.
Drozd’s inspiration to create Project
Fibonacci came from personal experience. While in high school, his son attended two Envision programs sponsored by George Mason University in Virginia. The experi-ence had a profound effect on him. “I saw the impact the program had on my son,” notes Drozd. “Students face real challenges in understanding the opportunities available to them and a vision of how to go forward. Academic success is not enough today. In addition to knowledge, they need passion, innovation, and a plan to reach their goals. The Envision program seeks students with high academic achievement, leadership po-tential, a desire to build a focused career plan, and the maturity and confidence to meet the challenges of the program. The students are nominated by their teachers or are selected by an admissions board. It’s a great model that has worked for decades.”
Project Fibonacci is proceeding apace. “Registration doesn’t formally begin until April,” Kostelec says in a March inter-view, “but we have already received over 200 nominations just from emails, word-of-mouth, and town-hall events. Most of the
nominations have come from the area, but we have received some from Long Island, Rochester, New York City, and even the states of Washington and California. We purposely made the nomination form a simple, one-page document that just asks for basic information and a summary of why the nominee should be considered. To be eligible, an applicant must at least be entering the junior year of high school and have demonstrated or shown the potential for leadership skills and an aptitude or interest in STEAM fields.”
Project Fibonacci is operating on a $500,000 budget this year. While tuition is expected to cover the majority of the cost, the conference has also garnered under-writing support from 22 sponsors (as of April 1). “We already have commitments of more than $100,000, and ANDRO is committed to add at least another $50,000,” stresses Kostelec. “The funds have come from school districts, the Rome [Area] Chamber [of Commerce], area foundations, business, the Oneida County Executive’s Office, colleges, and the Air Force Research Lab/Griffiss Institute. We’re thrilled at the
outpouring of the community to support the conference.”
SUNY Polytechnic Institute has also stepped up to the plate by acting as the “conference banker” and by extending its 501(c)(3) designation to contributors. Its role is to receive income and to pay the bills. It bears no fiduciary obligation for the success of the program; that honor goes
to Andy Drozd and to ANDRO. The staff at Project Fibonacci includes Kostelec and 10 employees at ANDRO who are offering support. The outreach coordinator says he also has 25 volunteers to help, but he will need another 75 by the time the conference begins.
STEAM campusThe STEAM conference is just the first
step in Drozd’s dream to create a theme campus at The Beeches. “Orrie [Destito] (a principal at The Beeches), and I have discussed creating a STEAM campus to attract kids from kindergarten to college,” declares Drozd. “The campus would follow the MURI (multidisciplinary university re-search initiatives) concept which involves teams of researchers investigating topics and opportunities that intersect more than one technical discipline. I see Syracuse University, Mohawk Valley Community College, Onondaga Community College, Utica College, and other institutions col-laborating with the STEAM students and issuing scholastic credits. Also, local busi-nesses play a key role by creating intern-
ships and real-world opportunities for the students. This is how we get our kids back on track to be competitive in the global economy and not stuck in the 34th posi-tion in international rankings in math and science. In addition to the theme campus, Drozd and Kostelec are also looking at the opportunity to make the Fibonacci program available in different locations around the country and to create a version for younger children.
DrozdDrozd founded ANDRO in 1994 as a
niche-oriented R&D company that did groundbreaking work in electromagnetic effects. The company now specializes in providing simulation tools to analyze co-site and spectrum co-existence issues, offer-ing its customers the ability to perform interactive computer modeling, simulation, and analysis to ensure that co-located com-munications don’t interfere with each other. ANDRO leases 25,000 square feet of of-fice space on the 55-acre Beeches campus and also has offices in Dayton, Ohio and at the CASE Center in Syracuse. Drozd is considering opening a fourth office in the Washington, D.C. area. ANDRO currently employs 40 people and is in the process of hiring 10 more in order to focus on develop-ing more private-sector business, specifical-ly in the growing unmanned-aerial-systems sector. The company has grown 400 percent in the past four years and posted sales of about $7.5 million in 2015. Drozd is the sole shareholder.
Drozd was born in Belgium and im-migrated to America at the age of 1. He attended high school in Rome and gradu-ated from Syracuse University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in physics and math and, in 1982, a master’s degree in electrical engineering. His career included stints at the Rome Air Development Center, IIT Research Institute, General Electric, and Kaman Sciences Corp. Drozd also has taught physics at Utica College.
Drozd is committed to inspiring students and to helping them find their passion. It’s unclear whether he ever stood on his desk or created his own style of walking, but he has adopted an “unorthodox” method of teaching how to marry science and art. Leonardo Fibonacci is remembered for teaching the citizens of Pisa; Andy Drozd will be remembered for teaching the citi-zens of Rome, New York.
STEAM: The STEAM conference is just the first step in Drozd’s dream to create a theme campus at The Beeches Continued from page 3
“Orrie [Destito] (a principal at The Beeches), and I have discussed creating a STEAM campus to attract kids from kindergarten to college,” declares Drozd. “The campus would follow the MURI (multidisci-plinary university research initiatives) concept which involves teams of researchers investigating topics and opportunities that intersect more than one tech-nical discipline.
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10 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I APRIL 25, 2016CNYBJ.COM
rather than to a controlled company mes-sage.
“Digital marketing is changing rap-idly,” notes Rowe. “Just in the area of SEO (search-engine optimization), we’re quickly moving away from only using keywords to good quality, relevant con-tent. Google, which controls roughly 67 percent of the North American [search] market and most of the European market, keeps changing its methodology for de-termining page optimization. While key-words are still an organic part of ranking, Google’s ranking algorithm is now stress-ing readability, relevance of the content to the query, and high-quality link author-ity. The digital-marketing industry is also shifting rapidly to catch up with mobile users, requiring us to recognize different devices and to understand the mobile-ranking factors. Add to this social-media signals such as tweets and likes in helping to boost rankings. Even though Google says it doesn’t directly use these signals in ranking sites, data suggests a positive correlation between the number of social signals and rankings. These social signals are clearly important for brand awareness and help to drive organic traffic to top-ranking sites.”
Rowe launched Rowe Digital in 2014, concentrating on New York City advertis-ing agencies and public-relations firms which cater to international accounts such as Coca-Cola, Siemens, BMW, Motorola, Yahoo, General Motors, Walmart, Allstate, and Citrix. “The company has grown rap-idly not only developing programs for Fortune 100 companies through agencies in Boston, Miami, and New York City, but also for start-ups in Silicon Valley,” notes the eponymous founder. “Rowe Digital operates from a 1,000-square-foot office in New York Mills and relies on a staff of five, including consultants. Our digital market-ing [menu] includes SEO content, pay-per-click advertising, marketing and content management, social marketing, website management, online reputation manage-ment, lead generation, e-commerce sales, and audience interaction with brands.” Rowe is the sole shareholder.
Keeping upWhy are the world’s leading advertis-
ing and public-relations agencies com-ing to New York Mills to develop and monitor their digital marketing? “It’s not easy keeping up with technology that is changing quickly,” observes Rowe. “Look what happened just last year. Mobile SEO exploded, Apple released the Apple
Watch, live streaming via mobile apps … [has hooked] consumers, Pinterest and Instagram launched ad platforms, many social channels added buy-buttons, Google launched ‘Adwords’ for small business, mobile in-feed promotions are finally being recognized by advertisers, Facebook re-leased targeting for custom and look-alike audiences, machine-learning is becoming more sophisticated, and Google made a deal with Twitter to gain access to crawl Twitter’s database of real-time content.”
Keeping up with the technology is just one challenge. “Having the ability to gather all of this data is useless unless you can make sense of it,” avers Rowe. “Having advanced analytics is critical to plotting a campaign. Rowe Digital utilizes … [‘agile methodology’] to respond to unpredictabil-ity. Our software provides opportunities to assess the direction of a project through-out the development lifecycle. In our par-adigm, every aspect of development is revisited throughout the lifecycle. Since we are regularly re-evaluating the direction of a project, there is always time to change direction to adapt to what’s working and to a marketplace that is always changing. The process we use reduces both development costs and time to market. The constant re-evaluation of a project optimizes its value and allows us to be competitive in the marketplace.”
Agility“Agile Methodology,” as explained by
Jennifer Rooney in an April 14, 2014, Forbesarticle, is a technique “… typically used in software development … In today’s fast-paced, multichannel world, marketers no longer have the luxury to spend months crafting large projects; they must innovate, produce on the fly, and respond immediate-ly to market disruptions. [The technique] … drives long-term marketing strategies with short-term, customer-focused itera-tive projects that improve responsiveness and relevance. It allows for faster creative, more testing, smarter improvements, and better results.”
Traditional portfolio- and project-man-agement tools only focus on the project. “You need a single work environment to connect individuals and teams across the entire work life-cycle,” emphasizes Rowe. “To monitor a project or campaign requires 360-degree visibility and real-time report-ing capability from all of the … [stakehold-ers] working on the project. In addition to the project management, you need cus-tomizable reports and dashboards, time and source management, issue-tracking,
mobile apps, auditing, and integration with popular products such as Dropbox and Google Drive. Staying on the cutting edge is getting more difficult because of the pro-liferation of digital channels, intensifying competition, and exploding data volumes. To manage digital marketing today re-quires managing complex customer rela-tions, responding to and initiating dynamic customer interactions, and extracting meaningful value from mountains of data in order to make better decisions faster.”
Rowe Digital’s success is only partly based on keeping up with cutting-edge technology, innovating, and utilizing ad-vanced analytics. “We meld software with the human element,” says Rowe. “Despite the sophistication of the tools now avail-able for digital marketing, you still need trained people to review the process and make the right decisions. And most impor-tantly, you need to listen to the client. [For example] … enterprise corporations are very concerned today about their brands. That’s why Rowe [Digital] just released ‘searchtelligence’: SEO reputation-moni-toring software to track how well corpo-rate online content is performing. This allows our clients the ability to protect their brands by monitoring the tone, relevance, and authority of Google’s top results.”
Rowe’s backgroundRowe came to digital marketing via a
circuitous route. Born in Newfoundland, he moved to Norwich, New York to at-tend the seventh grade. After studying for two years at Mohawk Valley Community College, he was admitted to Ithaca College to attend the Park School of Communications. Following graduation, Rowe visited South America to assist in biology research. A mugger changed his plans. Broke, he returned to Utica. Rowe chose SEO as a high-growth industry and taught himself the basics. He worked for three years at Site-Seeker, an area SEO company, before moving to Mohawk Hospital Equipment, where he worked in e-commerce marketing. The next step was serendipitous, when a freelance con-tact in New York City asked whether Rowe could handle an SEO project for an agency there. The project was the ratio-nale for setting up Rowe’s LLC.
Rowe is in a hurry to grow his busi-ness. The Business Journal estimates Rowe Digital’s current revenue at between $400,000 and $500,000 annually.
Growth plans“I have a sales goal of $5 million in
five years,” asserts the company founder. “There is an opportunity for rapid growth in the industry, and I am positioning the company to take advantage of it while pivoting Rowe Digital’s focus from agency work to working directly for corporate cli-ents. The goal is to sell the company within five years, and I need to have a client list where I am not competing with agencies. Currently, I am looking for sales reps in the New York [City]area who already have a book of business. I am also planning to add employees to handle the additional volume.”
Rowe has already begun talking with a holding company that has expressed interest in buying Rowe Digital. He plans to use the proceeds of the sale to build another service-based company that melds technology and software with ser-vice.
Rowe isn’t waiting to sell the compa-ny before spinning off micro-businesses. “Rowe Digital has launched Amplify, a PR analytics firm,” he notes. “The company has also just released Rapydly, a rapid-concept testing service. The idea is to create micro sites to generate leads that test what’s working. [In short] … what creates revenue quickly. It’s really proto-typing, just not in … [plastic or metal]. A client should be able to test a new product or service quickly, while spending only $5,000 to $10,000 rather than the $150,000 it can potentially cost. Launching a busi-ness today is cheap; it also doesn’t need to take a lot of time. Anyone can try a number of ideas simultaneously, and select those with the best and most immediate revenue streams.”
At 33, Rowe understands the need for an organization to be data-driven, customer-focused, always prioritizing options, and making quick decisions. As chief market-ing officers are increasingly pressured with the responsibility to grow their com-panies, there is a demand for support to ensure speed, flexibility, and results. In today’s always-on, always-connected mar-ketplace, Rowe understands that compa-nies can’t wait for the perfect campaign: They need to be agile and rapidly adjust to the market.
Rowe feels at home in today’s digi-tal marketplace. He plans to remain in the Mohawk Valley where costs are low, while building targeted digital-solutions anywhere in the world. Where Wanamaker pioneered marketing changes in the 19th century, Rowe is pioneering them in the 21st century, helping make the Mohawk Valley a hub of innovation.
ROWE: At 33, Rowe understands the need for an organization to be data-driven Continued from page 5
Reach us on the Web www.bizeventz.com
APRIL 25, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 11CNYBJ.COM
THE LISTResearch by Vance [email protected](315) 579-3911Twitter: @cnybjresearch
Just Missed the List:C-Flex Bearing Co., Inc. 11
Advanced Tool Inc. 10
Kwik-Kut Manufacturing Co. 8
Microleak-Seal Impregnant, Inc 2dba The Microseal Co.
Apeiron Technical Products Inc. 1
Upcoming Lists in the Mohawk Valley Business Journal:May 23Mohawk Valley Chambers of Commerce
July 18Mohawk Valley Highest-Paid Occupations
ABOUT THE LISTInformation was provided by representatives of listed organizations and their websites. Other groups may have been eligible but did not respond to our requests for information. Organizations had to complete the survey by the deadline to be included on the list. While The Business Journal strives to print accurate information, it is not possible to indepen-dently verify all data submitted. We reserve the right to edit entries or delete categories for space considerations.
This list includes manufacturers in Herkimer and Oneida counties..
NEED A COPY OF A LIST?Electronic versions of all of our lists, with addi-tional fi elds of information and survey contacts, are available for purchase at our website: cnybj.com/ListResearch.aspx
WANT TO BE ON THE LIST?If your company would like to be considered for next year’s list, or another list, please email [email protected]
MOHAWK VALLEY MANUFACTURERSRanked by No. of MV Employees
Rank
NameAddressPhone/Website
MV EmployeesCompanywide
AnnualRevenue Products Manufactured Locally Top Local Executive(s)
YearEstab.
1.Remington Arms Co.14 Hoefler Ave.Ilion, NY 13357(315) 895-3200/remington.com
1,3003,400
$808.9M firearms Paul V. Merz, VP Operations 1816
2.ConMed525 French RoadUtica, NY 13502(315) 797-8375/conmed.com
8003,500
$719.2M medical devices and equipment for orthopaedic,general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery,
gastroenterology, cardiac monitoring, and critical-carespecialties
Curt R. Hartman, CEO 1970
3.Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc. (GiottoEnterprises)161 Clear RoadOriskany, NY 13424(315) 736-2206/fiberinstrumentsales.com
420420
$75M communication fiber-optic connectors, cable and testequipment; safety relays, injection molded plastic
components, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication
Frank Giotto, President, CEOKirk Donley, SVP of Sales
Susan Grabinski, SVP of Accounting & CFOMark Cushman, VP Marketing
1985
4.PAR Technology Corp.8383 Seneca TurnpikeNew Hartford, NY 13413(315) 738-0600/partech.com
4001,300
$229M provides hardware, software, and services includingpoint-of-sale systems, property-management systems,
and government technical contract services
Karen Sammon, CEO & President 1968
5.Human Technologies2260 Dwyer Ave.Utica, NY 13501(315) 724-9891/htcorp.net
385480
NA narrow-web sewn harnesses, carriers, strapping, safetydevices, wiring harnesses, federal and NYS uniform
programs, embroidered and screen printed products,plug and play LED light tubes, warehousing, and
distribution
Timothy Giarrusso, President & CEO 1954
6.Revere Copper Products, Inc.One Revere ParkRome, NY 13440(315) 338-2022/reverecopper.com
342342
NA manufacturer of copper and copper-alloy sheets, strips,plates, bars, and extruded profiles
Michael O'Shaughnessy, President & CEORyan O'Shaughnessy, VP OperationsGretchen Daniels, VP Procurement
Joseph Schoeck, VP Sales & MarketingTimothy Rosbrook, VP Human Resources
1801
7.Indium Corporation34 Robinson RoadClinton, NY 13323(315) 853-4900/indium.com
300700
NA materials manufacturer and supplier to the globalelectronics, semiconductor, thermal management, thin-
film, and solar markets
Gregory P. Evans, President & CEOMike McKenna, CFO
Ross Berntson, VP SMNing-Cheng Lee, VP Technology
1934
8.Harden Furniture Co., Inc.8550 Mill Pond WayMcConnellsville, NY 13401(315) 245-1000/harden.com
250250
NA furniture manufacturer Gregory M. Harden, President & CEO 1844
9.Central Association for the Blind and VisuallyImpaired507 Kent St.Utica, NY 13501(315) 797-2233/cabvi.org
213252
$48.9M nitrile, latex, and synthetic examination gloves,medical supplies, kitting, office supplies, textiles,
neckerchiefs, garbage bags, flashlights, work gloves,disposable wipes, biodegradable products
Rudy C. D'Amico, President & CEO 1929
10.Gehring-Tricot Corp.68 Ransom St.Dolgeville, NY 13329(315) 429-8551/gehringtextiles.com
175210
$33M highly engineered warp knit, circular knit, and stretchwoven fabrics used in industrial, military applications,
composites, athletic, and safety applications
Skip Gehring, President & CEOPaul Gutowski, EVP
Laura Donna, VP FinanceGary Farquhar, VP Manufacturing
Bill Christmann, VP Sales
1946
11.Burrows Paper Corporation501 W. Main St.Little Falls, NY 13365(315) 823-2300/burrowspaper.com
171845
NA manufactures more than 100 million pounds ofspecialty paper annually, including machine-glazed,
machine-finished, and creped papers that are used in avariety of industrial processes and in food, medical,
and pharmaceutical packaging
Philip Paras, Pres & COO, CFOElizabeth Hoey, VP HR
John Sterzinar, VP ManufacturingDuane Judd, VP, Sales
1919
12.Bartell Machinery Systems, LLC6321 Elmer Hill RoadRome, NY 13440(315) 336-7600/bartellmachinery.com
153160
NA highly engineered industrial machinery systems for thetire, oil & gas, and wire industries; 80% of products are
exported outside the US
Patrick J. Morocco, PresidentJeff DiOrio, Controller
Paul Gatley, VP of EngineeringBrian Turvey, SVP of Sales & Marketing
Bill Rostiser, VP of Operations
1940
13.Sovena USA1 Olive Grove St.Rome, NY 13441(315) 797-7070/sovenausa.com
150160
$250M branded and private-label olive oils, vegetable oils,frying oils, organic oils, vinegars
Luis Arriba, CEOFrank Talarico, CFOGabi Estevez, COO
1991
.ECR International, Inc.2201 Dwyer Ave.Utica, NY 13501(315) 797-1310/ecrinternational.com
1506,500
NA designs, manufactures, and markets boilers, airconditioners, furnaces, and related HVAC equipment
Ronald J. Passafaro, President & CEO 1928
15.F.X. Matt Brewing Company811 Edward St.Utica, NY 13502(315) 624-2400/saranac.com
124131
NA beer & soft-drink beverages Nicholas O. Matt, Chairman & CEOFred Matt, President
1888
16.Fiberdyne Labs, Inc.127 Business Park DriveFrankfort, NY 13340(315) 895-8470/fiberdyne.com
100100
NA fiber-optic networking products and cablinginstallation services; LED lighting products, sign sales,
advertising billboards
Anthony Polus, CEO/PresidentAl Amendolare, CFO
Chad Polus, VP OperationsPeter Polus, VP Sales & Marketing
1992
17.Riverhawk Company215 Clinton RoadNew Hartford, NY 13413(315) 768-4855/riverhawk.com
9090
NA rotating equipment accessories Edward Gunn, General Manager 1993
18.F.E. Hale Manufacturing Co.120 Benson PlaceFrankfort, NY 13340(315) 894-5490/halemfg.com
4242
NA manufacturer wood office and library furnitureproducts
James Benson, CEO & CFOBrooke Benson, Marketing Manager
Michelle Keib, National Sales Manager
1907
19.C & H Plastics, Inc.145 Conger Ave.Waterville, NY 13480(315) 841-4101/chplastics.com
4141
NA thermoplastic injection molding, part design, rapidprototyping, assembly, and packaging
Diane Humphrey, CEOWilliam Clark, President
Rollin Bateman, VP Sales & EngineeringLarry Winfield, VP Manufacturing
1970
20.GEA Farm Technologies, Inc.4754 State Route 233Westmoreland, NY 13490(315) 853-3936/gea.com
3918,000
NA barn and dairy equipment Todd Finn, Director of ManufacturingOperations
1981
21.MSi Molding Solutions Inc.6247 State Route 233Rome, NY 13440(315) 736-2412/moldingsolutionsinc.com
3636
$4.5M molded and fabricated plastic components, assemblies,and packaging
Tom Bashant, PresidentDavid Garcia, Operations
2006
22.Sherrill Manufacturing102 E. Senecca St.Sherrill, NY 13461(315) 280-0727/sherrillmfg.com
3535
NA flatware manufacturer Gregory L. Owens, CEO & PartnerMatthew A. Roberts, President & Partner
2005
23.Empire Fibreglass Products Inc.P.O. Box 1006Little Falls, NY 13365(315) 823-4030/empirefiberglass.com
3131
NA chemical storage/process vessels, scrubbers, platforms,grating, stairs, duct systems, stacks, and special
entertainment parks structures
Thomas Baum, PresidentNeil F. Baum, VP
James Tylor Schmid, Mechanical EngineerFrank Mendl, Production Manager
1961
24.CTM151 Industrial DriveFrankfort, NY 13340(315) 894-4377/ctm-corp.com
2525
NA precision engineering and fabrication shop; federalfirearms license and ITAR registration from prototype
to production
Steven M. Naegele, CEOJohn J. Piseck, VP SM
1969
25.Original Herkimer County Cheese Company2745 State Route 51 S.Ilion, NY 13357(315) 895-7428/originalherkimercheese.com
2424
NA NY State cheddar and cold pack products Michael E. Basloe, PresidentRobert N. Basloe, VP of Operations and
Finance
1949
12 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I APRIL 25, 2016CNYBJ.COM
UPCOMINGEVENTSTo sponsor, nominate &
register, visit bizeventz.comQuestions? Call (315) 708-3303, or email [email protected]
3rd Annual MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDSThursday, May 5, 20166:00 PM - 8:30 PM • The Stanley Theatre, Utica
5th Annual EXCELLENCE IN HEALTHCARE AWARDSThursday, October 20, 20165:30 PM - 8:30 PM • The Lodge at Welch Allyn
Presenting Sponsor:
9th Annual FINANCIAL & BUSINESS EXECUTIVE AWARDSThursday, June 2, 20167:30 AM - 10:00 AM • SRC Arena
Mohawk ValleyAWARDS
Mohawk ValleyAWARDS
LEGACY
E X E C U T I V E
FINANCIAL BUSINESS FINANCIAL BUSINESS
AWARDS
Events Created & Produced By: Business Journal News Network & BizEventz
OUTSOURCED EVENT:
mr.
habitata renaissance man for
the 21st century
MR. HABITATThursday, May 26, 20166:00 PM - 9:00 PMDrumlins Country Club
All events listed above are created and produced by BizEventz, Inc., a division of The Business Journal News Network, responsible for turn-key business-to-business events. With the support of Business Journal News Network, we create, plan, and market conferences, seminars, special events, and expos. We do this for our own events as well as outsourcing event planning services and event management to corporations and nonpro� t organizations. O� ering you a professional approach, creative strategies and solutions, and strong ethics that deliver all of the event from beginning to end.
Presenting Sponsor:Presenting Sponsor:
6th Annual HEALTHY WORKPLACE SUMMIT & AWARDSSeptember 29, 2016SRC Arena
Presenting Sponsor:Presenting Sponsor:
3rd Annual SUN AWARDSOctober 6, 20164:00 PM - 6:30 PM • Marriott Syracuse Downtown
Presenting Sponsor:
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 20164:00 PM - 6:30PM
We’re recognizing sustainable e�orts throughout Upstate New York
Join us at thenewly renovated
PRESENTS:
Guest speakers, Networking, Exhibitors & more. And, get your �rst drink on us!
More details to come.For more information or to register, visit www.bizeventz.com orcontact Joyl Clance at (315) 708-3303 or email [email protected] @sungroupcnywww.sungroupcny.com sustainability
SUSTAINABLEUPSTATE NETWORK
SUNAw� ds
FAM LYBUSINESSAWARDS OF CNY
excellence IN HEALTH CARE AWARDS
2nd Annual FAMILY BUSINESS AWARDS OF CNYDecember 1, 20167:30 AM - 10:00 AM • Oncenter
Platinum Sponsor:
Presenting Sponsor:
Food Provided By:
MAY 5, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 1BCNYBJ.COM
Alex, Joe, and Enessa CarboneCarbone Auto Group
Cathy Newell
Mohawk Ltd.
Jim McCarthy & Maureen McCarthy Tracy
Northland Communications
EVENT COMMEMORATIVE PUBLICATION
Mohawk ValleyAWARDSPresented By:
leyAWARDSPresented By:
LEGACYThursday, May 5, 2016
The Stanley Theatre, Utica
Celebrating the 2016 honorees!
Register to Attend at bizeventz.com
2nd Annual
2B I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I MAY 5, 2016CNYBJ.COM
2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
Berkshire Bank, America’s Most Exciting Bank, is again proud to sponsor the 2nd Annual Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards.
This year’s honorees, Carbone Auto Group, Mohawk Ltd. and Northland Communications have collectively served the business needs of the Mohawk Valley for over 250 years! The Carbone, McCarthy, and Newell families have shared their success with generations of employees while giving generously of their time, talent and financial resources to building the Mohawk Valley.
Berkshire Bank also believes in making a difference in the communities we do business in and serve. Last year through the XTEAM®, our employee volunteer program, Berkshire’s employees donated over 40,000 hours of community service. In addition, the bank and our charitable Foundation combined to donate more than $2 million to help communities across our footprint.
Berkshire Bank’s employees, attitude and energy are what make us America’s Most Exciting Bank. We deliver on this promise every day by providing big bank resources with small bank attention and flexibility. We have local decision-makers, experts and resources in the Mohawk Valley to help you achieve your financial goals and help you find the exciting moments in your life.
Congratulations to our Mohawk Valley Legacy Award Honorees!
Chris Papayanakos Senior Vice President Berkshire Bank
!!!!!
Berkshire Bank, America’s Most Exciting Bank, is proud to sponsor the inauguralMohawk Valley Legacy Awards.
Charles A. Gaetano Construction Corporation, F.X. Matt Brewing Co./Saranac, andHarden Furniture have built unparalleled legacies of support for the Mohawk Valley.The Gaetano, Matt, and Harden families have shared their success with generations ofemployees and have given generously of their time, talents, and financial resources tobuilding the Mohawk Valley.
Berkshire Bank also believes in making a difference in the communities we do businessin and serve. Last year through our employee volunteer program, Berkshire’semployees donated over 40,000 hours of community service. In addition, ourFoundation donated more than $1.5 million in grants to help communities across ourfootprint.
Berkshire Bank’s employees, attitude, and energy are what make us America’s MostExciting Bank, and we deliver on this promise every day by providing big bankresources with small bank attention and flexibility. We have local decision-makers,experts, and resources in the Mohawk Valley to help you achieve your financial goalsand help you find the exciting moments in your life.
Congratulations to our Legacy Award Honorees!
Chris PapayanakosSenior Vice PresidentBerkshire Bank
Life is exciting. Let us help.
MAY 5, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 3BCNYBJ.COM
2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
2016 Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards VenueCelebrating the Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards
The Business Journal News Network, BizEventz, and Berkshire Bank are delighted to present the 2nd an-nual Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards.
We are honor-ing three sets of the Mohawk Valley’s most dedicated and visionary leaders. These are entrepreneurs who have built or grown thriving area corporations and who have nurtured our community through the generosity of their time, financial support, and dedication.
The purpose of creating and producing this Legacy Awards program is to emphasize the heritage that is passed down from generation to generation and the obligation that business leaders have in ensuring its continuity.
The Legacy Awards recognize an exclusive group of busi-ness executives who have made a substantial impact through the companies they have built or taken to the next level and the contributions they have made to their community.
Legacy honorees have generally not sought the spotlight. In fact, they have usually shied away from recognition of their achievements. But, we put these leaders in the limelight now, so they can set an example for the next generation of entre-preneurs who will build on the honorees’ contributions.
That’s how community is built.Please join us at the region’s most exciting event, the
Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards, on the evening of May 5 at the Stanley Theatre in Utica, so we can honor these remark-able honorees together.
The Stanley Theatre, Utica
Originally built to be a movie palace, The Stanley opened on Sept. 10, 1928, with 2,963 seats. Constructed in only 13 months, it was designed by famous architect Thomas Lamb, who is considered one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century, according to a descrip-tion on the theatre’s website. His creations include the Fox Theatre in San Francisco and the Capitol Theatre in New York City, both now demolished. The Stanley is one of three remaining Lamb theatres — Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady and The Landmark Theatre in Syracuse are the other two.
Today, The Stanley is host to shows presented by the Broadway Theatre League of Utica, Munson Williams Proctor Great Artists Series, and the Utica Symphony Orchestra as well as several pro-moters. Recent acts to visit the venue include Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Tony Bennett, Jerry Seinfeld, Jackson Browne, the Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day’s American Idiot, and Shrek: The Musical, ac-cording to the website.
The Stanley Theatre in downtown Utica is host to the 2016 Mohawk Valley Legacy Awards on May 5.
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Mohawk ValleyAWARDSPresented By:
Mohawk ValleyAWARDSPresented By:
LEGACY
Congratulations to the 2016 Mohawk Valley Legacy Honorees
and � ank You to Our Sponsors
Business JournalNews Network
Event Partner:Awards Sponsor:
Graphics Sponsor: Media Partner: Created & Produced By:
4B I Mohawk valley busIness journal I May 5, 2016Cnybj.CoM
2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
EnEssa M. CarBonEEnessa Carbone is CEO of the Carbone Auto
Group. She provides administrative leadership for this family-owned auto-dealership busi-ness, as well as in-house legal counsel.
She joined the Carbone Auto Group in 1992. She is a board member of the New York State Automobile Dealers Association.
Enessa earned her bachelor’s degree in policy studies/criminal justice from Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship, MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology, and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She also graduated from the General Dealership Management Academy Program of the National Auto Dealers Association.
Community groups that Enessa is involved in include the American Heart Association-Utica/Mohawk Valley Region; Mohawk Valley EDGE; Leadership Mohawk Valley; Boilermaker Road Race; United Way of the Valley & Greater Utica Area; Resource Center for Independent Living; Upstate Cerebral Palsy; Hospice and Palliative Care; Boys and Girls Club of the Mohawk Valley; and Family Services of the Mohawk Valley. She was also selected as an honoree in the YWCA Salute to Outstanding Women.
aLEXanDEr E. CarBonEAlex Carbone is director of variable opera-
tions for the Carbone Auto Group. He joined the business in 1992 and provides leadership in dealership management, sales manage-ment, marketing, and customer service.
Alex is a graduate of the NADA Dealer Academy, chairman of the American Honda Dealer Advisory Board for the Western New York District, the National Dealer Advisory Rep, a member of the Dealership Advisory Board for Hyundai Motors Northeast Region, and a board member of the New York State Automobile Dealers Association.
His community involvement includes: Greater Utica American Heart Association Volunteer of the Year, 2012; ACR Health, Celebrity Bartender Fund Raiser, Best Bartender Ever Award, 2015; and Genesis Group of the Mohawk Valley Region, Striving for Success Award Recipient. Additionally, he was a Wheelchair Celebrity Classic Benefit Basketball Tournament participant for Sitrin Health Care;
board chairman, executive leadership team chair, Annual Walk & Run participant for the Central New York Chapter of the American Heart Association; board member for the House of the Good Shepherd, and the Utica Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.
JosEPH a. CarBonEJoe Carbone is chief investment officer for
the Carbone Auto Group. He joined the busi-ness in 1988. Joe provides leadership in deal-ership management, new facilities planning and construction, and Internet sales develop-ment.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Niagara University. He is also a graduate of the NADA Dealer Academy and the Ford Vista Life Program.
Joe’s community involvement includes being an annual runner in the Boilermaker Road Race and an annual participant in America’s Greatest Heart Run & Walk.
About the businessJoe Carbone, the founder, was a 19-year-old
from East Utica in the 1920s when he decided to use his life savings of $40 to start a busi-ness, according to the Carbone Auto Group’s website.
The business began as C&S Garage on Wetmore Street with Carbone’s friend and partner, Phil Sacco. Eventually, Joe became sole owner of the business and renamed it Carbone Motor Sales. The website says that Joe’s phi-losophy never shifted and today it is carried on by his children and grandchildren, who man-age 25 successful franchises at 11 locations in Central New York and Vermont.
Joe’s kids came to know cars inside out, just as their father had and they started their apprenticeships from the ground up — mop-ping and waxing the showroom floor before school each day, the site explains. They were also involved with reconditioning vehicles and preparing them for delivery, mechanical, body and paint work, parts and finally, sales.
Over time, the Carbones added franchise after franchise, blending a growing line-up of flagship American name-plates with the most desirable import brands, as that market seg-ment exploded.
Today, the third generation of the Carbone family offers vehicles from BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota.
Carbone auto Group
EnEssa, alEx, & JoE CarbonE
enessa m. Carbone
alexander e. Carbone
joseph a. Carbone
may 5, 2016 I mohawk valley busIness journal I 5B Cnybj.Com
2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
Cathy Newell, president and CEO of Mohawk Ltd. in Chadwicks (south of Utica), is an ac-complished executive leader, entrepreneur, and community leader.
Her father Gordon J. Newell, Jr. founded Mohawk Communications, Inc. — a repair, cali-bration, and supply company — in 1959. At that time, the firm primarily served two U.S. Air Force bases: one in Rome and the other in Dayton, Ohio. In the 1980s, with the daughter working in the business, the company began to transform and expand into custom trailers and truck bodies — serving a new group of customers in the law-enforcement, entertainment, and food-services industries. The company later changed its name to Mohawk Ltd. to reflect its diversity in products and services.
When Cathy Newell bought the business from her father in 1991, it had 13 employees, occupied one 20,000-square-foot building, and posted $2 million to $3 million in annual sales. Today, Mohawk Ltd. employs 55 people, occupies
more than 100,000 square feet of space in four buildings, and generates annual sales between $10 million and $16 million.
She has reinvented the company from its air- and telco-support origins to a diversified techni-cal and instrument repair and service firm. She has consistently grown Mohawk Ltd. ever since, by combining her ability to foresee business op-portunities with her natural tenacity, flexibility, and pragmatic management.
Newell says that the company had previ-ously focused on the Northeast geographically, but now covers the entire U.S. and then some. Mohawk’s capabilities today include repairing, refurbishing, and calibrating more than 2,000 different types of equipment, tools, and prod-uct lines. It is designated an authorized repair center for a number of leading manufacturers. Currently, 90 percent of its business comes from the private sector, with another 10 percent from the public sector.
Newell’s optimism is irrepressible. She asserts that the regional economy is poised to grow rap-idly with all of the high-tech focus on nanotech-nology, drones, and cybersecurity, and she sees big opportunities in the Mohawk Valley.
Mohawk Ltd. is now a 2nd-generation fam-ily business and a certified WBE (woman busi-ness enterprise), WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council), and ISO 9001:2008 company.
Newell graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She is also a graduate of the Leadership Mohawk Valley civic training pro-gram.
She has served on the board of directors of Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce (1994-2003). Other organizations that Newell has been involved with include the Boys and Girls Club as executive board secretary, 1996;. United Way Executive Cabinet, 1996; co-chair for “An Evening With Christopher Reeve” event, which benefited the SITRIN Rehab Center; EDGE board of directors in 1999; YWCA Salute to Outstanding Women corporate chair, 1998; and the Village Toy Shop owner 1999-2007. Newell has served as a board member of the Cerebral Palsy Association, as board secretary for the last six years and trea-surer since 2015, and as Commercial Travelers Mutual Insurance Co. executive board member from 2004-2011.
Newell has also served as an Entrepreneur in Residence since 2014 at Utica College.
Her professional awards or accomplishments include: in 1995, received Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Upstate NY by INC. Magazine; Business and Professional Women’s “Woman of
the Year” award in 1995; the 1996 recipient of the MV Chamber - Business of the Year Award; the 1997 re-cipient of the YWCA Salute to Outstanding Women in the Business and Industry category. Also in 1997, she received the Len Wilber Award from Utica Kiwanis Club and Business Person of the Year from the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2000, she was given the
“Humanitarian of the Year” award from the American Red Cross - Utica Chapter. In 2012, Newell and Mohawk Ltd. were awarded the honors of Top 100 Women Owned Businesses in NY State and Top 500 Women Owned Businesses in USA.
Newell is particularly proud of her management team at Mohawk Ltd. In addition to Newell as presi-dent and CEO, the team includes Diane Fetterolf, CFO; Christine Celia, director of human resources; Kathy Cianfrocco, director of quality assur-ance; Linda Lane, director of market-ing; David Gray, director of sales; and Randy LeFave, director of national Telco accounts.
Newell is married to Richard J. Walters and has two children — a son Blake and a daughter Avery.
mohawk ltd.Cathy Newell
6B I Mohawk valley busIness journal I May 5, 2016Cnybj.CoM
2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
NorthlaNd CommuNiCatioNsJames P. McCarthy is a third-generation fam-
ily member of Northland Communications. Jim is company president, primarily responsible for strategic planning for the overall organiza-tion and the day-to-day management of the Syracuse market. He has been with Northland since 1993.
McCarthy received his bachelor’s degree in business from Siena College and earned his master’s degree in telecommunications from SUNY Institute of Technology–Utica/Rome.
Active in his community, Jim serves on the board of BlueCross and BlueShield of Utica–Watertown.
He is a graduate of the Leadership Greater Syracuse civic-leadership training program and was a 40 Under Forty honoree. That awards pro-gram, produced by BizEventz and the Business Journal News Network, recognizes young busi-ness leaders who have made a contribution to local business and the community.
McCarthy’s community affiliations include serving as board chair for the March of Dimes of CNY (2012-2014) and board member for the SUNY Polytechnic Foundation, NYSTA board of directors; and St. Elizabeth Medical Center Foundation.
Jim is married to Ursula Zaba McCarthy and they have twin daughters, Maddy and Zoe.
Also a third-generation family member of Northland Communications, Maureen McCarthy Tracy serves multiple roles with the company, where she has worked since 1996.
As director of community relations, she represents Northland and its core values on
local community boards and committees. McCarthy Tracy is also a senior ac-count executive, primarily responsible for growth of sales in the Central New York market. She assists local businesses with their ongoing communications needs via Northland’s fiber network, AVAYA product line for phone and data needs, and the talent from Northland’s technical and service teams.
McCarthy Tracy grew up in Barneveld and gradu-ated from Holland Patent High School in 1992. She received her bachelor’s degree in corporate communications from the Roy H. Parks School of Communication at Ithaca College. Maureen also spent time studying at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.
McCarthy Tracy has served on numerous boards of directors including Crouse Hospital Foundation, Onondaga Community College Foundation, American Red Cross, Leadership Greater Syracuse, and HOPE for Bereaved. She has been active with American Heart Association, Francis House, Philanthropic Foodies, Rosamond Gifford Zoo, and the Ronald McDonald House of CNY. She is also a past supporter of McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center and adopts a family every Christmas.
McCarthy Tracy’s honors include the 40 Under Forty award, 2000; Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award, 2000; Women in Business Award, 2004; Leadership Greater Syracuse
jim mccarthy & maureen mccarthy tracy
jim mcCarthy
maureeN mcCarthy traCySEE nORtHLAnD COMMuniCAtiOnS, PAGE 7B 4
MAY 5, 2016 I MOHAWK VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL I 7BCNYBJ.COM
NORTHLAND COMMUNICATIONS: Company is headquartered in Utica Continued from page 6B
2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
Thank You to Our Event Emcee Norm Poltenson,Publisher Emeritus
Event Details:Event date: May 5, 2016Location: The Stanley Theatre, UticaTime: 6:00 pm-8:30 pm
6:00 pm-7:30 pm: Enjoy delicious food stations, open bar, networking & live music! (Please note: this is not a sit-down dinner, it is open-seating)7:30 pm-8:30 pm: Awards Program, Dessert & Photos
Cost: $75/ticketBlack Tie Optional
Mohawk ValleyAWARDSPresented By:
leyAWARDSPresented By:
LEGACY
Distinguished Community Leadership Award, 2009; NY Penn Girl Scouts, Woman of Distinction Award, 2011; and House of Providence President’s Medallion, Catholic Charities, 2016.
McCarthy Tracy resides in Marcellus with her husband John and two daughters, Molly (11) and Annie (6). The family has a passion for skiing, sailing, and traveling.
Maureen says that her father, Jerry McCarthy, taught her to be honest and caring and to al-ways do the right thing for the customer.
About the companyNorthland Communications says it offers a
broad array of local and long-distance plans, high-speed Internet services, and managed-
server applications and equipment options, which allow it to provide end-to-end tele-communications solutions customized for any business or organization.
Northland Communications is headquar-tered in Utica, and has additional offices in Holland Patent, Syracuse, and Albany,
The roots of the Northland Communications group of companies were planted in 1905 with the founding of Oneida County Telephone Company, Northland says on its website. Located in Holland Patent, Oneida County Telephone primarily operat-ed as a local-exchange carrier serving about 125 square miles of rural Oneida County. The company’s first venture away from tradi-tional telephone service came in 1978 when
it established All-Page, a tone and voice pag-ing service.
After the break-up of the Bell System ush-ered in an era of deregulation and competi-tion in the telecommunications industry in the early 1980s, Northland Telephone, a dis-count long-distance provider, was launched in the fall of 1982.
Northland Networks was formed in 1994 as a competitive access provider to supply bypass services for private net-work facilities. In 1996, with the passing of the Telecommunications Act, Northland Networks established itself as a competi-tive local exchange carrier (or CLEC) and began providing local dial-tone services in both Utica and Syracuse, according to the
website.In November 1995, Northland acquired
controlling interest in Dreamscape Online, which provided dial-up Internet access to thousands of upstate New York users. As the Internet world has evolved, Dreamscape’s current focus is providing dedicated band-width, email, and hosting services to the Central New York business community.
In May 2001, Northland acquired Gaffney Communications, adding the Nortel voice and data equipment product line to its bun-dle of products and services.
In 2006, the company consolidated all business units, except for Oneida County Telephone, under one name — Northland Communications. n
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2016 MOHAWK VALLEY LEGACY AWARDS
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