NNY Business December 2013

B

Y usIness

// 20 UNDER 40 ALUM ERIKA FLINT DRIVES $2M CAPITAL CAMPAIGN P. 42

DECEMBER 2013 Volume 4 No. 1

*

PLUS ene,

ss Sc Busine , Small ch e T Biz Y ss, NN Busine hot. s p a n S

nnybizmag.com

20 Under 40

Class of 2013

Jeniffer D. Alberry

$2.95

Adam A. Carmon Matthew J. Cervini Matthew J. Cooper Mickey Dietrich

Adam J. Fuller April Halladay William D. Hosmer Wayne A. Latham Jr. Jamie Lee

Diane H. Leonard Amanda J. Miller Jessica L. Page Victoria M. Peck Kristen M. Reed

Michelle M. Roden Brooke E. Rouse Edward C. Siebels Junior J. Stefanini Jason F. White

/nnybusiness @NNYBusinessMag

// NORTHERN NEW YORK’S PREMIER BUSINESS MONTHLY //

2|

NNY Business | December 2013

“Whether your vehicle has been damaged in an accident and needs minor body work or you have a classic car you’d like to restore, Body Pros has the experience and state-of-the-art technology to complete the highest-quality restoration possible.”

We will order and install any aftermarket accessory needed!

Affiliates:

Proudly Serving...

All of Northern NY & Fort Drum!

18288 U.S. ROUTE 11, WATERTOWN, NY • 315-755-6500 8 A.M. - 5 P.M. MONDAY-SATURDAY www.bodyprosny.com

December 2013 | NNY Business

|3

4|

NNY Business | December 2013

>> Inside DECEMBER 2013 17

18

42

46

50 |

COVER |

18 20 UNDER 40 NNY Business presents 20 Northern New York emerging leaders under the age of 40.

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Jeniffer D. Alberry Adam A. Carmon Matthew J. Cervini Matthew J. Cooper Mickey Dietrich Adam J. Fuller April Halladay William D. Hosmer Wayne A. Latham Jr. Jamie Lee Diane H. Leonard Amanda J. Miller Jessica L. Page Victoria M. Peck Kristen M. Reed Michelle M. Roden Brooke E. Rouse Edward C. Siebels Junior Stefanini Jason F. White

|

|

FEATURES |

50 HOME SALES DOWN Residential home sales decline in Jefferson, increase in St. Lawrence and Lewis counties.

17 PINNACLE OF PRECISION Polar Bear Hockey is a skate sharpening service and hockey equipment provider. |

REAL ESTATE |

SMALL BUSINESS STARTUP |

40 SELFLESS, UPBEAT FORCE Late Lewis County planner Renee Beyer is honored for community contributions.

42 DIRECTOR DRIVES ON Erika Flint of Urban Mission has dynamically led the nonprofit’s capital campaign.

46 OMNIA OMNIPOTENT Omniafiltra, a paper mill in Beaver Falls, marks its 10th year and celebrates growth.

48 REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP Why financial readiness is crucial both for military personnel and civilians.

|

BUSINESS HISTORY |

|

CONSTRUCTION |

68 OMNIPRESENT ARTISTRY Watertown’s Orpheum Theatre hosted a variety of acts, from vaudeville to boxing.

70 WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE? Oral Surgery of Northern New York is moving into a new office off Arsenal Street.

December 2013 | NNY Business

|5

FUCCILLO AUTO GROUP SERVICE & PARTS CENTER

BRAKES, WIPER BLADES, BATTERIES, TUNE-UPS AND TIRE SPECIALS WE’RE HERE FOR ALL YOUR AUTOMOTIVE NEEDS.

LET US BE YOUR TIRE SPECIALIST!

BRING IN THIS AD & GET

• All Tires On Location • Lifetime Tire Rotation With Purchase Of 4 New Tires • Email Us For Any Size And Installation Pricing

10% DISCOUNT

PICK UP AND DELIVERY AVAILABLE CALL OR SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT ONLINE AT

WWW.FUCCILLO.COM

Our service shops have been recognized by their manufacturers as the highest-rated in the industry, with Chrysler’s Five Star Program, Ford’s Blue Oval and General Motor’s Certified Service.

Open Mon.-Thurs. 9-8; Fri. & Sat. 9-6; Sun. 10-5; Service & Parts, Mon.-Sat. 8-5

FUCCILLO AUTO MALLS EXIT OFF RTE. 81 • ROUTE 11, ADAMS

call TIM at 315-788-1913

• INSPECTIONS • BRAKE SERVICE •

NORTZ & VIRKLER, INC.

232-3222 or 1-800-235-8037

www.Phinneys.com

19

*

Oil Change

and FREE Multi-Point Inspection

900 James St., Clayton, NY • 315-686-5271

SALES and SERVICE FINANCING AVAILABLE

(315) 788-5009

838 West Main St., Watertown, NY 13601

•

*Oil change includes up to 5-quarts of oil and standard oil filter. Synthetic oil and special filters will be extra. Offer expires December 30, 2013.

Automotive

OIL CHANGES

95

ROBERTS

•

Servicing All Makes and Models Sales Department Open 6 Days a Week

• AIR CONDITIONING SERVICE •

View our entire inventory at

$

• NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY •

Environmentally Friendly Work!

Here For YOUR Collision Needs!

NEW YORK STATE INSPECTIONS • Brakes • Transmissions • Tune Ups 315-785-8145

www.watertownautorepair.com

REPAIR SHOP & AUTO PARTS

(315) 482-2084

ROAD SERVICE & TOWING:

(315) 482-5859

Hours Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm

CHECK OUT OUR PARTS INVENTORY ONLINE AT WWW.WILLSWRECKER.COM

New & Used Auto Parts • Major & Minor Repairs • NYS Inspections 24 Hour Emergency Road Service & Towing - Medium & Light Duty NNY Business | December 2013

RIDES FOR LESS!

Affordable Auto Rentals. Daily & Weekly Rates.

Extended terms available.

Mon. - Fri. 8am-5:30pm, Sat. 8am2pm OR BY APPOINTMENT FULL LINE FORD PRODUCTS QUALITY FIRST CLASS SERVICE & SALES

1-800-957-5748 www.nortzandvirklerford.com

WINTERIZE YOUR VEHICLE EARLY

26109 NYS Route 283 • (Outer Pearl Street) • Watertown, NY 13601

OVER 26 YEARS EXPERIENCE • DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES

24913 ALLEN RD. ALEXANDRIA BAY

7468 State St., Lowville, NY 376-6594 Serving Lewis • Jefferson and Surrounding Counties for 97 Years - Serving You Since 1916!

WATERTOWN SPRING & ALIGNMENT

• We Work On All Makes & Models • State-of-the-art Down Draft Paint Booth • Participating with most Major Insurance Companies • Proud User of PPG’s Envirobase Waterborne System

6|

ON ALL SERVICE

- Wipers, Antifreeze, Batteries, Tires and Belts - Transmission Service

WE ALSO SELL AND REPAIR PLOWS -Service your plow before the snow falls

HOURS MONDAY-FRIDAY 8-5 445 COFFEEN ST., WATERTOWN

788-6831 or 1-800-359-1210

VEHICLE SURVIVAL GEAR

• Detailing • Accessories • Protection 19101 US Rte 11 • Watertown, NY 13601 • 315-785-0904

CAR AUDIO • SPEEDLINER SPRAY-ON BEDLINER • LEER TRUCK CAPS NERF BARS • COMPLETE AUTO DETAILING • WINDOW TINTING •BEDLINERS • TONNEAU COVERS • GRILL GUARDS • RUNNING BOARDS • AUTO ALARMS • LUGGAGE RACKS • RUST PROTECTION • SOUND BARRIER • PAINT PROTECTION • FABRIC PROTECTION • MUD FLAPS REMOTE STARTER • FOG LIGHTS • VENT VISORS • BUG DEFLECTORS

Backed By Over 25 Years Experience • LUBE OIL & FILTER • ENGINE REPAIRS • TRANSMISSIONS • COMPUTER DIAGNOSTICS • NYS INSPECTIONS • TRAILER WORK • MUCH MORE

OWNER: FREDERICK E. JACKSON JR. 906 James Street, Clayton NY • (315) 686-3720

| INTERVIEW |

|

ABOUT THE COVER

|

Editor’s Note: 20 Questions will return in next month’s issue.

|

To read past 20 Questions with north country business leaders, visit WWW.NNYBIZMAG.COM COLUMNS

52 53 54 55 |

|

GUEST ESSAY ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING BUSINESS LAW COMMERCE CORNER

DEPARTMENTS

10 11 12 14 17

56 AGRI-BUSINESS 57 BUSINESS TECH BYTES 58 SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS

|

EDITOR’S NOTE PEOPLE ON THE MOVE ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT BUSINESS BRIEFCASE SMALL BIZ STARTUP

48 60 63 68 70

REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP CALENDAR BUSINESS SCENE BUSINESS HISTORY WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE?

For this month’s annual 20 Under 40 cover, our photography team designed a look that mirrors a school yearbook. Each member of NNY Business magazine’s 2013 Class of 20 Under 40 came to our photo studio in either Canton or Watertown for a portrait. Photographers also shot full-length portraits of each honoree, which appear with their profiles.

Your Integrated Solutions Provider ~ Unified Communications ~ Digital and VoIP Telephone Systems: Shoretel, Toshiba CAT 6 and Fiber Optic Cabling Computer Networking / Routers and Firewalls Cameras / Fire / Security / 24hr. Monitoring SERVICE PLANS

1039 Water St., Watertown

315-788-0000

December 2013 | NNY Business

|7

CONTRIBUTORS

BusIness www.nnybizmag.com

Chairman of the Board John B. Johnson Jr.

Lance Evans is executive officer for the JeffersonLewis and St. Lawrence County Board of Realtors.

He writes about how financial readiness benefits both military personnel and civilians. (p. 48)

Bob Gorman is president and CEO of United Way of Northern New York. He writes about the critical importance of area nonprofits as health care costs expand. (p. 52)

Michelle Capone is regional development director for the Development Authority of the North Country. She provides examples of the qualities successful leaders share. (p. 53)

Publishers

John B. Johnson Harold B. Johnson II

VP News Operations Timothy J. Farkas

Magazine Editor

Kenneth J. Eysaman

Magazine Staff Writer Leah Buletti

Photography

Larry Covell is a professor of business at Jefferson Community College. He explains the purpose and process of creating implied warranties to protect goods. (p. 54)

Lynn Pietroski is president and CEO of the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. She writes about why it’s important to not just work hard, but work smart. (p. 55)

Jay Matteson is the agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Industrial Development Corp. He writes about the county’s new and improved agricultural website. (p. 56)

Norm Johnston, Justin Sorensen, Jason Hunter, Melanie Kimbler-Lago, Amanda Morrison

Magazine Advertising Manager Matthew Costantino

SLC Advertising Director Tammy Beaudin

Advertising Graphics

Brian Mitchell, Rick Gaskin, Heather O’Driscoll, Scott Smith, Todd Soules

Circulation Director Mary Sawyer

Jill Van Hoesen is chief information officer for Johnson Newspapers and a 25-year IT veteran.

She weighs the positive and negative attributes of the newest Windows operating system. (p. 57)

Michelle Collins is an advisor for the state Small Business Development Center at SUNY Canton. She provides strategies to increase lagging first quarter sales. (p. 58)

Christina Scanlon is a Watertown Daily Times reporter who covers Lewis County.

She writes about the resurgence and growth of Omniafiltra in Beaver Falls. (p. 46)

MARKETPLACE

A&B Equipment............................ 10 AmeriCU Credit Union................... 2 Bach & Company........................ 10 Bay Brokerage............................. 16 Bayview Shores Realty................ 49 Beaver Meadows........................ 49 Bernier, Carr and Associates........ 4 Body Pros........................................ 3 Cantwell and Associates............ 45 Children’s Home of Jefferson County.......................... 44 CITEC Manufacturing................... 44 Clayton Dental Office.................. 11 Coleman’s Corner........................ 66 Cortel Improvement..................... 69 CREG Systems Corp....................... 7 D Laux Properties.......................... 49 Department of Health.................. 59 Development Authority of the North Country..................... 55 Dr. Richard J. Meagher................ 10 ENV Insurance.............................. 45 Fairgrounds Inn............................. 66 First Class Auto Glass................... 11 Foy Agency Inc............................ 45 Fred’s Quick Lube........................... 6

8|

Fuccillo Automotive....................... 6 Fuller Insurance............................ 45 Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce.............. 72 HD Goodale Co............................ 45 High Tower Advisors..................... 15 Hilton Garden Inn......................... 66 Howard Orthotics.......................... 53 Innovative Physical Therapy....... 54 Jefferson County IDA................... 69 Ken Piarulli..................................... 64 Krafft Cleaning.............................. 63 Lofink Ford Mercury...................... 60 LTI................................................... 58 Macars........................................... 15 Moe’s Southwest Grill................... 66 NNY BUsiness ................................ 10 NNY Community Foundation.............................. 14, 41 North Country Custom Embroidery.................................... 41 Nortz & Virkler................................. 6 Painfull Acres Amish Furniture......................................... 11 Papa Tino’s Pizzeria...................... 66 Phinney’s Automotive.................... 6

NNY Business | December 2013

RBC Wealth Management............. 7 Robert’s Automotive....................... 6 Schwerzmann & Wise................... 43 SeaComm Federal Credit Union.................................. 16 Shred Con..................................... 57 Slack Chemical Co...................... 56 Steven Duffany Insurance............ 45 Three C’s Limousine...................... 67 Thousand Islands Realty............................................. 49 Tiebart Tidycar................................ 6 Waite Motor Sports....................... 65 Waite Toyota................................. 52 Washington Summit...................... 51 Watertown Dental........................... 9 Watertown International Airport............................................ 50 Watertown Local Development Corp...................... 48 Watertown Savings Bank............. 47 Wells Communications.............. 770 Wills Wrecker................................... 6 Wladis Law Firm............................ 71 Worden Insurance........................ 45 WWTI-50......................................... 62

NNY Business (ISSN 2159-6115), is published monthly by Northern New York Newspaper Corp., 260 Washington St., Watertown, NY 13601, a Johnson Newspaper Corp. company. © 2010-2013. All material submitted to NNY Business becomes property of Northern New York Newspaper Corp., publishers of the Watertown Daily Times, and will not be returned.

Subscription Rates 12 issues are $15 a year and 24 issues are $25 for two years.

Call 315-782-1000 to subscribe.

Submissions Send all editorial correspondence to keysaman@wdt.net Advertising For advertising rates and information in Jefferson and Lewis counties, email mcostantino@wdt.net, or call 315-661-2305 In St. Lawrence County, e-mail tbeaudin@ogd.com, or call 315-661-2512 Printed with pride in U.S.A. at Vanguard Printing LLC, Ithaca, N.Y., a Forest Stewardship Certified facility.

Please recycle this magazine.

Meet Dr. Robert Agnetta Board Certified Orthodontist Watertown Orthodontics

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — From his earliest memory as Dr. Agnetta followed his father’s career in hospital administration from Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon, and then to Glendale, California, he always knew he wanted to be a health care professional. He received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Pacific Union College in the Napa Valley in Northern California. After receiving a Doctor of Dental Science degree from Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, he practiced as a general dentist in Micronesia on the Island of Guam for three years. Returning stateside when his family started to grow, he moved with his wife, Karen, to Boise, Idaho, where he established a successful private practice while they raised their two children, Alison and Evan.

In 1996, Bob had the opportunity to specialize and again attended Loma Linda University where he achieved his master’s degree in Orthodontics.

Upon completion of his residency he returned to Boise and established a busy private practice as an Orthodontist. During his professional tenure, Dr. Agnetta has consistently kept up to date by attending continuing education courses. Since graduation he has been a member of several dental organizations including the American Dental Association, Board Certified member of the American Association of Orthodontics and has recently been appointed as a director in the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists (PCSO).

Why orthodontics? The most rewarding aspect of dentistry for Dr. Agnetta is when he can help a person succeed in life by improving their self-

confidence. Orthodontics is a field that can visibly do this, and it is extremely gratifying for him to witness his patients develop into more confident and self-assured individuals.

During the times Bob is not at the office, he is most likely devoting his time to family endeavors.

He enjoys being very busy and is always looking for ways to help his family and friends. He has enjoyed mountain and cross-country biking, water and snow skiing.

Bob’s children have continued the family tradition of health care. Alison finished medical school in 2011 and is completing an Internal Medicine / Pediatric residency in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Evan struggled with the decision of what he wanted to do for his life’s work. He is making his father proud as he follows his father’s footsteps into Dentistry. He applied to and was accepted to his father’s alma mater. Classes began in August 2013 and although he is not sure what aspect of dentistry will be his favorite, he is looking forward to serving the needs of his community as a dental professional.

He loves to travel and his favorite place so far is New Zealand, where they visited Karen’s extended family and watched his children jump off tall buildings, bridges and out of a perfectly good airplane. Still top on his wish list of destinations is India, China, the Himalayas and spending more time on more warm, tropical islands.

Dr. Agnetta is available for consultation at the Watertown Dental Health Group, 315-788 1070. He would be happy to share with you the possibilities for your smile.

“The Most Rewarding Aspect of Dentistry For Me Is When I Can Help a Person Succeed In Life

By Improving Their SelfConfidence. Orthodontics Can Visibly Do This.”

— Paid Advertisement —

December 2013 | NNY Business

|9

J. Richard Meagher, D.D.S., P.C. Office Hours:

By Appointment

D (315) 493-1581 40 Franklin Street, Suite III West Carthage, New York 13619 We participate with Met Life, United Concordia, Delta Dental

We Now Accept Major Credit Cards and Debit Cards

www.jrmeagherdds.com

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

• • • • • •

Excavation Carpentry 11176 Masonry Environmental Plumbing Electrical

County Rt. 9 Clayton N.Y.

315-686-3083

www.BachAndCo.com

W

EDITOR’S NOTE e are excited and proud to present NNY Business magazine’s 20 Under 40 class of 2013 this month.

During the

past four months, nominations for selection to this year’s class steadily flowed into our offices totalling a record 48, which made decision day a very challenging time for our five-person selecKen Eysaman tion committee. I must say a heartfelt thank you to Maria Roche, Carthage, whose enthusiasm for our magazine and its 20 Under 40 program continues to go unmatched.

Without Maria’s unwavering support and energy, many of the fine young leaders you’ll read about in this issue would have gone undiscovered. (My apologies to Maria that I couldn’t let her hand-pick all 20 for this year’s class.)

In October, staff from the magazine and the Watertown Daily Times reviewed a list of accomplished young professionals with the task of culling the number to 20 from nearly 50. It was no easier a task than when we began this program two years ago.

I urge you to flip to page 18 to begin reading the 20 profiles of top talent right here in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Here are a few statistics about our 2013 Class of 20 Under 40: Average age: 33.2 Median age: 33

Youngest: 25 Oldest: 39 Youngest business owner: 29 Number younger than 30: 3 Number of small business owners: 9 Number of women: 10 Number of men: 10 Number of agency leaders: 1 Number of agency department directors: 4 Mid-level manager or supervisor: 7 Vice president or higher: 13 North country natives: 17 Number in Jefferson County: 15 Number in Lewis County: 1 Number in St. Lawrence County: 4 Highest level of education: Doctor of medicine and master’s degree Average level of education: bachelor’s degree Number with post-graduate degrees: 5 The numbers alone tell an impressive story, especially given that 17 of those who are profiled are north country natives who have — by choice — remained in Northern New York or have returned to the region to live, work, raise their children and contribute to making our communities a better place for others.

I hope you enjoy reading about this year’s group of talented emerging leaders this month. If you come across anyone we missed, let me know at keysaman@wdt.net.

Yours in business,

BANKING EQUIPMENT

315-661-2399 / 1 (800) 724-1012

Document Imaging Processors • Currency Counters • ATM Machines • Credit Card Systems • Banking Solutions • POS Systems 22738 Murrock Circle Watertown, NY 13601

10 |

NNY Business | December 2013

A&B

Office Equipment

1-800-782-4303 aandboffice@verizon.net

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Samaritan welcomes two new medical professionals

Hiram A. Garcia-Rivera, an oral surgeon, has joined Samaritan Medical Center’s medical staff. Mr. Garcia-Rivera attended medical school at the University of Puerto Rico and completed oral and maxillofacial surgery residency training at Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn.

Dr. Garcia-Rivera will provide a full range of oral surgery services, including dental implants and bone grafting, dental extractions, corrective jaw surgery, reconstructive lip surgery and treatment of facial infections or trauma.

He is affiliated with Dr. Bruce J. Dines, 531 Washington St. Jeffrey Kraus, a physician assistant, also recently joined Samaritan’s Emergency Department. Mr. Kraus completed his physician training through the University of Nebraska School of Medicine and is certified with the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. He was most recently affiliated with Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic on Fort Drum.

Joins GWNC Chamber

Michele Mitchell has joined the Greater WatertownNorth Country Chamber of Commerce as director of membership development.

Ms. Mitchell was previously an international sales manager Mitchell for Car-Freshner Corporation, Watertown, for three and a half years. Prior to that, she worked in the hotel industry in Hawaii.

Ms. Mitchell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence University, Canton, in 2004, during which time she studied abroad for a year in Rouen, France.

Privateers hire new marketing representative Mindi M. McMains was recently hired as marketing representative for the Watertown Privateers hockey team. She previously held a variety of sales and marketing positions, including 10 years as vice president of a family-owned fundraising business based in Boston.

In her position with the Privateers, Ms. McMains will work with local businesses

on ways they can market their business with the Privateers, such as sponsoring a section of seats for local youth to attend games, logos on jerseys and helmets or coupons in game programs.

Ms. McMains earned an associate degree in humanities and social sciences in 2009 from Jefferson Community College and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Providence College, Providence, R.I., in August. The Watertown Privateers are a semi-professional hockey team in the Federal Hockey League. For the team’s schedule at the Watertown Municipal Arena, visit www.watertown-ny.gov.

AMISH FURNITURE 15541 North Harbor Road, Adams Center, NY Located Between Rt. 81 Exit 43 and Rt. 3

ALL NEW WINE CABINET • ELM ROCKING CHAIRS DINING TABLES & CHAIRS • BABY CRIB

Unique Amish-made Toys Unique Local Artist Cutting Boards, Prints and Much More!

ALL SOLID HARDWOOD FURNITURE! MANY STYLES TO CHOOSE FROM! OAK ~ ELM ~ MAPLE CHERRY ~ HICKORY ~ WALNUT & MORE! Open Friday & Saturday 10am-5pm; and Sunday 11am-4pm. Or Call For Appointment - Anytime

phone: 583-5400 or 778-4314 • www.painfullacresfurniture.com

Join Carthage Area Hospital Foundation board

April LaRock and Justin Carroll have joined the Carthage Area Hospital Foundation board of directors. Ms. LaRock is a commercial lines manager at A.T. Matthews & Dier insurance, Watertown, and was previously a branch manager at Haylor, Freyer and Coon. She is a New York State licensed agent and a notary public and holds various other professional insurance credentials.

She is a past member of the Carthage Area Chamber of Commerce and the Carthage Economic Development Corporation.

Ms. LaRock holds an associate degree from Jefferson Community College in business administration. Mr. Carroll is the branch manager of the Northern Federal Credit Union’s West Carthage branch.

He was previously a branch manager of Enterprise Rent a Car in Washington, D.C. and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from West Virginia University.

NYAB manager honored

Erich L. Leonard, manager of locomotive systems development engineering at New York Air Brake, Watertown, was honored last month as part of Central New York Business Journal’s BizEventz 2013 class of “40 Under Forty,” which recognizes hardworking and civic-minded individuals in the region under the age of 40.

Mr. Leonard, 33, is a native of Black River.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, where he participated in SAE International’s Formula SAE student design competition and interned at General Motors in Michigan.

He joined GM full-time as a brake development engineer after his graduation in 2002 and joined NYAB in 2006 as a systems engineer. He then went on to earn a master’s

Watertown, Watertown, NY NY (315) (315) 788-2570 788-2570 LI KE UUS OON N

1s tC las ss AAuuttoo M o i l ee M obb i l

Please see People, page 16

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 11

NNY

Economic indicators Average per-gallon milk price paid to N.Y. dairy farmers October 2013 $1.85 Sept. 2013 $1.85 October 2012 $1.82

1.6%

ECON SNAPSHOT

Vehicles crossing the Thousand Islands, OgdensburgPrescott and Seaway International (Massena) bridges

Source: NYS Department of Agriculture

444,750 in October 2013 451,311 in Sept. 2013 425,914 in October 2012

Average NNY price for gallon of regular unleaded gas

Source: T.I. Bridge Authority, Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority, Seaway International Bridge Corp.

October 2013 $3.62 Sept. 2013 $3.77 October 2012 $4.04

U.S.-Canadian dollar exchange rate (Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar)

10.4%

Average NNY price for gallon of home heating oil

12 |

(Percent gains and losses are over 12 months)

October 2013 $3.77 Sept. 2013 $3.76 October 2012 $3.93

4.1%

4.4%

$1.04 on Oct. 29, 2013 $1.03 on Sept. 30, 2013 $1.00 on Oct. 29, 2012

4.0%

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of N.Y.

Average NNY price for gallon of residential propane

Nonagriculture jobs in the Jefferson-Lewis-St. Lawrence counties area, not including military positions*

October 2013 $2.96 Sept. 2013 $2.93 October 2012 $2.96

91,600 in October 2013 91,500 in Sept. 2013 91,300 in October 2012

Source: NYS Energy Research and Development Authority

Source: NYS Department of Labor

Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors single-family home sales

St. Lawrence Board of Realtors single-family home sales

101, median price $142,000 in October 2013 118, median price $144,000 in September 2013 104, median price $155,100 in October 2012

57, median price $90,000 in October 2013 62, median price $86,750 in September 2013 63, median price $74,000 in October 2012

2.9% Sales

8.4% Price

Source: Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors Inc.

9.5%

0.32%

21.6%

Sales

Price

Source: St. Lawrence Board of Realtors Inc.

NNY unemployment rates* Jefferson County

Oct. ’13

8.7%

Sept. ’12

8.7%

Oct. ’12

9.4%

St. Lawrence County Oct. ’13 Sept. ’12

8.3% 8.5%

Oct. ’12

9.4%

Lewis County Oct. ’13 Sept. ’12 Oct. ’12

8.0% 8.4% 8.8%

Source: New York State Department of Labor (Not seasonally adjusted. Latest available data reported.) * Latest available data reported due to annual data updates at the New York State Department of Labor.

Note: Due to updates in some “Econ. Snapshot” categories, numbers may differ from previously published prior month and year figures.

NNY Business | December 2013

NNY

Economic indicators New automobiles (cars and trucks) registered in Jefferson County Cars 459 in October 2013 494 in Sept. 2013 439 in October 2012

4.6%

Trucks 112 in October 2013 135 in September 2013 122 in October 2012

8.2%

Source: Jefferson County Clerk’s Office

Passengers at Watertown International Airport

Open welfare cases in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties

3,737 inbound and outbound in October 2013 3,441 inbound and outbound in September 2013 3,164 inbound and outbound in October 2012

2,031 in October 2013 1,900 in Sept. 2013 1,972 in October 2012

3.0%

18.1%

DBAs

Source: Social Service Depts. of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties

DBA (doing business under an assumed name) certificates filed at the Jefferson County Clerk’s office Nov. 1 to 27, 2013. For a complete list of DBAs filed in past months, visit us at WWW.NNYBIZMAG.COM.

NOV. 27: Valley Purchases, 5 Irish Ave., Philadelphia, Bethany A. Kubik, 5 Irish Ave., Philadelphia Hookah Den, 405 Arsenal St., Watertown, Charles R. Skellen, 405 Arsenal St., Watertown Lucky’s Jewelry, 316 Bugbee Drive, Watertown, Bradley Lettiere, 316 Bugbee Drive, Watertown NOV. 26: Empire State Construction, 206 Pine St., Theresa, Thomas P. Gray, 206 Pine St., Theresa.

Xtreme Auto Mart, 23438 New York state Route 12, Watertown, Kenneth W. Hamm, 13773 Greene St., Adams Center, Jason J. Gilmore, 24200 Perch Lake Road, Watertown.

NOV. 25: Patrick Gillette Co., 11931 Main St., Chaumont, Patrick E. Gillette, 11931 Main St., Chaumont.

Southwoods Farm, 3376 County Route 95, Lorraine, Jennifer M. Tubolino, 3376 County Route 95, Lorraine.

NOV. 22: Lotus Cafe, 869 Massey St., Watertown, Destiny P. Walker, 869 Massey St., Watertown.

SewHappyDesings, 15456 Fuller Road, Adams Center, Cynthia L. Pierce, 15456 Fuller Road, Adams Center.

Watertown, Douglas H. Thomas Jr. 324 Gale St., Watertown.

NNY Gals and Guys, 262 State St., Carthage, Maria M. Runyon, 315 N. Clinton St., Carthage, Alan T. Runyon, Jr., 315 N. Clinton St., Carthage.

Sandy Pines Mobile Home Park, 29822 state Route 3, Black River, Walter A. Davis III, 23513 Rex Drive, Black River, Rebecca M. Davis, 23513 Rex Drive, Black River.

Poetry in Glass Studio, 21259 Wrape Road, Carthage, Natalie Roye, 21259 Wrape Road, Carthage.

NOV. 8: Picture It, 204 Franklin St., Watertown, Lori Hadley, 638 Burchard St., Watertown.

16762 Lowe Road Robbins Property Maintenance, 16762 Lowe Road, Chaumont, Jolene Lee Robbins, 16762 Lowe Road, Chaumont.

NOV. 7: Creative Par Tees, 642 Mundy St., Watertown, Angela M. Trombley, 642 Mundy St., Watertown and Stephanie M. Duerr, 1212 Madison Ave., Watertown.

NOV. 6: Gates Services, 2 Farr St., Carthage, Brandi Gates, 2 Farr St., Carthage.

NOV. 21: Olo Designs, 28129 Simpson Road, Redwood, Meagan McGinty, 28129 Simpson Road, Redwood.

Metaphysical Cat, 221 Ten Eyck St., Watertown, Julia Bonisteel, 221 Ten Eyck St., Watertown.

Aguilar Property Services, 809 Bingham Ave., Watertown, Diego A. Aguilar, 809 Bingham Ave., Watertown.

Mystical Fox Bakery, 26996 Eldon Drive, Evans Mills, Sarah Lana Breesawitz, 26996 Eldon Drive, Evans Mills.

NOV. 18: Natureburstz Photography, 24908 Woolworth St., Great Bend, Emily M. Woodwoorth, 24908 Woolworth St., PO Box 59, Great Bend.

NOV. 5: Pure & Simple, 572 Eastern Blvd., Watertown, Jessica A. Cross, 572 Eastern Blvd., Watertown.

CJ Hanson, 9737 B Washington Loop, Fort Drum, David R. Hanson, 9737 B Washington Loop, Fort Drum.

NOV. 15: Famous Dick’s Hot Dogs, 733 Water St., Watertown, Kerry Johnson, 733 Water St., PO Box 262, Watertown.

NOV. 14: Sun Kissd, 14842 County Route 91, Mannsville, Betsy Wood, 14841 County Route 91, Mannsville.

NOV. 13: Ray’s Barbershop, 131 N. Franklin St., Watertown, Raymond R. Cruz, 138 Winthrop St., Watertown.

Heel of the Boot Pizzeria, 955 State St., Clayton, Tricia L. Bannister, 35901 County Route 4, Clayton.

NOV. 4: Curled Salon, 165 Mechanic St., Watertown, Julie C. Freeman, 22764 Tall Timber Trail, Watertown.

F Y E Treasures, 15697 County Route 91, Peirrepont Manor, Elizabeth A. Slade, 15697 County Route 91, Mannsville.

NOV. 1: Shutter Alchemy, 206 S. Indiana Ave., Watertown, Maxwell French, 206 S. Indiana Ave., PO Box 904, Watertown.

J and K Construction, 872 Wart Road, Mannsville, Justin Graves, 872 Wart Road, Mannsville.

Battery Performance Research Institute, 20176 Blue Heron Lane, Alexandria Bay, Roger Altman, 20176 Blue Heron Lane, Alexandria Bay.

NOV. 12: Priority One Landscaping and Lawn Care, 645 Burlington St., Watertown, Timothy Thomas, 645 Burlington St.,

RNB Solutions, 118 Ten Eyck St., Watertown, Randy R. Baker, 118 Ten Eyck St., Watertown.

TRANSACTIONS

Source: Jefferson County Board of Legislators

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 13

BUSINESS BRIEFCASE Named Fitness Business of the Year

Page Fitness Athletic Club, Watertown, has been named Fitness Business of 2013 for North America by leading coaching company Net Profit Explosion at a national conference in Orlando, Fla. last month.

The business was chosen after presenting its story, business model, corporate metrics and client results to thousands of fitness professionals and entrepreneurs, according to a release.

Page Fitness is owned by Jessica L. and

Christopher R. Page, who purchased the former CANI Fitness Center at 19472 outer Washington St. in September, 2009 and transformed it from a membership-style gym into a training facility that offers boot camps, group and private training and weight loss programs.

For more information on the club, visit www.pagefitness.com.

1844 House honored for food system

Brian and Jenny Walker, owners of the

Northern New York

Community Foundation Proud charter sponsor of NNY Business 20 Under 40

Congratulations! to the 2013 Class of 20 Under 40 Thank you to all who give of their time, talent and treasure to ensure a stronger, more vibrant community for us all.

Your Community. Your Foundation. Your Legacy.

120 Washington St., Suite 400, Watertown, NY 13601 • (315) 782-7110 www.nnycf.org • www.facebook.com/nnycf

14 |

NNY Business | December 2013

1844 House, Potsdam, were honored last month with GardenShare’s 2013 Growing Community Award for their commitment to using locally produced food at the restaurant.

The Walkers, who re-opened the restaurant as a classic American bistro in 2006, received the award at the 2013 Harvest Social at SUNY Potsdam in early November.

The award recognizes individuals and organizations that have strengthened the community-based food system through their efforts to use local foods.

“Their emphasis on fresh, local produce, meats and cheese helps them create incredible meals while at the same time building awareness of the amazing bounty of our region and boosting our local economy,” GardenShare said of the Walkers in a release.

North Country Public Radio, North Country Grown Cooperative, the UShare program of Canton’s Unitarian Universalist Church, Katherine Lang, Betsy Hodge and Carlton Doane are among past recipients of the award.

GardenShare is a nonprofit that works to combat hunger and improve food security in the north country. Visit www.gardenshare.org to learn more about its programs.

JCC receives funding from Walmart Foundation

Jefferson Community College has received grant funding from the Walmart Foundation to support veteran vocational education. JCC is one of 11 community and technical colleges throughout California, Texas, New York and North Carolina to receive a portion of the $1 million funding.

At JCC, the funding will provide training in health information technology to transitioning military and veteran service members and their families. HIT is a rapidly emerging field as health care providers transition to the use of electronic health records to maintain patient information.

A portion of the $105,105.80 grant will go toward redesigning JCC’s existing HIT certification program to better meet the needs of military and veteran service members and their families. The ninemonth program will commence in fall 2014 and will be taught on Fort Drum.

Students will complete 300 hours of training and take two nationally recognized HIT certification examinations in two professional HIT roles.

For more information on the program, contact the Continuing Education Division at 786-2233.

Sgt. Pepperoni’s NY Pizza opens on Factory Street After being shuttered for 12 years, Sgt. Pepperoni’s NY Pizza is back open at 526 Factory St. at the former Soluri’s Pizza building. The business, known years ago for its taco pizzas and jumbo-sized, chicken wings and steak subs, closed at the Paddock Arcade in 2001.

The building was purchased from Robert Soluri Jr. by co-owners Shannon M. Exford and Anthony M. Heaney.

The eatery’s menu includes old favorites including “super jumbo wings” cooked in a charcoal barbecue pit. Pizza of the month specials will feature chicken cordon bleu and “Big Mac” varieties.

Sgt. Pepperoni’s is open from 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Clarkson debuts electric car charge station

Clarkson University, Potsdam, now has an electric car charge station with two parking spots at the parking lot in front of the Educational Resources Center on campus, thanks to a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in partnership with National Grid and ChargePoint, which operates the device.

The charging station, as well as three existing others in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, is available for motorist use free of charge, per NYSERDA’s grant conditions. NYSERDA’s $1 million grant is funding 67 states across upstate New York and 80 statewide.

To set up a free account to use the station, visit https://na.chargepoint.com/register. Motorists who choose not to create an account can also call the 1-800 number on the station to unlock the station.

151 Mullin Street Watertown, NY 13601

MACAR’S • Kitchens • Bathrooms • Flooring • Lighting

161 Coleman Avenue

www.macarsinteriors.com

Watertown • 788-3732 December 2013 | NNY Business

| 15

PEOPLE, from page 13

WORLD-CLASS CUSTOMS BROKERAGE

SERVICES & SOLUTIONS Bay Brokerage Bay International Trade Solutions Bay Logistics Bay Consulting

Sameday Border Clearance & Delivery Services INDUSTRIES

degree in interdisciplinary engineering from Purdue University in 2007 and was promoted to senior systems engineer before moving to his current role in September 2012.

Mr. Leonard helped expand the NYAB customer base and oversaw an adaptation of the system for the Leonard locomotive market in India as lead system engineer in the development of a new brake system for passenger locomotives. He is also a primary inventor on three pending U.S. patents and has developed a new engineering calculation tool that improves the team’s efficiency.

Mr. Leonard graduated from the Jefferson Leadership Institute in 2011 and is involved in the community as a member of the Board of Directors for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County and an organizer of an annual fundraising dinner that supports the Watertown Urban Mission. He lives in Clayton with his wife, Diane H., and children.

Father-son pair join UBS Wealth Management textile - food products - electronics - gover nment automotive forestry - toy manufacturers - chemical & petro chemical consumer products machinery - telecommunications corporate headquarters

42832 NYS R oute 12 A lexandria B ay, NY 13607 315-482-6161

www.baybrokerageus.com

CALL 1-800-806-0734 FOR A FREE CONSULTATION

16 |

NNY Business | December 2013

The father-son pair of financial advisers John C. and David D. Crapser has left Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to join UBS Wealth Management. The pair, who worked at the firm for 32 and 12 years, respectively, left in November to join three other former Morgan Stanley brokers who left in the spring to launch the UBS branch. Both firms are in the former Agricultural Insurance Co. building, 215 Washington St.

S M A L L B I Z S TA R T U P BUSINESS

Polar Bear Hockey THE INITIAL IDEA

When Thomas J. Dutton got back into hockey after a nearly decade-long hiatus from the sport he loved and played competitively for years, he confronted a vexing problem for an area where hockey is popular: there was nowhere in town to get skates perfectly sharpened with the latest technology.

“Basically what I thought was, if I was going to get back into hockey, and if my son was going to continue to enjoy hockey, there is no way I’m going to be driving to Syracuse to get my skates properly done,” Mr. Dutton, a Chicago native, said.

Sharpening skates with a Blackstone Flat Bottom V sharpening machine, which shapes skates for maximal speed without sacrificing turning agility, is about 70 percent of Polar Bear Hockey, the side business he started in late 2012. The closest places for sharpening with similar technology, which Mr. Dutton says only became cost-effective in the last two to three years, are Syracuse or Potsdam. The other 30 percent of his business is selling low-cost hockey equipment, including wood sticks that he buys from Northern Minnesota-based Eleven Hockey.

“I thought I could offer a more cost-effective alternative,” he said, particularly for youths whose parents might have to spend more than $100 on a modern composite stick that they might rapidly outgrow.

Since he still works full-time as a contractor for General Dynamics’s Information Technology department on Fort Drum, Mr. Dutton is able to sell his merchandise cheaply and also serves as a conduit for established customers to buy wholesale products, an important service, he believes, given how expensive the sport is.

“Right now PBH is more of a service that I’m providing to local organizations so they don’t have to pay $4 for a role of tape,” he said.

Unlike large chain stores, he charges $2 for a role of tape.

“They’re in it to make a profit, whereas I’m in it to help people save money playing this sport,” he said.

THE JOURNEY Mr. Dutton started out by

purchasing 50 wooden sticks wholesale from Eleven Hockey, a startup that grew out of what Mr. Dutton called an “iconic brand” and is trying to resurrect the use of wooden sticks in amateur and minor leagues, he said.

He’s sold 38 of that original shipment so far, in addition to others from intermittent orders.

He offers delivery and pickup in the Watertown area, with only a $5 charge to outlying areas such as Alexandria Bay, Lowville or Pulaski.

Mr. Dutton says there is an art to customized skate sharpening; the process is “a reputation thing in the hockey world,” with players generally quite loyal to a specific sharpener once they find one who does it to their liking and needs.

When he opened his business, though, he

AMANDA MORRISON | NNY BUSINESS

“I take such time and precision — everyone’s noticed an improvement over going to the rink.”

— Thomas J. Dutton, Polar Bear Hockey, on his skate sharpening knew he had to offer a sharpening service not provided by the rink or a few other local businesses. To that end, he purchased the Flat Bottom V for $5,000, a substantial investment given that he’s set $1,500 as his maximum operating budget.

“That new technology was my effort to break into the market,” he said. “Everyone I’ve sharpened with has loved it, with the exception of small kids.” Small children are better off using the old sharpening method, he said, as they don’t want to be skating too fast before they’ve picked up the hang of the game.

“I take such time and precision—everyone’s noticed an improvement over going to the rink,” he said. “It’s very easy to mess up a skate sharpening.” He used to sharpen his own skates on an older machine while playing Division III hockey for Lake Forest College in Illinois because he enjoyed the process so much, a dedication that stems from his passion for the sport.

“Really I just like the game of hockey,” he said. “I really love hockey and I hate to see people not have fun playing.”

Imperfectly sharpened skates can sour a player on the game.

“Your stick and skates are two pieces of equipment that really can be customized to your playing style to maximize your potential,” he said. “You have to be successful to have fun. If you’re not successful out there, you’re not going to have as much fun as you could.”

His business also has an educational component to ensure people have the most and best information possible on sticks and skates.

He’s written 14 detailed articles on topics ranging from explanations of wood versus

composite sticks to explaining kick points, on his website, www.pbhny.com, which he designed and created himself.

TARGET CLIENTELE The vast major-

ity of Mr. Dutton’s clients are members of the Watertown Skating and Hockey Association. He also has clients from Watertown’s men’s hockey league and Fort Drum’s Mountaineers Hockey team, as well as various online orders.

In addition to serving community recreation leagues through affordable prices, he’s also donated baskets to both the Watertown Skating and Hockey Association and the Thousand Island Youth Hockey Association for them to raffle.

IN FIVE YEARS Mr. Dutton says his

five-year plan is to move Polar Bear Hockey into a commercial space, likely in Watertown, by which time his two children will be in school.

He doesn’t want to disrupt his neighborhood through operating out of his home as the business grows.

Year to date he’s taken in $6,000, with $9,500 in expenses, so he figures it will take about two years to break even. Though he’s happy to be helping hockey enthusiasts get more out of the game for the time being, he hopes to grow his customer base to make it a viable business for retirement.

“When I’m done with General Dynamics, I’d like to have a client base where I can sit around and sharpen skates all day and not have to worry about anything,” he said.

— Leah Buletti

WHERE Watertown | FOUNDED 2012 | WEB www.pbhny.com

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 17

20UNDER40 NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS Jeniffer D. Alberry — River Hospital | Adam A. Carmon — Bay Brokerage | Matthew J. Cervini — Lend Lease Fort Drum | Matthew J. Cooper — Bernier, Carr & Associates | Mickey Dietrich — N.Y. State Tug Hill Commission | Adam J. Fuller — Fuller Insurance Agency | April Halladay — AmeriCU Credit Union | William D. Hosmer — Hosmer’s Marina | Wayne A. Latham Jr. — Latham Auto Sales & Service | Jamie Lee — SUNY Attain Lab | Diane H. Leonard — DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services | Amanda J. Miller — Lake Ontario Realty | Jessica L. Page — Page Fitness Athetic Club | Victoria M. Peck — Children’s Home of Jefferson County | Kristen M. Reed — Credo Community Center | Michelle M. Roden — Fort Drum Family & MWR | Brooke E. Rouse — SUNY Canton SBDC | Edward C. Siebels — Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes | Junior J. Stefanini — JKA Enterprises | Dr. Jason F. White — Internal Medicine of NNY

A FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER, A FEW engineers, a financial controller, an environmentalist, an insurance agent, business advisors, small business owners, an educator, a grant writer, a real estate broker, a fitness instructor, a pair of nonprofit leaders, two Fort Drum professionals, and a physician.

Our third annual 20 Under 40 class was the most competitive field yet, and these individuals represent a snapshot of Northern New York’s most accomplished, dedicated and involved young professionals, across a wide spectrum of industries, and across three counties.

All of these young men and women are involved in some shape or form in their community, whether by serving on an organization’s board, coaching a Little League team, teaching Sunday School, or something as simple as helping to organize commu-

nity 5K runs or making time to donate to food banks.

All of these leaders, who are between the ages of 25 and 39, were chosen not only by the editors and staff of NNY Business magazine, but by virtue of glowing recommendations from their peers and employers. And not only do these emerging leaders, who embody the prized north country values of compassion, hard work and selflessness, make time in hectic schedules to volunteer in the community, they give their very best in challenging career fields each and day, all out of an effort to make the place they have chosen to stay in and call home the very best place it can be.

NNY Business recognizes these 20 men and women along with their companies at a special luncheon at Watertown’s Hilton Garden Inn.

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 19

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Jeniffer D. Alberry, 35 >>> River Hospital

J

eniffer D. Alberry was in the middle of studying for a master’s degree when River Hospital was born.

“I remember talking to my mom and being really excited that the community had the capability to run this facility and

to essentially save it,” she said.

Talk has led to action for Mrs. Alberry, 35, who has an office in the hospital’s primary care clinic, River Family Health Center, next to the Alexandria Bay facility, where she recently sat down for an interview. Making the hospital succeed is personal for the Chaumont native and 1996 graduate of Thousand Island High School.

“We’re one of the youngest hospitals in the state,” Mrs. Alberry said. “That’s a really cool thing. You don’t see new hospitals. That was an attraction for me to come here.”

Mrs. Alberry joined the hospital staff in 2006 as a family nurse practitioner. It was three years after Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, which administered the facility, then known as E.J. Noble Hospital, sought permission from the state to close it due to a lack of patients.

The hospital reopened the same year it closed, in 2003, and became River Hospital, thanks to a group of community residents who fought the closure and sought permission to run it.

“I wanted to come here and see what it was like to be in this community-run facility,” Mrs. Alberry said. “This community is simply adamant that it stays.”

She is now in a position to help the hospital reach its goals. On Sept. 19, Mrs. Alberry was named chief clinical administrator of River Hospital. She continues to see patients as a nurse practitioner. She had been serving as medical staff president for three years prior to the administrator position.

She admitted the balance as administrator/nurse practitioner can be difficult.

“But I’ve got a great support staff,” Mrs. Alberry said. “The change has been a learning process in kind of prioritizing things and making sure patient care comes first.”

As chief clinical administrator, Mrs. Alberry is responsible “for the flow of the facility” such as staffing, professional responsibility and scheduling with health care providers.

“I love health care,” Mrs. Alberry said. “I’ve always loved patient care and I’ve always been interested in leadership. It’s something I’ve always gravitated to. I always wanted to improve.

I love looking at processes to see what can make our jobs better.”

Mrs. Alberry said she received her best advice from her father, Lyle H. Wilkie Jr. He told her, “There are two sides to a story, then there’s the truth.”

“It has taught me to try my best to be objective about situations,” she said.

Mrs. Alberry feels the north country can create more young leaders like herself through staff development, which she said could be accomplished by local companies partnering with area colleges. That plan would get a tremendous boost she said, if Jefferson Community College could become a four-year institution.

“Staff development is really important,” she said. “It’s providing a framework to keep (young professionals) here and to create the professionals instead of having to try to attract them back to the area.”

Mrs. Alberry said that when she graduated from Thousand Islands High School, the consensus among classmates was: “I’m going to blow out of here and never coming back.”

“I always knew I was going to leave here, but I always said I wanted to come back,” Mrs. Alberry said.

20 |

NNY Business | December 2013

She also feels she needs to give back to the community and is especially thankful to the Thousand Islands Foundation Inc., which awarded her scholarships so she could afford college.

“I always wanted to come back to give back to the community,” Mrs. Alberry said. “And I love this area. I’m an outdoors person.”

And the area, she said, can sell itself to young professionals.

“We have doctors who come in here from outside the area,” she said.

“They say, ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you work and live here.’ If we can keep them here, because they love to be here, and give them that education and the development from within, I would think they would love to stay.”

— Chris Brock

THE JENIFFER D. ALBERRY FILE HOMETOWN: Chaumont PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Chief clinical administrator and family nurse practitioner at River Hospital, Alexandria Bay FAMILY: Husband, James F. Alberry; children, Jillian, 7, and Jordan, 5 EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in nursing, Russell Sage College, Troy, 2000. Master’s in nursing, 2004, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, where she was also employed as a patient service leader.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: River Hospital board of trustees, clinical preceptor for SUNY Upstate nurse practitioner students and teaches church school for kindergarten and first-grade students at All Saints Catholic Church in Chaumont. Also an avid runner and participates in numerous benefit runs and walks.

LAST BOOK READ: “Speak Up: A Woman’s Guide to Presenting Like a Pro”

by Cyndi Maxey and Kevin E. O’Connor

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Adam A. Carmon, 30 >>> Bay Brokerage

W

hen 30-year-old Adam A. Carmon steps into Bay Brokerage Inc.’s headquarters in Collins Landing each morning, he’s greeted by his family — literally and in a figurative sense.

“Everyone here knows each other so well, it’s hard to keep a secret around here,” the Clayton-native said about his workplace.

He now lives in Watertown but grew up in the St. Lawrence River community and is a 2002 graduate of Thousand Islands Central High School.

Since 2008, Mr. Carmon has been the financial controller for Bay Brokerage — co-founded in 2004 by his father, Kenneth M. — and manages all financial and accounting functions for the company that mainly helps importers and exporters around the globe move goods across the border faster.

His mentor is none other than his father, Ken, president and CEO of Bay Brokerage, who taught him to “be a do-er, not a talker” — words he lives by to this day.

“As a child, I saw my father build his career from scratch,” Mr. Carmon said, adding that he, too, strives for the American Dream — having ambition that fuels success.

Bay Brokerage is based in Northern New York but has branch offices in Buffalo, Champlain and Port Huron, Mich.

It primarily assists large corporations — including online retailers like Amazon and Ebay — logistics providers, trucking companies and ocean and air carriers expedite shipments and save money by minimizing customs processing delays and making sure they are not paying excess duty rates or taxes.

“A lot of our volume comes from China and Europe, not only North America,” he said.

The company also helps Canadians living near the border avoid costly international shipping charges by letting them send items purchased online to its storage facility.

Earlier this year, Bay Brokerage moved and expanded its corporate headquarters from Wellesley Island to a new 14,000-squarefoot building at 42832 Route 12 near Interstate 81 just before the Thousand Islands Bridge.

Mr. Carmon said Bay Brokerage is hoping to expand further and perhaps open new offices at airports in Los Angeles, Calif., and Seattle, Wash.

A car buff who used to drag race, Mr. Carmon also draws inspiration from entrepreneur Elon Musk — co-founder of PayPal who, upon selling the online payment service to Ebay, founded the space rocket transport company SpaceX and heads the electric car company Tesla Motors.

“His ability to take massive risks without a potential reward is amazing,” Mr. Carmon said.

While Mr. Carmon does not serve on any nonprofit or community development boards, he said he donates to cancer research organizations and local food pantries.

Mr. Carmon believes the north country has the potential to grow, and perhaps become a more attractive region to young professionals like himself.

For starters, Mr. Carmon suggested that community leaders make further efforts to reach out to youth groups and recognize their needs.

Using Clayton’s Opera House as an example, Mr. Carmon said cultural development is another way to attract more people to an area year-round and also make a community more appealing to the younger demographic.

— Jaegun Lee

THE ADAM A. CARMON FILE HOMETOWN: Clayton PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Financial Controller for Bay Brokerage Inc., Collins Landing.

FAMILY: Father, Kenneth M. Carmon; mother, Susan G. Palmer; siblings, Kendra S. and Lance E. Carmon; fiancé, Jessica Caprara EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in business from the School of Business at Clarkson University, 2007 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Donates to local food pantries and cancer research benefits.

LAST BOOK READ: “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business” by Bob Lutz

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 21

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Matthew J. Cervini, 39 >>> Lend Lease

F

amily first is the attitude Matthew J. Cervini puts forth.

He stayed in the area to be near his family, he goes to his wife for advice and his boys keep him active in the community.

His mentors are his grandparents, parents, friends, wife, children, bosses and coworkers. Each of whom he said teach him “things about myself or show me things that I should change.”

The senior construction manager for Lend Lease credits his family as a driving force in life.

He seeks his wife’s advice, “of course,” turning to her about work issues or anything else.

“She’s always willing to listen so sometimes I just vent,” Mr. Cervini said.

He stayed in the area where he grew up in order to be near his family.

“I like the change of seasons and feel comfortable here,” he said.

He also said he stayed in the north country “because I could — I love it here.”

His children spur Mr. Cervini to be more active in the community.

“Most of my volunteer activities revolve around providing opportunities for my kids and their friends to have fun playing sports,” he said.

Mr. Cervini is a volunteer and coach for Watertown Minor Hockey League and sits on its board of directors. Previously, he helped with Lowville Minor Hockey League, Little League and coached pitch baseball.

Mr. Cervini believes there is a need for more opportunities for good jobs in order to keep young people in the area.

A love for his work and a good attitude help fuel his success.

“I wouldn’t say that I love everything about work, but a positive attitude tends to make everyone around you more motivated and productive,” he said. Mr. Cervini added that he enjoys being able to build homes for soldiers.

“I talk to the soldiers and they are very happy with their housing — it feels good to help with that,” Mr. Cervini said.

He began working at Land Lease in 2004 as a design project manager. In his present post as senior construction manager, he oversees projects from inspection to completion. He previously worked as a senior project engineer for GYMO Architecture, Engineers & Land Surveying, Watertown, where he oversaw construction of water districts in the towns of Wilna and Rutland, the Wanakena water and sewer projects, the Ives Hill Retirement Community, Evans Mills Community Center and Fire Hall, village of Lyons Falls sewer system, Madison Barracks subdivisions in Sackets Harbor and the Adirondack International Speedway in New Bremen.

Although he likes his job, Mr. Cervini said he feels he’s had to sacrifice time spent with his family and friends in order to be successful professionally.

“One of my old bosses told me that ‘after pay day the company we work for doesn’t owe us anything and we don’t owe them anything.’ It showed me that I wasn’t entitled to anything and it is my responsibility to provide for and to protect my family,” Mr. Cervini said when asked for the best advice he’s ever followed.

He sees himself as a “pretty open” fun-loving guy.

He said he would be surprised if his employees or coworkers were surprised about anything they learned about him.

— Elaine M. Avallone

22 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE MATTHEW J. CERVINI FILE HOMETOWN: Carthage PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Civil engineer / senior construction manager, Lend Lease FAMILY: Wife, Erin; sons, Tyler, 13, and Colin, 9 EDUCATION: Bachelor’s, Clarkson University, Potsdam COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Board member for Meadowbrook Terrace Assisted Living Facility and Watertown Minor Hockey League; volunteer and coach for Watertown Minor Hockey League; member of Carthage Elks Lodge LAST BOOK READ: “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Matthew J. Cooper, 38 >>> Bernier, Carr & Associates

W

hen Matthew J. Cooper was working as a project engineer for a construction company in Virginia, he put 85,000 miles on his new truck in one year. His primary destination: home.

The Copenhagen native and avid outdoorsman returned to the north country virtually every day off, racking up the miles while looking for an opportunity to return permanently.

“My family is here and my friends are here,” he said. “The people I like to do things with are here.”

A job with Bernier, Carr & Associates, gave him the chance to move back to the area in 1999. He’s never looked back and today is a principal of the Watertown engineering firm. He wishes more young people could join him, but realizes limited employment opportunities can hinder that. He’d like to see a more concerted effort to retain the area’s talented workers.

“I came back because I think this is a great community and a great place to live and raise a family,” Mr. Cooper said. “We already have all that, but I think we need good jobs, good career opportunities, for them to come back to. We have a lot of homegrown talent that would like to come back and spend the rest of their lives here.”

He said he takes satisfaction in seeing the difference he has made working in a smaller community, whether it’s making improvements to a water system in Copenhagen or designing a second-story pool at the Watertown Family YMCA. “There’s a sense of wanting to make a difference,” he said. “I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there. I want to see my community become a better community.”

Mr. Cooper credits his Christian faith, and the grounding many other Christians gave him during his youth, as positive influences that have contributed to his success.

“I try to be a good Christian, live a good Christian lifestyle and have a strong faith in God, which is something that came from a lot of people,” he said. “In the end, it’s more rewarding to put the needs of others ahead of myself. By doing that, I come out further ahead.”

He credits Mickey G. Lehman, executive vice president at Bernier, Carr, as being the person who showed him the ropes as a young engineer and to whom he still turns for advice, but said he’s willing to accept good advice from anyone.

“I think what people should do in life is take advice from many people. We should draw something from all of these different people,” he said.

Outside of work, Mr. Cooper serves as vice president of the New York State Big Buck Club, an organization focused on wildlife management and hunter advocacy, and is a certified education instructor with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, advancing hunter safety and environmental conservancy. He credits the patience of his wife, Tara, for allowing his forays into the woods and said if he could trade places with anyone for a day, it would be her.

“So I’d have a better appreciation for everything she does for our family, and a better appreciation of how difficult I may be to live with,” he said.

— Brian Kelly

THE MATTHEW J. COOPER FILE HOMETOWN: Copenhagen PROFESSIONAL POSITION: principal / engineer, Bernier, Carr & Associates, Watertown FAMILY: Wife, Tara, son Emmett, 4, and daughter Julia, 1 EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in civil engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Member of Jefferson and Lewis Workforce Investment board, vice president of New York State Big Buck Club, certified measurer for environmental conservation organization the Boone and Crocket Club, member of pastoral council of St. Mary’s Church, Copenhagen.

LAST BOOK READ: “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Marktin Jr. and John Archambault (read to his children).

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 23

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Mickey Dietrich, 38 >>> Tug Hill Commission / Green Volt Solutions

F

or Mickey Dietrich, family and community are the common theme behind what drives him to succeed.

It’s his kids, he said, who get him out of bed each morning.

And it’s that connection with his family and also a connection with the community and schools that keeps him here in the north country.

He’s a geographic information system specialist at the New York State Tug Hill Commission, but also owns his own business, Green Volt Solutions, which provides services and sales for renewable energy, green products, consultations, energy audits and design.

While he said each position offers him “the sense of helping others and the community,” they’ve also helped him debunk what he thinks is the biggest myth in business today.

“The more money you are making, the more successful and happier you will be,” he said he knows to be false. Instead, he said, “It is more about being passionate and enjoying the work you do, because your success probably won’t be based in the end on how much money you made, but rather on how you impacted your community.”

Inspiring him to be involved in the community are, he said, “the people I meet every day that have an infectious drive in doing good things throughout the area.”

Two of those people he calls mentors: Eric Herman of the New York State Thruway Authority and Kathy Amyot of the Tug Hill Commission.

Mr. Dietrich was instrumental in establishing the New York State Global Positioning System Standards Workgroup, where he and several like-minded professionals recognized the importance and developing influence of GPS in primary data collection from the geospatial industries.

In order to keep such motivating leaders in the north country, Mr. Dietrich had this recommendation: “Promote smart growth in order to protect community identity, while still bringing in jobs. A sense of community is a key thing and should be protected.”

One way that could be accomplished would be through a service, “where professionals in the area are brought in to share their skills with those who are currently unemployed and looking for work or people who are looking to change careers,” he said.

Through his journey so far, he’s learned something about himself.

“I am a very creative and forward thinking person, which has allowed me to also become a good problem solver,” he said.

Though creative, he said his coworkers would be surprised to learn he was voted class musician in high school.

While he draws support from his family, friends, mentors and community, he’s also learned to listen to himself.

“My best advice usually comes from within, by following my heart and dreams with the support of my family and friends,” he said.

— Christina Scanlon

24 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE MICKEY DIETRICH FILE HOMETOWN: Glenfield PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Geographic Information System specialist, Tug Hill Commission; owner, Green Volt Solutions FAMILY: Wife, Adrienne; daughters, Denali, 7, and Aurora, 3.

EDUCATION: Associate of Applied Science in natural resource management SUNY Morrisville; Bachelor’s in wildlife biology and forestry, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry; Master’s in quantitative methods of forest management, SUNY ESF. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Member of Lewis County Youth Board; member of ALPHA Relay For Life Team; Lowville Mennonite Church Sunday School Teacher, 100-Year Committee and Vacation Bible School; GIS mentor for schools, Lowville T-Ball coach LAST BOOK READ: “Boundaries” by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Adam J. Fuller, 33 >>> Fuller Insurance Agency

A

dam J. Fuller draws inspiration as a businessman from his father, Wilfred “Bill” T. Fuller.

“In business and life, if I am able to be half the man he was, I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something,” said Mr. Fuller, co-principal and vice president of Fuller Insurance Agency in Carthage.

The late Mr. Fuller started the business in 1980. At a young age, his son would help out at the office filing paperwork. It was a job all his siblings did at one point or another, but it was something that appealed to Mr. Fuller later in life.

“When you grow up you always want to go away from your parents,” he confessed. “I think you come home and realize you want to be close to family and with him, I started working with him and thought, ‘he’s a pretty smart guy, I should probably pay attention to him.’”

Mr. Fuller first came on as an account executive and customer service representative in 2001.

Working through the insurance agency, Mr. Fuller said he learned how to adapt, from technology changes to the things that were expected of him in the business world.

“All along you try to keep up with technology … You have to, now, everything’s basically on the Internet,” he explained. “I remember just as a young kid they would say, ‘grab a policy from a drawer and fill it out on a typewriter.’ Now we send everything through the computer, it gets reviewed and comes back.”

There have also been changes in how insurance rates are measured.

“You used to have an idea if someone is paying too much for insurance versus another person. But now, until we put the information in the system, we don’t know,” he said.

It has been something to adapt to, in addition to narrowing down accounting, but part of Mr. Fuller’s success has been his ability to adapt his business to the needs of the community and the changing world.

He advised fellow entrepreneurs not to have a predetermined path, as anything can change. But more importantly, he urged community involvement.

“Your neighbors can be customers, but they can also be a person at church, a person down the street, a person serving food. You’ve all got to make your community,” he said.

In keeping with that sentiment, Mr. Fuller is involved with the Carthage Elks Lodge Post 1762 and is the 2013-14 exalted ruler.

Over the years he has been chairman of the four-man golf tournament to benefit Carthage youth activities, co-founder of the annual Elks and Lions Club community Thanksgiving dinner and a member of committees for numerous other events. He is a member of the Sons of the American Legion, Post 789, Greater Watertown Jaycees and a member of the board of directors at the Carthage Area Hospital Foundation and Carlowden Country Club.

“My membership in the Carthage Elks Lodge began my volunteerism and involvement in the community. It’s a great organization with great people and I’ve met many friends over the years,” Mr. Fuller said. “I firmly believe that one way success in life can be determined is by stewardship to one’s community, being a good neighbor and helping those less fortunate. While volunteerism isn’t — or shouldn’t — be done for personal gain or recognition, it is very rewarding as the experience gained is invaluable and the friendships lasting.”

— Amanda Taylor

THE ADAM J. FULLER FILE HOMETOWN: Carthage PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Licensed insurance agent and co-principal, Fuller Insurance Agency, Inc. FAMILY: Wife, Julia M. Fuller EDUCATION: Associate’s in business administration, Jefferson Community College, 2000; Bachelor’s in business administration, Empire State College, 2003 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Exalted ruler of Carthage Elks Lodge; treasurer and director, Carthage Area Hospital Foundation, Inc.; past director and secretary, Carlowden Country Club; past president, Greater Watertown Jaycees; communicant at St. James Catholic Church, Carthage.

LAST BOOK READ: “Calico Joe” by John Grisham

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 25

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

April Halladay, 28 >>> AmeriCU Credit Union

L

ocal business is April Halladay’s business.

As business relations advisor for the northern region at AmeriCU Credit Union, Ms. Halladay works with small to mid-size companies throughout the north country to provide not only banking services but also strategic planning to help them achieve success.

“I love my job,” Ms. Halladay said. “Every day is different, and I am always meeting new people. My job gives me the opportunity to stay involved in my community and work with local businesses every day.”

However, her leadership and impact on the community continues — and is perhaps even heightened — during her off-work hours, when she serves as vice president of marketing and communications with the Association of the United States Army, Fort Drum Chapter, and juggles responsibilities on several local eventplanning and fundraising committees.

While community service is rewarding in and of itself, Ms. Halladay said it is particularly exciting to collaborate with others to see events to fruition and to positively impact the community.

“I know that one person can make a difference if they care enough to help, but, when several people work together for a common cause, they can make a big impact,” she said. “It’s rewarding to be able to help even in a small way.”

Despite all of her work and committee responsibilities, Ms. Halladay said her four-year-old son, Jack, is what truly gets her out of bed in the morning, both figuratively and sometimes literally.

“He keeps me on my toes,” she said.

When asked who she would like to trade places with for a day, Ms. Halladay said it would have to be her young son, just to gain more insight on his unique perspective.

“I am always trying to make the best decisions for him,” she said. “Parenting doesn’t come with a handbook of instructions, so it would be nice to know how he thinks.”

Family is very important to Ms. Halladay and a large part of why she has chosen to remain in Northern New York.

“It’s important for them to be involved in Jack’s life,” she said.

Ms. Halladay also relies on family members, particularly her mother, for advice.

“She always reminds me, ‘when in doubt, don’t’ and to ‘go with my gut,’” she said.

When it comes to keeping young people like herself in the area and avoiding the so-called “brain drain,” Ms. Halladay said the answer obviously comes down to enhancing quality employment possibilities.

“We need to create more job opportunities for people to stay in the north country and put down roots,” she said.

Prior to joining AmeriCU, Ms. Halladay worked for more than six years as an online advertising manager and account executive for print customers at the Watertown Daily Times.

Tammy Beaudin, former St. Lawrence County advertising director for Northern New York Newspapers Corp., nominated Ms. Halladay for this year’s 20 Under 40 award.

“Although we missed her smiling, positive personality at the Watertown Daily Times, we are so proud that she continues to strive to make Northern New York a better place to live, work and play,” she wrote in her nomination of Ms. Halladay.

— Steve Virkler

26 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE APRIL HALLADAY FILE HOMETOWN: Dexter PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Business Relations Advisor, AmeriCU Credit Union — Northern Region FAMILY: Son, Jack, 4 EDUCATION: Associate degree in liberal arts, Jefferson Community College; elementary education, SUNY Potsdam COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Vice president of marketing and communications, Association of the United States Army, Fort Drum Chapter; Jefferson Gala Planning Committee; Watertown Urban Mission Capital Campaign Communications Committee; Festival of Trees Planning Committee; New York State Zoo at Thompson Park Community Engagement Committee LAST BOOK READ: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl (reading with son)

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

William D. Hosmer, 34 >>> Vt. Info. Processing / Hosmer’s Marina

W

illiam D. Hosmer is a man with a plan. Make that a busy man with a lot of plans.

Mr. Hosmer opened Hosmer’s Marina at 54 E. River St. in spring 2012. Since 2012, he has served as a member of the Ogdensburg City Council. He served on the city planning board from 2010 to 2012.

Since November 2001 he has been a project manager for Vermont Information Processing, a Colchester-based software company that specializes in software for beverage distributors.

Add all this up and throw in more civic and community activities than most people have had hot lunches and it makes one wonder.

What makes Billy run?

“I am a motivated person and will do whatever it takes to be successful and to make my community a better place,” Mr. Hosmer said. “There is nothing that will get in my way of making this world a better place.”

For starters, there’s a fierce love of his hometown.

“The north country is where I grew up and will forever be my home,” Mr. Hosmer said. “With my job at Vermont Information Processing, I have traveled all over the country and I have yet to find a place like Northern New York. I live on the most beautiful river in the world, the St. Lawrence River, and live in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. I can’t imagine ever living anywhere but in Northern New York.”

The investment in the Oswegatchie River marina and its Smuggler’s Cafe restaurant/bar/bait store with kayak and canoe rentals is a plug-in of that love of hometown to stone cold business intuition and a bold, ground-floor commitment to Ogdensburg’s ambitious, ongoing waterfront redevelopment plan.

“Hosmer’s Marina was built in a deteriorated part of town and it is exciting to see the growth and development around us since we opened a couple of years ago,” Mr. Hosmer said. “It is a lot of fun being part of the growth and rebirth of the marina district in Ogdensburg.”

Mr. Hosmer hopes others who are just as ambitious but younger than himself will follow his example. But he realizes that love of hometown and commitment to its future travel on a two-way street.

“I love my community and I want nothing but the best for the people in it,” he said. “I believe if you want to see change in your community, then you need to be part of that change. Create, attract and retain jobs. Jobs are the number one issue when I speak to people in the community. If the north country cannot create, attract and retain jobs, younger generations will continue to move to larger communities downstate or out of state.”

So far, it’s worked for him. And his advice to others reflects his drive to succeed.

“I want to leave the world in a better place each and every day and that is how I judge my success,” Mr. Hosmer said. “Have passion for what you do. Without passion for what you do, you will never be successful.”

And don’t let anything hold you back.

Not that Mr. Hosmer has.

“I have hemophilia, a genetic disorder in which my blood clots slower than most people,” he said. “Twice a week I have to take an infusion in order to live. I have never let the hemophilia affect my life. I live every day as if I didn’t have anything wrong.”

— Brian Kidwell

THE WILLIAM D. HOSMER FILE HOMETOWN: Ogdensburg PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Project manager, Vermont Information Processing and owner, Hosmer’s Marina FAMILY: Parents, Dale and Robin Hosmer and Jim and Donna Reagen; brothers Dan Hosmer, Matt Hosmer; sister Sydney Hosmer; girlfriend Maureen Pinkerton EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, the University of Vermont, 2001, Order of Omega Honor Society COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Ogdensburg City Councilman (elected 2012); Executive board, Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce; immediate past president, Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club; Little League Baseball coach, 2008-2012; board member Fort De La Presentation (2010); Ogdensburg Planning Board (2010-2012) LAST BOOK READ: “The Clockwork Universe” by Edward Dolnick

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 27

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Wayne A. Latham Jr., 35 >>> Latham Auto Sales & Service

F

or Wayne A. Latham Jr., the arduous task of owning a small business is a welcome challenge. The Morristown native and U.S. Army veteran said he acquired the necessary skills from his father and the military to run a successful business — Latham Auto Sales & Service on the corner of state Route 37 and the Black Lake Road (County Route 6).

“I learned by watching my father [Wayne A. Latham Sr., a self-employed contractor]. He taught me that if I wanted something in life I had to work for it,” Mr. Latham said. “My father is my mentor. He taught me the importance of hard work, dedication and sacrifice.”

Following a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Drum, and serving in Afghanistan and Bosnia, Mr. Latham was prepared to enter the business world, and eager to set up shop in the north country.

“In the military if there is one thing they throw down your throat, it’s that you must always adapt and overcome and I am sure I have used this with my business and in everyday life,” he noted. “I decided to stay here because I grew up here, know the people and love keeping the money local with the old-school mentality that one hand washes another and we all need to stick together.”

An avid runner, Mr. Latham said he appreciates the north country weather and its recreational opportunities.

“I like the change of seasons and whether it’s boating or running in the summer, skiing of snowmobiling in the winter, I enjoy it to the fullest,” he said.

Mr. Latham, 35, also remembers his roots, saying he is committed to making Ogdensburg a better place to live. He has participated in the Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club Expo for the past seven years, is a member of the Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce and serves as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army during the holiday season. He also gives back to the community through donations to local schools, jamborees and fundraisers.

His work ethic, says Mr. Latham, is simple. “The small things really add up.”

“Like just filling up someone’s tires. It’s something people really appreciate,” he said. “I stress customer service and feel it’s important to keep a clean shop. It really matters to me and my customers. Honesty is important and I am always straight up with my customers and always strive to cater to my customers’ needs.”

When you pull up to Latham Auto Sales & Service, you can’t miss the American and 10th Mountain Division flags flying on the adjacent flagpole. In fact, Mr. Latham offers a 10 percent discount for veterans and maintains a policy of purchasing products that are Made in the USA. Keeping up with the latest automotive technology is also a challenge, Mr. Latham said, prompting him to take courses in SUNY Canton’s automotive technology curriculum.

Construction of Mr. Latham’s business began in 2003 and he opened for business in 2005. He currently employs two certified mechanics, a part-time secretary and a part-time cleaner.

— Paul Mitchell

28 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE WAYNE A. LATHAM JR. FILE HOMETOWN: Morristown PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Owner, operator, Latham Auto Sales & Service, Ogdensburg FAMILY: Son, Dominic, 16 EDUCATION: Morristown Central School; two years education at St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Northwest Tech, Ogdensburg COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club, Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce, Salvation Army LAST BOOK READ: “Being The Best” by Denis Waitley

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Jamie Lee, 32 >>> SUNY Attain Lab

J

amie Lee never thought she would end up settling in the north country. She was born and raised in Depauville, and hoped she would wind up working for a Fortune 500 company in a major city.

She later found that she didn’t like the money-above-all focus of corporate culture, and found a life, a family and a career in Jefferson County.

Ms. Lee is an instructional technology coordinator at the SUNY Attain Lab at the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library, an initiative started by the state legislature to provide Internet access and computer training to those who would go without.

Many people over the age of 35 do not understand computer basics, a fact Ms. Lee found surprising when she started the job.

Even people who think they have a good understanding of basic programs often find out they have a lot to learn.

“People tell me all the time ‘oh I know Word, I know PowerPoint, I know Excel,” but when they take this class there is so much more to this program than they actually imagined.”

Ms. Lee says working at the lab provides her the human focus she needs to feel fulfilled in her work.

“I want to be an individual who helps people realize their dreams, which I do here at the lab.”

Many of those who come to her have lost their jobs, and need the computer training to have any hope of finding work.

“So many people come into our lab and they’re unemployed.

They’ve been working at a company for 30 years and suddenly they have no employment,” she said.

Keeping up with rapidly changing technology proves challenging, and Ms. Lee must keep on top of the trends to be able to provide community members with the training they need.

Where once she dreamed of big cities, now she can’t imagine living anywhere other than her close-knit community in Brownville.

“We’re so closely connected,” she said.

“My family is here, and my family means the world to me,” she said. “Why would I want to go anywhere else?”

Her ties to the community have stirred up her passion for community service.

“We need to be a part of what happens where we live,” she said.

She has been a member of several committees, helping to establish the town of Brownville Fire Department, teaching others about the school budget and joining the General Brown School District Board of Education.

Her ties to the community and happiness in her career have not stopped her from setting her sights higher. She wants to turn her interests in politics and local issues into a spot on a town council, and eventually run for a state or even federal government position.

“I see myself getting there, but at the same time I do have two children, and I need to make their life valuable and direct them where they need to go before I further my direction and my ambition,” she said.

She tells her children to follow their dreams while always looking out for others.

“The advice that I give to them every day is to be a kind individual, and to look to be what you want to be,” she said.

— Jacob Tierney

THE JAMIE LEE FILE HOMETOWN: Brownville PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Instructional Technology Coordinator, SUNY Attain Lab at the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library, Watertown FAMILY: Husband Ryan M. Lee; daughter, McKenna R., 7, and son, Brenden M., 5.

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in business administration, SUNY Brockport; bachelor’s in education, SUNY Oswego, master’s in literacy education, SUNY Oswego COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Commissioner for the Town of Brownville Joint Fire District, member of the General Brown school board, secretary of the Thousand Islands Young Leaders Association LAST BOOK READ: “House of Hades” by Rick Riordan

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 29

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Diane H. Leonard, 34 >>> D.H. Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing

C

affeine and endorphins are often the substances of choice for so-called type-A personalities. It is no different for Diane H. Leonard, an accomplished runner, grant professional and mother of two who operates a small consulting firm with a national reach from her home — and sometimes from the Lyric Coffee Shop — in Clayton. But the salubrious effects of those chemicals pale in comparison to the satisfaction Mrs. Leonard gets from the work/life balance she has achieved here in the north country.

Mrs. Leonard, a native of Buffalo, is the owner/president of DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services, a company that consults with organizations looking to secure grant funding from state, federal and philanthropic sources. The firm employs four grant professionals and has handled accounts ranging from small grass-roots efforts to billion-dollar healthcare contracts.

Mrs. Leonard and her husband Erich came to the North Country when Mr. Leonard took a job as a manager at New York Air Brake.

Their family enjoys all that small town life offers.

“We can be based in this beautiful little community where we can raise our children and be with friends and family and still be a national firm,” she said.

Studying industrial and labor relations at Cornell, Mrs. Leonard thought she was going to be a lawyer before a pivotal summer internship changed her career path.

Thanks to an abiding interest in community service that began in high school, Mrs. Leonard landed a fellowship at Cornell that allowed her to take on an internship anywhere in the world. She chose the Michigan Women’s Foundation in Detroit — an organization whose mission is to eliminate barriers to economic and social equality for Michigan women and girls.

There Mrs. Leonard met her mentor, Margaret A. Talburtt, who “believed in me from the time I was an intern,” Mrs. Leonard said.

“She let me lead, she let me do what I could.” Mrs. Leonard even co-authored a chapter with Dr. Talburtt and Judy Bloom in the book “Women, Philanthropy, and Social Change,” edited by Elayne Clift and published by Tufts University Press.

After finishing college, Mrs. Leonard became a full-time program officer with the foundation.

Detroit has an active philanthropic community. Major foundations, including the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the GM Foundation have strong connections to the area. That environment provided her with a perfect training ground.

Mrs. Leonard recently became a credentialed grant professional through the Grant Professionals Certification Institute, completing a process that is meant to mirror other professional certification programs and promote ethical standards in the industry.

An avid runner and triathlete, Mrs. Leonard acknowledged that she has a hard time saying “no” to people, which is why her workouts are so important to her. It’s a chance to unplug and recharge at the same time. Mrs. Leonard said running allows her to give 100 percent to everything else.

Her colleagues also place a high premium on fitness. “This is why we gel,” Mrs. Leonard said. “We love to work out our stress.”

Mrs. Leonard has connections to some of the most distinguished and influential people in the worlds of philanthropy and business, yet she said she gets her best advice from her two daughters.

“They cut straight to the point. They keep me focused on what’s really important,” she said.

Though she is still intent on growing her business, Mrs. Leonard’s definition of success has changed in some subtle ways in the years since she first interned at the foundation.

“Now, watching the kids play, watching the river, that’s a good day,” she said.

— Daniel Flatley

30 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE DIANE H. LEONARD FILE HOMETOWN: Clarence PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Owner/president, DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services, LLC FAMILY: Husband, Erich; daughters Rebecca, 7, and Annabelle 4 EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in industrial and labor relations, Cornell University, Ithaca; Jefferson Leadership Institute, 2012 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Race committee chairwoman for Save the River’s Run for the River 5k/10k, Social Media and Quarterly Newsletter committees with Grant Professionals Association, Commodore (chairwoman) at Clayton Yacht Club LAST BOOK READ: “The Storyteller” by Jodi Picoult

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Amanda J. Miller, 32 >>> Lake Ontario Realty

W

hen Amanda J. Miller was told early in her career that she wasn’t cut out to be a real estate broker, it fueled her motivation to succeed.

The 32-year-old broker owner of Lake Ontario Realty in Chaumont, who opened the business when she was 23, never took no for an answer when her career got off to a rocky start.

“When people turned me down and it made it harder for me, the utter determination kicked in and I decided I was going to prove them wrong,” she said.

Ms. Miller’s career path has brought her a long way since she was a broker entering the field. Since launching Lake Ontario Realty in 2005, she has led by example as a broker at the firm.

She recorded the highest volume of home sales last year among all brokers in the county, according to the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors.

Ms. Miller bought her first house at the age of 19 after graduating from Jefferson Community College with an associate’s degree in liberal arts. The experience of becoming a homeowner piqued her curiosity in real estate, and she was hired as a broker by Lakeview Realty in Chaumont. During her first year on the job, though, she brokered no sales for 13 months.

“I almost had to file for bankruptcy and was trying to survive on credit cards,” she said. “There were a couple of well-known agents in the area that had all the business, and I couldn’t get anyone to give me a shot.”

But a stroke of good fortune in the fall of 2004 turned her career around.

“I sold my mother’s bed-and-breakfast on Three Mile Bay,” she said. “Then during that second year, I just killed it with sales; it was like all of the first year’s work paid off. A lot of the key buyers gave me a shot.”

Ms. Miller was encouraged to launch her own firm by Linda Fields, director and owner of the Professional Institute for Real Estate Training in Watertown. In February 2005, she opened up a small office in the hamlet of Limerick.

“I have a hard time paying attention in classes, but Linda understood that I can do 18 things at once and still focus—I’m a multitasker,” she said. “When I told her I wanted to open up the company, she didn’t try to talk me out of it.”

In November 2010, Ms. Miller merged Lake Ontario Realty with Hopkins Homes in Watertown—a move that doubled the size of her firm’s staff from 8 to 16 employees. Two of her family members worked for Hopkins Homes at the time. Beth E. Hopkins, former broker owner of the Watertown firm, is Ms. Miller’s mother in law; she joined the firm as a broker along with Ms. Miller’s husband, Lucas A. Hopkins. The couple has been married since 2007.

Lake Ontario’s current location at 12396 Route 12E was opened in the fall of 2010 to make room for its larger staff. Sales there have buoyed over the past three years.

“I now think we’re one of the top three or four firms in the county,” Ms. Miller said.

Ms. Miller balances her time at work with her responsibilities as president of the Chaumont-Three Mile Bay Chamber of Commerce, where she’s served for the past seven years. The group hosts annual fundraisers to support the Chaumont Food Pantry.

When she’s not selling homes or volunteering, Ms. Miller enjoys quality time with her family at her waterfront home at Sawmill Bay on the shore of Lake Ontario.

“We love to go boat, swim and snowmobile,” she said.

— Ted Booker

THE AMANDA J. MILLER FILE HOMETOWN: Chaumont PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Broker owner of Lake Ontario Realty FAMILY: Husband, Lucas A. Hopkins, 32; son, Austin M. Gregory, 12 EDUCATION: Associate degree in liberal arts, Jefferson Community College, 2001 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: President of Chaumont-Three Mile Bay Chamber of Commerce LAST BOOK READ: “The Duck Commander Family” co-authored by Willie and Korie Robertson

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 31

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Jessica L. Page, 29 >>> Page Fitness Athletic Club

M

ost people would be surprised to know that Jessica L. Page, co-owner of Page Fitness Athletic Club, only works out 30 to 60 minutes a day and wasn’t active in sports in high school.

A former national fitness competitor who now runs a thriving fitness club, Mrs. Page says she struggles with the same thing everyone else does when it comes to working out — finding time. She’s also trying to work off the baby weight from her second child.

“I feel like our clients can relate a little more,” she said.

Mrs. Page is licensed in massage therapy, cosmetology and coaching — a varied background that she says has helped her understand the human body.

She fell in love with fitness after teaching group classes and competing in Fitness America pageants, for which her husband helped her train. A 2009 win at the Model Capitol Championships in Annandale, Va., and a top 10 finish in the International Fitness America Pageant in Miami landed her a feature spread in the November 2009 issue of Oxygen Magazine.

“I really just fell in love with the feeling of working out and I could see what it could really do for someone, she said. “It was just really powerful.”

Mrs. Page taught at CANI Fitness for about five years before she and her husband purchased it in September 2009. It was then a “desolate membership-style gym” and “not a successful business,” she said.

“We had the drive, we loved fitness, but we knew nothing about owning a business or how to run a business,” she said.

They had a three-year vision for their ideal training facility, one where people wouldn’t plug away solo on machines, but get the support and structure needed to succeed. But after competitor Planet Fitness opened in 2011, wiping their membership from 700 to 200 in a year’s time, transitioning to their vision accelerated.

“Then it wasn’t a blessing, but now I look back on that experience and I think that made us the business owners that we are today and it made our vision so much clearer,” she said. “It was a struggle for about a year, but now we are completely evolved into a training facility and we don’t offer memberships.”

The club is home to crossfit and has three trainers and eight boot camp instructors who offer personalized support to the club’s roughly 200 clients through boot camps, group and private training course.

Page Fitness was named Fitness Business of the Year for North America this October by the coaching company NPE after the Pages presented their story, business model and client results at a national conference. The couple was also selected to author a chapter in the 2012 Amazon bestseller “Bigger Better Faster Stronger” written by leading fitness experts.

Mrs. Page radiates a positive, upbeat enthusiasm, echoed in the club’s bright, cheerful décor, that she uses to inspire and comfort clients who might be down on themselves for getting out of shape.

“I feel like a smile can go a long way,” she said. “We want this to be the best part of someone’s day when they come here.”

Other than helping numerous community members change their lives and get on a path to a healthy lifestyle, Mrs. Page is active in the community through donations that the club makes to various causes, AUSA, Business of Women, the Chamber of Commerce and club fundraisers such as a recent “turkey buster” workout where community members can work out for free with the donation of a canned good for the local food bank.

Outside of work, Mrs. Page enjoys spending time with her two

32 |

NNY Business | December 2013

sons — Zachary, 2, and Tyler, seven months — skiing and reading. She credits her parents, who own Hi-Lite Markings in Adams Center, and her uncle as valuable mentors, as well as the Rev. Kirk S. Gilchrist, who provides a “good perspective and balance.”

She believes mentors are vital keys to business success.

“Don’t think you know everything because we’re constantly learning every day and evolving,” she advised potential business owners. “Be open to feedback from the people that do business with you and be involved in the community.”

— Leah Buletti

THE JESSICA L. PAGE FILE HOMETOWN: Adams PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Co-owner, Page Fitness Athletic Club, Watertown FAMILY: Husband, Christopher; sons, Zachary, 2, and Tyler, 7 months EDUCATION: New York state licenses in massage therapy, hair styling and coaching COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce, AUSA, BNI, Women in Business networking group LAST BOOK READ: “Secret Service: Hidden Systems That Deliver” by John Dijulius

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Victoria M. Peck, 30 >>> Children’s Home of Jefferson County

A

s the youngest of six girls, Victoria M. Peck had a sense of empathy, emotional strength and respect engrained in her from a young age, as well as a passion for helping others.

“Being one of six girls, there’s not any time to think about just you. Everything I did affected seven other people in my home,” said Mrs. Peck, who has worked for the last eight years at the Children’s Home of Jefferson County.

Three of her siblings wound up in social work.

Mrs. Peck started at the Children’s Home during an internship in her last semester of college and that August started as a direct care counselor in the residential cottages. She then worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift in non-secure detention while tutoring teenagers during the day, before moving to non-secure casework and finally into foster care, which became her passion.

“I’ve always found foster care the rewarding side of child welfare,” Mrs. Peck said. “We get to work diligently for re-unification, and if not, adoption is an alternate route. It’s finding forever families or mending families so children can return.”

In foster care, she started as a recruitment and training coordinator, then became the intake coordinator, a position that drew on her strengths from residential work. While in intake, she traveled throughout the state promoting programs. At the time, the Children’s Home was serving numerous children from St. Lawrence County in the Watertown area, which ultimately led to her spearheading the Children’s Home taking over recruitment and training for all of the St. Lawrence County Department of Social Services’s foster homes in early 2012.

The program has seen astounding expansion under her direction: Initially, it was prepared to serve 30 children with two directors and three staffers, but it’s now been serving more than 100 children for over a year, with nearly 20 full-time and 10 part-time staff members.

“It’s been a rapid growth in a short amount of time,” Mrs. Peck said.

Every position she’s held at the Children’s Home has built on the last, each giving her the knowledge and skills to “mentor and lead fellow colleagues.” She credits many prior supervisors as “amazing mentors” in teaching her professionalism, dedication and commitment to the agency’s work.

Though she didn’t always know she wanted to go into nonprofit work, pursuing a Spanish major for the first half of her college career, she said she loves the “relationship building” aspect of her job; work is now what keeps her going during tough personal events.

“I enjoy being a positive force,” she said.

But social work isn’t without its challenges, especially given that “everything is urgent, and requires immediate attention.” In her first two years at the Children’s Home, she struggled with separating out emotions and questioned if it was the right job for her.

“You have to be emotionally sound to be able to desensitize from the day to day, knowing that if I wasn’t strong emotionally I wouldn’t be any good tending the children and families,” she said.

She’s acquired that emotional strength through a strong network of family and close friends — one reason she decided to remain in her north country home, where three of her sisters live.

That support network, she believes, is key to the success of any young professional.

“I think that through working at the Children’s Home, I’ve been exposed to so many organizations and professionals throughout

the community and I’m aware of what’s going on,” she said.

“I believe that for any emerging professional in the community, you have to get involved.”

So, too, is a certain faith in process.

“Everything happens for a reason, I believe that,” she said when asked what advice she’d give to young leaders. “I believe that every experience builds on the next, and you may not always know the reasons at the time … I think of all of the lessons to where I am today and had I turned my back then, during trying times, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

So not to give up.”

— Leah Buletti

THE VICTORIA M. PECK FILE HOMETOWN: Clayton PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Director of Foster Care, St. Lawrence County, Children’s Home of Jefferson County FAMILY: Husband, Derek M. Peck EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in psychology, Wells College, Aurora COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: A lot through work, hopes to get involved in Resolution Center of Jefferson and Lewis counties as a mediator.

LAST BOOK READ: “Season of Life” by Jeffrey Marx. “It’s about a football star and it’s about turning young, adolescent males into men and being men for others, meaning don’t be selfish and give everything you have to others. It was very emotional. I lost my father the last week of July so to read this, I felt like I knew my dad.”

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 33

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Kristen M. Reed, 25 >>> CREDO Community Center

K

risten M. Reed is community service.

Between the lines of the 25-year-old’s lengthy resume of volunteer board membership and officer positions is a passion for community and the desire to help change the world one idea at a time. Encouraged by relatives and college professors to never quit, Ms. Reed said she embraces new challenges because she knows they are just steps toward success.

“Don’t take no for an answer” is the best advice she said she’s followed from James E. Reagan, communications director for state Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton.

“I think about that constantly, whether I advise someone of healthy life choices or in an organization,” Ms. Reed said.

She has spent the past two years as a vocational/rehabilitation counselor at Credo Community Center for the Treatment of Addictions helping people who struggle, or who have struggled, with addiction to alcohol or other substances obtain life skills and education to help them work toward establishing or re-establishing a career.

“Every day is a new day,” she said. “You’re working with people at some of the lowest points of their life and you’re able to make changes that will uplift them. Seeing success stories of people helps keep you going.”

What also has kept Ms. Reed going for most of her young adult life, she said, is giving people a chance to start over, through work done at Credo.

“When I was 16, my mom got hit by a drunk driver,” she said.

“She was semi-paralyzed and I feel like the more people I can help directly, the more families I can save from that experience.”

When not at work, Ms. Reed often helps other people create their own successes, whether it be helping the elderly during a game of bingo, participating in various Jefferson Breakfast Kiwanis events and meetings or helping lay a community service foundation for youth involved with their school’s Key Club.

“Each day is a new chance to help people, even on the weekends,” Ms. Reed said.

She said she is inspired to remain involved in the community because she lives by the Kiwanis motto of ‘serving the children of the world.’ Recognizing it takes multiple volunteers to accomplish that, and more, Ms. Reed said if the north country had more serious economic development more young adults would be attracted to the area. More people of that segment of the population, she said, could then volunteer in their local area.

Turning obstacles into opportunities is a challenge that Ms. Reed said she has accepted for many years because obstacles often can be overcome. One hurdle that she said she has jumped over numerous times is the myth that young people are selfish and only want time for them.

“A lot of times people in their 20s are called ‘Generation-Me,’” she said. “There are twenty-somethings who are selfless. You think of clubs like Rotary, Kiwanis and you think of older people. There are young people who care about the world. I think there’s this misconception that young people can’t do (big) jobs.”

Ms. Reed is one of those exceptions. She was the International president for Circle K, the collegiate branch of Kiwanis, and traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada for meetings. Ms. Reed also held the title of national collegiate counselor ambassador for the March of Dimes, and was governor of all state Key Clubs in 2006.

She currently holds the titles of co-coordinator of the Jefferson County Suicide Prevention Coalition and Lt. Governor for 2014-15 of the St. Lawrence Division of Kiwanis, which represents clubs from Malone to Watertown.

— Rebecca Madden

34 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE KRISTEN M. REED FILE HOMETOWN: Ogdensburg PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Vocational/rehabilitation counselor at Credo Community Center for the Treatment of Addictions FAMILY: Parents, Mark Reed and Barbara Remillard, Florence, S.C.; grandparents, Julia and Richard Smith, Dexter EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in communications, SUNY Potsdam, 2010 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Jefferson Breakfast Kiwanis and NY Young Professionals Kiwanis Club LAST BOOK READ: “A Place of Yes” by Bethenny Frankel

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Michelle M. Roden, 32 >>> Fort Drum Family & MWR BOSS program

I

n Michelle M. Roden’s eyes, a smile and a healthy sense of humor are the keys to working and leading effectively.

A healthy bit of creativity doesn’t hurt either.

“If you’re not having fun then you’re not doing it right,” she said.

On the day she spoke with the magazine, the head of the post’s Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program was in the final stages of preparation for a post-apocalyptic zombie-themed 5K that would host more than 600 soldiers and family members.

Mrs. Roden said her preparation for the event had been months in the making, as she attended 5Ks around the area to get a better idea on how to improve areas of the event like prerace registration.

Mrs. Roden is a face many of Fort Drum’s soldiers see during their day, as her office helps coordinate recreational and community service projects for thousands of 10th Mountain Division soldiers. Without the office, many of the program’s participants would otherwise be socially isolated in their barracks or apartments.

One of her daily challenges is overcoming complaints from soldiers that there is nothing to do.

“There’s stuff to do, you just have to look for it,” Mrs. Roden said.

She would know. Mrs. Roden has lived in Northern New York for her entire life, and now resides in Clayton. Graduating from Thousand Islands High School and taking classes at Jefferson Community College, Mrs. Roden took the job on post after working with the Antique Boat Museum, Clayton.

One of the keys to her development in her work, Mrs. Roden said, has been the mentorship she has received from other leaders on post. The post’s leadership program, she said, pairs people together from different departments.

“It makes you appreciate what you do,” she said.

Other leaders on post have taken notice of Mrs. Roden’s work ethic during the seven years she has been on Fort Drum.

“Her logistical skills are above and beyond something I’ve seen from people her age,” said Donna W. Orvis, marketing chief for Fort Drum’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

“She knows what to ask for.”

Mrs. Orvis added that Mrs. Roden’s attitude has made her stand out from others.

“She always has a smile on her face,” she said. “No matter what job she has for herself, I’ve never seen her have a bad attitude about anything.”

Mrs. Roden’s attitude and outreach with soldiers has made an impression on the post’s leadership.

Col. Gary A. Rosenberg, who as garrison commander oversees much of the daily activity on post, praised Mrs. Roden during an October conference about social media at Fort Meade, Md. for reaching out to a soldier whose mother had raised concerns about their social life.

At the end of the day, Mrs. Roden says helping soldiers and their families every day is the favorite part of her job.

“That’s why we’re here, that’s why we have a job, to take care of the soldiers, to make sure they’re active, and not in the barracks twiddling their thumbs,” she said.

— Gordon Block

THE MICHELLE M. RODEN FILE HOMETOWN: Cape Vincent PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Senior program adviser, Fort Drum Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers, Fort Drum Family & MWR program FAMILY: Husband, Matthew Roden EDUCATION: Thousand Island High School, college coursework at Jefferson Community College COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Organizer and volunteer, Thousand Island High School Memorial Volleyball Tournament; volunteer, Clayton Christmas Parade; volunteer for various fundraisers for Save the River, Polar Bear Dip for River Hospital and the Antique Boat Museum.

LAST BOOK READ: “The Husband’s Secret,” Liane Moriarty

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 35

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Brooke E. Rouse, 30 >>> SUNY Canton SBDC / 24 East Main St. B & B

B

rooke E. Rouse spends her workdays assisting others achieve their dreams.

At the same time, she’s advancing her own career, running a thriving downtown business and volunteering with several organizations.

The 30-year-old starts her busy days by making breakfast at 24 East Main St. Bed & Breakfast, which she owns and operates with her husband, Charles F. Rouse.

Then she’s off to her job as a small business advisor at the Small Business Development Center, a state and federally-funded agency housed at Wicks Hall on the SUNY Canton campus, where she’s been employed since 2011.

In that role, she meets one-on-one with clients from across St. Lawrence County who are interested in starting, expanding or selling their own business. The work entails explaining the legal regulations and other logistics of running a business. The counseling service is provided at no charge to potential business owners.

“I feel like my job is basically to help people to conquer the barriers to opening a business,” Mrs. Rouse said. “Every day you empower people to make their dreams come true. It’s very satisfying.”

She said it’s important to emphasize to clients that owning and operating a business is not easy, but it is rewarding.

“If you work hard, you can achieve your goals,” she said. “It allows you to use your creativity to create an income and a lifestyle too. In some sense you have more control of your fate.”

During her career, she’s learned a great deal by networking with others about their businesses, keeping an open mind and seeking advice from people with particular specialties.

“I’ve always engaged with people of all walks of life. People are your best resource because there are a lot of people out there who may have more experience than you,” she shared.

She credits her interest in business development to her family background, including having a father, brother and grandfather who all run their own businesses.

“I come from an entrepreneurial family. That’s really the root of it,” she said.

Although she grew up in various places along the East Coast, Mrs. Rouse said Canton is the place she considers home. She appreciates the north county’s proximity to the Adirondacks and Canada and the cultural opportunities available at the area’s colleges.

“Instead of paying big money and sitting in traffic, you can walk out your back door and be at a free lecture,” she noted. “The quality of life here is really high.”

After graduating from St. Lawrence University in 2002 with a degree in global studies and a minor in psychology, she returned to SLU a year later to take a job as assistant director of student activities.

Next, she headed to Barbados where she spent a year obtaining a master’s degree in tourism and hospitality at the University of West Indies. To help achieve that goal, she was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.

Outside of work, Mrs. Rouse has embraced the Canton community by being actively involved in several organizations and projects.

Getting young professionals involved in civic organizations is a way to keep them engaged in the north country, she said.

For several years, she has co-chaired the Remington Arts Festival, an annual event that brings locals and visitors to Canton for an art show and sale in the village park and several other activities including music and horse-drawn carriage rides.

She also assists with coordinating and marketing the Canton Canoe Weekend sponsored by the St. Lawrence Valley Paddlers to

36 |

NNY Business | December 2013

engage the local community and visitors in paddling and the heritage of Canton canoe builder Henry Rushton.

She also serves on the Canton Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors, the Canton Rotary Club, St. Lawrence County Bed & Breakfast Association, Traditional Arts in Upstate New York and the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

Why does she remain in Canton?

“I feel that the sense of community is so strong and supportive. That’s priceless to me,” Mrs. Rouse said.

— Susan Mende

THE BROOKE E. ROUSE FILE HOMETOWN: Millbrook PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Small Business Advisor at Small Business Development Center, SUNY Canton FAMILY: Husband, Charles F. Rouse EDUCATION: Bachelor’s, St. Lawrence University, Canton; master’s, tourism and hospitality, University of West Indies, Barbados; New York State Certified Small Business Advisor COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Canton Village Board (appointed to one-year term, 2013); Canton Chamber of Commerce; Canton Rotary Club; Co-coordinator, Remington Art Festival; Traditional Arts in Upstate New York; St. Lawrence County Arts Council; marketing chairwoman, Canton Canoe Weekend; St. Lawrence County Bed & Breakfast Association LAST BOOK READ: “The Dirty Life,” by Kristen Kimball

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Edward C. Siebels, 37 >>> Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes

A

s a youngster growing up in the north country, Edward C. Siebels, 37, did not fully appreciate what he had.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army right out of high school.

Later, he and his wife, Elizabeth W., moved to Fredericksburg, Va., where he graduated from Mary Washington College.

“We were young and we thought what we wanted was to get away,” he said. “We weren’t quite ready to settle down to a role here.”

While in Virginia, Mr. and Mrs. Siebels kept their eye out for a place they could make their own.

“We were looking for a small town that we could call home where the cost of living wasn’t so far out of whack,” Mr. Siebels said. “We wanted it to be a little more country.”

Then, their eldest son was born and Mr. Siebels deployed to Afghanistan.

“That kind of changed our whole outcome on life,” he said.

“What we were looking for in Virginia was what we had. It was right here all the time.”

Mr. Siebels was a soldier for almost 13 years, both active and reserve, enlisted and commissioned.

Now his job as the director of maintenance of Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes overseeing 4,000 homes maintains a connection to the military.

“I enjoy being around soldiers. I enjoy the Army,” he said. “Part of what I get to do here is serve soldiers. That means a lot to me.”

Mountain Community Homes is a Winn Companies military housing project. The Boston-based firm oversees the property management at 13 military installations nationwide.

Mr. Siebels’s maintenance department completes approximately 40,000 service requests annually with a staff of 85 technicians, cleaners and supervisors. Mr. Siebels is not adverse to putting on a tool belt himself and is typically the first in to work and the last to leave.

“I enjoy the fast pace, solving problems,” he said. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to listen more, not to be so quick to jump in and solve problems. I listen to the folks that work for me.

Usually, they have the right answer. Seven years ago, I was quick to answer and not so quick to listen.”

Mr. Siebels has been recognized for his professional accomplishments.

WinnResidential, the 7th largest property management company in the country, recognized Mr. Siebels in 2009 and 2012 as a Winner’s Circle Recipient. The award is given annually to only 100 of the 3,000 employees who work for Winn Companies nationwide.

In 2010, Mr. Siebels was the recipient of the Power of Pride Award for maintenance leadership. He was chosen in 2012 for the Winn Star Mentor Program.

Never one to sit still, Mr. Siebels is also active in his community.

He is a member of the Gouverneur Central School Board, a coach and has traveled to Haiti as part of a mission group building houses and churches for victims of hurricanes.

Being committed to the community is key to building its success, Mr. Siebels said.

“I think one thing that needs to happen is for us to build as many opportunities for jobs like I have that keep people engaged and excited,” he said. “We just need more opportunities for young people to enjoy the area. “ — Martha Ellen

THE EDWARD C. SIEBELS FILE HOMETOWN: Gouverneur PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Director of Maintenance, Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes FAMILY: Wife, Elizabeth W. Siebels, a fourth-grade teacher at East Side Elementary School in Gouverneur; sons, Cole E., 10, and Owen W., 7; daughter, Lilah E., 4.

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s, Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, Va. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Gouverneur Central School Board, assistant coach with the Gouverneur Pee Wee flag football team, Sunday School teacher.

LAST BOOK READ: “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 37

20UNDER40

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

Junior J. Stefanini, 37 >>> Body Pros, Elite Auto Repair, Pro Towing

J

unior J. Stefanini believes that hard work can compensate for the obstacles life throws your way, including the loss of his father at the tender age of 7 and the fact that college wasn’t a financial reality for him, aspiring to the philosophy “get up

early, go to bed late.”

“You work, you just work,” the owner of a construction firm and four Watertown-area car businesses said.

Mr. Stefanini moved to the north country from Queens in 1997 to work for the Caprara family. He opened Body Pros on Route 11 in Watertown in October 2008, taking out a mortgage on his home to make ends meet and leasing the space from F.X. Caprara.

“No risk equals no reward,” he said.

In October, Mr. Stefanini announced a 12,000-square-foot expansion at the former Davidson GMC dealership on outer Washington Street, which opened as the new headquarters of Body Pros Collision Experts — a hub for all things automotive, including collision and general auto repair, towing and a Hertz auto rental franchise. He bought the building and 4.3-acre commercial parcel in August, as well as the former Davidson Chevrolet building to the south and its 15.6-acre parcel.

The former building houses a suite of automotive retailers.

He also owns Extreme Builders, a general contracting firm that is building townhouses in the Preserve at Autumn Ridge off County Route 202 north of Sam’s Club.

Mr. Stefanini is not a car dealer, but aims to provide customers who may not be able to afford a new car a similarly high level of service. As a trained mechanic, he believes such skills are a “dying breed,” with young people averse to working with their hands.

Though he said his 2-year-old son Aston will go to college, he credits the numerous successful business owners with whom he worked from the age of 13 as providing a vital education of the sort you can’t get in the traditional classroom.

“I would not be where I am without good people — only they can take credit for ‘no risk, no reward,’” he said. “Without good people, I would be nothing.”

He also credits his wife, Karla Richardson, whom he described as a “very driven person who encourages him to stop and smell the roses a little bit,” with his success.

Along with an impeccable work ethic—he notes that he got his big break in business when he ascribed to the ethos of first in, last out — Mr. Stefanini advises other business owners to trust themselves.

“Only you know what you’re capable of,” he said. “Just love what you do — follow your heart. Believe in something, then go after it.”

He also advised young people to be smart about credit management.

In the community, Mr. Stefanini is a major sponsor of the Heather A. Freeman Foundation, which promotes positive individual and community values. He’s also involved with fundraising for the Watertown Urban Mission.

“I believe in paying it forward if you can afford to do it,” he said.

A devoted runner, he enjoys hunting, golf and working out in his spare time, and met his wife while exercising at Page Fitness Athletic Club in Watertown.

Despite his drive and business acumen, Mr. Stefanini has a lighthearted spirit, and said employees or those he does business with would be surprised to know that he often wears his heart on his sleeve.

With the hopes of having at least one more child, he said he thinks Watertown could use some more businesses that cater to children, such as places to throw fun birthday bashes.

“I’m looking forward to becoming a kid again when my kid gets older,” he said.

— Ken Eysaman

38 |

NNY Business | December 2013

THE JUNIOR J. STEFANINI FILE HOMETOWN: Queens, New York City; moved to Watertown in 2007 PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Owner/principal, Body Pros, Elite Auto Repair, Pro Towing and Extreme Builders Family: Wife, Karla (Richardson); son Aston, 2 EDUCATION: High school diploma COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Volunteer work and fundraising for the Heather A. Freeman Foundation and Watertown Urban Mission LAST BOOK READ: The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Story by Stan Berenstain (with son); avid reader of business biographies and autobiographies

NORTHERN NEW YORK’S EMERGING LEADERS

20UNDER40

Dr. Jason White, 39 >>> Internal Medicine of NNY

D

r. Jason F. White, 39, admits he’s not your typical physician. While he was recognized earlier this year for overwhelming compassion to his patients, Dr. White is also known for his work to ensure the city of Watertown’s tree population remains healthy and vibrant.

As vice chairman for Tree Watertown, he has helped replace thousands of trees that died as a result of the 1991 ice storm and a microburst windstorm that hit the area in 1995.

Dr. White, who grew up in Watertown, returned to practice medicine nine years to “give back to the community I love,” he said.

“It’s the right size community to make a difference,” he said. “I believe in the community. Making positive change is very cool.”

As a doctor at Internal Medicine of NNY, he has had a positive impact on the local medical community through his involvement as a committee member for the Jefferson Physician Organization, a group of physicians who find ways of improving the quality of patient care, and with the Fort Drum Regional health Planning Organization.

With a busy medical practice and a young family, he still took on the role as a chairman of a JPO pilot program to study specific chronic disease.

“As a physician, I have an opportunity to have a positive effect on people on a day-to-day basis, which I find is very rewarding,” he said.

This year, Dr. White was given “The Most Compassionate Doctor Award” at Samaritan Medical Center’s Doctor’s Day for the way he focuses on communication and caring in the doctor/patient relationship.

He got his commitment for people and the community through his parents, Peter L. and Melanie J. White, who described as honest, caring people. His father died about 18 months ago.

Along the way, he learned it was just as good supporting someone else who was doing something positive than to have done it himself.

“I think the No. 1 thing is listening,” he said. “If it’s people running the community or someone sweeping the floor, you can get good advice.”

For the past several years, Dr. White has been involved in Advantage Watertown, a group of business and community leaders who meet on a monthly basis to discuss and brainstorm how to make Watertown a better place to live.

In recent years, Advantage Watertown has talked with developers about how it can help with move their projects along, looking at ways to improve the city’s housing stock and what can be done to ensure local businesses succeed.

“It’s fun to share success with somebody else,” he said.

As a member of Watertown’s tree advisory group, Dr. White helps to plan and select the best places to plant trees in the city. The group puts together an Arbor Day event in the spring and another tree planting in the fall.

It involves getting other volunteers and the city’s Department of Public Works to help plant several dozen trees along city streets or city parks and school grounds.

A Black River Committee member, Dr. White has also lobbied to expand bike and walking paths on both sides of the river.

The city is seeking some state funding for two biking and hiking trails that someday could connect to the rest of Watertown’s system along the Black River. This summer, Dr. White was instrumental in convincing the Watertown City Council to seek state funding for an 875-foot-long bike trail along Huntington Street, as well as money for design work to connect Veterans Memorial Riverwalk with Whitewater Park about a half-mile away.

Someday, Dr. White would like to see the city’s 2½-mile hiking trails as a continuous system that would run mostly along the river.

He has never regretted moving back to the north country.

— Craig Fox

THE DR. JASON WHITE FILE HOMETOWN: Watertown PROFESSIONAL POSITION: Physician at Internal Medicine of NNY FAMILY: Wife, Michele D. White; son, Michael E., 9, and daughter, Madison E., 10 EDUCATION: Cornell University, 1991; Upstate Medical University, Rural Medical Education Program, 2001; Lancaster General Family Practice Residency Program, 2001-2004 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Tree Watertown, Neighbors of Watertown, the Black River Committee, Advantage Watertown, the Jefferson County Historical Society and the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park LAST BOOK READ: “Lincoln on Leadership” by Donald T. Phillips

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 39

LEADERSHIP

HONORING a LIFE of LEADERSHIP

Beyer ‘led without knowing she was leading’

By STEVE VIRKLER

P NNY Business

rior to her untimely death earlier this year, Renee J. Beyer had established herself as an emerging leader in the Lewis County community.

Mrs. Beyer had served as a planner and senior planner with the county since 2005, and she and her husband, Dean, operated Aspen Knoll Cabins on Swernicki Road near West Martinsburg.

She was also a graduate of the inaugural class of the Lewis County Leadership Academy in 2012, a member of the Double Play Sports Center board, a former member of the Hand In Hand Early Childcare Center board and a team sponsor and coach for youth soccer.

But her life was cut short at the age of 39 after she was involved in a twovehicle crash in April in the town of Harrisburg that was allegedly caused by another woman driving under the influence of drugs. That case is still pending in Lewis County Court.

When nominations for NNY Business magazine’s 2013 20 Under 40 class of emerging leaders were sought over the summer, no less than 10 people recommended the inclusion of Mrs. Beyer.

In his nomination letter, outgoing Lewis County Legislator William J. Burke, R-West Lowville, also a former long-time member of the Lowville Zoning Board of Appeals, said that Mrs. Beyer held many accreditation classes for planning and zoning board members over the years and saw many grant applications and projects through to their fruition. On a more personal note, the

40 |

NNY Business | December 2013

L. Steria, chairwoman of the Lowville village Planning Board, sales analyst at Climax Manufacturing Co. and a fellow 2012 Leadership Academy graduate. “She led without knowing she was leading and had a significant impact on those around her.”

Lewis County Economic Development and Planning Director Eric J. Virkler, in a nomination letter, commended his former employee for excelling both in her work assisting local municipalities and agencies and in her volunteer work with Double Play and other organizations.

“She brought passion and commitment to the organizations she worked with and she made a difference working for their cause,” Mr. Virkler wrote.

PHOTO COURTESEY BEYER FAMILY “Renee’s tenure in the Lewis County Senior Planner Renee Beyer, who was extensively Planning Department, along involved in the community, died in a car accident in April. with her experience as a lawmaker said he regularly visited the small business owner, provided invalusenior planner — and one of his conable information and recommendations stituents — to get her perspective about on the steps we needed to take for our ongoing issues. business,” wrote Gerald J. Haenlin, “I had great respect for Renee’s opinco-owner of Barkeater Craft Brewery in ion and often took her advice to heart,” Lowville. “Renee displayed a great pasMr. Burke wrote. “Our community is sion for the work she did, and she was certainly missing a great leader and truly excited for us and our adventure.” one of our ‘heartbeats.’ This award, in “She was the type of leader we all my opinion, was created especially for want to be involved with,” added Mr. someone like Renee.”

Haenlin’s business partner, Dean T. “It wasn’t until after her death that Richards. “Her dynamic personality so many of us learned what a magnetic and drive was contagious. I strive to force Renee was,” wrote Cheyenne emulate Renee in my small business

“

[Renee] brought passion and commitment to the organizations she worked with and she made a difference working for their cause.

— Eric J. Virkler, director, Lewis County Economic Development and Planning

relationships and will always remember her foresight and her vibrant spirit as I move forward.”

Daniel M. Myers, Double Play’s executive director, co-owner of RBI Bats and a teacher at Lowville Academy and Central School, commended Mrs. Beyer not only for her work on his community center project but on her overall dedication to the community and efforts to make it a better place to live.

“She was a dedicated wife, mother and friend that is irreplaceable,” wrote Mr. Myers, a member of the 2012 20 Under 40 class. “She touched the lives of thousands and made a lasting memory in myself that will carry on through the completion of this community center building project and beyond.”

The United Way of Northern New York has also announced plans to honor Mrs. Beyer by establishing a fund in her memory to assist county nonprofit organizations.

“Her death caused a great void not only in Lowville but throughout the north country,” said United Way CEO Robert D. Gorman.

The “Renee Beyer-United Way Fund,” an endowment administered through the Northern New York Community Foundation, is to generate money that the United Way’s Community Review team in Lewis County may direct to a county nonprofit organization.

For information on the Renee BeyerUnited Way Fund, contact Mr. Gorman at 788-5631 or by email at bgorman@ unitedway-nny.org. n STEVE VIRKLER is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer in Lewis County. Contact him at svirkler@wdt.net or 376-6851.

Northern New York

Community Foundation

What are your favorite things?

Human Services • Health Care & Wellness • Education Families • Children • Youth • Elderly • Arts & Culture Recreation • History • Community Development Animal Welfare • Conservation & Environment

Quality of Life

Consider a gift that will tell your life story forever Your Community. Your Foundation. Your Legacy.

120 Washington Street, Suite 400, Watertown, NY 13601 (315) 782-7110 • info@nnycf.org • www.nnycf.org

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 41

LEADERSHIP

Campaign charges on

Erika Flint leads Urban Mission’s first capital drive

By LEAH BULETTI

O NNY Business

n Erika F. Flint’s first day as executive director of the Watertown Urban Mission in late February 2011, she watched an employee move a bucket of water around one of the Mission’s three main areas as the roof leaked from a melting recent snow fall. Shortly after, she listened to volunteers’ concerns about working in a too cold building. Then she saw handicapped clients struggle to access a bathroom.

Just a month after Mrs. Flint, then 30, took over the helm at the mission, staff started meeting with engineers to discuss necessary improvements to the building at 247 Factory St., where the mission moved in 2004, as its client base grew. The high costs of the work, improvements that were identified in a strategic plan completed a year prior, led to discussion and planning as early as that summer on the first capital campaign in the nonprofit’s 44-year history.

A feasibility study in late 2012 demonstrated that people showed a positive response to the $2 million campaign, after which the board voted it into official operation; the campaign was publicly launched in March after about 57 percent of the target was raised through private donations from individuals, businesses and foundations.

Ms. Flint described the process as “exciting,” as capital campaigns tap into several areas of a leader’s skillset, including public speaking, networking and extensive coordination of many moving parts.

“It’s been a lesson for me in patience and processes,” she said. “I think I’ve helped the campaign, but I’m certain the campaign has taught me a lot as well.”

To date, the campaign, titled “Mission: Possible—Renew, Restore, Revitalize,” has raised close to $1.8 million, from 360 total donors. Of the total goal, $1.2 million is allocated for renovations to the building, which will start in January or February, regardless of whether the remainder is raised before then, Ms. Flint said.

“We’re on a very good pace,” she said early last month. “Originally the goal was to complete fundraising by December 2014 so it’s fair to say we’re a year ahead of schedule.”

“There’s a chance we will have completed fundraising before the shovels are in the

42 |

NNY Business | December 2013

Erika F. Flint, executive director of the Watertown Urban Mission, has been instrumental in the success of the nonprofit’s first ever capital campaign, which to date has raised nearly $1.8 million.

JUSTIN SORENSEN | NNY BUSINESS

ground, but if there is a little gap it won’t be significant,” she added.

Aubertine and Currier, Watertown, is providing the design work and was one of several area firms that did an early voluntary assessment of the building, including Bernier, Carr and Associates, GYMO, Neighbors of Watertown and Purcell Construction.

The remainder of the campaign dollars is divided into $300,000 for an endowment program, $240,000 to construction contingency, $180,000 to construction service fees and

$80,000 to campaign operational expenses.

The money will create a safer and more energy efficient building, improve handicapped accessibility to bathrooms and from the first to second floor in the Impossible Dream Thrift Store and create a more organized and updated pantry space to improve the shopping experience for clients.

“I think the thing that will make me smile the most will be seeing clients, volunteers and employees feeling comfortable and proud of their space,” Ms. Flint

LEADERSHIP said, adding that it will be satisfying to see volunteers, employees and clients work in a setting that is “more motivating, more welcoming and actually would possibly make their jobs easier.”

Ms. Flint credited the success of the campaign to a wealth of generous volunteers— more than 50—and community members.

The campaign leadership was divided into seven committees—corporate/business, church, leadership/individual, events/ recognition, youth, communication and education/grants—as well as four co-chairs, Rev. Fred Garry and Kathy Garry and John and Mary Jo Deans, the mission’s board of directors, and support staff composed of Mrs. Flint, Michael C. Miller and Andrew G. Mangione, who was hired as the mission’s director of development in 2011.

“It’s eye-opening how generous this community is,” Ms. Flint said.

Mr. Miller, who is chair of the campaign’s youth committee and whose consulting company conducted the feasibility study, said finding the right volunteers in the right organizations was critical to the campaign’s success.

“They’re great professionals in the community, but also incredibly hard workers and very giving of their time, treasure and talent,” he said of the committee volunteers.

He also credited Ms. Flint’s intelligence and vision.

“She is God’s gift to a nonprofit,” he said.

The mission has 46 supporting churches, which provide the bulk of the agency’s funding, many of which have donated so far.

“It’s part of our faith as Catholics and all Christians that we need to help those who are struggling,” said Rev. Steven M. Murray, pastor of Watertown’s Holy Family Church and chairman of the campaign’s church committee.

Mr. Murray is optimistic that the campaign will exceed its goal.

“Once people see things moving, my experience in the past is that they’ll come on board,” he said. “Everyone wants to be part of a winning project.”

Much of the campaign has focused on raising awareness among the general public of the mission’s programs.

Allison F. Gorham, one of the chairs of the events and recognition committee, said she wasn’t familiar with the specifics of many of the mission’s programs despite growing up in Watertown and living here for much of her life.

“It’s really and truly about informing the community about everything the mission does—the extent it helps the community is mind-boggling,” she said.

Her committee orchestrated a series of about a dozen informational breakfasts and

lunches for potential donors, using food from the pantry and dishes and cutlery from the Impossible Dream store, to get the word out about the mission’s work.

She said the informational meals were very successful, and believes the campaign will surpass the goal as even more people learn about the mission.

The communications committee, chaired by long-time WWNY TV7 anchors Brian E. Ashley and Anne E. Richter, was also tasked with disseminating information on the mission and the campaign.

The committee created a variety of promotional materials using a “miniscule percentage of the budget,” including a 12 to 15 minute DVD produced at the station that allowed mission staff and clients to tell their own story, posters, pamphlets, public service announcements and the campaign’s physical progress meter housed at the mission.

“We’ve tried to develop all the tools that are needed so other groups and other committees, other volunteers, can go out into the community and utilize those tools to make pitches to donors and tell the story of the mission,” Mr. Ashley said.

Their committee also designed the campaign’s simple yet meaningful logo that Ms. Richter said was the result of months of planning. The logo incorporates a blue roof to

represent the repairs to the building, as well as a yellow star as an interdenominational symbol of the organization’s faith component.

“It was very much a learning experience for us in the beginning,” Ms. Richter said.

“We all know the Urban Mission’s Impossible Dream store, but what we didn’t realize was the extent of the programs and the number of people who use them.”

The two stressed that they are but two of many people who gave their time and ideas to the campaign, and said they are gratified to be involved.

“When we started out with a blank sheet of paper, we weren’t sure what the result was going to be and we are so pleased that the community has responded in the way it has,” Mr. Ashley said, noting that some of the campaign’s success could be due to the fact that it was the first time the mission had ever asked for such support.

A ‘BUILDER’ ON A MISSION With considerable success under her belt for such a young leader and substantial experience in nonprofits—including work at the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization and the Children’s Home of Jefferson County—Ms. Flint said she has “loved” her time at the Mission, not merely enjoyed it.

“The Mission offers a place where people

Schwerzmann & Wise, P.C. 137 Main Avenue, Watertown

Congratulates Lucy M. Berkman For Her “2012 20 Under 40 Award” And Salutes The 2013 Award Winners.

Photo by Natalie Wendig

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 43

Campaign / how to help n To donate to the capital campaign, drop

off or send cash or a check payable to Watertown Urban Mission with “capital campaign” in the memo line, Watertown Urban Mission, 247 Factory St., Watertown, NY, 13601. Donations can also be made online at www.watertownurbanmission.com.

aren’t just doing a job,” she said. “For me it’s been an extension of both my faith and my personal views about volunteerism and community involvement.”

That commitment to community involvement earned Mrs. Flint a place in NNY Business’s inaugural 2011 class of 20 Under 40 emerging leaders. She continues to be active on the boards of directors of five community organizations—WPBS, Samaritan Auxiliary, Jefferson County Community Services, Watertown Local Development Corp. and the Diocese of Ogdensburg—as well as a member of Watertown noon rotary.

Ms. Flint said that key to managing so many commitments is striking a balance between involvement in causes in line with your job, and also in line with your personal life; the organizations she’s involved in understand that being a mother comes first and she often totes her young son Lukas B. along with her to meetings and weekend events.

“Being able to find your enjoyment from being involved in the community kind of makes it easy,” she said.

When asked what she hopes to accomplish at the mission after some of the campaign’s momentum winds down, Ms. Flint described herself as a “builder.”

“Not literally, but I’m someone who’s always looking to kind of take something to the next level,” she said.

Others involved in the campaign have spoken glowingly of her ability to do just that.

“I think Erika was the right person at the right time, to widen the circle of the mission’s work,” said Rande S. Richardson, executive director of the Northern New York Community Foundation, which gave $200,000 to the campaign in June 2012, half in a matching grant to establish an endowment at the foundation for perpetual use.

Beverly Brown, president of the mission’s board of directors, said Mrs. Flint played an integral role in getting the campaign off the ground and agreed that she has the energy and “tenacity” to keep all of its many players engaged.

“She is absolutely fabulous—she walks the walk and talks the talk,” Ms. Gorham concurred. “There’s no one more genuine and compassionate and passionate. Her heart is as big as the building itself.” n LEAH BULETTI is a staff writer for NNY magazines. Contact her at 661-2381 or lbuletti@wdt.net.

44 |

NNY Business | December 2013

A Partner You Can Trust.

When it comes to insurance for your home, auto, boat, or business, look no further than the experienced professionals at Cantwell & Associates.

Cantwell & Associates

230 James St., Clayton, NY • 315-686-3350 • Fax: 315-686-3360 www.cantwellandassociates.com

2013

1950

Gary H. Zehr

Nina J. Zehr

***********************************************

ENV North Agency

Need Insurance? Call use - We have it all!

“Your Independent Agent”

Including: Health, Life, Disability, Dental, Vision, Medicare Advantage/ Supplement/Part D, Home, Auto, Commercial General Liability, Workers’ Compensation, Umbrella/Excess, NYS Notary Public

Telephone: (315) 846-9200

Fax: (315) 641-6353

3841 County Route 121, Mannsville, NY 13661 www.insurewithenv.com / Email: envnorth@insurewithenv.com

Protect Your Investment H.D. Goodale Co. INSURANCE

~ Since 1832 ~ 145 Clinton St., Suite 107 Watertown, New York 13601

(315) 788-4581

goodale@northnet.org

31 Years of Service and Experience!

1981

12767 US RT. 11, PO BOX 639, ADAMS CENTER, NY 13606

Carol, Jill, Linda

Phone (315) 583-5621 Fax (315) 583-5623

Your Local, Independent Insurance Agent for Over 30 Years

315-788-1885

about your Medicare?

Turning 65? Questions Call today for answers Historic Paddock Arcade Suite 30, Watertown, NY 13601

sduffany@verizon.net

110 South School St. 493-2110 Carthage, NY www.fullerinsuranceagency.com

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 45

M A N U FA C T U R I N G

Left, Robbin Lee, left, puts a rejected piece of paper on a recycling pile, while Christie Miller, right, waits for the next batch of paper to go through the trimmer.

Below, Omniafiltra Fiber Technologies’ Beaver Falls facility.

AMANDA MORRISON | NNY BUSINESS

A big reason to cheer Despite doubts, Omniafiltra marks decade of success

By CHRISTINA SCANLON

T NNY Business

his fall was more than a 10th anniversary for Omniafiltra, a papermaking mill in Beaver Falls. It was a celebration of rebirth, growth and success in a historically struggling industry.

In February 1999, more than 100 people lost their jobs when FiberMark shut down operations at the location as a cost-cutting measure.

“My heart was broken,” said Scott C. Sauer, who was employed at the mill at the time. Today, he’s the mill manager, but said it’s more than a job for him.

His passion for the mill and its employees was evident as he walked through, greeting fellow employees and explaining the machinery.

“We’re lucky. We’re lucky we have this and it didn’t end up like the Newton Falls plant,” he said.

Since closing, the Newton Falls facil-

46 |

NNY Business | December 2013

ity has been stripped of its machinery, leaving little hope of its ever reopening.

By contrast, Mr. Sauer credited FiberMark with keeping Charles E. Marolf on staff, keeping the building here heated and in good condition for the possibility of a return to production.

“Oh, it was lonely,” recalled Mr. Marolf, who for more than two years was the sole employee.

In December 2001, LTX Fibre Corp.

bought the 125,000-square-foot mill from FiberMark.

There was a glimmer of hope for the mill’s resurrection, but it was short lived.

Within months the mill was closed again.

The building sat empty again, except for Mr. Marolf.

M A N U FA C T U R I N G The second vacancy of the site was longer. Any customers had long since found other suppliers and former employees had found other jobs.

Mr. Sauer was then working at Climax Manufacturing when he learned the property had been sold, again.

It was a risky move in 2003, but he left Climax to manage new operations at Omniafiltra, an Italian-owned company.

“We had no orders, no previous customers,” he said.

Another challenge to overcome was

limited grant funding available to the new owners.

Mr. Sauer remembered giving the plant about a 50-50 chance of surviving the first year.

“It really was our crew that made this work,” said Mr. Sauer,” I can’t stress that enough.”

Not only did it survive; it’s grown.

From the original returning crew of nine employees, the mill now employs 37.

“We believe and understand our survival was and continues to be directly

proportional to the quality of the will of our employees to collectively act as one,” Mr. Sauer said. “There’s no such thing as ‘my job’ or ‘your job.’”

As the employees marked their 10th year, they re-enacted the first paper run 10 years ago when the first piece was ripped off and signed by the nine employees.

This time, there were 37 signatures. n CHRISTINA SCANLON is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact her at 376-6851or cscanlon@wdt.net.

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 47

R E A L E S TAT E R O U N D U P

Proper money management a must

A

large portion of our north country economy is dependent on the area’s largest employer, Fort Drum.

According to the latest Fort Drum Economic Impact Statement for the year ending Sept. 30, 2012, more than 38,000 soldiers and family members and 4,500 civilians currently make up the installation. The payroll for the 23,500 soldiers and civilians is over $1.17 billion.

Just like in the world outside the gate, the money soldiers earn doesn’t always stretch to the next paycheck. What resources are available to help that situation?

I spoke recently with Judee Kelly and Cheryl Matson at Fort Drum about those resources. Ms. Matson, assistant army emergency relief officer, works in the Army Emergency Relief office, a nonprofit organization that works with all active duty and retired armed forces personnel to offer interest-free loans in emergency situations.

Ms. Kelly, Financial Readiness Program manager, said that while AER is geared to short-term solutions, the FRP offers longterm solutions. The FRP offers all sorts of classes in areas including budget management, home and car buying, investing, prioritizing and tracking expenses and other dollar-stretching and wealthbuilding strategies. All personnel E-5 and below are required to take a financial readiness course within their first eight days of reporting for duty at Fort Drum.

For young soldiers, these are important skills that they may not have been exposed to before or need to relearn.

Many have not lived on their own before and haven’t had to worry about covering living expenses. Similarly, when a soldier

is deployed, their spouse may need to learn new financial skills, such as how to balance a checkbook, find bargains, save money for a rainy day, etc.

The FRP staff points out Lance Evans that “soldiers who spend an extraordinary amount of time worrying about money issues, don’t spend enough time on accomplishing their mission.”

They add that it is not how much a person earns that matters, but how they manage it that makes a difference. That is good advice for anyone, soldier or civilian. n

n

n

­­­­­­­­­­­On Nov. 4, Nikki Coates, Phillip Collins, Sharon Cook, Doug Hawkins, Mike Kassian, Norene Randall, Shirley Robinson, Matt Szeliga and I met with Congressman William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, and his chief of staff, Steve Hunt. During the session, we thanked him for his leadership and spoke to him about various consumer issues, including the importance of the mortgage interest deduction, flood insurance and the preservation of policies that encourage homeownership and investment in real estate. n

n

n

From Nov. 6 to 11, real estate professionals from across the U.S. and around the world attended the annual Realtors

Conference & Expo in San Francisco. The event included 100 educational sessions during which nationally recognized speakers, trainers and industry experts discussed issues currently critical to Realtors. Nearly 400 industry vendors presented the latest innovative tools for real estate professionals at the Trade Expo. The event also included a Habitat for Humanity build, and the committee, work group and business meetings of the Realtor organization.

The 2013 theme was Rise to New Heights, and this year’s event helped the 22,000 Realtors, association staff and guests to break through to success in today’s market and prepare their business for tomorrow’s opportunities. One of the highlights was the keynote address by former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

From the area, participants included Janet Handschuh, Lisa L’Huillier, Lori and Michelle Nettles, Karen Peebles, Debbie Staie, Jennifer Stevenson and myself. n

n

n

The 2014 officers of the Tri-County Chapter of Women’s Council of Realtors attended a training session in Latham in late October hosted by the New York State WCR. The event drew officers from the nine chapters around the state. Local participants included Charles Ruggiero, Janet Handschuh, Carolyn Gaebel, Debbie Staie, Lisa L’Huillier and myself. n LANCE M. EVANS is the executive officer of the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors and the St. Lawrence County Board of Realtors.

He has lived in the north country since 1985.

Contact him at levans@nnymls.com. His column appears monthly.

CONTACT WLDC TODAY - GROW YOUR BUSINESS TOMORROW! NOW LEASING “CLASS A” OFFICE SPACE - FRANKLIN BUILDING, DOWNTOWN WATERTOWN Financing options and incentives through the WLDC:

■Fixed - interest loans for real estate, machinery and equipment ■Working Capitol financing ■Leasehold improvement financing ■Assists in securing primary financing through commercial banks

For help with expanding or relocating your business to the City of Watertown Contact: Donald W. Rutherford CEO

Watertown Local Development Corporation (WLDC) 82 Public Square Watertown, NY 13601 48 |

NNY Business | December 2013

Phone: 315.786.3494 Fax: 315.786.3495 email: don@watertownldc.com

Looking to Buy or Sell?

1, 2 & 3 BEDROOMS

107 Water Street Dexter, NY 13634 Specializing in Residential and Waterfront Properties

Tammy S. Queior Lic. RE Broker/Owner

Sarah House April Marvin Tenaha Sparacino Jessica Percy Lic. RE Salesperson Lic. RE Salesperson Lic. RE Salesperson Lic. RE Salesperson

D La ux

PROPERTIES

Committed to Sell Lewis County Member of the Jefferson-Lewis MLS Service Donna M. Loucks, G.R.I., C.B.R. Broker/Owner

Beaver Meadow Apartments Located in Towne Center at Watertown

(315)788-7810

(315)788-7811(fax) • www.beavermeadowapts.com

www.dlauxproperties.com Phone: 315-377-3113 or 877-777-3113

Steve Kubinski (Associate Broker) 486-0059 Arnold Loucks (Sales Associate) 377-3113 Timothy Nortz (Sales Associate) 681-0768 Pam Hoskins (Associate Broker) 783-2740

Welcome to the 1000 I SLANDS After visiting, many people decide to make the Thousand Islands home.

You can, too! Let us put our experience to work for you!

Residential • Waterfront • Land • Commercial

Thinking of Buying?

• Exclusive buyer representation • Waterfront specialists • Military relocation specialists • First time home buyers • We guide you every step of the way

Thinking of Selling?

• Excellent web presence • Creative and effective marketing plans • Agent is on call when the office is closed • Detailed recording of your home available to buyers 24 hours a day

306 James Street, Clayton, NY 13624 www.tihomes4sale.com • Office: 316-686-5500 • Fax: 315-686-5505

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 49

R E A L E S TAT E

Third quarter property sales down

Analysts: New apartments slow sales in Jefferson County

By TED BOOKER

T

NNY Business

he plethora of new rental apartments and townhouses claimed by military families at housing complexes this summer caused Jefferson County home sales during the third quarter to slow markedly, according to Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors statistics.

Compared with the third quarter of 2012, Jefferson County residential sales plummeted by 18 percent, or 53 units, from 315 to 258. Year-to-date property sales as of Sept. 30 show that total home sales are down by 91 units from last year, dropping by 13 percent from 720 to 629 units.

It’s a downward trend that Lance M. Evans, executive officer of the board, attributes mainly to the widespread availability of rental apartments and townhouses built to serve the military population at Fort Drum.

“The advantage that the Preserve at Autumn Ridge and Beaver Meadows (in Watertown) have is that you can walk in and buy brand new,” Mr. Evans said. When “no one else has lived in your house yet, there’s a major difference.”

Mr. Evans said the convenience of moving into units immediately also is viewed by some buyers as an advantage over the time-consuming task of shopping for the right house. The quality of old rental apartments in the city also is improving, he said, because landlords are renovating old stock to stay competitive in a market that now has a vast range of housing options.

“Some landlords might be renovating their places and lowering the rent, because

50 |

NNY Business | December 2013

they need to offer” attractive options, he said.

2013 2012 Real estate brokers say that JEFFERSON COUNTY underwriters of Sales 258 315 mortgages issued Median price $157,000 $147,000 by banks have stiffLEWIS COUNTY ened their lending Sales 60 52 criteria this year, Median price $110,000 $115,000 Mr. Evans said.

They say “it’s ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY taking more work Sales 179 164 to get a property Median price $80,000 $80,000 sale closed,” he Source: Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors, St. Lawrence County Board of Realtors said. “Property appraisers and same trend, he said, with Jefferson County underwriters are being tougher, because down from last year. But he said he is regulations have come down from Washington to make sure that we’re not selling optimistic about the residential market in houses that will be under water soon.”

2014, because military members who are Third-quarter home sales in Lewis and deployed overseas less often will find buySt. Lawrence counties rose from last year. ing houses attractive.

Lewis County sales jumped by 15 percent, “I think you’re going to see similar presor eight units, from 52 to 60; St. Lawrence sure all around the housing market next County sales increased by 9 percent, or 15 year,” he said. units, from 164 to 179. Year-to-date as of Year-to-date sales through Sept. 30 show Sept. 30, Lewis County home sales rose by the median home price in Jefferson County 8 percent, from 115 to 124, and St. Lawincreased by 7 percent, from $147,000 to rence County sales increased 3 percent, $157,000. The median home price in Lewis from 398 to 409.

County decreased 4 percent, from $115,000 “If you look at what happened away to $110,000, while the median price in St. from the apartments in Jefferson County, Lawrence County stayed even at $80,000. sales are better in Lewis and St. Lawrence Statistics are based on home sales reportcounties. ed by about 340 members of the Jefferson Overall, “sales have been stable in those Lewis Board of Realtors and about 180 counties over the past two years,” Mr. from the St. Lawrence Board of Realtors.

Evans said.

Fourth-quarter home sales in the trin TED BOOKER is a Johnson Newspapers staff county region are expected to reflect the writer. Contact him at 661-2371or tbooker@wdt.net.

Q3 home real estate sales

TOP TRANSACTIONS / JEFFERSON COUNTY Top 10 property sales by sales price recorded in the Jefferson County clerk’s office in October 2013: $1,250,000: Oct. 3, Town of Pamelia and City of Watertown, Three parcels, Route 12, 108 Lewis St., VL-R Bradley Street, Pyramid Company of Watertown, Syracuse, sold to MSP Realty LLC, Watertown $1,200,001: Oct. 2, City of Watertown, 0.21 acre, Franklin Street (foreclosure), Todd Doldo, Watertown, referee, Solar & Frontier Buildings LLC and Gerald Kelly, sold to Washington Street Properties LLC, Watertown $1,100,000: Oct. 17, Town of Alexandria, Two parcels, 0.82 acre, 0.24 acre, Iroquois Island, James A. Murphy and Carol J. Murphy, Jamesville, sold to Iroquois Island Property LLC, Cicero $700,000: Oct. 31, Town of Alexandria, Iroquois

Island Shore Road, Marlo McCabe, Charlotte, N.C., and Julia McCabe, North Hollywood, Calif., sold to James M. Donegan and Donna Donegan, Alexandria Bay $700,000

acres, Brent Lane; 0.069 acre, Derouin Drive, Judith S. McAllaster-Gunn and Steven F. McAllaster-Gunn, Central Square, sold to Donald R. Smith and Carol A. Smith, Watertown

$610,000: Oct. 25, Town of Pamelia, Intersection, U.S. Route 11 and Plaza Drive (foreclosure) Susan Sovie, Watertown, referee, Jo Ann Sanchez, aka Jo Ann Sanchez-Norquist, sold to City National Bank N.A., Los Angeles, Calif. $610,000

$386,500: Oct. 8, Village of Sackets Harbor, 1.142 acres, Ontario Street, Clarence Joseph Eckhoff and Christine D. Eckhoff, Sackets Harbor, sold to Richard G. Sherry and Judy A. Carpenter, both of Watertown

$530,000: Oct. 7, Town of Alexandria, 2.608 acres, Route 12, New York Air Brake LLC, Watertown, sold to J. Paul Morgan and Carolyn Morgan, Watertown

$375,000: Oct. 25, Town of Lyme, 5.4 acres, County Route 125, Richard W. Hallock, trustee, Muriel K. Benson Trust, Chaumont, sold to Dale E. Goble and Lisa Goble, Woodbridge, Va.

$479,000: Oct. 2, Town of Hounsfield, Five parcels, 7.515 acres, intersection, Brent Lane and Derouin Drive; 0.248 acre, Brent Lane; 1.009 acres, intersection Brent Lane and Derouin Drive; 1.016

$355,000: Oct. 1, Hamlet of Three Mile Bay, 1.15 acres, Bay View Drive, Kimberly R. Barrett Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo., sold to Elliott S. Cohen and Margaret E. Crowe, both of Chaumont

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 51

G U E S T E S S AY

Nonprofits need help in health war

T

he nuns who once ran Mercy Hospital were said to have a distinct business model: God will provide.

Today, Mercy is long gone because — again it’s been said — even God couldn’t figure out how to get reimbursed for healing the indigent.

If you hang around health care providers long enough, you learn quickly that reimbursement is the conundrum of our times, especially as society expects there to be no ceiling when it comes to how many services are available and no basement when it comes to how many people are served.

The north country continues to wrestle with the need to expand health services without expanding the cost to provide those services. Thus, today we have several longtime service agencies that are only in business because they have managed to secure crisis funding through banks or community development groups.

Meanwhile, our financially strapped county governments are looking to offload programs to nonprofits because they are trying to eliminate as many salary, health insurance and pension costs as possible.

Over decades, our north country nonprofits have developed service models to meet client needs. Today, however, state and federal governments are demanding that more preventative medical care is administered, and that clients with multiple issues (behavioral health and substance abuse) be served at the same location.

The result is a free-for-all in which nonprofits are expanding their services, hoping they can be the “firstest with the mostest”

so their revenue stream stays intact.

The Children’s Clinic, which is on life-support with a $1.5 million debt load, has changed its name to North County Family Health to reflect Bob Gorman its expanded mission that includes adult care. AIDS Community Resource has changed its name to Access Care and Resources for Health, and now talks about hepatitis and diabetes as much as AIDS. The Alcohol and Substance Abuse Council of Jefferson County is about to pivot toward a new name to reflect the state-required expansion of its services.

And piling on is the planned closure of the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Hospital, which will throw the region’s mental hygiene system into a free fall. The Albany flow chart shows north country mental health clients seamlessly traipsing for as much as three hours to Syracuse and Utica for care. The ugly reality is that our first responders are now county sheriffs, whose jails are already full of people suffering from schizophrenia, depression, panic and bipolar disorders, etc.

In fact, the comment is now being made that if you want immediate mental health care in the north country, commit a crime.

(The colossal failure of north country politicians, governments, businesses, industries, colleges, hospitals nonprofits and journalists — including me — to coalesce last year in

recognizing and acting against this pending mental health debacle grows more stunning by the day. This is not just an Ogdensburg “jobs” problem that can be fixed by distributing a thousand “SAVE THE SLPC” t-shirts. From Massena to Turin, we have collectively failed to protect our citizenry and economy. Day by day we are one step closer to experiencing our own Newtown, Aurora, Washington Navy Yard, et al.)

We are in a war to ensure that our nonprofits can continue to provide affordable and reimbursed services to the least among us. Yet most of us don’t know a war is raging around us, or — and this is may be worse — too many of us believe reinforcements to maintain the status quo are on the way.

As always, community leaders have three options: they can manage change, manage crisis, or manage chaos. The north country missed Door No. 1. We need to unite and work together before Door No. 3 opens. n

n

n

CAMPAIGN NEWS Congratulations to the employees of the Development Authority of the North Country, who increased their combined United Way giving by 20 percent this year.

And thanks to S.C. Spencer Electric Inc., Constableville, the first donor to the Renee Beyer United Way Fund. The new endowment will eventually generate funds for Lewis County nonprofits. n ROBERT D. GORMAN is former managing editor of the Watertown Daily Times and president and CEO of United Way of Northern New York. Contact him at bgorman@nnyonline. net or 788-5631.

COME VISIT THE ALL NEW REDESIGNED WAITE TOYOTA. Serving NNY Since 1929.

SALES

18406 U.S. Route 11 Watertown, New York Phone: (315) 788-6022 WWW.WAITETOYOTA.COM

52 |

NNY Business | December 2013

SERVICE

E C O N O M I C A L LY S P E A K I N G

Leaders share essential qualities

A

s the holidays fast approach, we reflect on everything we are thankful for in our lives and in our communities.

The December issue of NNY Business reminds us of the good and caring people that work to improve the quality of life in our communities by recognizing 20 leaders under the age of 40.

Community leaders, at any age, form the fabric that makes our communities whole.

Leadership is a combination of traits that, if woven correctly in the right person, can result in productive outcomes. What are these traits? In June I was asked to speak about leadership at the Greater Watertown Jaycees’ Emerge NNY event. Below are my top three qualities of an effective leader: n Empowerment: Effective leaders get others involved in the cause, whether it’s the mission of a company or that of a civic organization. A good leader gives direction and then provides latitude to others in order to obtain optimal results. n Active listener: Listening is a skill. Effective leaders listen even when they may not agree with what they are hearing. An active listener hears others’ points of view, reflects on the information and reacts accordingly to move the cause forward. n Flexibility: Good leaders are able to make changes to plans when something unexpected occurs or when new information arises that may impact the plan. Leaders need to be able to assess situations and respond accordingly.

Any good leader listens to the words of others. So, to be completely unbiased, I asked two community leaders for their top three traits of effective leaders.

Erika F. Flint, executive director of the

Watertown Urban Mission and past recipient of the NNY Business 20 Under 40 award: n Integrity: Laws, bylaws, employee manuals, etc. are unfortunately not enough to ensure ethical and fair Michelle Capone decisions are always made. A true leader needs a moral compass to ensure there are times that decisions are made even though it is not the most popular or most profitable, but simply because it is the right thing to do. n Passion: For a group to achieve success the leader must have the passion necessary to instill genuine joy and excitement in the cause. When a team believes in the work being done, their level of commitment, morale and ability are all optimized. n Self-confidence: Not to be mistaken for arrogance. A successful leader must build up the entire team, helping everyone around them to be the very best they can be. The leader must be confident and comfortable enough with their authentic self and decisions that they aren’t threatened by others around them, but instead appreciate, support and enable each individual on the team.

Rande S. Richardson, executive director of the Northern New York Community Foundation and past recipient of the Israel A. Shapiro Citizenship Award: n Optimism: In order to accomplish any goal, a leader needs others. The end result must be rooted in reality, but to inspire

others to realize their full potential, leaders must help them envision that it can be done and set a clear direction. A leader must not only fervently believe that something is achievable, but be able to create an environment that draws people to follow. Optimism multiplies the confidence required to succeed and helps others believe in their own abilities. Inspiration is contagious. n Commitment: Without perseverance, a dream remains a dream. Leaders must have the fortitude to take something from concept to completion. This requires discipline and the ability to stay focused on the end result even when it is not easy to do so. A leader will never motivate others if they are all talk and no walk. The leader must, more than anyone else involved, demonstrate belief in the goal and courage to see it through.

It separates the doers from the dreamers. n Humility/gratitude: These powerful forces work together. A good leader is humble enough to know that surrounding oneself with the brightest and best talent is critical and that no one person is an expert on everything. Genuine humility is a quality that affirms that you really care not just about the goal, but about others as individuals. The best leaders also are quick to show appreciation and communicate the value and worth of others, always sharing the credit for, and ownership of, success.

To the newest class of 20 Under 40, congratulations and best wishes. Take a moment to reflect on these qualities. You are the fabric of our communities and our future leaders.

n MICHELLE L. CAPONE is regional development director for the Development Authority of the North Country. Contact her at mcapone@ danc.org. She is a member of the Greater Watertown Jaycees and Sunrise Rotary.

Focusing on patient results... let us get results for you!

315.786.8973

316 Sherman Street, Watertown, NY 13601

Roger R. Howard, CPO - Director

DESIGNS FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE w w w. h o w a r d r e h a b c e n t e r. c o m

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 53

B U S I N E S S L AW

Implied warranties protect goods

I

n October, I wrote about express warranties, which are created by the actions of the seller or lessor of goods. I will now explore the other type of warranties: implied warranties. Implied warranties are created by operation of law and are said to “ride with the sale or lease of goods” unless they are limited or excluded by contract language. There are two types of implied warranties in New York. The first is implied warranty of merchantability, and the second is implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.

An implied warranty of merchantability is created when a “seller who is a merchant with respect to the goods of that kind,” sells or leases goods. The key limitation on the implied warranty of merchantability is occupation of the seller. The seller must be a merchant with respect to the goods of that kind. Once the merchant definition has been met, then any sale or lease of goods creates the implied warranty. The implied warranty of merchantability provides a safety net for the buyer or lessee to ensure that the goods are of merchantable quality.

The implied warranty of merchantability has several parts that offer protection to a buyer. The protections include that the goods should be adequately packaged or labeled or meet the promises that are made on the package or container. Under this warranty, the goods do not have to be perfect, but fit for their ordinary purpose.

Another important provision related to the implied warranty of merchantability is the quality of food or drink. The implied

54 |

NNY Business | December 2013

warranty covers the serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the premises or elsewhere. This means that food or beverages purchased in a restaurant or Larry Covell grocery market are both covered by the statute.

The second type of implied warranty is the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. The facts of the sale or lease are critical to the creation of this warranty. In this type of warranty, the seller must know the particular purpose for which the goods are to be sold or leased and the buyer is relying on the seller’s skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods. If these facts can be established in a sale or lease, then the implied warranty that the goods are fit for such purpose is created.

An implied warranty of merchantability stipulates only that the goods must be of fair and average quality, but in a warranty of fitness, the goods must fit a specific purpose that the buyer or leasee has in mind for them.

Another key difference in the two implied warranties is that in the implied warranty of merchantability, the seller must be a merchant of the kind; whereas in implied warranty of fitness, the seller need not be a merchant, but must know

the specific goods for which they are going to be used and must know that the buyer is relying on his or her expertise to select suitable goods. This warranty is often created when a customer goes to home center or auto parts stores and relies on the clerk’s expertise to select appropriate goods to solve a problem.

Implied warranties can be limited or disclaimed by such language “as is” or “with all faults.” These are general disclaimers and do not work in all situations with the implied warranty of merchantability. General disclaimers do work in certain consumer transactions and in cases with food and drink sales.

To specifically disclaim an implied warranty of merchantability, the disclaimer must mention the word “merchantability” and, if it is in writing, the language must be conspicuous. The font of the contract language must be of such a size that a reasonable person will notice it.

To specifically disclaim an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, it is not necessary that the language mention the term “fitness” by name, but the disclaimer must be in writing.

The commercial code actually provides language to help sellers disclaim the warranty of fitness. The language is: “There are no warranties that extend beyond the description on the face hereof.” n LARRY COVELL is a professor of business at Jefferson Community College and an attorney.

Contact him at lcovell@sunyjefferson.edu. His column appears every other month in NNY Business.

COMMERCE CORNER

For success, work hard and smart

A

wise man once said “There are no secrets in success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” These words by Colin Powell ring true for this year’s 20 under 40 selectees and other leaders in our community.

Success does not come easily; it comes through hard work and determination, as well as overcoming obstacles. Success rarely falls into one’s lap, but rather come through drive, skills and the ability to learn from mistakes along the way.

Business owners come in all shapes and sizes and many different personalities, but ultimately the strong survive.

Hard workers are identified as having high energy, can appear inpatient and often aren’t satisfied sitting still and waiting.

But individuals that have a Lynn Pietroski strong desire to succeed are constantly thinking and seeking ways to

about a particular business, but the individual standing next to them can have the same amount of knowledge with more determination, ultimately giving that person the edge.

Incorporating working hard and working smarter can produce immeasurable outcomes; it is not a matter of using one more than the other, but a matter of using them together to ensure a positive and successful outcome. Regardless of the concept of a smart plan, a person needs the capacity to take on the work for the plan to be successful.

Being one’s own worst critic can be more difficult than having to prove one’s self to a supervisor or a CEO of a major company. This can add additional unnecessary stress, which can cause inefficiencies.

WORK ETHIC Many individuals find a niche in life, a natural fit or passion that makes working something you become dedicated to and want to work hard at to succeed. It almost seems like a natural fit, a destined relationship. It is next to impossible to teach an individual to become passionate about something to the point that regardless of the innumerable obstacles they face on the path to success, they are relentless in attaining it.

As work becomes more of a passion, the drive within us becomes more charged, which as humans leads to a stronger work ethic. Success is derived from a person developing a work ethic that instills loyalty, integrity and passion.

increase their success or improve day-today operations.

MASURING SUCCESS, HARD WORK There are the obvious ways to measure success: profit margin, customer base and customer and employee satisfaction. But frequently the individual that owns or runs a business can be the most honest tool of measuring success.

These individuals are their own hardest critic and expect the most from themselves, as well as from their employers and customers.

Many of us have been told to work smarter, not harder. A person can have an enormous amount of knowledge

WORK-LIFE BALANCE Being one’s own worst critic can be more difficult than having to prove one’s self to a supervisor or a CEO of a major company. This can add additional unnecessary stress, which can cause inefficiencies. Finding a balance between work and life can be even more challenging with the increased use of technology and smartphones, and the fast pace of today’s world. We often hear, “leave your work at the office,” or “leave your baggage at the door when at work.”

This can be a challenge as some people work to live, versus living to work, which can be detrimental. n LYNN PIETROSKI is president and CEO of the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. Contact her at ceo@watertownny. com. Her column appears monthly.

Your Regional Recycling Resource A partnership of the Development Authority of the North Country and Jefferson, Lewis & St. Lawrence Counties.

www.NorthCountryRecycles.org

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 55

AGRI-BUSINESS

County gets spruced up ag website

V

isit www.comefarmwithus. com on Jan. 1, 2014 and you will find a brand new site replacing Jefferson County’s agricultural website, which has been in existence since 2002. The site is the brainchild of the Jefferson County Agricultural Development Council, an advisory council to the Jefferson County Local Development Corporation.

In 2002 the Agricultural Development Council felt it was necessary to develop a website for the county’s ag industry that would provide resources on agriculture for both farmers and businesses, as well as benefit the public. Early on, the site played a huge role in the mission to attract new farm families to the area. The “Local Farms For Sale” page regularly featured as many as a dozen farms for sale either through local realtors or privately by the farm owner.

That feature generated up to a dozen calls to our office per week from people all over the United States who were interested in relocating to New York to farm.

The page also provided information on local banks, ag agencies and soil and climate information useful to anyone interested in moving to the area to farm. It also helped attract other ag businesses like Morris Northstar Hatchery, located in the Jefferson County Industrial Park, to the area.

On the new website, we will continue to have much of the same information as before, and provide a place for farms for sale to be listed for free, although we are not receiving the number of farms for sale that we did in the past because of the current expansion of our agricultural industry and the demand for farmland across the

county.

Another feature of the old website was the local foods section.

We listed many of our local food producers by production sector, such as maple syrup, on Jay Matteson the site, as well as all of the local farmers markets.

Our new site is more interactive. Visitors to the site will be able to use an interactive map to locate farms and ag destinations, as well as view a summary of information about the business. Farmers markets will

as our old site was in our first decade.

n

n

n

Since Dec. 11, 2000, our agricultural economic development office has been based in or next to the USDA Service Center on state Route 232 in the town of Watertown.

When we were setting up our program, the brain trust that helped in our formation felt it was important to stay directly connected with the core group of ag agencies in Jefferson County to help build our identity with the ag industry and establish an important foundation.

As we enter our second decade of service to agriculture, our agricultural leaders feel it is important to forge a more direct connection with the rest of the economic development agencies and leadership that we work with. To that end, we have relocated our offices to the Jefferson County Local Development Corporation office at 800 Starbuck Ave. in Watertown.

In addition to establishing a stronger connection to various economic development tools, the move saves money on lease costs, which can be used to enhance our ag programming. We will also work more closely with the Local Development Corporation staff to benefit agriculture.

Call or write to us at our new location: 800 Starbuck Ave., Watertown NY 13601 or (315) 782-5865.

Visitors to the site will be able to use an interactive map to locate farms and ag destinations. be listed on the map during the market season too. We believe this new feature will become a valuable resource for the public to locate farm-based food and beverages.

The new website will have sections that our office can quickly and easily update. If a piece of important news needs to quickly get out to the public, we’ll be able to post it on the website, with links to our Facebook and Twitter accounts as well. A link to the online version of our ag radio show, The Home Grown Show, will also be available.

As with all websites, ours will be a continual work in progress. As we receive feedback from the community, we’ll continue to upgrade and improve the site. We hope that www.comefarmwithus.com will be as valuable a resource

n JAY M. MATTESON is agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency. He is a lifelong Northern New York resident who lives in Lorraine. Contact him at coordinator@comefarmwithus.com.

His column appears monthly.

ROBERT R. STURTZ, PRESIDENT

SLACK

CHEMICAL COMPANY INC. Since 1944 Industrial - Municipal - Warehousing & Packaging Distributor

Products: Ice Melters • Dairy Chemicals • Pool Chemicals • Industrial Chemicals • Water Treatment Chemicals • Plating Chemicals • Waste Treatment Chemicals • Paper Chemicals • And so much more...

Equipment: Polymer Feed Systems • Tanks • Pumps • Totes • Melting Pumps • Drums • Test Kits

ISO 9001:2000

Serving the Northeastern United States

UL

CARTHAGE, CASTORLAND, and SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY • 1-800-479-0430 56 |

NNY Business | December 2013

BUSINESS TECH BYTES

Perks, frustrations in Windows 8.1

H

appy holiday season 2013.

While I’m sure some are wrapped and ready to roll, others of you haven’t even stepped foot in a store or perused any online shopping sites yet.

This year, like years past, will still pose the question: laptop, tablet, iPad, Microsoft Surface? The underdog, Microsoft, knew this and recently released the Windows 8.1 operating system update.

Although not a dismal failure, this latest operating system from the Redmond crew still proves to be far from perfect.

A version of the Start button familiar to all from previous operating systems returns but at times seems to only gide you.

The Windows 8.1’s “Start button” appears while in desktop mode but a left click does not provide a pop-up menu of your apps as hoped but instead takes you back to Windows 8.1’s “metro” start screen and the Modern User Interface.

Was Redmond really listening? The right click on the start button is more efficient and does provide some useful familiar functionality like Device Manger, Computer Management and the Command Prompt, and also addresses the need to shut down your device from the desktop, which was completely absent in Windows 8.

Easier maintenance of your start screen is now possible with the elimination of a tile creation each time you install a program or download an application. This new, clean start screen is further enhanced with a few tweaks allowing en masse uninstall and a selection of four different customizable tile sizes.

Microsoft is hailing a reworking of the system’s core search functionality as a major “improvement” in Windows 8.1.

Windows 8 had been a bit of a convoluted mess forcing you to Jill Van Hoesen choose exactly what you were trying to find: An app? A file or system setting? Or perhaps data within an individual Windows 8 app? It was cumbersome and took a lot of clicks.

Windows 8.1 goes to another extreme: when you start a search in the operating system’s start screen, you get a default search of everything on your hard drive, period. You can search the web, but only on Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Fewer clicks are required, however the trade-off is the loss of functionality to search specific parts of apps. You must now load the application and perform a specific search within it.

The most seamless of 8.1 improvements is SkyDrive’s integration. Skydrive is Dropbox with a twist on synchronization. This “placeholder file” system, as explained by Microsoft, creates ghost files that “look and feel like normal folders and files. You can tap or click a folder and see all the folders and files inside it.

You can tap or click a file and it will open, edit it and close it. You can move, delete, copy or rename placeholder files just like you would any folder or file. But [it] only

downloads the full file when you access it.”

Microsoft does make it easy for you to see how much Skydrive space you’re using and of course offers you the opportunity to quickly buy more.

Speaking of buying, Windows 8.1’s new Windows Store shows a noticeable attempt to emulate Apple and Google through efforts that make it more practical, browse-able and just all around more user-friendly.

With this new update, Microsoft hoped to please those who were upset with the modernized tile interface by bringing back some features, while continuing to make improvements for those who embraced the modern look. If you’re an existing Windows 8 user, the update is free and should be seamless, bringing some useful new tweaks and features. You should upgrade as soon as possible.

If you’re a Windows 7 user thinking of upgrading your legacy hardware, consider staying with Windows 7 until it’s time for a new PC; those touchoptimized Windows 8 and 8.1 elements won’t do much for you anyway, and Windows 7 still works well with all sorts of applications.

Either way, you’ll probably have to get used to Windows 8 eventually, since it’s Microsoft’s PC operating system now.

After April 8, 2014, technical assistance for Windows XP will no longer be available with Windows 7 following in 2015. n JILL VAN HOESEN is chief information officer for Johnson Newspapers and a 25-year IT veteran. Contact her at jvanhoesen@wdt.net.

Her column appears monthly.

Locally Owned and Operated ~ Mobile Shreds Onsite ~ Fast, Safe & Secure.

Call to set up free estimate or schedule service ~ Servicing Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence and parts of Franklin and Essex Counties ~ WE PROVIDE RELIABLE, TIMELY SERVICE, AND STAND BEHIND THAT.

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 57

SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS

Unfreeze slow first quarter sales

F

or many businesses in Northern New York, the last quarter of the year marks a boom in business followed by a lull during the first quarter of the new year. Rather than resigning yourself as a business owner to suffer through the cold months of January, February and March on a shoestring, take advantage of holiday customer traffic to feed first quarter sales.

One sure-fire strategy is to use the increased foot traffic your business gets during the holiday season to boost your email (or snail mail) list. Actively request contact information from your customers during the last quarter. Then use the list to send your customers special offers and promotions during the first quarter and afterward. You can also send out announcements to highlight specific products or services your customers may have missed during the holiday rush.

The key to drawing in first quarter customer traffic is to give your holiday customers a reason to come back after the new year dawns.

It can be something as simple as providing a coupon dated for use in the first quarter. Or, it could include some type of open house or winter-themed event that will generate interest and encourage customers to stop in. Activities that include some type of community benefit, such as a fundraiser for a local charity, will help build good will with customers as well as spur interest in your products and services. Many communities and chambers of commerce host winter-themed events.

Take advantage by participating in a way

that makes your business memorable and encourages the community to patronize it.

If your first quarter sales are usually low, it may help to show customers that your Michelle Collins products and services are still relevant in winter. For instance, a small engine repair shop could offer deals on tune-ups for lawn care equipment to help customers get prepared for spring.

get more views.

Contests or fun competitions can be very successful in increasing customer traffic if done right. A trivia game or word hunt that features a new challenge over a series of weeks not only keeps interest going, but has the added benefit of getting customers in the door if you encourage people to play or enter at your location.

Center the contest on a winter theme, or perhaps find a way to incorporate the daily weather report or snow fall totals.

Most importantly, keep the game simple — not too hard to understand or too time consuming — and fun.

Offering educational programs for customers is always a great way to build a rapport as well as establish yourself as an expert in your field who customers can turn to for advice. Although north country winters have a way of making us shut-ins, cabin fever can also set in later in the winter. People feel the urge to get out despite the bad weather. Keep programs short and simple so people don’t lose interest. Also see if there’s a tie-in from your holiday sales. For instance, if you have an electronics store, offer a series of short sessions on how to use the latest tablet or other device.

We never really know what winter is going to bring here in Northern New York, but some of these strategies may help you make the most of the long, cold, slow first quarter.

If your first quarter sales are usually low, it may help to show customers that your products and services are still relevant in winter.

58 |

NNY Business | December 2013

A lodge could offer a reminder to book summer vacations early and beat the rush. Retail shops can promote items that encourage customers to treat themselves with a gift after a busy season of holiday giving. You can plant the seeds for these promotions during the holiday season.

Social media may also be a good way to generate interest in your business during the winter months, when people will be more likely to spend time indoors on their electronic devices. Those who received new devices as holiday gifts will also be spending a lot of time on their new toys as they figure them out. So announcements you make or products you feature may

n MICHELLE COLLINS is a certified business advisor with the New York State Small Business Development Center at SUNY Canton. Contact her at collinsm@canton.edu. Her column appears bi-monthly in NNY Business.

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 59

COMMUNITY / BUSINESS CALENDAR

CANTON

60 |

TUESDAY, DEC. 31

n New Year’s kickoff party, 7 to 9 p.m., Blackbird Café, 107 Main St. Live music by jazz group A Fine Line, drink specials, hors d’oeuvres. Information: 386-8104 or www.theblackbirdcafe.com.

CARTHAGE WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18

n Holiday After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m., Jose O’Connor’s. Networking, prizes and food.

Sponsored by the Carthage Republican Tribune.

Admission: $4. More information: 493-3590.

CHAUMONT SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n Eight annual Holiday House Tour, 6 to 8 p.m., starts at the Copley House. Self-guided tour through homes decorated for the holidays, including the historic Dunham home in the village of Chaumont. Tour will be followed by an hors d’oeuvres reception including holiday treats and caroling at the Copley House. Sponsored by Lyme Community Foundation; $20 tickets benefit the nonprofit. Reservations must be made by Dec. 12: Julie Bocciolatt, 7831915 or bocciolatts@aol.com.

SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n Christmas raffle, ongoing through Dec. 14, Lyme Free Library, 12165 Route 12E. Items include snow pixie sculpture by Tracey Kraft, a hunting blanket and a Scooby Doo apron from Judith Phinney, a fall blanket from Pat Reomo, candles, books, Christmas decorations, stockings, four handmade scarves, towels, mugs, plates and more. Benefits children’s programming at the library. Tickets are $2; three for $5. More information: 649-5454 of www. lymefreelibrary.org.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 15

n Chicken and Biscuit Dinner, 4 p.m., Three Mile Bay United Methodist Church, 8580 Route 12E. Tickets: $9, adults; children 10 and younger, $4.50; children 5 and younger, free.

CLAYTON TUESDAY, DEC. 10

n Gift Tags and Ornament Craft for adults, 5

NNY Business | December 2013

to 7 p.m., Hawn Memorial Library. Learn to make gift tags and ornaments with repurposed books. Free admission. More information: 686-3762.

THURSDAY, DEC. 12

n Business with a Twist, 5 to 7 p.m., Thousand Islands Museum. Networking, prizes, food.

Sponsored by the Thousand Islands Museum, Cantwell and Associates and River Audio. More information: www.1000islands-clayton.com.

SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n Darryl Worley — Froggy 97 Jingle Hop 2, 6 and 9 p.m., Clayton Opera House, 405 Riverside Drive. Darryl Worley is a modern country singer whose hit singles include “I Miss My Friend,” “Awful, Beautiful Life” and “Have You Forgotten.” He hit the Top 20 with the first three singles from his major-label debut Hard Rain Don’t Last and earned nominations for five major ACM and CMA awards. Tickets: $25-40.

Box Office: 686-2200 or www.claytonoperahouse.com.

DEPAUVILLE THURSDAY, DEC. 12

n Holiday rubber stamping class, 6 to 8 p.m., Depauville Free Library. Make your own cards or tags with Joyce Gould. All supplies, as well as refreshments, will be provided. Free admission. All ages welcome. More information: 686-3299.

TUESDAY, DEC. 17

n Make your own Christmas centerpiece, 6 to 8 p.m., Depauville Free Library. Make an ornament for the holiday season with Diane Jordan of Catz Paw Floral & Stuff. Free admission, but class limited to 15 participants. To make a reservation: 686-3299 or deplib@ncls.org.

EVANS MILLS SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n Breakfast with Santa, 8 to 11 a.m., Evans Mills Volunteer Ambulance Squad, 8733 Factory St. Menu: pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, milk, hot chocolate, orange juice. Tickets: $5; senior citizens 65 and older, $4; children ages 3 to 12, $3; children ages 2 and younger, free.

Portraits with Santa, games, coloring contest with prices. More information: 629-6081.

DEWITT SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n A Family Christmas Pie, 7:30 p.m., Holy Cross Church, 4112 E. Genesee St. Choral works, carol singing and pie reception following the concert. Admission: $20; seniors and students, $5. More information: 446-0473.

SUNDAY, DEC. 22

n Joyeux Noel, 4 p.m., Peeble Hill Presbyterian Church, 5299 Jamesville Road. Schola Cantorum, conducted by Berry Torres, will present a holiday concert of 17th Century French music and other seasonal pieces with a Gallic flavor. Admission: $15; seniors and students, $10. More information: 446-1757.

FORT DRUM FRIDAY, DEC. 13

n Annual candlelight remembrance ceremony, 6 to 9:30 p.m., Po Valley Chapel, Family and Spiritual Fitness Center. Surviving families will have the opportunity to pay tribute to their fallen soldier. Attendees are asked to bring a dish that was special to their soldier for pot luck dinner to kick off the evening. Ceremony, candle lighting, desserts and refreshments will follow.

Free admission, pot luck offering encouraged.

To RSVP: 772-6357.

SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n Teen Gingerbread House Contest, 3 to 5 p.m., Youth Center. Teams will compete to create the best gingerbread house. Space is limited to the first 16 youths, grades six to 12.

Free. Register by Dec. 13: 772-6719.

THURSDAY, DEC. 19

n Holiday Ham Buffet Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., The Commons. Menu includes baked honey-glazed ham, roasted medley of sweet, russet and red potatoes, glazed baby carrots with pineapple, rolls with butter and drink.

Tickets: $7.95. More information: 772-6222.

SATURDAY, DEC. 28

n Teen Snow Sculpture Contest, 2 to 4 p.m., Youth Center. Fun contest with snow for youth in grades six to 12. Bring warm clothing. Free.

More information: 772-6719.

OGDENSBURG SATURDAY, DEC. 14 TO SUNDAY, DEC. 22

n Lights on the River, 5 to 9 p.m. daily, Lis-

SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n 30th Annual Holiday Gala, 7 p.m. to midnight, Frederic Remington Art Museum, 303 Washington St. Museum will be decorated in this year’s “Cabin in the Woods” theme. Music

by Double Axel and Lest Gates, cash bar and hors d’oeuvres, portraits available by House of Photography, silent auction. More information: 393-2425.

POTSDAM FRIDAY, DEC. 13 & SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n Craft, Food and Wine Show, Friday 12 to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Cheel Arena, Clarkson University. More than 110 vendors will sell everything from unique jewelry and Amish-made baskets to wines from local vineyards. Admission: $3. Complete list of vendors: www.northcountryguide.com.

SKANEATELES FRIDAY, NOV. 29 TO SUNDAY, DEC. 22

n 20th Annual Dickens Christmas in Skaneateles, noon to 4 p.m., 20 Genesee St. Every Saturday and Sunday starting the day after Thanksgiving. Actors clad in period attire will perform interactive street theater on Genesee, Jordan and Fennell Streets and in the village’s shops and restaurants. Live music, shopping, food, and horse and wagon rides around the village. More information: 685-0522 or www. skaneateles.com.

will be turned off at midnight. Free. More information: 453-6712.

THURSDAY, JAN. 16

n CEO Economic Forecast Breakfast, 7:30 to 10 a.m., Oncenter, 800 S. State St. Join CenterState CEO members, business leaders and executives for the 2014 Economic Forecast presentation. Admission: $35, members; non-members, $45; table of 10 for members, $300 for members, $400 for non-members.

More information: 470-1870.

WATERTOWN FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS, NOV. 29 — DEC. 29

n Winter Wonderland Weekends, 5:30 to 8 p.m., New York State Zoo at Thompson Park.

To celebrate the winter season, the zoo will be open extended hours so visitors can go “walking in a winter wonderland.” Activities for all ages. Hot chocolate, coffee and refreshments available for purchase at Wildside Café. Admission: $3, adults; children ages 3 to 12, $2; zoo members, free. More information: www.nyszoo.org.

MONDAY, DEC. 9

n JCC Higher Ed Center: Bryant & Stratton Information Session, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Room E-115, Extended Learning Center, Jefferson Community College. Learn about the Health Services Admission bachelor’s of science degree offered through Bryant and Stratton College on the JCC campus. Courses start spring semester 2014.

More information: www.sunyjefferson.edu.

THURSDAY, DEC. 12

SYRACUSE

n An evening with author Barbara Briggs Ward, 6 p.m., North Country Library System, 22072 County Route 190. Barbara Briggs Ward is an award winning author of “The Reindeer Keeper” and “The Snowman Maker.” Dessert and coffee will be served. Cost: $8. To RSVP: Melissa Balk, 649-2281 or librarianbalk@gmail.com.

SATURDAY, DEC. 21

SATURDAY, DEC. 14

n December TACNY Junior Café Scientifique, 9:30 to 11 a.m., Museum of Science & Technology, 500 S. Franklin St. Hands-on robotics exploration assisted by student members of the Uticaarea RoboSpartans FIRST Robotics team. High school robotics teams will provide hands-on, interactive demonstrations. Sponsored by the Technology Alliance of Central New York and geared to middle school students. Continental breakfast provided. Participants can tour the MOST exhibits free of charge after the events. RSVP to jrcafe@ tacny.org by Dec. 19 with number of attendees.

More information: www.most.org.

FRIDAY, DEC. 27

n December Bank Show, 8 p.m., Central New York Playhouse, 3649 Erie Blvd. A night of improv, stand-up comedy and music to ring in the New Year. Admission: $5. More information: 885-8960 or www.syracuseimprov collective.com.

SATURDAY, JAN. 4

n Run thru Wegmans Lights on the Lake, 11 p.m., Onondaga Lake Park, 106 Lake Drive, Liverpool. Approximately 4-mile run starts at the Griffin Visitor Center, out to Willow Bay and back. No walkers. Lights

n Holiday Festival, 7:30 p.m., Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St. The Orchestra of Northern New York will celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year with a special concert of classics, including White Christmas, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. The audience will be able to join along in the singing of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah and other selected carols. Features the Potsdam Community Chorus under the direction of Tammara Madeja and the Northern Choral Society under the direction of Sara Gleason. Tickets: $22, www.onny.org or 267-3251.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18

n Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m., Paddock Arcade. Networking, prizes, food. Sponsored by the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. Register by noon Tuesday, Dec. 17. Admission: $8, members registered in advance; non-registered members, $10; non-members, $12.

SATURDAY, DEC. 21

n Parents’ Night Out, 5:30 to 8 p.m., New York

State Zoo at Thompson Park. The zoo will entertain your children with crafts, animals and other fun games while you attend a holiday party of your choosing. Admission: $10/child; families with three or more children, $8 ($20 for members). Pre-registration required: 782-6180.

MONDAY, DEC. 23 THROUGH THURSDAY, JAN. 2

n Winter Zoofari, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., New York State Zoo at Thompson Park. Weekdays during school holiday break. Choose either half-day sessions from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or full-day sessions from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each day will have a different theme and educational activities, games, crafts and animals. Tuition: $18, half-day session; full-day session, $27 (members, $15, $32). To register: 755-0895 or www.nyszoo.org.

THURSDAY, JAN. 2

n Performance Poetry, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Extended Learning Center E-129, Jefferson Community College. Learn how to bring poetry to life. Bring a bagged lunch. Instructor: Sarah Ada. Tuition: $50. To register: 786-2438.

FRIDAY, JAN. 3

n Pow! Zap! Zing! Comic Book Making Camp, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Extended Learning Center E-129, Jefferson Community College.

Open to grades four through nine. Instructor Sarah Ada will teach a crash course on understanding graphics, writing prompts, storyboards, artwork, editing and publication to show students how to find, write and create their own image-driven stories. Bring a bagged lunch. Pre-registration required: Continuing Education Center, 786-2438. More information: www.sunyjefferson.edu.

SUNDAY, JAN. 5 TO SUNDAY, JAN. 26

n JCC Softball Clinics, pitching session 4:45 to 5:45 p.m., hitting session 6 to 7 p.m., McVean Gymnasium, Jefferson Community College. Sundays Jan. 5, 12, 19, 26. Registration will continue until start date of each clinic: JCC softball coach, Lyndsay Rowell, lrowell@sunyjefferson.edu or 786-2232.

MONDAY, JAN. 6

n SUNY Potsdam Information Session, 3 to 5 p.m., Room E-115, Extended Learning Center.

Learn about the graduate degree programs offered at JCC through SUNY Potsdam. Free admission. More information: 786-2373.

COMMUNITY / BUSINESS CALENDAR

bon beach and campground, 9975 Route 37.

Family event with holiday-themed light displays designed by the community. Free admission.

Donations accepted for north country food pantries. More information: www.lightsontheriver.org or 854-2657.

TUESDAY, JAN. 7

n SUNY Empire State College Information Session, 7 to 9 p.m., Room E-115, Extended Learning Center, Jefferson Community College. Learn about individually designed degree programs across 12 areas of study offered via SUNY Empire State College at the Jefferson Higher Education Center. Free.

More information: Carol Petrie, 876-6541 or carol.petrie@esc.edu.  GOT A BUSINESS EVENT or calendar item? Email nnybusiness@wdt.net. Deadline is the 10th of each month for the following month’s issue. Visit us on Facebook at www. facebook.com/NNYBusiness or www.nnybizmag.com for events calendar updates.

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 61

62 |

NNY Business | December 2013

BUSINESS SCENE Clayton Chamber of Commece Business With a Twist at Thousand Islands ArtsCenter

From left, Emilie Cardinaux, Clayton, and Joy Rhinebeck, chairwoman, Thousand Islands Arts Center board of trustees.

From left, Nicole Heath, events coordinator, and Marcia Rogers, education coordinator,Thousand Islands Arts Center, Clayton.

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Leslie W. Rowland, executive director, Thousand Islands Arts Center, and Barbara Thomas, treasurer, Thousand Islands Arts Center board of trustees. The Thousand Islands Arts Center hosted the Clayton Chamber of Commerce’s Business With a Twist networking event on Nov. 7.

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Jeff Garnsey, Garnsey Classic Island Tours, wife, Julie, and Tony Randazzo, Coyote Moon Vineyards, Clayton.

KRAFFT

LEED Compliant/ Environmentally Friendly Services Janitorial Service Carpet Cleaning Hard Floor Care Construction Clean-Ups Window Washing Pressure Washing Mat Cleaning

CLEANING SERVICE, INC.

315-782-4437 or 315-783-4437 www.krafftcleaning.com

The North Country’s Cleaning Professionals Since 1971

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 63

BUSINESS SCENE Second Annual Jefferson Gala at Jefferson Community College

Tom Cheney, Cheney Tire, and wife, Kathy, both of Watertown.

LEAH BULETTI PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

Tanya Hoistion, Jefferson Community College, and husband, David, Walmart, both of Calcium. The Jefferson Community College Foundation hosted its annual Jefferson Gala Nov. 9 at the college. Proceeds from the event benefitted the foundation, which awards 290 scholarships totaling nearly $300,000 to JCC students each year.

n LIKE NNY BUSINESS ON FACEBOOK

at www.facebook .com/nny business or scan this QR Code with your smartphone for links to exclusive content, daily updates and sneak peeks of coming issues.

64 |

NNY Business | December 2013

Joe and Beth Maurer, both of Watertown.

LEAH BULETTI PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

Mary Corriveau and husband, James W., Fort Drum director of public works, both of Watertown.

BUSINESS SCENE GWNC Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours at Best Western

From left, Dr. Aimee Paradis and Mary Leone, both of Watertown Center for Sight.

From left, Lisa Smith, Endless Possibilities, and Kelly VanHaneghan, J. Hilburn.

LEAH BULETTI PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

LEAH BULETTI PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Kathy Fraser, assistant general manager, Best Western Carriage House Inn, and Jeri Fedora, general manager Best Western Carriage House Inn.

From left, Diane Kilburn, Samaritan Medical Center, Barbara Yerdon and Michelle Parks LaBrake, both of Mary K Cosmetics. Best Western Carriage House Inn and Savory Downtown hosted the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce November Business After Hours.

Come See the All New Polaris Brutus at Waite Motorsports

MOTORSPORTS

18014 GOODNOUGH ST., ADAMS CENTER, NY

315-583-5680

HOURS: MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 8-5, THURSDAY & FRIDAY 8-6, SATURDAY 8-2

WWW.WAITEMOTORSPORTS.COM

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 65

Fairground Inn

Watertown’s Oldest - and Newest - Irish Pub! • Guinness On Tap! • Harp On Tap! • Offering Daily Specials!

• Take-Out Available!

Open Daily at 11:00AM • Sunday at Noon

Family owned and operated since 1978 Happy Hour .......Monday-Friday 4-7pm

Gourmet Sandwiches, Pizza, Wings, Steaks, Chicken, Soups and Salads 852 COFFEEN ST., WATERTOWN • 315-782-7335

849 Lawrence Street, Watertown, NY 782-6888 Serving Lunch & Dinner Monday-Thursday 11:00am to 10:00pm Friday & Saturday 11:00am to 11:00pm

Old Garage

Deli

www.oldgaragedeli.com Jaime Short • Owner

• soups • salads • sandwiches • desserts Hours: 10:30-4:00pm DELIVERY AVAILABLE • HOLIDAY PARTY CATERING Outer Washington St., Watertown, NY 13601 (Between Scrub Hub & Widrick’s)

315-681-6520 315-681-6613 fax

Coffeen St.

(Exit 46 off I-81)

Watertown

SERVING LUNCH SPECIALS DAILY! HOURS: MON-SAT 6-8PM • SUN 7AM-2PM 315-782-7878

315-686-1110

DOWNTOWN • CLAYTON, NY

Check Out Our Newly Renovated Dining Room!

Lunch & Dinner Specials Every Day Starting at 11am Friday Fish Fry • Late Night Menu

Open 7 Days a Week • Live Weekend Entertainment 66 |

NNY Business | December 2013

716 Mill St. ~ WEEKDAY SPECIALS ~ Mon-Wed-Fri Watertown Personal Pizza 782-PAPA w/3 Topping (7272) plus $

Pick-Up • Delivery Eat-in

HOME OF THE GIANT 30” PIZZA

6.49

tax

Tues-Thurs

Regular Calzone w/4 Topping plus $

6.49

tax

PIZZA - SUBS - SALADS

Three C ’s Limousine is proud to provide

Prompt, Courteous, and Professional Service at Affordable Rates.

We offer chauffeured limo service for weddings, proms, sporting events, concerts, bachelor/bachelorette parties, or anywhere you want to go! Choose from our selection, which includes features like a Hummer limo and an F250 Harley Davidson Edition truck limo.

Three C ’s Limousine threecslimousine.com • Contact Jeff Powis @ 315-523-0007 9421 Number Three Rd., Lowville, NY 13367

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 67

BUSINESS HISTORY

Orpheum’s originality

n Theater hosted

vaudeville, films, boxing matches

By LEAH BULETTI NNY Business

T

he Watertown theater scene was vibrant in the early 20th Century. One popular yet evanescent venue was the Orpheum An ad for the OrTheatre, then the city’s second, pheum Theatre that which was originally a vaudeville house, appeared in the Aug. but also hosted musical comedy acts and 21, 1909 edition of served as the home of the local fight club the Watertown Daily before being used for lumber storage and Times. The Orpheum, at 127-131 Polk St. finally getting razed in 1963. in Watertown, hosted The theater, at 127-131 Polk St., was built a variety of acts,

by Joshua Flanders of Rodman and Hodge including vaudeville Bros. of Watertown in 1907, specifically for and boxing matches, vaudeville, according to a 1916 Watertown before it was razed Daily Times article. It was built of brick, in 1963. with two balconies and several steps that were necessary to reach the orchestra floor WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES ARCHIVES and opened on Aug. 26, 1907 with a “high class vaudeville bill of nine acts,” that pictures, attributed in part to its locawhich had a subhead that read “Glory article said. For a time the theater was a tion. Among the businessmen who tried of Polk Street Play House Has Passed.” popular destination, playing host to most to make a go of the theater was James After the theater closed, the building was of the old traveling stock companies and Gilmore, described in the 1916 article as a used for a time for prize fights and wresold-time greats like May A. Belle Marks, tling matches.

Clara Turner and The difficulties Whiteside-Strauss. of the theater were Theatrical comsummarized in the panies typically left lead paragraph of the Orpheum after a September, 1914 “one-night stands,” Times article: “Unless and then proceeded Manager A.A. Leyare to the City Opera of the Orpheum House, later the Avon Theater succeeds in Theater, for longer engagements, accord— Watertown Daily Times, 1963, on the Orpheum Theatre’s demolition raising his weekly license installment ing to a 1956 Times “well-known theatrical man of Oswego,”

by Thursday morning, the Polk street play article. Tickets were in the 10 to 30 cent who added the theater to the Gilmore house stands a first class chance of being range, with 30 cents getting the best plush circuit; “for a time stock companies of that closed by the police, and there will be no seats in the house. aggregation held forth in Polk Street” and performance of the Mississippi minstrels the On its opening night in 1907, a “standJohn B. Stack, a popular figure in amateur last half of the week.” ing room crowd filled every seat and the productions, managed the house for a A few years later, George D. Hewitt of balcony and foyer to the doors as Vincent period of time.

Carthage foreclosed a mortgage given by Irolli’s orchestra sounded the opening From 1912 to 1913 “considerable efMr. Flanders against the theater and the number,” a 1963 Times article recounted. forts” continued to revive the Orpheum, building was purchased at an auction for The theater soon suffered from a lack of including vaudeville, repertoire and pic$500 by Alderman Charles A. Phelps, deattendance, however, despite numerous spite initially costing upwards of $25,000. tures, to no avail, according to the article, efforts to rekindle it, including showing

“

68 |

Vacant and stripped to a shell, the former theater had last been used as a storage place for lumber.

It had long since failed to live up to its namesake, Orpheus — the Greek mythological figure who even pleased the God of Hades with his music.

NNY Business | December 2013

Mr. Phelps proceeded to sell the building to Andrew A. Leyare, after which the property came under the control of Jefferson County Savings Bank on a mortgage foreclosure suit. The bank in turn sold it to the W.A. Sullivan Lumber company for between $4,500 and $5,000 in 1916, according to the Times article. The company used the space to store lumber for years.

City engineers examined the building for safety concerns in 1956, a few years before its collapse. An article on the event noted that the old building was located on one of the narrowest streets in the city and that the city had plans for a number of years to widen the street along the west side so it could be used for two-way traffic, a project that would have required part of the Orpheum building.

The collapse came in 1963 when a rear wall gave way on the empty building under the weight of heavy snow, sending tons of bricks crashing to the ground, tearing down power lines and damaging two large boats and other equipment in a nearby garage. The city proceeded in a matter of weeks to raze the building’s remaining three walls.

“The building that collapsed Wednesday was, however, like some old trouper that had seen better days,” a 1963 Times article on the event stated. “Vacant and stripped to a shell, the former theater had last been used as a storage place for lumber. It had long since failed to live up to its namesake, Orpheus—the Greek mythological figure who even pleased the God of Hades with his music.”

In a letter a few weeks later, a writer named Lee N. Fuller of Syracuse rhapsodized about the theater, noting that “it was Watertown’s experience in straight vaudeville and it came at the wrong time.” He described its opening as a “gala occasion,” and “a golden period in the entertainment world,” with the City Opera House offering “the best in road shows.”

“Watertown was known as a good ‘show town,’ and a rundown of those who had appeared there would reveal many famous names,” he wrote. “They may mean little today, but then they were the finest in the world of the theater. Not a week passed during the winter season without the appearance of at least one top flight drama, musical comedy or comic opera.” n BUSINESS HISTORY IS A monthly feature from the archives of the Watertown Daily Times. Visit www.watertowndailytimes. com to access digital archives since 1988, or stop by the Times, 260 Washington St., Watertown to research materials in our library that date back to the 1800s.

We Support You: Leadership Development Strategic Planning Organizational Culture Assessment Tools & Surveys Team Performance Dynamic Training Management Coaching

• • • •

We We We We

build upon your success. won’t waste your time & energy. won’t pull any punches. tailor-fit everything to meet your unique needs.

(315) 493-1492 ~ team@cortelimprovement.com

www.cortelimprovement.com

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 69

W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G H E R E ?

ORAL SURGERY OF NORTHERN NEW YORK WHAT: Oral surgery office of Dr. Gerald Schneeberger, whose practice on Winslow Street in Watertown will be moving to the new space to accommodate the growth of the practice since hiring an additional surgeon, Dr. Reed Attisha, in July. The office is being built with Barden Homes, a custom home, commercial and church building company that ships ready to assemble materials through the east coast and to the Midwest.

LOCATION: 163 Bellew Ave. S., off Arsenal Street behind the AmeriCU Credit Union CONTRACTOR: Barden Homes, Rev. Kirk S. Gilchrist of New Life Christian Church in Watertown, who represents Barden Homes in the area, is serving as consultant. About 15 local contractors completed site work.

TOTAL SIZE: 3,624 square feet ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION COST: $141,803 ESTIMATED COMPLETION: End of January 2014 LOCAL JOBS: Likely one new clerical staff member and one new clinical staff member

LEAH BULETTI | NNY BUSINESS

A pre-fab oral surgery office, which will house Dr. Gerald Schneeberger and Dr. Reed Attisha, is being constructed on Bellew Avenue S., off Arsenal Street in Watertown, and is slated for completion by mid winter.

NEXT MONTH

Strategic Solutions for a Wide Range of Customers, Industries and Applicants.

Business, Campuses, Indoors and Out

“LIVE R EMOTE V SMARTFROM YOUR IEW PHONE OR LAP , TABLET, TOP”

We work closely with you to assess your needs and customize innovative solutions to meet your expectations.

• Video Surveillance • IP Infrastructure • Access Control • Recording and Management • Incident Response and Notification • Wireless or Wired

Watertown, NY 22746 Plaza Drive

Toll Free: 877-417-2346 Phone: 315-782-2422

Also located in Troy & Plattsburgh

70 |

NNY Business | December 2013

www.wellscomm.com

I

n our January issue, we examine the business and economic outlook for Northern new York in 2014 with a special focus on what changes in the health care law might mean for small businesses.

Also coming next month: n THE YEAR THAT WAS: We take a look back at some of the businesses, issues and industries that made headlines across Northern New York last year. n CATTLE VENTURE: North country beef farmers are preparing to do business with farms across the Midwest next fall by pooling their calves into a commingled herd. n SAVING ENERGY: Developers have submitted a state grant application with initiatives to make the Lincoln Building on Watertown’s Public Square a paragon of green energy. n 20 QUESTIONS: An in-depth interview with a north country business leader n PLUS: Small Business Startup, NNY Snapshot, Economically Speaking, Commerce Corner, Business Law, Business Tech Bytes, Small Business Success, Real Estate, Agri-Business, Business History and Business Scene. n VISIT US ONLINE at www.nnybizmag.com.

Follow us on Twitter for daily updates at @NNYBusinessMag, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nnybusiness, and view eEditions at www.issuu.com/NNYBusiness.

December 2013 | NNY Business

| 71

BusIness

www.nnybizmag.com

260 Washington St. Watertown, NY 13601

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED