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Development Newsletter
July/August 2004:
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New and Expanding Businesses Bring
Jobs, Capital Investment to Oswego County
Sure-Lock Industries, LLC of Red Creek relocated its business to
a 60,000 square foot building within the Oswego Warehousing compound
on East Seneca Street in the city of Oswego. The company manufactures
pre-finished hardwood flooring, custom hardwood finishing and specialized
millwork for several distributors throughout the Northeast and to
various commercial retailers.
“Our facility in Red Creek is no longer effective in meeting
the manufacturing demands of our growing list of customers,”
said founder and co-owner Art Brown. “Based on our current
contracts and continuing negotiations, our sales are expected to
more than double by 2005.”
The $1.4 million project will receive financial assistance from
the County of Oswego Industrial Development Agency. Other partners
who will help finance the new manufacturer include the City of Oswego
Community Development Office; a New York State Senate grant secured
by Sen. James Wright, 48th District, Watertown; HSBC; Niagara Mohawk;
and the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board.
The project will be located in the Oswego Empire Zone.
The new facility will be fully operational by the fall. The project
is expected to create 16 jobs initially and eight additional jobs
within the first year.
Krell Distributing, a Syracuse-based distributor of heating and
air conditioning products and services, will open a branch store
on East Cayuga Street in Oswego. In business since 1972, Krell carries
a full line of equipment, supplies and parts and offers comprehensive
system design and layout service.
The branch will be staffed and managed by former employees of Seaway
Supply which recently closed after 48 years in Oswego.
“We are totally committed to doing business in Oswego County,”
said Krell Distributing owner John Krell.
Lowe’s began conducting job interviews for its 133,600 square
foot home improvement store in Oswego which is slated to open in
December. One hundred seventy-five jobs are expected to be created.
Birds Eye Foods broke ground for the construction of a new $500,000
shop for its maintenance mechanics. The 5,400-square foot addition
will replace the current shop constructed in 1917. The new addition
will house 25 employees and has space for a machine shop, welding
area, stock room, electrical shop and supervisory offices.
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Micro-Enterprise
Training Schedule Announced
Fulton Location:
Oswego Falls Business Center, 163 South First Street, Fulton.
Wednesdays, 1/12 - 2/23, 6 to 9 p.m.
To register, call 593-7166.
Oswego Location:
Operation Oswego County office, 44 West Bridge Street, Oswego.
Saturdays, 1/15 - 2/5, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
To register, call 343-3795.
Operation Oswego County:
Minetto Town Hall, 6 Community Drive, Minetto.
Tuesdays, 2/8 - 3/22, 6 to 9 p.m.
To register, call 343-1545.
The Micro Enterprise Training Program
is coordinated by SUNY Oswego’s Small Business Development
Center, Operation Oswego County, the City of Fulton Community Development
Agency and the City of Oswego Community Development Office to provide
guidance and support to people interested in starting or expanding
a small business.
The program provides a 21-hour small-business
training program that covers such topics as how to write a business
plan, how to obtain financing, accounting and tax issues, business
insurance, legalities, marketing, and other basic business start-up
issues. Classroom training is provided by SBDC instructors Bernadette
Mroz, Larry Perras and John Halleron
as well as area business professionals.
Class tuition is $165. Scholarships
are available through sponsoring agencies. Micro Enterprise graduates
may apply for Micro-enterprise loans after course completion.
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Business
Exporting Seminars to be Held in November
“Exporting Goods to Mexico”
is the topic of two free seminars sponsored by SUNY Oswego’s
Center for Business and Community Development and School of Business,
the Oswego County Workforce Development Board, Operation Oswego
County and Niagara Mohawk, a National Grid company.
The seminars are intended to help local
businesses initiate or increase trade with Mexico and will feature
Robert Trachtenberg of ExportNY, a program designed to help companies
grow in the global marketplace. Trachtenberg will discuss the reasons
companies should export, ways in which ExportNY can assist, marketing-related
topics and government programs available.
Also featured will be a question and
answer forum with businesses already exporting to Mexico.
The schedule is as follows:
- Cayuga County—
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 8:30 a.m. to noon, James Walsh Regional Economic
Center, room 207, 197 Franklin Street in Auburn; and
- Oswego County—
Friday, Nov. 12, 8:30 a.m. to noon at The Captain’s Steak
and Seafood Restaurant, 27 East First Street in Oswego.
SUNY Oswego’s School of Business
received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education for funding
of a program to expand the school’s international curriculum.
The “Exporting Goods to Mexico” seminar is part of this
initiative.
For more information about the seminars
or to register, call the CBCD at 315-312-3492.
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OOC
Business Assistance: Operation Oswego County
offers an array of business assistance services to both new and
expanding companies throughout Oswego County.
- The Canal Commons revitalization project in
downtown Oswego involves the acquisition and renovation of 30,000
square feet for approximately 10 shops. Forty-five jobs will be
created. Funding for the project will be provided by the County
of Oswego IDA, City of Oswego Community Development Office and
First Niagara Bank.
- Village Pizzeria in the town of Hannibal will
specialize in fresh homemade pizza dough and will feature wings,
subs, salads, calzones and Stromboli. The owner is a graduate
of the Micro-Enterprise Training Program and received a Micro
Enterprise loan through the IDA. The project will create five
jobs.
- Tierra Lanes Bowling Center in the town of
Mexico will receive an IDA loan to assist with kitchen remodeling
and renovations.
- With assistance from OOC, Lowe’s home
improvement store opened a temporary interviewing center in Oswego
Plaza. The interview center will operate at this location until
Nov. 1, and then will move to the new store location on state
Route 104 east.
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Oswego County’s Employee
Talent Retention and Attraction Plan Underway
The Workforce Development Board of Oswego County (WDB) and Operation
Oswego County (OOC), in conjunction with Next Generation Consulting
(NGC) of Madison, Wis., recently convened four focus groups to identify
strategies to attract and retain young, talented employees throughout
Oswego County.
“With an increasingly competitive market for talented and
educated professionals, Oswego County must define the unique regional
characteristics that make it attractive to the next generation and
position itself so that it will appeal to its target demographic,”
said Nancy Bellow, WDB director.
According to Next Generation, Oswego County will likely be affected
by the following national labor trends in the coming years:
- The next generation of talent (“Generation X,” born
1961-1981) is smaller in size than their “Baby Boomer”
(born 1942-1960) predecessors;
- By 2006, two workers will leave the workforce for every one
entering; (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics);
- By 2010, there will be a shortage of 10.3 million workers across
all employment categories; (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics);
- Three out of four young professionals under the age of 28 place
more importance on the quality of the community than the availability
of jobs (source: Next Generation Consulting, February 2002);
- “Generation X” is the first generation to have deeply
imbedded skills sets in technology, which makes them a highly
desirable demographic to Oswego County employers; and
- The influx of minority talent is and will continue to cause
a marked change in the complexion and culture of the Oswego County
region.
“For Oswego County to attract the next generation of knowledge
workers and innovation economy entrepreneurs, it must place as much
emphasis on its quality of life as its economic incentives,”
said Rebecca Ryan, president of Next Generation Consulting Inc.
Bellow explained that the focus groups gauged participants’
ideas on what makes Oswego County competitive (referred to as “cool
factors”), and were designed to mirror the diversity of Oswego
County’s population, geographical locations and workforce.
The groups also represented those who are educated (post-high school
training and/or degrees) and mid-careerists.
According to Next Generation, the seven indexes that are considered
important to young professionals including:
- Vitality: commitment to environmental quality (green space)
while tallying up the factors that lead to long-term personal
and environmental health;
- Earning: young professionals want a deep bench of occupational
options and opportunities for life long learning;
- Learning: education, continuing education, and re-education
opportunities;
- Social Capital: a community’s commitment to diversity
and participation;
- Cost of Lifestyle: includes food and shelter and transportation
to work;
- After Hours: “cool stuff” to do, because young
talent want options for places to go and things to do; and
- Around Town: the physical connectedness of a community.
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OOC
Website Awarded “Best in Class” in New York
The New York State Economic Development
Council (NYSEDC) honored Operation Oswego County’s recently
redesigned website www.oswegocounty.org with its prestigious “Best
in Class” award.
The recognitions are awarded each year to
economic development organizations throughout New York who produce
printed materials and Internet media to promote economic development
in their areas. Entries are determined by design and layout, clarity
of message, quality, functionality and overall creativity and impact.
“We consider our website one of our
most effective tools for bringing attention to Oswego County and
the resources and assets that would offer value to a potential business
customer,” said L. Michael Treadwell, CEcD, executive director
of OOC, Oswego County’s designated economic development agency.
The agency’s website offers visitors
a comprehensive listing of available commercial property, demographic
information about Oswego County, downloadable publications, current
news and information about OOC’s economic development services,
community links and a printable map. The website receives an average
of more than 2,000 visits per month.
“We are proud that our website has
reached the high standards of our economic development colleagues
throughout New York State,” Treadwell said.
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