080114 mv flip

BY NORMAN POLTENSONJOURNAL STAFF

Niche: The situation in which a busi-ness’s products or services can succeed by being sold to a particular kind or group of people — Merriam–Webster.

NEW HARTFORD — JAY-K Independent Lumber, Inc. has found its niche. Headquartered on Seneca Turnpike in New Hartford, JAY-K is a full-service, independent, retail lumber, and building-materials busi-ness with a single location.

Founded in 1937 by Joseph T. Kelly and Thomas Jones (ergo, the name JAY-K) as a traditional lumber yard, the company evolved into a full-service provider and established multiple locations in Sylvan Beach, Clinton, Mohawk, and Syracuse. Growth has been achieved organi-cally, except for the purchase in 1996 of Utica Paint, which was integrated into the New Hartford site.

Going back to one locationThe decision in the 1990s to close

all stores except the flagship opera-

tion in New Hartford ran counter to the competition. “The big-box stores opened up in the mid-1990s,” says Dean Kelly, JAY-K’s president. “[Obviously] … with their huge buy-ing power, they offered a wide selec-tion of products at a very competitive price. (Lowe’s has 1,830 stores and Home Depot has 2,200 stores.) But, we also compete against chains like Little Falls Lumber [& Concrete] (four stores), 84 Lumber (257 stores, headquartered in southwest Pennsylvania), and Curtis Lumber (21 stores, headquartered in Ballston Spa). While our competitors’ strategy

is to expand geographically, ours is to stay focused on our … [locality].”

Dean Kelly is a third-generation owner of JAY-K along with his first cousin, Jonas Kelly, who serves as the company’s vice president. Each has an equal share of the company stock. Both assumed their current positions in 2001, when their parents retired. They preside over an enter-prise that employs 65 and, according to a Business Journal estimate, gener-ates about $15 million to $17 million in annual revenue.

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UPSTATE SHREDDING STORY 2

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CVT expands Sherburne plant


SHERBURNE — Chenango Valley Technologies, Inc. (CVT) is bursting at the seams. Inventory and cus-tomer orders are stacked to the ceiling in the ware-house, requiring the busi-ness to add another 5,000 feet of space.

The project was set to be completed by July 25, says Shawn A. Baker, company president.

The 5,000-foot expansion at CVT is a pre-engineered, metal building. The con-tractor is All Wall Builders located in DeWitt.

CVT is a custom, injec-tion-molding company that

manufactures plastic parts. The parts are sold to a vari-ety of industries, including medical, electronics, lawn and gardening, cosmetic, consumer, automotive, marine, and recreational-vehicle. CVT, which was founded in 1972 by Shawn Baker’s father Lloyd as a tool-and-die company, is a full-service, single-source operation offering part-design, mold/tool design, mold-making, hot stamp-ing, sonic welding, assem-bly, and injection molding.

Lloyd Baker, company CEO, made a strategic move in 1995 when he bought Madison Plastics, a

See CVT, page 4

See JAYK, page 7

NORMAN POLTENSON/BUSINESS JOURNAL NEWS NETWORK

Jonas Kelly, left, vice president, and Dean Kelly, right, president of JAY-K Independent Lumber, stand in the 90,000-square-foot company headquar-ters located on Seneca Turnpike in New Hartford.

NORMAN POLTENSON/BJNN

Shawn Baker, president of

Chenango Valley

Technologies (CVT), right, stands near

one of the company’s

16 injection-molding ma-

chines and its operator, left.

JAY-K Independent Lumber finds the right niche

2 • The Mohawk Valley Business Journal August 1, 2014


OWEGO — Hollywood has its Oscars rec-ognizing the best films; television has its Emmys to applaud the best TV programs; and the global metals industry has its Platts to designate the best metals company of the year.

The Platts Global Metals Award is a com-petitive program honoring excellence and ac-complishments in the global metals industry. The judges base their selection on the com-pany’s 2013 achievements, financial results, leadership, integrity, job growth, technologi-cal innovation, strategic vision, and opera-tional excellence. A black-tie gala event was held on May 21 at the posh Plaisterers’ Hall in central London, where Adam Weitsman, the CEO and owner of Upstate Shredding, and seven other company employees ac-cepted the industry leadership award for scrap and recycling. Platts, a publication that covers recycling worldwide, is owned by the McGraw–Hill Companies.

“I was astounded,” confesses Weitsman in an interview in late May. “It was like David and Goliath. Upstate was clearly the underdog up against large companies, many publicly held. It’s both humbling and the highlight of my career. By making sound de-cisions and assembling some of the hardest-working people in the scrap business, we’ve had an amazing period of growth.”

Last year was a substantial growth year for Upstate Shredding and Weitsman Recycling, a sister company that deals with the re-tail side of the business. Upstate Shredding processes everything from refrigerators to commercial jets. “We closed on the Ferromet site in New Castle,” notes Weitsman, “which opened up western Pennsylvania [and east-ern Ohio]. Construction on the New Castle shredder should begin in 45 days … Upstate also bought Valley Recycling in Allegany County, Hornell Waste Material Co., Capitol Scrap in Albany, Brant located 30 miles south of Buffalo, and Reamer Recycling in Ithaca. (Some of the deals didn’t close until 2014.)

“Our growth in Albany has been much faster than expected,” Weitsman continues. “The strategic plan calls for building our third shredder in Albany as soon as we complete the New Castle shredder construction … The Albany location now positions us to ship our scrap worldwide without depending on a middleman.” Last year also included negotia-tions, which are ongoing, with the company

that holds the master lease at the Port of Newark. The purpose is to allow ships loaded at Weitsman–Albany to take on additional cargo in Newark before proceeding out to sea.

Growth trajectoryUpstate Shredding’s meteoric growth last

year is continuing into 2014. “In the first quarter, our [scrap] tonnage is up 27 percent and our revenues are up 22 percent [over the same period last year],” declares Weitsman. “I’m projecting that gross revenues this year should reach $800 million … What we need to do now is consolidate and manage the recent growth and … [defer] further acquisi-tions in the short term. That means focusing on [operational] areas such as environmen-tal compliance, trucking, and extending our hours [to the public].” Upstate Shredding currently has 18 locations in New York and Pennsylvania and expects to increase its employment from 400 to 500 once the New Castle shredder comes on line.

However, since speaking with The Business Journal, Upstate Shredding has indeed made another acquisition announcement. In mid-July, Upstate Shredding announced the acqui-sition of Eastside Metals & Recycling Corp.

in Fort Ann, N.Y. in Washington County, north of Glens Falls. The firm expects the all-cash transaction to close within 60 days. Upstate Shredding didn’t release any finan-cial terms of the transaction. The firm will retain Eastside’s 20 employees and plans to rename its latest acquisition Ben Weitsman of Kingsbury, according to a news release.

Upstate Shredding has assembled a pro-fessional management team to guide the fast-growing company. In addition to Weitsman, the team includes Stephen Green as presi-dent, Joel Root as vice president and senior buyer, Dan Innarella as CFO, Bill Dizer as vice president for the Main Street opera-tion in Owego, Kim Weitsman to handle ac-counts receivable and rail shipments, Natasja Bowman as export manager, and Stephen Donnelly as the director of marketing and public relations.

Adam Weitsman, whose grandfather founded the company in 1938, joined his father in the business in the 1990s. At that time, with two locations and 30 employees, Ben Weitsman & Son generated $3 million a year in revenue. Adam Weitsman bought the company in 2005 and created Upstate Shredding to complement the retail busi-ness. “Most of the company’s growth has come just in the last five years,” emphasizes Weitsman. “In the last three years, we have doubled our sales and our geography. We currently process more than 1 million tons of ferrous metals and more than 250 million pounds of non-ferrous materials.” Upstate Shredding is the largest, privately held scrap-metal processor on the East Coast. Recycling Today magazine ranks Upstate Shredding 18th among the largest ferrous-scrap proces-sors in the U.S. and Canada. “I expect by the end of 2014 we will be ranked in the top 15,” Weitsman says.

Weitsman, 46, has grown his business over the past decade without any government as-sistance. His sights are set on cracking the billion-dollar sales level by shredding both more scrap and his competition. q

Contact Poltenson at [email protected]

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Adam and Kim Weitsman pose at Plaisterers’ Hall in

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August 1, 2014 The Mohawk Valley Business Journal • 3


HAMILTON — Liberal arts and entrepre-neurship are usually perceived as polar opposites. The former is equated with an insular, sedate environment of thinking and contemplation; the latter exists in the rough-and-tumble world of business driven by mammon.

Yet, more than 3,000 U.S. colleges and universities now offer entrepreneurial programs. In business and engineering schools, it is the fastest growing discipline. Liberal-arts institutions have followed suit and embraced entrepreneurship.

Colgate University has bridged the per-ception gap by creating, “The Thought Into Action Entrepreneurship Institute (TIA),” a student incubator that makes ideas go live. “Only a tiny fraction of those people … [who have good ideas] have taken their ideas and made them happen,” says Andy Greenfield, incubator founder, serial en-trepreneur, and Colgate alumnus class of 1974. “It is only by moving thought to ac-tion that you make a difference … Liberal-arts graduates have great basic training: … thinking critically, communicating well, and ask[ing] the question ‘what if.’ … Critical thinking teaches students how to build theories, which requires imagina-tion, discipline, and courage. Liberal-arts students are encouraged to challenge con-ventional wisdom.

“The concept of TIA is simple,” con-tinues Greenfield, “mentor students who have an idea to help turn the idea into action. TIA is not about theory; it’s about practice. I use the analogy of a car: Liberal arts is the critical-thinking engine, and TIA is the transmission that delivers power to the wheels … TIA takes something that didn’t exist before and mixes it with passion, mentorship, persistence, sweat, and courage. I call it ‘applied liberal arts.’ What differentiates Colgate from the other 3,000-plus programs is a focus on ‘doing entrepreneurship,’ mentored by alumni entrepreneurs rather than offering student programs about the study of entrepreneur-ship by professors.”

Wills Hapworth, a Colgate alumnus class of 2007 and founder of Dark Horse Investors, says that the program is dis-tinguished by its involvement of mentors. “Our secret sauce is the 100 alumni and parents who volunteer annually to men-tor the student entrepreneurs. We have an internal team that reviews applications for mentorship and interviews the can-didates. The student entrepreneurs get no college credit for enrolling in the pro-gram, so we want to find mentors who are equally committed to the program. There is no academic side to this program, and it doesn’t matter whether you are creat-ing a for-profit or nonprofit company or a campus-based venture. Those alumni and parents who become mentors all have experience working in the trenches. They drive the program … TIA touches every constituency on campus.”

TIA detailsTIA is a two-semester program to which

students must apply. Class size averages 40 to 50 students. The highlight of the

program is a six-hour session held every Saturday in which mentors and students interact. According to Hapworth, students who aren’t serious about the program and don’t deliver on their commitments are asked to leave. There is no cost to students to join TIA, and the mentors issue no grades. Colgate launched the program in September 2009.

Sapling Advisory is an example of a TIA incubator venture. The student com-pany is the brain-child of Joshua Lasker, CEO, and Daniel Swiecki, CTO. The two seniors had been working on a concept of matching financial advisors with their clients, much like eHarmony’s approach to predicting spousal compatibility and introducing potential lovebirds to each other. “We knew about TIA and decided to participate, because we needed help in marketing, legal questions, product devel-opment, and raising capital,” says Lasker. “We have created a business model to sell the service to financial advisors who are new to the field and are trying to build a clientele. Daniel and I know that cold-call selling is not effective nor are advertising and phone-book lists; an advisor needs to build a personal relationship.”

Beta-site“There has to be trust,” adds Swiecki.

“We are beta-testing the algorithm that we created to determine compatibility be-tween advisor and advisee. The algorithm is a combination of rich profiles — gender, age, ethnicity, income, education, recent major life events, and hobbies — and in-

sights similar to the Myers Briggs indica-tors. These are the relationship success drivers that ensure compatibility between professional and client. Success is mea-sured by the quality of the relationship.”

Paul Sydlansky, a financial advisor with John G. Ullman & Associates of Corning, is one of the advisors testing the beta-site. “A relationship built on trust is the key to success [in developing a clientele],” says Sydlansky. “Whether you sell a product or advice, if it’s [widely] available the ques-tion is, whom do you trust? The return on your investment is certainly impor-tant, but if your advisor also offers valu-able advice in other areas such as estate planning, benefits, taxes, and insurance, that may yield the best return. I like the Sapling idea, because it’s a valuable aid in building a relationship. It’s too early to tell whether Sapling will be successful, but the founders are working to differen-tiate themselves from the competition.” Sydlansky’s involvement in the beta-test-ing resulted from a recommendation by Ullman’s COO, a Colgate graduate familiar with Sapling. Sydlansky spent 13 years in Manhattan with Morgan Stanley before joining Ullman, a financial-management firm with more than $1 billion in assets under management.

Andres Echenique, a Colgate alum-nus class of 1983 and a senior partner at EMA (Eric Mower + Associates), a Syracuse–based advertising and public-

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long-established custom-injection molding firm based in Verona. Today, CVT employs 45 people and runs three shifts for its customers, some of whom have been with the business for more than 30 years. When the new addition is completed, the plant will occupy 30,000 square feet on a 15-acre parcel. The building and land are owned by CVT, an “S-corp” whose stockholders are the Baker family. The Business Journal News Network estimates CVT’s annual revenue at more than $5 million.

“Our growth has been steady,” says Shawn Baker. “The company even grew during the [recent] recession. I feel more comfortable with controlled growth, be-cause I like to sleep at night … The strat-egy is to continue growing by focusing first on new projects with our existing customer base and second on new business. The key is to get involved with a project as early as possible, especially in the design phase. We have a diversified group of customers, primarily located within 200 miles of the plant.”

Baker attributes the company’s growth to his employees. “I depend a great deal on the management team,” adds Baker, who includes himself, Norman C. Wynn as the production manager, and John Davis as the vice president of engineering and tooling.

“CVT has dedicated employees, some of whom have been with the company more than 20 years. Many live in the area, and others drive 45 miles [each way] to work here,” says Baker. “Attracting and retain-ing good employees is critical to our busi-ness, and we spend a lot of time training them, especially in the tool room. We offer competitive wages and health care, but just as important, we encourage a good balance between life and work. I’m very proud of this team. They are [both] talented and dedicated workers.”

Baker also notes that depending on the municipal utility is extremely beneficial to controlling operating costs. “This is an energy-intensive industry,” he says. “CVT consumes more than 1.2 million pounds of resins every year, relying on heat to con-vert the liquid into solid parts. The local

utility charges us 4 cents per-kilowatt-hour, which helps to keep us competitive.”

Baker is a native of Sherburne. He received his associate degree at Hudson Valley Community College and has earned a journeyman-toolmaker certificate. Baker was appointed company president on Jan. 1, 2014, after serving for five years as the vice president of sales, and lives in Sherburne with his wife Katie and two teenage children. He is active in a venture between CVT and the Sherburne–Earlville High School Technology Program, helping students to design and build prototypes using 3-D design and printing technolo-gies. CVT mass produces the parts based on the students’ design.

“Based on our customers [orders], I see the economy rebounding,” asserts Baker. “We are very busy. I’m optimistic that our growth will continue. I currently only have space for one more machine on the pro-duction floor. Fortunately if we need to, we have plenty of room for more expansion.”


TMVBJBRIEFS

News of note for and about Mohawk Valley businesses

PAR Technology appoints Barsanti to its board

NEW HARTFORD — PAR Technology Corp. (NYSE: PAR) has appointed John S. Barsanti to its board of directors.

Barsanti is currently chief operating officer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, a position he has held since March, 2010.

Prior to that, he was CEO of the Barsanti Group, a consulting practice that focuses on assisting family-owned companies and was a partner in the Torridon Companies, a private in-vestment and management firm. He also held the roles of president of Crane Merchandising

Systems, a business segment of Crane Co., and chief finan-cial officer of Carlisle Companies Inc.

Barsanti also previously worked at Carrier Corp.PAR says it has also named Barsanti chair-

man of the Audit Committee of the company’s board. He will be the presiding director of non-management and independent directors. He will also serve as a member of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee and as a member of the company’s Compensation Committee.

“We are very pleased to have John join our board,” Ronald J. Casciano, PAR’s CEO and presi-dent, said in a news release.

PAR Technology’s hospitality unit offers res-taurants, hotels, and other hospitality business-es technology systems that help them manage their operations. PAR Technology’s government business provides computer-based system de-sign, engineering, and technical services to the U.S. Department of Defense and various federal agencies.

Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare Foundation announces board officers

UTICA — The Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH) Foundation recently announced its 2014-2015 officers for its board of directors.

Robert Luke Lewis has been named president. He is one of the owners of Lewis Custom Homes, Inc., in New Hartford. Lewis Custom Homes is a founding partner in the FSLH Foundation’s annual $100,000 Miracle Home Makeover that benefits the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital at FSLH. Lewis earned his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Brockport.

Patrick Knapp, M.D., has been named vice president. He is an anesthesiologist with Sunset Anesthesia Associates, LLP and practices at FSLH. Knapp earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, and his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. He trained for a year at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Norwich, and completed his residency at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Mary Malone McCarthy has been named secretary. She is founder and president of M3 Business Service Network in Clinton. McCarthy most recently served as senior vice president of Northland Communications, Inc. in Utica. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Wells College in Aurora.

Sam F. Berardino, III, has been named treasur-er. He is a financial advisor and financial-planning specialist for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Utica. Berardino earned his bachelor’s degree from Albany College of Pharmacy of Union University. He began his career with the Rite Aid Corporation and then started a 20-year career with Eli Lilly and Company. In 2007, Berardino joined Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor.

CVT: Baker: “CVT has dedicated employees, some of whom have been with the company more than 20 years”

Continued from page 1

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BY ERIC REINHARDTJOURNAL STAFF

UTICA — Utica College is launching an ac-celerated second bachelor’s degree nursing program in St. Petersburg, Fla. next month to address “the rising shortage of nurses” in that region and across the state of Florida.

The college cites information from the Orlando, Fla.–based Florida Center for Nursing indicating more than 15,000 nursing jobs went unfilled in the state in 2012. The Center projects the shortage will continue growing in the coming decade.

Utica College’s nursing program will offer students a nursing education with clinical hours at area hospitals and medical facilities to address the workforce “challenge,” the school said in a news release.

The program offers students with a bache-lor’s degree in a non-nursing field the chance to finish nursing school in just 16 months.

It balances online courses with hands-on clini-

cal rotations throughout the Tampa Bay region. The simulation lab in St. Petersburg fea-

tures the same medical technology used at hospitals and other healthcare settings, ac-cording to Utica College.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredits the program, the school said.

The Florida Commission for Independent Education (provisional approval) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) have also approved the program.

Graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.

The St. Petersburg accelerated nursing pro-gram builds on the “success” of Utica College’s accelerated nursing program in the Syracuse area, housed at the Thruway Office Building in Salina, the school said.

The Syracuse–area pro-gram’s first cohort started in January 2013 and graduated in April.

In an October 2013 interview with the Business Journal News Network, Utica College indicated it has partnered with Carmel, Ind.–based Orbis Education, which “creates, markets collaborative health-care education programs designed to alleviate the

growing shortage of practitioners,” accord-ing to the Orbis Education website.

The St. Petersburg expan-sion is part of the partnership, Utica College said.

The Utica College logo is among those displayed on the

Orbis Education website, along with others that include Marian University in Indianapolis and Northeastern University.

Founded in 1946, Utica College is an inde-pendently accredited private college. q

Contact Reinhardt at [email protected]

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Local technologybusiness, Mohawk Valley GIS, expandsHERKIMER — Mohawk Valley GIS recently announced it has hired two full-time employ-ees and moved into office space on North Main Street in the village of Herkimer.

Founded in 2003 when owner Linda Rockwood moved to the area, Mohawk Valley GIS has offered computer mapping, training, and programming services to municipali-ties, businesses, and nonprofit organizations throughout Central New York.

“The timing was right to grow the business from a consultancy to bringing employees on board,” Rockwood said in a news release. “I feel very fortunate to have found two talented, recent college graduates in the area.”

David Vail, a 2014 SUNYIT computer-sci-ence graduate, joined Mohawk Valley GIS in May as a systems designer, after working as an intern with the business since the spring of 2013.

Francis Stripp, a 2014 St. Lawrence University geology graduate, joined the com-pany in June as a GIS analyst and provides geographic-information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) expertise, the release stated. The two new employees join Bré Baylor and Vickie Perry, who have been providing sales, marketing, and social-media support for the past year.

“With additional personnel, we can now meet the needs of more clients in the region,” Rockwood said in the release. “Besides map-ping the distribution of customers to better target marketing efforts or performing com-bat zone analysis between a business and a competitor, we also create community maps for promotion and can help businesses con-vert their website to a mobile-friendly site or get started with social media. These new ser-vices complement our established expertise in custom mobile app development for iOS and Android devices, interactive web maps for tourism and recreation promotion and all aspects of GIS and GPS data work, analysis, training and system development.” q

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bankingFirst Niagara Financial Group, Inc. has named Karen Constabile, a 28-year financial-ser-vices professional, vice president middle-mar-ket relationship man-ager in the Central New York area. She will manage commercial-banking relationships in the Mohawk Valley area. Constabile comes to First Niagara from M&T Bank, where she was a relationship manager. Constabile had also worked at Partners Trust Bank in Utica, where she held a similar role. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University.

NBT Bank has pro-moted Adam Burback to business banking of-ficer. He is based at the Utica Financial Center, working with the bank’s commercial customers in the Mohawk Valley area. Burback has worked in the financial-services industry since 2004. He joined NBT Bank in 2012 as a credit analyst, providing credit-risk analysis on commercial-loan applications. Before

joining NBT Bank, he was an underwriter with Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company in Syracuse. Burback earned his master’s degree from the iSchool at Syracuse University and his bachelor’s de-gree from Siena College.

financial servicesM. Griffith Investment Services has promoted Jeffrey Gornick to the position of senior vice president. He is a certified financial plan-ner, with more than 30 years experience, who has built a commend-able reputation as an outstanding financial consultant, the com-pany says.

health careMark J. Hornyak, M.D. has joined Bassett Healthcare Network as chief of neurosurgery at Bassett Medical Center. He most recently worked in the Detroit area, where he was chief of neurosurgery at Detroit Receiving Hospital, an assistant professor at Wayne State University, and cared for patients at the Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Hospital.

Hornyak earned his undergraduate degree at Loyola College and his medical degree at University of Maryland School of Medicine, both in Baltimore, Md. He completed his resi-dency in neurosurgery at New York Medical College, Valhalla, and a fellowship in skull base surgery at University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

hospitalityThe Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino has promoted Karen Ramirez to senior vice president for hospitality. She has been with Turning Stone since 2007 as the vice president of hos-pitality, managing daily operations and planning for the resort’s five golf courses, four hotels, and two spas. Prior to joining Turning Stone, Ramirez was vice president of operations for Canyon Ranch in Arizona. She has more than 25 years experience in the luxury spa and lodging industry. q

M O H A W K V A L L E YBusiness Journal

Vol. 14, No. 4 • August 1, 2014

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n “Tips on Hiring Quali� ed Employees” Seminars: By Monster.com and The Observer Dispatchn 2 Speed Networking Sessions: Presented by Total Solutionsn Special Expo After Hours: On the show � oor and Kilfoil’s Irish Pubn Culinary Court: Samplings from the � nest restaurants in arean Technology Circle: Visit 10 area technology businesses

For more information, to reserve your booth or become a sponsor, please contact Deborah Kessler, Kessler Enterprises, Expo Producer at(315) 794-0695 or email [email protected]. You can also download booth and sponsor application at www.greateruticachamber.org.

Free and Open to the business public!REGISTER TODAY to be PART OF THE BIGGEST AND BEST BUSINESS EVENT in the Greater Utica Area.



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relations agency, is a mentor to Sapling. “I was impressed with the program, because the students were accountable,” asserts Echenique. “This is practical entrepre-neurship with real ventures. The program involves learning multi-dimensional analy-sis and challenging assumptions. When Josh and Daniel complete TIA, they will only be a step or two away from launch-ing the business. That’s the fun of being a mentor; we’re operating in the real world.”

Sapling’s business model calls for de-veloping a large pool of clients, identify-ing the country’s best financial advisors, and creating a match. Sapling charges a membership fee to advisors and a fee for each lead that is successfully matched.

To date, the company is debt-free and has received $20,000 in grants, over and above the mentoring. The U.S. market contains 300,000 financial advisors of whom Sapling is targeting those in the first decade of their careers. The beta-testing was conducted with 12 financial advisors and was set to be completed in June when the Sapling website was to go live. The goal is to sign up 1,500 advisors by the end of year one.

While Lasker and Swiecki are passion-ate about the Sapling project, they are ap-proaching the corporate launch sensibly. The CEO, a geology major, starts employ-ment this summer with Procter & Gamble in the San Francisco Bay area. The CTO, a computer-science and mathematical eco-nomics double major, joins J.P. Morgan in New York City. Neither is giving up his

day job until Sapling scales up to a going business.

“We got way more from TIA than we ex-pected,” exclaims Lasker. “We experienced how a rigorous liberal-arts curriculum prepared us to think like entrepreneurs. Liberal arts and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand.”

Swiecki adds, “Liberal arts was vital to our venture. It gave us the critical mindset to challenge established thought.”

As Yogi Berra was fond of saying: “Who would of thunk it?” A liberal-arts school figures out how to marry thinking and ac-tion. Throw out perception; bring in reality. TIA is how Colgate builds entrepreneurial muscle. q


colgate: TIA is a two-semester program to which students must apply


http://www.greateruticachamber.org

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THE LISTResearch by Nicole Collins

[email protected] (315) 579-3911

Twitter: @cnybjresearch

ABOUT THE LISTInformation was provided by representatives of listed organizations and their websites. Other groups may have been eligible but did not respond to our requests for information. Organizations had to complete the survey by the deadline to be included on the list. While The Business Journal strives to print accurate information, it is not possible to independently verify all data submitted. We reserve the right to edit entries or delete categories for space considerations.

WHAT cOnSTITUTES THE MOHAWk VALLEy?For the purpose of this list, the Mohawk Valley includes Herkimer, Oneida, and Otsego counties.

nEEd A cOpy Of A LIST?

Electronic versions of all our lists, with ad-ditional fields of information and survey con-tacts, are available for purchase at our website, cnybj.com/ListResearch.aspx

WAnT TO BE On THE LIST?

If your company would like to be considered for next year’s list, or another list, please email [email protected]

MOHAWK VALLEY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCERanked by No. of Members

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The lumber and building-materials busi-ness operates in 85,000 to 90,000 square feet of covered space located on 23 acres. JAY-K is the name of the operating com-pany, which is structured as a “Sub-S” cor-poration. In addition, the cousins own Mud Creek Ltd., which holds the land and some of the property. The operating company also owns part of the property. The Kellys have leased some of the 23 acres to other businesses.

“Our success is the result of focusing on our customers and understanding what they want,” says Dean Kelly. “Builders represent 65 percent of our business, and consumers the other 35 percent. They are looking for quality, service, and help in taking on projects … That’s why we carry brand-name products and employ people with experience. Our employees focus on helping the customer make the right de-cision. If the option is to fix a problem with a $2 part or to buy a more expensive replacement unit, we’ll recommend the $2 part. That’s why they keep coming back; we have their best interest at heart. This attitude of helping the customer make the right decision and being honest has at-tracted multiple generations of employees who feel comfortable working here … We think it’s important to educate our cus-

tomers on new products and techniques. As an example, JAY-K has scheduled the “Katz Roadshow” on Sept. 8 to put on a demonstration for our customers here in the store.”

Jonas Kelly adds that the company’s size allows it to be more nimble than its competitors. “We’re also very flexible. We can respond quicker than the chain stores to changes. [In addition], … our prices are very competitive, and our customers like the fact that we have only one price for a product,” he says. “The consumer and the builder pay the same amount … Our customers also recognize that we are part of the community. Over the years, the com-pany has donated product and funds to a number of local charities, including Habitat for Humanity, the St. Elizabeth Hospital Emergency Wing expansion, initiatives of Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare, the United Way, and many more.”

Embracing changeThe Kellys cite other reasons for their

success. “We really adopted technology early,” asserts Dean Kelly. “[The second generation] … installed a point-of-sale sys-tem back in 1974. We have continued to invest in technology to run the business more efficiently. We rely on our website to help educate our customers and to attract them to the store. We send and receive

orders by email. We’re always in touch by cell phone. It’s a very different world than when I started in this business.”

The company vice president points to JAY-K’s membership in professional asso-ciations to help the company be competi-tive. “We are long-time members of LMC (Lumberman’s Merchandising Corp.),” notes Jonas Kelly. “LMC brings together independent businesses like ours for pur-poses of establishing group buying power. With hundreds of members, we can offer products competitively priced with the chains and big-box stores. JAY-K also be-longs to NRLA (the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association). The members are located in New York and in New England for purposes of advancing our knowledge of the business, staying abreast of legisla-tive and regulatory reform, and network-ing with our peers.”

The management teamDean Kelly, 54, grew up in New Hartford.

He attended New Hartford High School, Mohawk Valley Community College for two years, and Northeastern University in Boston, where he majored in business administration. Kelly worked for Jordan Marsh as a retail manager and for AT&T selling telephone plans to mid-size and large corporations. He joined JAY-K in 1987 at the time the company was building

a 50,000-square-foot, retail store at its pres-ent location. He resides with his wife Eva in New Hartford.

Jonas Kelly, 47, grew up in Holland Patent, where he attended high school. He graduated from Hobart & William Smith College in 1989 and worked for a year at a lumberyard in Seekonk, Mass., before joining JAY-K. He and his wife Heidi live in Barneveld.

The Kellys head up the company’s man-agement team, which also includes Karen Gerace, store manager; Tammy Dygert, manager of inventory control; and Cathy Jubis, staff accountant. The management team is augmented by local, outside profes-sional staff. JAY-K works with NBT Bank for working capital and for construction funding. Dan Cohen, of Cohen & Cohen LLP in Utica, handles the company’s legal work.

“We like our niche,” asserts Dean Kelly. “The local economy is a challenge, with young people leaving and the graying of the population. But, in the mid- to long-term, the addition of nanotechnology will be a real boost. I’m optimistic. The Mohawk Valley is a great place to live, a place where Jason, I, and all the employees can create a real work/life balance.” q


JAY-K: “Our success is the result of focusing on our customers and understanding what they want”


MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Next issue of The Mohawk Valley Business Journal: September 5, 2014


BY NICOLE COLLINSJOURNAL STAFF

UTICA — Imagine not knowing how to read.

It’s probably more common than you think.

In Herkimer and Oneida counties, nearly half of the residents suffer from low literacy skills, a fact that severely limits future growth and prosperity, according to the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties.

The National Center for Education Statistics found that 11 percent of adults in Herkimer County lack basic literacy skills. In Oneida County, it’s 13 percent.

Basic skills range from being un-able to read and understand any written information to being able to locate easily identifiable information in short, commonplace prose text in English, but nothing more advanced.

In response to the literacy prob-lem facing adults, the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties (CFHOC), with Madison-Oneida BOCES, formed the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties in 2008.

“The community said this was important to us,” says Peggy O’Shea, president of the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, on why the coalition was created.

The coalition is currently made up of more than 300 community mem-bers with the common goal of 100 percent literacy through 100 percent community engagement.

During its first few years, the coali-tion was led by a staff member of the CFHOC with collective community support and the CFHOC “provided backbone support,” says O’Shea.

Then, in an ef-fort to push the initiative forward and increase awareness of local literacy is-sues, O’Shea says the coali-tion needed two things: a plan and its own staff

person. In April, 2012, the coalition hired Lara Sepanski Pimentel as its first executive director. At the time, Pimentel was commuting from Utica to Syracuse to complete her mas-ter’s degree at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. She graduated in June of that year, and began working full time at the coalition.

Before graduate school, Pimentel

worked at the CFHOC as a program associate. In this role, about 25 per-cent of her workload was dedicated to the coalition, she says. While in graduate school, she was a fellow for the Community Foundation of Central New York in Syracuse, and spent time working with its Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County. By the time she was ready to return to her community, O’Shea says Pimentel was “really seasoned and educated” in the work of a literacy coalition.

The same year Pimentel was hired, the coalition created a community plan with help from a national con-sultant at the Literacy Powerline. The plan allowed for the coalition to formalize its structure and define its focus areas, which included im-proving school readiness, creating policies that embrace literacy as a foundation of success, and identifying performance indicators to measure success.

The Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties is governed by an advisory board, and has eight volunteer action teams in relation to its focus areas.

Now, the coalition is housed at the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area, which serves as Pimentel’s employer. While United Way does not grant money to the coalition, the United Way acts as the coalition’s fiscal sponsor by manag-ing its funds and does not charge administrative fees to do so. With this arrangement, for example, all dona-tion checks for the coalition would be made out to the United Way.

Prior to 2012, the coalition did not have its own operating budget. In 2012 and 2013, the CFHOC was the sole funder of the coalition. This year’s operating budget of $83,000 comes from M&T Bank/Partner’s Trust Bank Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund of the CFHOC, and the CFHOC, says Pimentel.

Currently in the worksThe coalition’s EZ Read book-

sharing program, started last year, receives growing community inter-est. This program provides access to books in places where reading is not the main reason a person would visit the establishment, such as con-venience stores, businesses, and gov-ernment agencies.

The coalition held book drives to gather books to fill the shelves, re-sulting in thousands of new and used books donated. This year, the IBEW Local 43 built eight bookshelves for the program. At press time, the co-

alition has 27 EZ Read bookshelves located throughout the two counties.

To increase communication ef-forts, the coalition recently launched a “What’s Up” forum on its website. The forum, created by volunteer, John Sepanski (who’s also Pimentel’s father), allows for the action teams and volunteers to post updates regu-larly and have sidebar conversations about projects, instead of waiting for updates at monthly meetings or for Pimentel to send out mass emails of information.

On Sept. 25, the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties will host its first event fundraiser, Spell-A-Palooza: the Alexandra G. Kogut Literacy Fundraiser, held at Daniele’s at Valley View in Utica. The spelling-bee style event will pit adult local celebrities against 5th-grade students to raise money to support the efforts of the coalition and its partners.

As far as plans for the coalition to become its own 501(c)(3), Pimentel says it’s not in the works now, but the concept has been discussed. One of Pimentel’s concerns with the coali-tion becoming its own 501(c)(3), is that the area already has a huge num-ber of nonprofits who are consistently tapping the same resources. “That’s not what we’re about,” says Pimentel. The goal, she says, is about being a resource to affect change in the com-munity.

Originally from Whitesboro, Pimentel finds that working in her home community has become a valu-able asset to her career. “It’s easier to work in a community when you live there. You have the history, know who’s who, have more help getting the work done …,” says Pimentel. When you know your community, she says, “you can have that much more of an impact.” q

Contact Collins at [email protected]

Literacy Coalition of Herkimer & Oneida Counties

201 Lafayette St.Suite 201

Utica, NY 13502Phone: (315) 733-4691 x243

www.Litpower.org

KEY STAFFExecutive Director Lara Sepanski Pimentel

ADVISORY BOARDCHAIR

David Manzelmann M&T Bank Burt Danovitz private consultantBrenda Episcopo United Way of the Valley & Greater Utica AreaBarbara Henderson Community Foundation of HOCMary Kline Herkimer BOCESMarj Moore Herkimer County Community CollegeKathleen Rinaldo BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education

MISSIONThe Literacy Coalition of Herkimer & Oneida Counties says it connects organizations in the region to the funding, advocacy, professional development, and service support they need to increase the availability of high-quality lit-eracy programs. Through collaboration, the coalition says it raises awareness of low literacy, provides links to available services, and encourages the residents of Herkimer and Oneida counties to become lifelong learners. The goal is that through these commitments, all residents will have the opportunity to fully participate in society and support their community as active citizens.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

EZ READ Community Bookshelves, Herkimer/Oneida Counties Leader of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, Convener for Literacy, and literacy-support programs.

RECENT ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Two-time recipient of Duffy Books in Homes USA Bonus Books, allowing nearly 50,000 books to be taken home free by local school children. Grant recipient of funding from the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties (HOC) and the M&T Bank/Partners Trust Bank Charitable Fund. Grant recipient of funding from the Alexandra G. Kogut Memorial Fund of The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties. And, a 2014 recipient of the Childcare Council of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s “Friend of Children Award.”

FUNDRAISING OUTLOOK

Inaugural Alexandra G. Kogut Literacy Fundraiser: Spell-a-Palooza on Sept. 25, and Giving Tuesday event on Dec. 3. Fundraising goal is $15,000 for the rest of 2014.

Organization tackles literacy issues in the Mohawk Valley

FINANCIAL DATAFiscal year ending December, 31, 2013

Revenue SourcesCommunity Foundation of HOC $83,430Events/Annual Celebration $300

Total Revenue $83,730

ExpendituresAdministrative $71,721Office $885Programs & Marketing $2,768Professional Development & Memberships $4,161

Total Expenses $79,085Surplus for the Year $4,645

Pimentel

Literacy Coalition of Herkimer & Oneida Counties factsn Founded: 2008n Full-Time Employees: 1 full time n Volunteers: 300n Service Area: Herkimer and Oneida counties

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