This annual report is a review of Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Upstate New York

programs and services for the year ending December 31, 2015.

BBB serves 48 counties of Upstate New York from our headquarters at 100 Bryant Woods

South, Amherst, NY 14228.

President’s Report

2015 highlights:

Completed a strategic operating plan to guide us into 2016 and beyond

Produced and distributed BBB A to Z to showcase all BBB programs and

services to Accredited Businesses

Hosted our first data/cybersecurity event with the FBI, Secret Service

and U.S. Attorney’s office for our Accredited Businesses; participated in

other community safety events

Increased visibility across Upstate NY, including a focus on social media,

web impressions and development of a blog to reach more people

Held our most successful Secure Your ID Day events in Buffalo,

Rochester and Syracuse; serving a record number of vehicles

Began to develop deeper partnerships with chambers of commerce,

small business organizations and other groups

Based on substantial study and operational discussions, 12 month

payment plans for new Accredited Businesses started in January 2016.

We expect both sales and retention to increase under this new option.

Carol Horton

Richard Kaplan

Mary Ann Lauricella

Patricia McGrath

Brian Peek

Joseph Petrozzi

Joseph Pinkans

Norbert Rappl

Paul Stasiak

Eugene Welch

John Wynne

Robert Zabel

Board of Directors

Richard Wall, Ph.D., Chair

Sharon Prise Azurin, Counsel

Steven Abramson

Phil Arno

Jason Botticelli

David Carr

Joe Carubba

Warren Clark (BBB president and CEO)

James Dunn

Marilynn Fleckenstein

Cindy Algase Gradl

C. Douglas Hartmayer

Service Area

Snapshot 2015

TOP 10 COMPLAINTS FILED 2015 TOP 10 INQUIRIES MADE 2015

Industry 2015 2014 Change

Collection Agencies 233,329 226,198 3%

Contractors 112,113 155,405 -28%

Roofing Contractors 74,539 60,565 23%

Auto Dealers-Used Cars 46,052 43,596 6%

Auto Repair/Service 45,609 43,114 6%

Paving Contractors 39,026 34,455 13%

Dentist 35,848 39,711 -10%

Auto Dealers-New Cars 34,401 35,319 -3%

Plumbing Contractors 34,189 29,736 15%

Telephone

Communications 31,825 14,002 127%

Industry 2015 2014 Change

Collection Agencies 2,371 2,813 -16%

Telephone Companies 1,223 885 38%

Auto Dealers-New Cars 670 563 19%

Auto Repair/Service 550 772 -29%

Auto Dealers-Used Cars 414 372 11%

Television-Cable, CATV &

Satellite 355 401 -11%

Furniture-Retail 337 298 13%

Online Retail 336 12 2,700%

Yellow Page Advertising 304 473 -36%

Contractors 265 485 45%

Business Relations Report

New Accredited Businesses: 1,171

Revenue: $537,272

Retention Overall: 80%

1st Year Renewal: 54%

Accredited Businesses: 5,941

2015 Top Performers

Debbie Bender

226 newly accredited businesses

Mary Griffin

200 newly accredited businesses

Marketing & Communications

Report

In 2015, the focus of the marketing and communications team turned toward content and digital marketing to enhance traditional

marketing and public relations efforts.

We added a social media dashboard called Sprout Social to enhance our social media targeting and to deliver more robust analytics

Utilized Constant Contact to reach more ABs with the content they want to see

Produced a new AB communications kit, including BBB A to Z for all new and existing Accredited Businesses

Worked with U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Attorney’s office and FBI on a data/cybersecurity event for businesses

Promoted BBB’s Scam Tracker tool to journalists and consumers as a source for valuable information

Increased visibility for BBB by participating in college fairs, National Night Out, military-focused and business events

Assisted the Secret Service and U.S. Attorney’s office in spreading the word about a gift card scam

BBB in the Community

Secure Your ID Day 2015

BBB of Upstate New York partnered with Shred-It, Tops Friendly Markets, the U.S. Postal Inspector and AT&T (new partner) for the

annual Secure Your ID day events in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.

BBB in Photos 2015

Financial Report