For those interested in Technology and Economic activity in Upstate NY... (New York: condo, pierogi)
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VILLAGE OF OWEGO SEEKS PROJECTS FOR DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION INITIATIVE $10M AWARD
OWEGO, N.Y. — Following the community’s win in the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) contest, the Village of Owego now wants suggestions as to how to spend the $10 million in funding.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Aug. 23 announced Owego as the Southern Tier winner in the third round of DRI contest.
The Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council had recommended the Village of Owego as a nominee to win the $10 million grant award, Cuomo’s office said.
The Owego local-planning committee (LPC) has issued an open call for potential DRI projects to seek proposals for privately sponsored projects “to be considered for DRI funding,” Tioga County said in a news release issued Thursday.
Committee members want to hear from those who have “potential transformative” projects on private sites that provide economic and community benefits. The process will enable the LPC to “fully vet” private projects that could impact Owego’s downtown area “in a uniform, open and transparent process.”
Submissions should include capital/construction projects; business expansion or creation projects; and renovation of existing buildings on private sites.
They should “demonstrate commitment” of private-funding sources and discuss the project’s “transformative nature and potential community benefits.”
The LPC says it encourages new ideas, along with “established project concepts.”
All submissions should include “as much information as possible” on potential projects in order to demonstrate that the idea is feasible and will have a meaningful impact on downtown Owego. After submission, the Owego LPC and its consultant team, led by New York City–based BFJ Planning, will work with project sponsors to gather additional information as needed.
All requirements for submissions can be found in the “Open Call” for potential DRI projects. Hard copies of the “Open Call” for projects are also available at the Village office at 178 Main St. in Owego and the Tioga County Economic Development & Planning office at 56 Main St. in Owego.
Those interested can email project submissions to OwegoDRI3@gmail.com by Dec. 7. The consultant team will hold “office hours” to discuss questions about potential submissions on Nov. 14 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Tioga County Office Building, 56 Main St. in the second floor conference room. In addition, questions on the Open Call can be sent via email by Nov. 16.
ULTRALIFE WINS $8.3 MILLION COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS CONTRACT
NEWARK, N.Y. — Ultralife Corp. (NASDAQ: ULBI), a Wayne County–based maker of batteries and communications systems, announced it has been awarded an $8.3 million contract to supply its vehicle amplifier-adaptors (VAA) and mounted VHF amplifiers to Thales Defense & Security, Inc., for the U.S. Army’s Leader Radio and other products.
Shipments are expected to start in the first quarter of 2019.
The Leader Radio supports the Army’s network modernization strategy and network cross-functional team experimentation efforts with a software-defined radio capable of providing data and voice communications through multiple waveforms, Ultralife said in a news release. With the two-channel Leader Radio, soldiers will only carry one radio instead of the two currently needed for voice and data. Ultralife’s radio-specific VAA platform provides the soldier with an enhanced range of digital voice and data communications and operational flexibility, the company contends.
“Leveraging the fielding and operational success of our radio-specific VAA product line, this latest award demonstrates the effectiveness of our ongoing new product development strategy of designing and building technically advanced, integrated communication systems devices in collaboration with our strategic partners,” Michael D. Popielec, Ultralife’s president and CEO, said in the release. “We look forward to participating in this multi-year program and continuing to add other new products and building blocks to our proven platforms for soldier modernization.”
Headquartered in Newark, Ultralife’s business segments include battery and energy products and communications systems. Ultralife also has facilities in Virginia, the United Kingdom, India, and China. The company serves government, defense, and commercial customers globally.
New York receives 90 cents back for every dollar it sends to Washington
New York state sent about $24.1 billion more to Washington than it got back in federal spending last fiscal year, according to a new report by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The state got back about 90 cents for every dollar it sent to D.C. in tax payments. That was more than the year prior, when New York received 84 cents for every dollar sent to Washington.
New York was one of 11 states to send more to Washington than it got back this past fiscal year. Many of the other states received more back than they gave to Washington — the average return nationwide was $1.19 per tax dollar.
DiNapoli warns threats to cut federal funding for health care and other programs could exacerbate the difference.
This year's report continues a longstanding narrative, said E.J. McMahon, the research director of fiscally conservative research group Empire Center for Public Policy.
"New York has always been among the net losers because the federal tax system is fundamentally redistributive, collecting more money from the wealthiest states than it returns to those states in the form of federal budget appropriations and other federal spending," McMahon said in an email.
That is largely because of the progressive income tax, he said, and because of Wall Street, New York state has a disproportionate share of the highest-earning taxpayers.
The gap between what New York sends and what it receives back from D.C. may widen in the next report, McMahon said, because it will include the effects of the federal tax overhaul's elimination of state and local tax, or SALT, deductions. That's a provision that largely affects a wealthy state like New York, where residents had claimed around $22,000 on average in state and local tax deductions.
"The SALT cap will widen the difference between what NY sends to Washington and what it gets back," McMahon said. "So, basically, you might say the comptroller’s report is rubbing SALT in the fiscal balance wound."
Espey hires 44, spends $1.9 million to upgrade Saratoga factory
Patrick Enright has hired 44 project managers, engineers, technicians and support staff this year as the corporate tax rate dropped, while sales and profits soared.
Thirty of those positions are new.
Nearly four years after Enright was recruited as chief executive at Espey Electronics & Manufacturing Corp., the Saratoga Springs company has rebuilt its sales pipeline and expanded its payroll to more than 165 employees.
The manufacturer of power supplies for ships, submarines, jets, military vehicles and freight locomotives invested $1.9 million to renovate its 150,000-square-foot factory and headquarters after winning two large military contracts.
"We make things for really nasty environments," Enright said.
The 89-year-old company has found a niche designing and building transformers and power converters capable of withstanding extreme heat, high altitudes, salt water, dust and dynamite blasts.
It is a strategy that has helped Espey win military contracts, develop relationships with large defense contractors and secure jobs with large industrial companies that make locomotives and rugged off-road vehicles.
Last month, Espey reported that sales grew 44 percent during its last fiscal year to $32.5 million. Profits increased by 62.5 percent to $7.66 million.
The company's success caught the attention of U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, who toured Espey's Saratoga Springs plant this week with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro.
The visit gave Enright and Espey chief financial officer David O'Neil an opportunity to talk about the impact of the federal tax reform.
Decreasing the corporate tax rate from around 35 percent to 21 percent, made it easier for Espey to spend money and give pay raises, O'Neil said.
Espey's recent plant upgrades will make the company more efficient, Enright said. They also give the plant the ability to manufacture at least 30, 3.8-megawatt transformers that will be used on U.S. Navy ships.
Each transformer weighs about 24,000 pounds and required Espey to install large steel tanks to manufacture and test equipment.
The investments are all part of a plan to diversify the business by securing a mix of industrial and military contracts.
"We have a strategy," Enright said. "We have adjusted our tactics and timing a little because of market pressures, but we are sticking to our plan."
Fast-growing tech company can't build its new office quick enough
The Jahnel Group, a software company that has grown more than 448 percent in the last few years, was running out of space in its Schenectady mansion as it waits for construction to complete on its new headquarters.
The company didn't want to stop hiring, so it found a solution. The Jahnel Group is moving a division of its company into the New York BizLab incubator while construction continues on its new headquarters down the street.
Eleven employees from its ServiceNow division have moved into the BizLab's first floor. The New York BizLab is an accelerator space for startups run by Antonio Civitella, the CEO of Transfinder, at 251 State St.
Ray Gillen, of Schenectady County Metroplex Authority, made the connection when he found out that the Jahnel Group had run out of space.
Jahnel Group CEO Darrin Jahnel announced in February that the company was outgrowing its office space in a renovated, 19th-century mansion at 242 Union St. in Schenectady's Stockade Historic District. To accommodate that growth, the company will lease 11,000 square feet on the new top floor of 134 State St., part of the $25 million Mill Artisan District project. Construction is ongoing at that project.
Today, the Jahnel Group has 63 employees. COO Jason Jahnel expects the company to have 100 employees in three years.
The Jahnel Group was No. 1 on the Business Review's Technology Startup Companies List with 38 employees based in Schenectady.
The company made the Inc. 5000 List of fastest growing companies in 2018, and was also a Business Review Best Places to Work winner in 2017. The Jahnel Group had $4.2 million in revenue in 2017, up from $1.9 million in 2015.
Darrin Jahnel started the business with his brother, Jason Jahnel in 2009.
The Jahnel brothers grew up in Schenectady County and went to Schalmont High School. Darrin Jahnel graduated from University at Albany and his brother Jason Jahnel graduated from SUNY Potsdam.
Both worked for many years in New York City and received master's degrees from New York University's Stern School of Business. They moved back upstate in the mid-2000s to start consulting projects that turned into the Jahnel Group.
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