I was honored to have at my table at the third annual Absolutely Business Forum a fascinating and diverse assembly of community leaders. As the snow gently fell outside the windows, the discussion took over and I began to soak in the experience and intellect of this interesting group.

Richard Brooks is the Administrator for Samaritan Health System, which oversees two major anchor facilities, Samaritan Medical Center, a 287 bed full-service hospital and Samaritan Keep Home, a 272 bed long-term care nursing home, as well as a number of rural health clinics around the region. They manage over 1,700+ employees and 180+ physicians. Brooks started his professional career working for a psychiatric center. He then became interested in healthcare management so he went back and, in 1977 he obtained a graduate degree in Healthcare Administration from Xavier University. Brooks worked in Florida for a hospital facility, then relocated and worked at Binghamton General Hospital. He became hospital director for Wilson Memorial Hospital in Ohio, then Delaware Valley Hospital in Southwestern New York before moving to Watertown and working in his present capacity.

Rick W. Tague, A.I.A., is a Registered Architect in New York and is the President and Partner in The Bernier Carr Group, a full service engineering, architectural, surveying, and construction management firm with offices in Buffalo, Syracuse, and Watertown. The Bernier Carr Group is celebrating their 40th anniversary and was voted the 2009 Greater Watertown North Country Chamber “Business of the Year.” They have approximately 120 employees, most of who work in the Watertown area, and they perform mostly public works projects such as in schools, municipalities, and health care facilities. The firm also does STAR preservation work with properties such as the Bolt Castle. Tague graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Science in 1982 and from SUNY at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Architecture Degree in 1978. He has been with the firm since 1989. He is also a licensed pilot.

Dave Mance is the President and CEO of the Greater Watertown North Country Chamber of Commerce, a four-star accredited chamber as designated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and held to be a rare designation. Mance has been actively involved with the Chamber for 10 years, including Chairman of theBoard back in 2003. He has also been active in the community by serving on various hospital boards for the last 25 years, chairman of the Samaritan Hospital Board in 2003, Jefferson Community College Chairman in 2003, and assisted with Samaritan Hospital Foundation for two years during the Capital Campaign that resulted in that team raising $13.5 million. Mance owned a group of 10 radio stations during his career and, after selling seven of them, now owns three stations, two in Sydney and one in Cape Vincent, New York.

Mary Anne Hanley is the Director of Marketing for the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency. JCIDA’s economic role is to entice employers to come to the region and create jobs, and also to help existing businesses to expand utilizing financing and other particular incentives. JCIDA also administers the Watertown Center for Business and Industry, a low cost facility option for small businesses. It is located inside the Watertown Empire Zone that provides a variety of tax credits, tax abatements, low cost utilities and financial incentives to certified businesses. Hanley moved to Watertown 23 years to the week of the Absolutely Business Forum. She was previously Director of Religious Education for the Diocese of Syracuse when her husband had a job transfer to the area. Hanley started out working for the Chamber and worked her way into the JCIDA after only a few years.

Steve Winkler is the owner and operator of Lucki 7 Farms, located in Rodman, NY. Lucki 7 Farms is a 1000 head hog farm operated by Steve, his wife Lisa, and their five children. The farm also has 1,200 chickens. Winkler grew up on a 200 year old farm in Rensselaer County, went to college, and after graduation, was recruited into the feed business in the nutrition field in Northern New York. He was the General Manager of Blue Seal Feeds in Watertown for three years, but his passion always lay in running a farm. Winkler decided to start a farm, and in 1997 he purchased a 100 acre farm, and expanded his holdings to 320 acres while renting an additional 50. The farm outgrew their sales potential so they had to team up with other farms to create a bigger network that could serve their target niche. Teaming up with those other farms led to Winkler creating an offshoot business called Certified Natural New York, that has trained 58 other farmers to strict protocols and they market their high-end products to metropolitan areas.

Matt Cervini is a Professional Engineer for Act Us Lend Lease. Act Us contracts with the Federal Government to build houses on Fort Drum and other military installations across the country. Currently, they are working on their second phase of homes which will bring the total up to 1,400 Energy-Star Certified homes. Act Us also has built the infrastructure for these homes, such as streets and sidewalks, and also four community centers and five miles of trail systems. The project started in 2003 when Act Us Lend Lease formed a partnership with the U.S. Army as part of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative to become Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes. So Act Us builds the communities, and Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes manages them. Cervini grew up in Carthage and graduated from Clarkson University and went to work for a local contractor, then for GYMO of Watertown, then in 2004 moved on to Act Us.

Cervini started our conversation about how businesses fared in 2009 by noting that Act Us has spent over $57 million during the year in their building projects at Fort Drum, a little over $1 million a week. 90-95% of that money is spent regionally from Buffalo to Rochester to Watertown with local contractors, stores, and consultants. Cervini feels quite lucky to be a part of such a successful business and is quite pleased at the company’s performance within the last year.

Lucki 7 Farms and Certified Natural New York have also had a great year according to Winkler. In 2009, they doubled their sales due to creating a niche market whereby his farm, along with a partnership of 58 other farms, set specific protocols for the production of higher end products, and then market them to gourmet distributors in Boston, New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut and other metropolitan areas. Lucki 7 Farms’ main product is port, poultry, and beef, and their 58 partner farms produce lamb, and exotic items such as deer and pheasant.

Winkler’s other business, Certified Natural New York institutes strict protocols, very similar to organic protocols, such as the right of animals to go in and outside of their own free will, and grain rations must be specified. They are now distributing to Wegman’s Stores all over the Northeast, and Winkler does Wegman’s certification work for all farms looking to distribute to this national chain. Winkler admits that this niche marketing has been so successful because their target is high end disposable incomes. They send nothing commercially or into the mainstream food system. Winkler stated, “What’s happening in the sustainable food movement is that New York doesn’t want food from other states if they can find it in their own state. We provide that market.” Locally, Green Thyme in Adam’s Center carries their meats, eggs, and local cheeses.

Hanley commented that JCIDA fared better than many other counties due to Fort Drum. JCIDA tries to monitor the pulse of the business community to see how they are doing. The loss of the Covidien’s

Watertown manufacturing plant to China has phased out 200+ jobs. The Department of Labor is working with those former employees to get them back to work. JCIDA also works with Jefferson County to get the word out about opportunities in the county, with incentives like low interest loans, programs, and training available.

Hanley stated, “I am really proud of our local manufacturers as it was a really tough year, and many of them got through it with creative plans rather than layoffs. It was amazing how they preserved jobs.” Drum Country Business is a great local opportunity as well. They work with the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization, DANC, Jefferson County Job Development Corporation, Lewis County Department of Planning and Economic Development, and the St. Lawrence County IDA to market the DCB entity to promote the entire region.

According to their website (www.drumcountrybusiness.com), in 2008, Fort Drum spent 72.8 million dollars on 225 contracts with local construction companies and $22.2 million on 322 contracts with local suppliers and services. Hanley also mentioned Creative Core, an upstate initiative of 12 counties that brands a green apple logo on local products and services. Partners from each of these counties work collaboratively to spotlight regional strengths, grow strategic industries, and encourage investment and innovation.

The JCIDA also does a lot of outreach to local businesses and has just applied for and received a grant through the USDA Rural Development office to training for local employers for people who will be applying for jobs to work on their soft skills, e.g., general skills that may need a bit of tightening up such as computer skills and answering the telephone. Hanley states that a number of businesses have already taken advantage of their loan programs in 2009. Finally, she focused on the partnership with the Small Business Development Center for their Entrepreneurial Program, “Do you want to start your own business?” Hanley states, “In our most recent program, we interviewed over 50 kids, and the ideas they presented were unbelievable. Some of them have already started their own business or want to take over their parents’ business. This truly is a wonderful program.”

Mance echoed Hanley’s sentiment regarding the Entrepreneurial Program, and added that the week before the AB Forum, the Chamber sponsored the Career Fair with JCIDA, and nearly 1,500 high school seniors from 19 high schools came to Jefferson Community College to talk with 80 employers. Mance stated, “For most of the kids, it was the first time they had done an interview with a stranger, so it was a great experience for them.”

Although Mance has only been at the reins of the Chamber for 3 days as of the Forum, he had interesting statistics. Last year, there were 970 Chamber members, down from 1001 the year before, a three percent drop. Mance doesn’t view that negatively, “that is still a significant amount of members in comparison to other chambers.” The Chamber’s revenue comes from membership dues and various events throughout the year. In 2009, their revenue was down eight percent; however they managed to keep expenses down to 16% under budget so the bottom line was that their budgets were up slightly from 2008 to 2009.

As for other Chamber activities, they hosted a quarterly speaker series on January 19, 2010 featuring Dr. Greg Gardner, former professor of business at Jefferson Community College and now at SUNY Potsdam. Dr. Gardner spoke of his economic forecast for 2010 predicting that things will remain unchanged in our region. Mance stated, “We are lucky in this region because we don’t have the highs and lows that places like Florida, California, or Las Vegas has in issues such as the real estate market where it exploded with fervor, then tanked. We didn’t see the collapse of the market up here even close to the degree they saw partly because there weren’t any sub-prime loans in this area. So we’re more even keeled, and with Fort Drum present, they help us make it through the rough spots.” In terms of Mance’s radio stations, their revenue was down 17% for the year, and he believes it was due to the automotive business problems, as 40% of the radio advertising business is related to automotive advertising.

“2009 was a very good year for The Bernier Carr Group” noted Tague. “Our projects take a long time to gestate; it might take three years for a school or sewer project, so by the time we talk with a client and get through the approval and funding processes, it might be years for a project to start.” Their biggest objective for 2010 is to find the next big projects for the next three years, and their backlog of projects is doing better than they anticipated when they sat down at the end of last year. Driving their bottom line is the funding through local municipalities as well as New York State and the Federal Government. “Taxpayer votes on school budgets certainly can affect the firm,” states Tague.

The Bernier Carr Group added 10 people to their staff in 2009. They have an intern program that provides 20+ kids every year with experience in engineering and architecture with the understanding that if they move away to go to college, they can come back and work at positions the firm is looking to fill. However, they still struggle to find young people to fill the positions as many don’t seem to want to come back to the North Country.

One thing that has helped his business is telecommuting. Tague commented, “Telecommuting will increase in the future. Westelcom provides the service that helps us provide our services quicker; we have employees who can work from home because they have the high-speed connections, so better technology helps us immensely.”

Samaritan Health System had a successful year according to Brooks. Of Samaritan Medical Center’s $150 million budget, 54% comprises salaries. Of Samaritan Keep Home’s $21 million budget, 65% is directed for salaries. “Those salaries definitely have a significant impact on the local communities”, noted Brooks. Samaritan Medical Center made approximately $5 million in profit in 2009, although their accounting books are not closed yet. They budged a 3% margin, but actually did better than that, which is important because the hospital has bonds to pay and the covenants on those bonds require them to operate at a certain level with goals in order to maintain the interest rates on those bonds at the current level.

The $61 million capital project at Samaritan Medical Center is progressing very well, including a parking garage that is currently open, four new floors with a new emergency department that will expand capacity from 25,000 visits annually with the old emergency department to 50,000 with this fine new facility. On the second level are eight new operating rooms and four outpatient procedure rooms, as well as a new central supply and a post anesthesia recovery room. The third floor comprises a new intensive care unit and progressive care unit for cardiology patients. The fourth level has 36 beds for medical surgical patients all with private rooms because of issues with infectious diseases. Brooks cited, “Fort Drum is a valuable asset to our community as it provides 33% of our services including 50% of our maternity care and 15% of our emergency department care.”

Regarding non-profit verses profit health care, Brooks informed the group that pursuant to New York State legislation, all hospitals in the state must be non-profit. However, nursing homes can be for profit, although Samaritan Keep Home is a non-profit. Last year, Samaritan Health System gave $4 million in charity care, not including bad debt or contractual allowances. Brooks said, “That $4 million is actually a line item in our budget as a way of giving back to our community.” No matter what department in human disease, whether be cancer, heart, orthopedics, they have 65-95% of the market share in the area. They serve over 200,000 people including people from northern Oswego County, Lewis County, and St. Lawrence County, even though there are hospitals in some of those counties already.

Mance spoke up and said that there is a list near the cafeteria at the medical center of all the job postings available and most people may not realize it is there – over 100 jobs are available including 50 nursing assistants. Brooks cited that the staff they have is very dedicated to their jobs considering the employee shortage, “they are willing to pitch in and work long hours to make sure everyone is cared for effectively, with people working on their days off, and part timers working full time.” Certain specialties, called “hot jobs”, are tough to fill, such as CT technicians, ultrasound technicians and registered nurses. Many of these jobs will provide a $3,000 stipend per semester for people willing to get their degree and commit to working at the medical center for a minimum period of time.

As for local colleges supporting these degrees, Brooks states, “Jefferson Community College has been a wonderful asset and they are continually developing new programs, and also establishing a nursing assistant degree.” He mentioned that BOCES also has a nursing assistant degree as well as a licensed practical nurse degree and a medical transcription services degree. “There are a lot of opportunities for the young people of this area as the jobs are here. Not only at Samaritan, but also River Hospital, Carthage Hospital, Odgensburg, and in Lewis County.”

On the issue of national health care overhaul, Brooks knows well that will have an effect both on the state level and locally. “New York is one of the most severely regulated states in the nation regarding healthcare and pretty much everything else,” stated Brooks. Samaritan Keep Home lost money in 2009.

The problem was that the State had not issued a new reimbursement rate- the last was in April 2009- so they went the whole year without getting paid. On January 16 of this year, they found out what the rate would be for the year, instantly losing $150,000. This is the first year ever that they have budgeted a negative number on their $21 million dollar budget. As the state is proposing tougher budgets, the nursing home has already budgeted for a $144,000 loss for 2010. And to add to the bad news, Brooks informed everyone that the State government is proposing a $240.2 million increase in assessments on hospitals and nursing homes, an increase of 6-7%. Brooks said, “This is actually a tax by New York State on hospitals, but we will not pass that increase onto consumers. We just have to make sure we’ll be there for the future.”

To put it in perspective, Brooks mentioned a conversation he had with a certified nursing assistant who had just moved from an Alabama hospital to Samaritan. “She told me that there were 2 medical care workers for every 40 patients, whereas at Samaritan we have 6 medical care workers for every 40 patients – I’d say we have good healthcare in the North Country.”

Brooks was quite complimentary of CEO Tom Connors, “he is a very good CEO as he has the temperament, the background, and the knowledge to carry the weight of this enormous facility.” Samaritan Medical Center is the largest hospital north of Syracuse and west of Plattsburgh. “We have a significant role to play in this area,” chimed Brooks.

Upon being posed the question of what are the most important issues facing the North Country business community, Tague piped up, “New York State is a tough state in which to do business. We’re highly regulated, and our clients look to us to guide them through the regulatory process. However, the state mandates regulations for local communities that cost them substantial monies. Although our firm benefits from some of these mandates, it is still a burden on the municipalities as it makes it difficult for our communities to not increase their taxes or drive away businesses.” Tague also stated, “We have such a beautiful area here, but it is only utilized in the summer and autumn. We should be doing more to market this area for the off season as well.”

Mance quipped, “We are very proud to have the 10th Mountain Division in our area, but being that they are the most deployed division in the U.S. Army, that has an effect locally in retail and services.” There are major deployments scheduled through 2011, and as soon as we can get our troops home, it will be better for our communities.” He also brought up the health care reform debate and the surmise that no one will really know what effect it will have on our health care. “We all agree that there needs to be some reform, but the small business man should not have to shoulder the burden. Double digit increases in premiums are not sustainable.”

Mance also believes pre-existing conditions must always be covered by insurance companies. “Health care reform is not transparent, although it should be.” Mance is also frustrated by New York State, “The state budget cuts have affected everyone. We’ve been taxed to death, and none of the politicians, no matter what party affiliation, can say ‘no’ to the lobbyists. They need to prioritize what needs to be done, especially in these tough times.” Mance also believes that airport expansion would be quite beneficial to everyone, and also would make this area more accessible.

The most important business community issues for Hanley start with lending. “If the banks start lending again, small business will be helped and we need to open the lines of credit. The credit crunch is a national issue, and it affects us just as much in this region. In the past, financing issues used to trickle down to this area, but now, it’s virtually instantaneous.” Hanley also believes in preserving employee retention and finding the right talented people to fill the jobs the area does have. “We have to make sure we have that next generation here to take over. If we don’t have strong future leadership here, the entire area will be affected.” Hanley also spoke about the taxing issues and the difficulty in convincing businesses into coming to New York State, “it just isn’t really happening right now.”

Winkler echoed Hanley’s statements, “Keeping young people in this area is an issue tantamount to our future success. Often times, our best intellectual students will move from this area for a variety of reasons, and I think we should be marketing this area to other regions to get the best students to come to us.” Energy costs and taxes are another hot issue for Winkler, “They are extreme at this point, and one place we can point to is Albany. We’re going to have to fix our business environment to reduce taxes, reduce energy costs, and keep our young people here.”

Cervini’s view of the future for his organization and businesses in general in the North Country is rooted in privatization-the transfer of a business or public entity from the public sector to the private sector. “I believe our governments will get more into privatization in consideration of the debt load they are carrying. They have figured that out with the housing business on military bases, and they are increasing the privatization of prisons and schools in other areas of the country as well.” Cervini thinks the business sector is starting to recognize that it can work. “The problem is that in this economic crisis, the money just isn’t there. It’s very difficult for any developer to secure funding these days. We employ 300-400 people in the summer, but after this project at Ford Drum is done, those jobs will wind down unless we get further contracts.” Cervini noted that there have been no major housing developments since he moved here in 1998. “So if the 4th Brigade relocated here, we would have a major housing shortage.”

Mance sees a positive future for Fort Drum. “It will be a positive future for our retail services. Considering our retail services, Target, Coles, Best Buy, and two major Walmarts, among others, the expansion has been great here and I believe it will continue.” Mance also stated, “As retail does well, so too does membership in the Chamber.” He cited the issue of the cost of health care for small businesses, “60% of small businesses were paying for some part of the health care premiums for their employees before, now it is down to 37%. That is a great example of why some reform is needed.”

Natural resources are an important tool in marketing this area, believes Winkler. “Good clean air and plentiful water, that’s a benefit to the North Country.” He believes that the future of our business community is teamwork, “the future of our organization is in teaming up with like businesses, and doing things well, not just pretty good.”

Hanley stated, “As a region we have to be aware of our changing economy. We have to think regionally because our organization has found out that regional funding may be available in a few years.” Hanley believes that our local banks have been doing very well in working with the Jefferson County IDA and local small businesses. However, she stressed the need for a venture capital fund, “Other areas have a venture capital fund to enable entrepreneurs to invest in their regions.”

Hanley sees agriculture and industry as strong sectors in the North Country, and tourism is great in the summer, but she agrees with Tague in ensuring tourism is a year-round benefit. Hanley also supports extending the recreational trails that have been established in the southern part of Jefferson County to the northern half as well.

“Businesses have to learn to adapt and follow their markets more effectively in order to compete in the present economy,” stated Tague. Technology is very important to The Beriner Carr Group because, “it allows us to do more with the people we have and expand what we can do. Without the technology we have, we wouldn’t be as efficient as we are.”

Tague complimented Lucki 7 Farms, “I am pleased to hear what Steve (Winkler) has done, taking a local farm and evaluating that business model and distributing outside of New York.” He also cited Samaritan Medical Center for being able to offer, “First class health care for the North Country.”

Brooks mentioned how the baby boomers generation will have a tremendous effect on how Samaritan will deliver services, “Adapting different types of long-term care and assisted living in Jefferson County is virtually non-existent at this time.” The county-run nursing home is the only one that accepts Medicaid in Jefferson County as Brooks states, “We are working to implement a plan for assisted living in Jefferson County as many boomers will not need full blown nursing home care, but rather minimal care such as what the assisted living programs provide.”

One problem with the future of Samaritan is that of shortage of workers, “The average age of our nurses is 47 years old. One can do the math – we are heading towards a serious shortage of registered nurses in the future at this rate. Most nurses usually don’t work beyond 55-60 years of age and as people are living longer, there will be more chronic diseases.” Brooks believes in teaching wellness, “Things such as obesity and diabetes are serious problems and teaching wellness at an early age is a proactive way of fighting these diseases.” Brooks summed it up, “The future is good in health care, and we just need more people willing to work this field.”

Everyone at our table expected their businesses to face certain challenges in 2010, but at the same time, everyone was also optimistic that the North Country is a region that can weather most economic downturns, and return to a strong and vibrant economy regionally once again. Perhaps Winkler put it best, “I have learned a lot from the rest of you around the table today, and I think we have great stories to tell that we don’t share or tell enough. We really need to get out to the world that we have incredible businesses here. It would be a great recruitment for young people. I don’t think we tell our story enough.”

I would like to thank the participants for their insightful candor on their businesses and the local and regional economy and also for caring so much about the future of our region to participate in these focal discussions.

Article written by Gerald R. Forcier, Jr.

Again, it was with great pleasure that I accepted the task of moderating a panel of local business men and women participating in the annual Absolutely Business Forum to discuss how their businesses fared in 2009 and what the outlook is for 2010. Arriving early at the Riveredge Resort I had the opportunity to observe the serene surrounding of the St. Lawrence River and Boldt Castle. It was amazing to me that, although many of the participants had never met, they crossed paths in many ways in the course of doing business.

At my table were Dr. John Scott Foster, executive director of the New York State Zoo, Watertown; Jane Aikins, director of membership development, The Greater Watertown North Country Chamber of Commerce; Nic Darling, local sales manager North Region, Time Warner Cable; Phil Randazzo, owner, Coyote Moon Vineyards; Michael Colello, president/CEO, Frontenac Crystal Springs; and Ronald Colon, quality control manager, Upstate Construction Services, Inc.

After introductions we went to the first question: Tell us a little about your organization and your businesscareer. Foster began the conversation explaining that there has been a zoo in Watertown since 1920. It started off much like a large number of zoos in the United States―with a park and a belief that the community should have a zoo in the park. The Watertown Zoo, located at Thompson Park, went through the same process as most zoos built in that time period. Zoos were built so that people could see the animals and there was no little or no concern about the health and welfare of those animals.

As society’s interest, perception, and understanding of the natural world shifted, the direction of zoos shifted as well. In the 70’s and 80’s, many zoos in the United States were working hard, not only to place animals in more natural environments, but also finding the resources to get it done. Fast forward to the 1990’s and the New York State Zoo had changed. Unlike many zoos in New York and throughout the United States, at the Watertown Zoo you will only find animals native

to the area―specifically those that were living in the environment when Christopher Columbus landed in 1492 and those that are living here today. “We use the animals in the New York State Zoo to tell stories―stories about the environment, conservation and the wonders of the animal world,” Foster said “We want people to be able to connect with nature, have a positive relationship with the region, and lead more sustainable lives. That helps educate people about how they can help the animals survive in this region. It also gives the zoo a business niche. Focusing on native animals separates the New York State Zoo from the other zoos.”

Financially, it also makes sense. Most of the collection is not impacted by the North Country winters. Zoos housing exotic animals must provide special habitats which significantly increases operating costs. If the New York State Zoo had an exotic collection of animals, Foster explained, it would cost roughly three times as much to run the zoo as it does now.

Foster said that approximately 45,000 people go through the doors each year and another 40,000 people see the animals through their outreach programs. A zoo-mobile takes animals to schools and to many festivals around the region. Foster had always loved working with animals, but decided to shift his educational emphasis from zoology to education with an emphasis on museum studies. After working for several zoos around the country, he applied for the position at the New York State Zoo and became its executive director.

Aikin was next to talk about her work. The Greater Watertown Chamber of Commerce has been around since 1903. The Chamber was very instrumental in getting Camp Drum to the North Country when it was known as Pine Camp. It worked with the Thousand Island Bridge Authority to help tourism in the Thousand Island and the International crossing. They also brought Disney on board to help educate some of our leaders in the area on service.

Aikins stressed that the greatest assets that the Chamber has is its members and the service that the staff and its board can provide to those members. In the last four and a half years, the chamber has grown by 25 percent and presently has 1.000 members. Aikins believes that the Chamber is “in the optimal time to grow membership: Ft. Drum is growing, the region is strong, and we have the river that brings tourism in to our area”. The Chamber has been able to take advantage of those forces and move forward.

Explaining some of the benefits offered to Chamber members, Aikins said, “We are the largest business organization in the North country, we offer lots of networking opportunities, we have provided insurance for years to small businesses. In fact, we have expanded on that and we now have a licensed broker on staff.”

The Chamber offers professional educational opportunities in conjunction with the Jefferson Leadership Institute and they are having a series of quarterly workshops that bring in speakers to talk about pertinent issues facing the North Country. Aikins ran her own business for years. In 1992 she moved to the North Country to be near family, then decided to change careers. She took a position working in tourism and fell in love with it. She had an opportunity to join the chamber and grabbed it. Aikins will mark her fifth year with the chamber in May.

Darling took his turn, explaining that Time Warner Cable has several sectors in its operations. He works in the advertising end and is responsible for media sales from Watertown to Rouses Point and Lake Placid. His region, the Central New York Division, serves 650,000 households. Darling said he got into the business 27 years ago “when it was all about selling short 30-second commercials.”

Today Time Warner is a technology company. Darling explained, “As technology has changed, we have changed. We are internet-driven and we have interactive television. We have banners running on the bottom of commercials and you can actually download a video of a Ford F-150.” Darling started 27 years ago at Channel 7 WWNY-TV as an account executive and rose through the organization to become its director of sales. He left Channel 7 to rebuild Channel 50, WWTI. There he was a partner and vice president/general manager. He joined Time Warner in 2001 as regional sales manager for the North Region.

Darling is a Watertown native, and after living in other areas of the country, returned here in the mid-70s. Next, Randozza shared his story, saying he began thinking about growing grapes several years ago. Trips to Sicily instilled the idea. He had purchased a farm in Clayton and decided that they should plant new cold-hardy plants, called Frontenac grapes, which led to the winery business. He said, “The winery industry in Jefferson County really gave me something to sink my teeth into”.

Interested in community development, Randazzo began thinking the winery business might be something that could extend the region’s tourism season especially with the advent of new types of grapes that could stand northern winters. The new varieties Randazzo said, “make absolutely Coyote Moon, Randazzo’s winery, is the fourth winery to open in the North Country. Two others will probably open next year with more in the planning stages. The region has now developed a Wine Trail and people are coming to the area to sample and purchase the wines from as far away as Pennsylvania.

In 1986 a study was conducted associated with the wine trails. At the time of the survey 360,000 people went through the New York State wine trails. The same study was conducted again in 2006 and found that 4.7 million people went through the wine trails that year. Randazzo said, “Currently the wine business is a $3.7 billion industry. Forty-six of the 62 counties in New York now have wineries. We are at the beginning of a growth cycle business and it’s very exciting.” Randazzo, now president of the Northern New York Grape Growers Association, is working to double the size of that organization over the next two years. He is also a member of a new committee, USDA-Scri/NERA Cold-Climate Viticulture Research Project with members from 13 Northern states and Cornell University, University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Grape Growers Association.

Randazzo concluded, saying, “This is becoming a family business with my daughter moving here last year and my son moving here full time in April.” Colello took center stage to tell us about Frontenac Crystal Springs. The organization goes to the early 1900’s, at a resort called, of course, Crystal Springs Resort, which featured a natural spring. A man named Mr. Tips started a barroom at the Frontenac Hotel on Round Island. He began making his own root beer and soda, using water from the spring. He also cooled his beer with the cold running water. Eventually he got into the water bottling business, and, in the late 70s, a group of businessmen from Clayton got involved.

Colello’s father bought the business with a partner 30 years ago, purchased more trucks and started bottling water. Mike got involved about 20 years ago. As everyone knows, the business of bottled water took off. Colello said, “The bad economy has taken a toll. The business was good for a long, long time, but, when things are not quite as good, bottled water is one of the things that people give up.”. Frontenac Springs sells to homes, offices, to construction sites and to Ft. Drum, to name just a

outlets. They distribute their product in Massena, Malone, Syracuse, and to other water bottlers in Syracuse and Rochester, etc.. Colon was the last to answer our first question, and began by explaining that Upstate Constrution Services is a prime and sub-contractor business. Colon is involved in the quality control end of the business, with the safety aspect for the employees and with monitoring construction safety as the project develops and come to fruition. His background includes design development, long range planning and construction management.

Upstate Construction is involved with several projects with the Corp of Engineers at Ft. Drum and elsewhere around the state. Colon said, “I am looking forward, as Upstate grows, to using all my background and experience, whether it is to help implement design construction management or bring the construction phase to fruition”.

We moved to the second question―how did your business/industry fare in 2009 locally, regionally, and internationally? Foster began, saying, “Working backwards, the zoo industry is very weather dependent. If you have great weather, everybody goes and if it rains, everybody stays home. This year has been a little different. Although the weather was bad in many areas of the country, zoo attendance was up because people were not traveling as much due to the economy.” In fact, he said, zoos across the nation, and the region, are reporting record attendance.

He addresses another issue, saying that, in early 2009, zoos that were heavily dependent on municipal funds were hurting because of the cut backs and began cutting staff. Zoos that were not heavily dependent on that funding, such as the New York State Zoo, fared much better. Nationwide, while zoos are seeing more people coming, they are not spending as much. According to Foster, The New York State Zoo did not have to cut staff, but they did do some reorganizing. Attendance went up and the per capita went up. Part of it was because of the new events, new exhibits (such as the otter exhibit), and other new programs. It was a good year for the New York State Zoo.

Aikins commented that 2009 was a year of change for the chamber. Chamber membership had been increasing, but Aikins said there was a growing fear factor about how the recession was going to affect the North Country. She said, “People began to pull in, tighten up, look at their budgets, look at the bottom line and really make critical decisions based on what that budget

forecast was. So we didn’t see an increase in new members.” That challenged the Chamber and Aikins, as the membership development director, to come up with more value for that Chamber membership. Businesses also took another look at the Chamber’s Energy Alliance where they can save up to nine percent of their energy costs, which resulted in a significant rise in the use of that program. The Chamber also started reviewing their programs to see what their members need help with. Aikins believes there are several areas that members are looking closely at, including the use of new technology.

Darling jumped right in saying, “Nationally the advertising industry took a really big hit, led by the automotive declines and the financial decline. Locally, the political arena saved the year for advertising. A lot of money was pumped into the system for elections by politicians, interest groups, and political action committees. This helped the broadcast industry and advertising. Darling said the worst year he had seen previously since he got into the business was 1991. This year, 2009, nationally, was as bad as 1991 if not worse because of the decline in the automotive industry. Darling believes that, locally, “2009 was an OK year. It wasn’t a real bad year and it was not a real good year.”

Randazzo offered a positive comment, saying, “With regard to the home building industry locally, it was just fine,” but he added that the company went to more moderate forms of construction to keep prices down. And, he said, “Nationally, they got clobbered.” Randazzo sounded a cautionary note, saying, “We have to be realistic about it. We are going to have double digit unemployment rate before this thing is all over and we need to prepare ourselves for another downturn. It probably will not be as severe as the last one, but it will be the kind that will put the fear in the consumer for quite some time.”

While he believes that Ft. Drum offers the area some insulation from the pain felt in other areas, Randazzo said, “We need to plan as business people for that eventuality, and I am conducting my business that way”. Colello said, “Nationally and regionally the water industry took a pretty good hit in the last year.” He continued, “We are in a tough time and everybody understands we are in a bad economy. In the past people did not see the reason for cutting back and undergoing layoffs. Now that everyone sees it and accepts it, they have a real fear of it.”

Colello noted that Frontenac has not had to lay anyone off, but did have to adjust their health insurance policy. “We never had our employees pay for health insurance until this year,” he said, but added, “We were able to improve their insurance and are employees are happy to have health insurance because they know what it costs.” Colon said, “In the construction field, prices have spiked and now they are starting to come down.” That’s good news, but the question remains, he continued, “Will it sustain itself to the point where bigger jobs start opening up?” Upstate has had small jobs that keeps people active and have been able to keep insurance for all employees.

The discussion then centered on the third question―what are the most important issues facing the North Country business community? According to Foster, one of the biggest issues is how to foster and nurture the smaller organizations that may have grown from a larger company shedding employees.

Aikins said, “It is the Chamber’s job to face issues and to come up with solutions to them. People are very concerned right now about the cost of health care and the ability to afford health care. The other issue is taxes. It appears that the middle class and the middle-sized businesses are the ones that are the most heavily taxed.”

Aikins is also concerned about how to attract new business to the area, but wanted to say that she believes our natural resources and the fact that we live in a safe and beautiful area help with that. Darling believes the local challenges go deeper than than just the economy. “Many of our young people go away to school and then they want to move to a sunnier climate,” he said. “If we do not keep technology in the forefront, if we do not provide a reason for the children to come back here after they get out of school, we will loss more than we ever have before.”

He continued, “There is this thing called co-petitiveness, not competitiveness but co-petitiveness, where you work with your competitors to achieve an end result. Look at Sackets Harbor. They market each other for the greater good. The Wine Trail is co-petitivness. We need to do things like this to off-set the losses we are facing.”

Randazzo piggy-backed on Darling’s comments, saying, “Along with the Pride of New York campaign which means ‘buy local,’ we need to take it to the local level. Anything we can do as chambers or business organizations to create ad programs and marketing programs to get people

to buy local and support ourselves and not let that money leave the community could be just enough to keep the marginal businesses in play.” Randazzo thinks this business forum could be brought back and used to exchange ideas. “You learn something every time you sit down with other businessowners,” he said. “Businesses have to find a way to dovetail with each other to benefit all.”

Colello noted, “The North Country is a bargain to come to and visit. Unfortunately, because of the weather, the ideal time period for that is limited. We have to find a way to get our products out of the area!” Colon commented that things run in a cycle and everything seems to happen within this cycle. He states that; “Right now,” he said, “we are not being impacted locally just by the federal budget reorganization and modification, but we are also being impacted similarly by the State. As a result, many companies are going to have to think about fiscal reorganization, adaptability and responsiveness to Ft. Drum based on the degree of return and or deployment of the soldiers.”

Finally, we took a look at the last question―what is your view of the future for your organization and for business in general in the North Country? Foster feels positive about where the zoo is headed, but warns against laziness. “You have to be very, very strategic in every decision you make and you have to be able to support every decision you make,” Foster said.. Aikins said the Chamber must be vigilant to the needs of its members and should also be the stage from which its members’ voices may be heard. She said, “if we are addressing those needs, if we are becoming that stage for local voices to be heard in Albany and in Washington DC and if we really address some of the critical issues, I predict success for the Chamber.” Darling predicted that 2010 will be a watch-and-wait year. “Businesses will be cautious with spending and they will wait to see what happens,” Darling said. ”I think it is going to be, in general, a tough year. As far as my business is concerned, however, it is going to be phenomenal because it is a major political year.” Randazzo thinks his organization will see substantial growth because it is new and unique in the North Country. Then he added, “We need to keep our eye on Ft. Drum for the health of the North Country. The war will continue to play a role and how our leaders react to the global threat will really affect our economy in the North country.”

Colello commented, “I think, for our organization, it will be single digit growth.” Over the past twelve months. Frontenac has been able to cut enough costs successfully, but does not yet see adding employees. Instead, Colello said, “We have shifted people around and reorganized. Hopefully they can move product out of the area to generate sales.”

Colon brought our discussion to an end, summarizing that everyone at the table was pretty much on the same wave length. “We have to remember what the government, state or federal, has given, they can take away very quickly,” he said. “Budget reductions will impact everybody in the area.” But, he continued, “As (Colello) just said, there is growth here and I think we will be able to sustain these next three years. However, everyone has got to find a way to keep their company’s key personnel.”

Article written by Tom Williams.

I can think of no location more suitable for the Third Annual Absolutely Business Forum than the Riveredge Resort in Alexandria Bay, New York. The distinct beauty of the Thousand Islands sets a delightful mood for any event, and the forum was certainly no exception.

The cold, but not quite frozen, waterfront and snowy boat docks were visible through the large windows that surrounded each table where the business owners of the North Country sat, each ready and eager to begin the conversation.

At our round table in the corner sat Kevin Richardson, president of North Country Farms; David Males, general manager for WWTI ABC 50; Stephanie Converse, associate broker at RE/MAX Realty in Watertown; Robert Reddick, president of Con Tech Building Systems; and Kirk Gilchrist, senior pastor at New Life Christian Church.

Following the introductions, I asked, “Why don’t you tell us about your business?” The discussion started with Kevin Richardson. Richardson explained that his business, North Country Farms, is a local food manufacturer that takes locally grown wheat from Old McDonald’s Farm in Sackets Harbor and mills it into flour.

“We stone mill the wheat into flour and package flour products such as pancake mix, muffin mix, pastry flours and all purpose flours,” he said. “We also source out local honey and maple syrup from farmers in northern Jefferson County, so we’ve built our food business around North Country foods.”

Richardson’s products are available on retail shelves around the state of New York, in stores like Price Chopper, Hannaford, Sam’s Club, Big M and almost any other retail store in the North Country that sells food.

David Males was next in line to talk about his company. “I’m vice president and general manager of WWTI ABC 50 and North Country CW. I’ve operated in that capacity for the past 10 years.” Males is, what he says, some might call a broadcast junky. “I’ve been in broadcasting ever since I graduated from SUNY Fredonia. I have dabbled in everything from on-air work, news, sales, sales management and now general manager.”

Stephanie Converse followed, representing RE/MAX Empire Realty, the largest real estate franchise in the world. Stephanie and her brother, Mark Converse, opened up the Watertown franchise in June 2007. “We do everything commercial, residential, waterfront and vacant land,” she said. “We enjoy it.”

Robert Reddick then took his turn, telling us a little about Con Tech Building Systems. His company has been in business for 22 years and is involved with commercial and public bid work in the tri-county area. Based in Gouverneur, he said that the company focuses mainly within about a 50-mile radius. “That opens us up to businesses in the college area, in Potsdam and Canton, then around by the river and nearly to the foothills of the mountains. We can go as far south as Watertown, and sometimes even farther.” Reddick added that he also owns a second business,with a partner, called Premier Building Associates, where they focus on high end residential construction in and around the St. Lawrence River.

Last, but certainly not least, in telling us about his organization was Kirk Gilchrist. He came to the upstate New York area from Detroit approximately 12 years ago, when New Life Christian Church only had about 40 people in the congregation. Having recently relocated to Watertown, the church now is housed in the former Hoytz Cinema building.

“We’re really focused on loving God and loving people. We also strive to help the community and the soldiers,” Gilchrist said.

Being an avid businessman in addition to his pastoral position, he also added, “My businesses are all dedicated toward giving the money away. We don’t keep any of it. We’ve funded eight orphanages around the world, and that’s what it’s all about.”

The discussion then deepened as the table participants moved on to share how their businesses fared in 2009. Richardson reported that North Country Farms went from a one-food brand to five food brands in the last seven months, an increase he was excited to see. They introduced a new brand with only one product, their pastry flour, then extended the line to two different flour mixes, a pancake mix and a muffin mix, later adding honey and syrup.

North Country Farms also went from distributing in just two Big M stores to being on the shelves of nearly 100 retail stores statewide, from Massena to Albany.

“So for the year, I’d say we fared pretty well, considering that we expanded from two or three different stores to close to a hundred,” said Richardson. “It had a huge effect on our sales. Revenues rapidly increased in no time.” The former teacher and basketball coach shared that this endeavor has been a learning experience, since he had no prior knowledge of the food industry. “I just wanted to help people to be more aware of what they were eating and where it was coming from,” he said. He added that persistence and belief in his product played an important

Males shared that there was one big boost that made 2009 a good year for ABC 50. “Last year was a very good year because of one thing, and that was the special election on New York’s 23^rd Congressional District,” he stated. “The race was the television station’s economic bailout plan for the year.”

He also shared that ABC 50 has found success through building local relationships through a number of sales programs and projects. “What the programs allowed us to do was to optimize the use of our inventory. It helped to create more revenue and do it with the local advertising, so that when we ended the year we were not so dependent on the national advertising.” Males went on to say, “In our industry the key driver is automotive. It always has been and always will be at a national level.”

Males said that ABC 50 was able to absorb a number of losses that were due to the Ford and General Motors cutbacks and apply those locally. He was reassured to see that while other regions may be suffering, local auto dealers were still selling cars due to the economic boom of Fort Drum. Having a strong local base is important to his company and they have worked hard to cultivate their relationships in the North Country, increasing ad sales and absorbing some of the losses. Even so, Males said that without the big push from the congressional race that they received near the end of the year, 2009 would’ve been difficult.

Some employment reductions had to be made due to some budget cuts, he noted. “Part of the economic turnaround was taking a look at our budget and plan and making it work with the ad dollars that were present,” he said. “We were able to do that but there was some pain along the way. Like a lot of people, we had to go through some employment reductions and that’s never easy. It’s never a fun thing to do, but we got through it.” Males concluded that as a result of the unplanned and unbudgeted political windfall, it made 2009 a very good year.

Converse reported that on a national level RE/MAX ranked in the top seven on the Fortune 500 as one of the top moneymakers in 2009. Their business also did quite well locally despite the poor state of the economy. Converse credited the local success to the military as well as homebuyer tax credits. “With the first-time and now second-time home buyer credits, there’s a big incentive for people to get out and start shopping around and looking for houses again.” The tax credit was signed into legislation by President Obama on February 17, 2009 and was later extended on November 6, 2009 through April 10, 2010 as part of a $24 million economic stimulus bill.

Converse pointed out that the real estate business fluctuates, slowing down in the winter since many times people don’t want to look at houses or move due to the cold weather. Business picks up again in the summer time when people are anxious to get outdoors.

She also shared that RE/MAX recently hired a new property management company, which is expected to bring in additional revenue. “Our office is literally just a few miles from Fort Drum and we’re always getting calls from people that are coming to the area and want to rent,” she said.

Reddick was excited to report that for Con Tech, 2009 was probably one of their best years ever. “I started the business in 1988, which would’ve been in a parallel time to now because it was near the first big expansion of Fort Drum,” he said. Con Tech started out as a small business with a few employees who worked out of Reddick’s home. Over the past 20 years, the company grew much larger due to public work from schools, hospitals and other businesses.

“For 15 years we grew every single year and we’re able to survive nicely in this area. When Fort Drum expanded, it happened to be a few years before the recession.” Reddick shared that when the time came, he was well positioned and had a few good connections so that Con Tech was able to get in on some of the Fort Drum work. He also added that even though they spend a fair amount of time on Fort Drum, there’s still plenty of business to be had elsewhere. “It’s really not my only focus,” he said of the military base. “It probably amounts to less than 50 percent of our business.”

Con Tech additionally is involved with historic restoration work, which they have found to be a good niche market. Reddick shared that they are currently working on the Franklin building in Watertown. “I think we’re versatile in that we can do so many different things and we’re not limiting ourselves to one-sized jobs,” he said. “We work many small jobs, but can handle projects as high as $10 million.”

To Con Tech, versatility is one of the key points to success. While Reddick knows that Fort Drum has been a big boom for their business, he also believes that there will be plenty of work should it scale back down in the future. “All of us who have been in business for any length of time in northern New York are accustomed to recession because we have one every year,” he laughed. “We just call it winter.”

He went on to say that every winter things slow down and people don’t spend money, and because of that yearly adjustment businesses may not see all the spikes that the rest of the nation does. “I think if you’re established and want to make a nice living, this is a great place to do that. When Fort Drum slows down I expect that 75 percent of the contractors that are working there now will go away, and the rest of us left will all get our share. So if you’re strong enough to wait your turn, you’re going to get all you need.”

Gilchrist reported that Sunday morning services at New Life Christian Church have increased during the past year from 250 to over 400 in attendance. The church’s focus on excellence in service helps improve the community in many different ways, from local city clean-up to high school outreach programs held throughout Jefferson County.

In addition to the church’s move to Watertown, the old building in Depauville is now being used as training grounds for Dibor, an international leadership training program that instructs young adults from all over the world. Through the program, students acquire a world-changing mindset and are geared up to positively influence the people around them.

Though the church moved to its new Arsenal Street location in November of 2008, Gilchrist said that they are still building and renovating. He said that the renovation of the old theater has been a fairly long process and an interesting job at that. “We knocked out a wall and we used two theaters for the sanctuary. We had to put in seating and fix the slanted floors. We also spend a lot of time with music so we had to have room so people could stand.”

A stage was added in the sanctuary and a waterfall was built in the foyer, but the work isn’t done yet. Gilchrist said they are now renovating the other four theaters and there are still repairs to be finished, such as the roof. New Life has just recently launched a new project called the “Roof Mural” to help raise the funds needed for the repairs. The mural, a piece of artwork displayed in the foyer, is hidden beneath 2,652 blocks, each representing a specified dollar amount. As donations are received, the blocks will one by one be removed to later reveal a beautiful mural, which will be left on display to symbolize the completion of the roof fundraiser.

Next the table participants were asked what they felt were the most important issues facing the North Country business community. Richardson believes that loyalty and sustainability were two things of great importance. He would like to see more people pulling together to support local businesses and helping to sustain the local economy, especially in the food industry. “I don’t want to change something that’s working,” he said. “In our sense if products are selling, we should keep the sustainability and run with it.”

Males thought that some of the issues facing the North Country may well be out of our control. He discussed his concern with various government rulings, stating that too many times, laws are passed without consideration to their effects on small and medium sized businesses. “I don’t think anyone sits down and asks, ‘How is this going to affect these small and medium sized businesses that create a majority of the jobs?’ For instance, take a look on a national level at this whole health demand. I have not heard one person ask how it’s going to affect small businesses. Are there going to be additional costs? Are there going to be additional savings?” Males went on to say that the issue would truly not be resolved unless the government took more interest in the effect that suggested legislation would have on business owners.

Reddick would like to see more continuity and common goals among the business community. He used the seasonal shops of Alexandria Bay as an example, stating he’d like to see less competition amongst the shop or restaurant owners and more pulling together to work as a team to bring new people into the area, even in the late part of the year. “It’s one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth in October, but nobody’s here,” he said. “And why? Because everything’s closed. There’s nothing to do here in the off-seasons.”

After a quick moment of consideration, Reddick added, “The river needs a $500 million project. Somebody needs to come in and build that big resort…that destination location that will bring people from everywhere.”

Males agreed and pointed out that Clayton is a good example of people pulling together and is beginning to display such continuity. “Take a look at all of the wonderful specialty shops,” he said. “It can be done.”

Reddick also suggested that in order to start promoting places like Alexandria Bay, it might be necessary to get a team of people together every few months and talking as a group. “Get some

Converse agreed, saying, “I think everyone just needs to put their minds together and really do something different. There needs to be more coming together and creating new jobs for our community.”

Richardson added, “We need to stand behind each other instead of being against each other. Sometimes it seems that if someone’s doing well, someone else is talking badly about them, instead of praising them. If you want to grow and make things better in the area, it just can’t be like that.”

Gilchrist said that he often sees two particular issues facing the North Country, the first being a lack of appreciation for the beautiful area we live in. “I think that one of the issues that faces us is creating an environment in which there’s a positive attitude about where we live. I think generally speaking that a lot of people from the North Country don’t realize just what we have here.” He noted that many of the young people believe they have to leave the area to find jobs, but he doesn’t see that to be true. His idea is that if our attitude changes from down-talking the North Country to viewing it as a great place of opportunity, that mindset will be imparted down to the youth and in turn may offset their eagerness to leave.

The second issue he sees is a need for more action. He said, “We can talk about things until the day we die, but if we put some feet behind it, maybe we actually bring about some change. I believe it’s out there, it just needs some people that are able to grab a hold of it and say, ‘We can do this.’”

To wrap up the round table discussion, the business owners were asked a final question―what they saw in the future for their business or organization in the north country.

Richardson said, “I always try to hold true to our values of integrity and sustainability, so that’s definitely going to be a big part of our future, just maintaining that level of commitment.” His plans include a goal to grow his brand and the brand name awareness. He’d like to see people continue to become more conscious of where they’re eating and what they’re eating. It all comes down to adding more products and giving back to the community as much as possible.

As far as expansion goes, Richardson said, “Obviously this is home and I want to reach out to our people first, but at the same time if I can expand the business throughout the state and even throughout the East Coast or wherever it may take us, then we’ll take advantage of it if the opportunity’s there.” But for right now, he insisted, his focus will remain on the North Country as his first priority since that’s where the food comes from. He hopes to tap new food products out of his flour mill, since it proves to be more cost effective. “Any time we can bring more flour products out of the mill, it benefits us as far as revenue and margin goes,” he said. He concluded saying that he still likes to help out other local business people that create their own foods and might have an interest in adding to the North Country Farms product line.

Males offered his thoughts, saying that with 320 million people and 327 million televisions in the United States, television isn’t going away. “The idea is being a point of difference. Most of us are probably connected by cable or we have satellite. So what is our point of difference? Finding that and pushing your point of difference is really what’s going to make our television station and our product stand out from the other folks.”

He went on to say that a great point of difference for ABC 50 was the ability for their station to give back to the community. In Males’ opinion, broadcasters need to operate with the public’s trust, because the public really calls the shots. “We pay the bills, but the public owns the airwaves.” He added that it’s important to help the region and see how they can reach out to local residents. He would like to enable more businesses to compete and also be a point of difference through advertising and promoting. This in turn could enable more businesses to start hiring people, thus creating new jobs. As a result this would boost the local economy.

Males also stated that if people hope to create a good community, they need to have a more giving spirit. “Go spend some time at the Salvation Army. Go spend some time at a church. Help do things, because that’s the only way that we as communities grow and I think that we as citizens need to appreciate what we have, appreciate what the opportunities are and give back to make a good community a great community. The bottom line is, we’re making a difference.”

Richardson added that before he went into business, giving wasn’t something he’d ever really taken into serious consideration. “I never really gave back to the community,” he said. “I attended those functions, but after being in business, I donated hundreds of pounds of pancake mix to the children’s home for Christmas. People really recognize that.” He said that through giving, people begin to make a connection and then a familiarity is established, helping build the brand name. Of course that’s not the real motive behind giving to others, but it’s an extra perk.

Males agreed and said, “There should be no business in northern New York that doesn’t have that same feeling. You do it because it’s the right thing.”

Converse was next to summarize her future business goals. Her plans include yearly growth and a goal to eventually hold a majority of the market share in their industry. “We do a lot with the Susan G. Komen and Children’s Miracle Network, not just locally, but internationally,” she said. Every RE/MAX location in the world participates in what they call their Miracle Home program, where individual associates take part of their sales commissions and donate to the Children’s Miracle Network. Through the program, millions of dollars are raised each year.

Converse added in conclusion, “We would like to grow and give back even more to the community. We can donate our time to anything that’s going on in the community and try to help out as much as we can.”

Reddick feels that Con Tech has a bright future based on the growth in the area due to Fort Drum and the influx of new families and businesses into the North Country region. He said, “In addition to that, we have made a point of being very diversified in our area of expertise. Due to our central location in the North Country and the wide variety of construction services we provide, we are confident that we will continue to grow at a controlled rate and will always have work to pursue.”

Reddick added that as the overall effect of a down national economy trickles into the area, there will be more competition and tighter margins competing for fewer projects. “We have lived through this market many times in the past and we rely on patience and perseverance to overcome these conditions and continue to be successful on our share of the market.”

Gilchrist was last to wrap up the discussion with his view of the future for New Life Christian Church and business in general. “I think as long as we place our emphasis on excellence and service and actually doing it rather than just saying it, we’ll be okay,” he said. “If we don’t’ do that, we’ll be in trouble like everybody else.”

In conclusion, Males added one final thought to Gilchrist’s statement. “It’s one thing to sit down and talk about an idea, but it’s got to be put into action,” he said. “We could sit here and have a conversation for five hours about things that we want done better, but then we need to figure out how we get it from here into commission.”

Article written by Mandee Widrick.

Anticipation was high as I arrived to moderate at the third annual Absolutely Business Forum at the Riveredge Hotel on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. Having read the articles on previous forums, I knew that I was going to have an opportunity to meet many of our local business leaders at this event and discuss the past, present and future of business in the North Country. As the snow began to fall on the St. Lawrence River, Table 1 took their seats and began to get acquainted. Joining me at the table were Daren L. Morgan. P.L.S., President, of LaFave, White & McGivern, L.S., P.C.; Vanessa Webb, Account Manager, Community Broadcasters, LLC; James P. Forcier, CEO, Westelcom; Nancy D. (Storino) Farney, Owner, Nancy D. Storino Real Estate; Matthew Turcotte, Owner/Operator, Northshore Web Development; and Mike Hunter, Agriculture & Natural Resources Program Leader/Field Crops, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Jefferson County.

The participants for our round table discussion came from quite diverse backgrounds and circumstances.Our discussion began with each participant sharing a little bit about their organization and their business career.

Daren Morgan is the President of LaFave, White & McGivern, L.S., P.C. His company provides land surveying and photogrammetry services out of their Theresa, Boonville and Rome offices. The firm began back in 1946 with their first office in Theresa and since then they have provided professional services throughout New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and the New England states for public agencies and the private sector. Morgan joined the business in 1972 and has been a partner for twenty years.

Vanessa Webb is an Account Manager at Community Broadcasters, LLC., a local radio conglomerate with five stations in Watertown and three in the Ogdensburg/Massena area. Previously working out of the Austin, Texas market, Webb came to the North Country in March 2009.

For Jim Forcier, telecommunications is in the blood. Being the third generation in his family to enter the field; his grandfather was employed with AT&T and his father by NY Telephone. Later on in life, his father purchased Westport/Chazy Telephone and after graduating college in Troy, New York, Jim jumped right in to the family business. In 1981, Forcier began Westelcom and as CEO has grown his company into what it is today. On a side note, it seems that the apple does not fall far from the tree in this family. Currently, his son is working with a California telecommunication company.

Everyone in the area has heard the “think pink” mantra of Nancy (Storino) Farney. Nancy has been selling local real estate for thirty-one years. She began with Watertown Realty, which later became Century 21. Then, she worked briefly with Coldwell Banker. Finally, in 1987, Storino created her own operation. Interesting to note, she made this bold move by herself in the middle of the Fort Drum boom. She has been “thinking pink” every since—even hosting her own real estate television show.

Our region can without a doubt tout that we have entrepreneurs of all ages. Recently the topic of an Absolutely Business article, Mathew Turcotte is the seventeen-year-old owner/operator of Northshore Web Development, a web design and development operation he runs out of his parents home in Clayton, New York. Matt began his business in 2005 as a hobby and quickly began drawing interest through word of mouth. In November 2008, he formed his company and since has developed countless websites, online stores…and even a book which is about to be published in February 2010.

Mike Hunter is the Agriculture & Natural Resources Program Leader/Field Crops Extension Agent with Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County—the second largest Cooperative Extension office in the state. This may seem like an exhaustive title for just one person—and it is. But, born and raised on a dairy farm in Northern New York, Mike knows what he is doing. As the business representative of agricultural businesses and farmers, Hunter feels that he is doing what he is meant to do. “Agriculture seems to be my passion and my life.”

After getting to know each other and discussing each participant’s niche in the North Country, it was time to get down to business—no pun intended.

Without a doubt, 2009 was a tough year. Although many forecasters pronounced that the recession was over, and the stimulus plans were abound, we all felt the financial hangover on some level, whether professionally or personally. Associate Professor of Business at SUNY Postdam and writer of the Minding Our Own Business column in the Watertown Daily Times, Greg Gardner’s January 10, 2010 article titled “Shake Off 2009, but Don’t Expect Much to Change Economically in 2010,” pretty much says it all. In this article Greg contends that 2009 was an economic disaster. “We lost jobs, businesses, stock values, home values, credit access, retirement funds, college funds, and many mortgages…We gained national debt and a weakened dollar.” This was the case across the nation, although it did not affect each business or industry the same. More specifically, the forum wondered how our participants, with North Country businesses, fared.

We asked our participants “How did your business/industry fare in 2009 locally, regionally and nationally?”

“We’ve been in business since 1946 and we have not been this slow since 1978-1979.” It should probably be added that the 1970s were considered the worst decade economically since the Great Depression and that 1979 experienced the second oil crisis of that decade in the United States. “Land surveying and mapping are strongly tied to real estate and development,” explained Morgan. He described how the deep dip in income across the nation in the past year had left a definite mark on his business. Also working against Morgan’s industry is the fact that aerial mapping is a tricky business to begin with. The mapping can only be done when there is no snow or leaves—leaving about a month and a half in the Spring and maybe two weeks in the Fall, if luck will have it. Even more, this type of mapping is usually only in demand when new development is occurring, i.e.: new water or sewer lines are being installed or highway projects are being constructed. These types of projects have not been in great demand with the slimming incomes and virtually nonexistent bank loans of the past year. In fact, his company has had to lay off employees for the first time in decades.

“Our industry did not fare too badly in 2009; it saw a small percentage decrease, but we managed locally because we have a small market…we lost on a national level,” expressed Webb. She contends that Fort Drum was a big part of the company being successful in the face of the economic woes of the country. “Retailers need ads,” she contended “the biggest difference is that many are just surviving month to month now instead of planning for the future.” Webb felt that there were positive aspects of this shift. “It made the industry much more honest and creative…they had to show return.” In essence, this may be a paradigm for other industries. Because the advertising industry was forced to be more “honest and creative” the small markets were given a bit of room to grow. As Webb elucidated, “it allowed the smaller markets not to be consumed by the larger ones.” This is even more imperative as Gardner’s article warns that small businesses will likely soon be feeling the angst of inflation—making it even more difficult to stay afloat against the larger chain stores.

Forcier advises that landline phone companies are struggling. Although Chazy-Westport Telephone lost some business to cable competitors, he claims that “although it ate away at some of our profits, we fared better than some of our brethren.” Altogether, there are thirty-eight telephone companies in New York State. With the constant onslaught of newer and better technology, this is already undoubtedly stiff competition without the worries placed by an economic crisis of the sort experienced in 2009. Forcier’s other company, Westelcom, had a very strong year in Watertown—especially with Fort Drum—but the Plattsburgh office did not progress as well. Here, Forcier explains, the recession hit like most other places in the nation. Where activity was up, Jim explained that it had more to do with “need” over ‘want”. “People need broadband…where they held up was with discrete services such as new phone systems, servers, group servers and the like.”

For Nancy (Storino) Farney, 2009 did not meet expectations. As Nancy shared, “2008 was the best year in my entire life…even though I sold twenty less houses than in 2004, I made more money in 2008.” This past year, Nancy’s sales were down but she was still able to pay the bills. As Morgan and Forcier had both agreed, Storino felt that 2010 was going to be a conservative year while business owners wonder if it will only get worse.

Under somewhat different circumstances, Turcotte’s first year of business was quite profitable. “With no overhead and by using sub-contractors for employees, I was able to run my business at very little expense. With the publication of his article in Absolutely Business and his first place award in the Jefferson Community College High School Business Competition, Matt says that business is booming. And, as far as he is concerned, it will continue to grow with the growth of his generation. “We have gone tech-crazy in the last ten years and the internet is a big part of it…people my age go online for everything,” he shared. With the expansion of technology and the growth of a generation that relies on it, web design and development is certain to be a viable industry for decades to come.

“Agriculture has its ups and downs,” explained Hunter. In Jefferson County, dairy farming is the number one industry. 2009 was not a great year for dairy farmers as prices dropped below the cost of production in early February and came up just over the break-even price in December. But, Hunter feels that things are looking up in 2010. “In February and March milk prices will probably drop again, but the second half of 2010 looks better and it should give these farmers a break,” he said. On another note, Hunter contends that locally grown produce is on the rise. “Small agricultural enterprises are more Fort Drum driven—soldiers are returning and staying here after they retire and they are buying small farms and starting businesses.” At the same time, there is a great push for locally grown foods in our region—making this a great fit. Even more, the Wine Trails are budding as vineyards are seeing growing volume. And, businesses such as North Country Farms, offering locally-grown products such as grain, wheat and flour are flourishing. Overall, forty percent of the land in Jefferson County is used for agricultural production—meaning that the ebbs and flows of the economy have a significant impact on the region as a whole.

After the participants discussed how their own businesses and industries fared in the previous year, the forum asked them to consider “What are the most important issues facing the North Country business community.”

Both Morgan and Webb agreed that these issues have not diverged in the last one hundred years. Morgan referred to the concept of “brain drain” or the significant loss of young people to our area. In his business, he feels that there is a lack in our region of good technicians, with the right training, to bring into the business and that is difficult to convince those who are qualified to move to Northern New York. “So, we train our own,” says Morgan. Webb added that the repercussions of what happened financially in 2009 have practically eliminated the opportunity to receive a loan for a creative business in this area. Forcier blames overregulation and unreasonable taxation for driving out and keeping out these young entrepreneurs. He maintains, “the cost of doing business in New York State is too high.” Storino further discussed the tax implications of living in our region. Labor was the biggest issue for Turcotte and Hunter. Turcotte claims that the lack of things to do year-round and the lack of the necessary technological infrastructure to run businesses in our area are a challenge as they hinder people from and businesses from moving and/or staying here. Hunter weighed in, insisting that keeping people working is imperative. “In agriculture,” said Hunter, “there is a stigma that farmers make low wages and work long hours, etc. and these misconceptions really have an impact on the work force.” In addition, the environment is another concern. Agriculture is heavily regulated and those regulations are always changing. At the end of the day, whether it is concerns about an adequate and qualified workforce, financial burdens of running a business, the lack of infrastructure or government overregulation, North Country businesses faces many challenges. Lucky for us, as Morgan pointed out, the North Country has been facing these same issues for a century.

With that in mind, we moved into the final question of the evening, “What is your view of the future for your organization and business in general in the North Country?”

With optimism Morgan professes, “We’ve ridden the hump before; hopefully we come out on top.” He plans on ensuring that his firm stays current on technology in an effort to thrive. For Webb, she feels confident in her industry. “We’re fortunate that our industry is a necessary evil…but advertisers need to morph to fit in,” she claims. And, we still need radio despite all of the advances that we have made in technology. Even if the cable news is out, the radio ban is sure to be operating. Further, she shared her belief that the success of her industry in the future will be based on good management and good people. “A good employee is worth their weight in gold,” says Webb. “Our industry is right where it needs to be right now,” shared Forcier. Telecommunication is at the height of demand in our society. “Our business is poised to continue to thrive.” Both Webb and Forcier agree that the North Country is fortunate to have great “livability”. Forcier expressed his feeling that “geographically I am very optimistic…people are beginning to understand the quality of life here and are coming back.” Webb added that she enjoys the face-time that she gets with her clients, as opposed to how the industry works in larger geographical areas. Stornio also acknowledged that she is seeing more and more people return to the North Country. Turcotte seemed quite confident that his industry is here to stay. “In the future it is going to grow as it is becoming the norm…paper is going away,” he shared. Hunter was also very optimistic about the future of agriculture and business in general in the North Country. The truth is, “As long as we continue to eat, there will be agriculture,” says Hunter. This region is a great place to farm with its abundance of resources including fertile lands and plenty of water, as well as the low values of agricultural land. Hunter shared that several out of state outfits were cropping corn and soybeans in the North Country because the land was so affordable. He also believed that biofuels will be a booming business in the near future. Overall, Hunter felt that our diversification, from flour mills, to dairy farms, to vineyards will be the key to our future success as a region. Add that to the fact that more and more people are searching for fresh, healthy, organic and locally-grown foods, and it is almost certain that there will be a rise in the number of agribusinesses in the next few years.

By and large, the participants at Table One of this third annual Absolutely Business Forum were optimistic about the North Country’s future. As they all recognized that we have experienced rough times recently, it was also acknowledged that many of these difficulties are persistent for our region. As Morgan shared at the beginning of our discussion, “we just have to tighten up and hold on.” We’re certain to come out on top.

Article written by Alicia M. Dewey

With all the hype about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn these days, business owners are discovering a new way to build their brand name through the use of social media. There’s a whole passel of potential customers and clients that are just waiting for YOUR product or service to show up on the web; in fact, social media is becoming so rampant that if you’re not online, you’re probably missing out on some major profit!

Throughout the weeks ahead, we’ll be introducing a series of blog posts on how you can utilize social media sites to promote your business. If you’re not familiar with the use of such websites, you may want to spend some of your spare time learning how to use them as we explain the basics of setting up. Should you find yourself strapped for time, allot the work to someone else, like a secretary or family member who would be willing to manage and update the pages for you. There are also marketing companies available who can help you maintain and set up your social media sites without costing you a lot of money.

Since most folks already have a Facebook profile, that’s where we’ll start this series. If you don’t already have a personal account, you’ll want to set that up first by visiting http://facebook.com. This process is fairly simple and doesn’t require a lot of assistance on our end, and you will need to complete that step before proceeding with this article. If you’re already operating on Facebook and ready to start promoting your business, then let’s roll.

You may be familiar with the popular use of Facebook “Fan Pages” that are used to promote everything from a product or service to a famous actor or singer. Instead of people adding you as a friend, they instead “become a fan” and are able to see all of your business updates, much like on your personal profile.

To start your own Facebook fan page, visit any fan page and scroll down to the bottom. You will see a link on the left side bar that says “Create a page for my business.” Click that, or you can also visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php where you will immediately be taken to the setup form. You will be required to fill out all information relating to your business, such as product or service type and your business name . Make sure you enter the name you want for your page correctly, because you won’t be able to change it later. (Tip: Capitalize your words appropriately and check the spelling before hitting the submit button.)

Once your page is started, you will want to upload a photo and add any additional pertinent information such as your main website link, contact phone and email, mission statement, and your location. Your company logo will usually make the best profile picture for your business page (don’t upload a photo of your cat for this one :).

When all of your information is added, it’s then time to start acquiring your fans. The best place to start is by using the “Suggest to Friends” option under the profile photo. Select all of your friends that may be interested in joining the page, then click submit. Your friends will receive a recommendation from Facebook to join your new business page. As they each join, an update will appear on their personal profile (i.e. “John Doe just joined Absolutely Business Magazine”) which will be visible to all of their friends as well, therefore promoting your page beyond your own personal contacts. This is how many pages take off and begin to see a big increase in their numbers.

As your Facebook fan page begins to accumulate fans, you need to be sure that you’re providing content that will be of interest to each person who has joined. Don’t just tell your fans to buy your product or service, ask them questions that are targeted to your specific market. For example, here at Absolutely Business magazine, we might ask our fans what businesses most interest them in northern New York, then use those responses to better serve our readers. If you focus more on what you can do for your fans, versus what they can do for you, you’ll always come out a winner.

Helpful hint: Want to promote your fan page to a specific audience? Check out Facebook Ads! You can typically place an ad with Facebook for less than $1 a day, which will help you gain fans even faster.

Follow Absolutely Business on Facebook and Twitter!

Coming soon:

• How to connect with professionals on LinkedIn
• What’s it mean to Twitter, anyway?

Article written by Mandee Widrick.

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