SPECIAL REPORT: Year had many ups and many, many downs

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Dec 28, 2001 by Fitting, Beth

From beginning to end, 2001 was probably the most volatile year most of us have seen in our lifetimes. We saw a new president (finally) take office, the stock market plunge, dotcoms crash, companies founder, and, then, the horrendous events of Sept. 11 in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and the ensuing war on terrorism.

Power was a big part of the news this past year. In January, The Central New York Business Journal reported that Gov. Pataki was pushing to accelerate the permitting process, to bring more power generators into the state. Energy turned out to be a recurring theme throughout the year. This first month of the year, we reported that businesses were busy dealing with soaring natural-gas prices. As the year progressed, its true volatility showed up when those prices plunged good news for consumers, bad news for distributors and investors. Farmers struggled with the same issue, exacerbated by low milk prices. Oswego residents were relieved to learn that the former Miller Brewing plant in Volney had been sold to investors, and we continued to hear of businesses locating in that facility. We also touched in January on a lawsuit brought against Crucible - the first of ongoing problems faced by this beleaguered steel manufacturer.

February began with the bad news that the Northeast Medical Center in Fayetteville was facing foreclosure. As the year progressed, we saw the whole Northeast Medical edifice crumble, prey to rising medical costs and stiff competition from larger regional and national medical groups. Two big players in the local medical scene, Univera and BlueCross BlueShield, also announced that they were pursuing a merger. Experts were predicting in February that there would be more local jobs, despite layoffs in high-profile companies. This trend continued throughout the year, with Central New Yorkers losing manufacturing jobs and turning to other sectors, such as the service and construction. Among the good news in this second month of 2001 was a projected 300 additional employees at the Oneida Nation's casino and golfcourse enterprises in Vernon. That's a 10-percent increase in jobs for the Nation. And, more on energy, the state came through with its approval for Sithe Energies' Heritage Station, in Scriba, to join its sister Independence Station there. We first announced in February that consumer confidence in New York State was continuing its downward trend, a trend that continued through most of the summer. Just as confidence began to creep back up, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sent it failing again toward the year-end. Another joining of companies was announced on our pages in February, as Northland Communications in Utica bought Gaffney Communications, bumping Northland's employment to more than 200.

March began with good news and bad news. The good news was that the owner of a rapidly growing Mohawk Valley firm, Fiber Instrument Sales, was giving 30 percent of his company to his employees. The ESOP represented more than $10.5 million being transferred to employees over nine years. The bad news was that Lincoln Life & Annuity Co. of New York was cutting 20 of its 35 Syracuse jobs and transferring its call center and support operations to Maine. But more good news was to come, as it was reported that downtown Syracuse office occupancy had reached a record 96.1 percent for Class A office space. And then more bad news: bestroute.com, an online distributor of components for the electrical industry, closed its doors after less than a year in operation. And the Relyea Brewing Company, opened in Syracuse in 1999, also announced that it was closing its doors. The Syracuse community lost a leader when Hugh C. Lordon left KeyBank, as the bank began tightening its organization, but Syracuse's loss was Oneida's gain in July, as Lordon became chief financial officer of the rapidly growing Oneida Nation business enterprises. Another bank began drawing in its skirts: It was announced in March that Fleet Bank was consolidating by closing five Central New York branches.

In April, the Southern Tier had its share of bad news, as the electronics market softened and two electronics sub-assembly plants, Flextronics and Sanmina, in the area just a year, announced that they were laying off a total of 610 workers. Also in the Southern Tier, a Coming spin-off, World Kitchen, posted a $150 million net loss for 2000 and launched a company-wide restructuring program. And we heard more of the ongoing saga of the Vernon Downs harness-racing track, as owners continued their fight to keep the track going, despite financial and regulatory problems. The Broome Chamber, after a seven-month search, claimed another former bank executive as Alex S. DePersis took over the reins, permanently. He had retired as president and CEO of BSB Bank & Trust Co. in Binghamton and then served as interim president of the Chamber while it searched for a replacement for Richard Lutovsky, who left for Southern climes in August 2000. More good news came our way, as TRW Aeronautical Systems in Utica committed $13 million toward relocating to a new manufacturing facility in the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome. The new facility would fill a large chunk of the area that was formerly Griffiss Air Base. Covering all the bases, we wrote about the struggle of Central New York music retailers, who saw their profits plummet as they faced competition from online music sources. And now for the good news from the Southern Tier: A Connecticutbased manufacturer of printers announced that it was closing its Connecticut manufacturing plant and relocating all manufacturing to its facility in Ithaca. A well-known Southern Tier dairy, Crowley, announced that it was joining a national dairy cooperative, creating a company with annual sales of more than $1 billion and enlarging the local dairy marketer's sales territory. More on the energy front, as a Houston firm brought its expertise to Owego with plans to build natural-gas storage facilities, along with a pipeline and a power plant, in the Southern Tier town.