Interviews by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
“I would say that our top goal always is to be the region’s first choice for quality healthcare. With that, we continue to strategically look for opportunities to improve access to care for the community, and a major focus for Oswego Health in 2021 will be to increase market share in Fulton as we see this as a significant growth opportunity for the organization. Our first initiative in Fulton is to expand our primary care services in this market and I’m excited to share that we will be opening another office in April. Also, our physician relationship manager and our referral center is collaborating with community providers on ways to improve access to our specialty services for their patients.”
Michael Harlovic
CEO and president, Oswego Health, Oswego
“Having been in the Central New York recruiting field for over 30 years, we are seeing certain key markets and industries prospering during these challenging times. We remain optimistic and positive that we will continue to move forward and assist more people in furthering their careers. On behalf of our entire agency, we would like to give thanks to the front-line workers for all they are doing. We wish continued success to all.”
Carol R. Fletcher
Owner C.R. Fletcher Associates, Inc., Syracuse
“The goal for The Watertown-Oswego SBDC is to improve our visibility in the three counties that we serve. Those being Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties. In order to accomplish this, we are increasing our advertising both conventionally and digitally. We are also generating more content for our social media channels, including YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.”
John R Halleron
Senior advisor, Watertown-Oswego SBDC, Oswego
“We want to continue to stay open and to make it so people feel confident enough to travel again and to use their local travel agency, Canalview Travel, when making their future travel arrangements instead of booking online. We are still here. We have been staying up-to-date with all travel safety protocols and guidelines to pass on to our clients. We are also reaching out to our clients via email, social media and direct mailings with sales promotions to help plan their next vacation.”
Sandy Shue
Manager, Canalview Travel, Fulton
“We want to offer advice and services that help stabilize our business clients’ companies. It is pretty early but we have developed a plan of action and communication.”
James Loperfido
CEO, JGL Management Consulting Inc., Auburn
“Operation Oswego County is a nonprofit economic development organization serving all of Oswego County. In 2020, there was an emphasis on assisting the small business community due to the pandemic and we will continue to provide assistance to small businesses to help them through the pandemic, as was done in 2020, where hundreds of businesses received relief financing and deferments from existing loan payments. Special relief programs created last year have been extended and our partners, the SBA and COIDA, are continuing to provide support for businesses.”
L. Michael Treadwell
Executive director, Operation Oswego County, Oswego
“The top goal for my organization, Women TIES, LLC, is to support my members with additional promotion, publicity and press services to help them gain recognition, branding and more sales. Women-owned businesses are suffering during the pandemic so we will spend more one-on-one time with members to support them in a greater way, which we believe is through PR, connections and social media focus. We are preparing new documentation, videos and podcasts by mid-February to educate members on our new focus in 2021. ”
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham
President, Women TIES, LLC, Syracuse
“I have a lot of different services involving coaching and teaching modeling techniques. There’s also personal training. It’s a one-stop shop for women and I want to continue to promote this in 2021. My main goal is to grow my clientele and spread the news about Fit to Reign.”
Corrin Stellakis
Certified personal trainer and owner, Fit to Reign Personal Training, North Syracuse
“We’re hoping to continue to make ends meet. We are a show barn, so we have students who show and boarders who show. We’re hoping COVID ends soon. We’re starting to see the economic impact of COVID as we have some empty stalls and every stable in the neighborhood suffers the same thing. People go from stable to stable so the competition increased.”
Allen Hinman
Co-owner Buxton Creek Stables, Brewster
“My goal this year is to increase revenue much more than the economy grows. I would like to do an excellent, better than expected job of keeping my clients happy. I’m working harder, trying to be smarter and doing the best I can. People who are customers in my field come to us because they are not comfortable handling financial matters for themselves. We want our business to grow and our clients to be delighted with us.”
David Mirabito
Financial adviser with Mirabito Financial Group, Fulton
“We are a 50-plus year family business. Every year for us is about trying to make sure the community is taken care of for their windows and doors in Oswego and Onondaga counties. We want to make sure we have a family oriented persona about our company. My goals are to make sure everything we do is community oriented. We want to be the No. 1 company. We are working on more promotion. We use Thryve, which is fixing our whole website. They advertise for us through the counties and promote us on Facebook. We’re just starting to use this company more.”
Samantha Bonnett
General manager, Bonnet Sales and Service, Central Square
“I want to do what I do every year: help people with their real estate needs both now and beyond. Sometimes it’s not about selling a home as quickly as possible, but it’s about selling a home five to seven years from now. We may look around their home and evaluate what they could improve upon. We list things they need to do with their home before getting it on the market so they have something to work toward. Instead of waiting to redo the kitchen seven years from now when you want to sell, why not redo it now and enjoy it? A home is the most valuable asset people own — far more valuable than anything else they have. Small things that they can take care of themselves can make a difference, like the color of their paint. It is not always completely renovating the entire house. Something so small can make a difference in the money they receive.
Judy M. Winslow
Real estate broker, Hunt Real Estate ERA, Manlius