Employee to Owner During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The corona-virus pandemic has severely crippled the hospitality and food industries. While struggling to stay afloat financially, many small businesses have relied on their various loyal customer bases.

Offering take-out options has been an essential tool for these industries to maintain their cash-flows, until the public can gather once again and enjoy all the culinary options Syracuse has to offer. Hope seems nearly here as New York slowly re-opens in a strategically phased approach.

New Norms, New Possibilities: During these unprecedented times, small businesses need to pivot and adapt more than ever.  Many gyms are doing virtual workouts, many restaurants and retail shops are offering curbside pickups.  Online has been the new normal for meetings, buying products, and providing services.  However, what about entertainment businesses?  What are they doing to stay ahead of the game to be able to offer their product to the public?  Wunderbar, a new LGBTQ bar and theatre near Armory Square, was forced to close on the one-year anniversary of their soft opening.

When Mike Mowins, President of Vetted Tech, recently learned that several local first responders were short of critically needed personal protective equipment (PPE) he sprang into action to make and supply face shields.

Vetted Tech Inc. (Vetted – Veteran Enabled Transition Technology Enabled Design), established in 2019, is an additive manufacturing company specializing in advanced 3D printed parts created in metal or high strength polymer for the medical, automotive, DoD, DoE, and aerospace markets.

Sir Richard Branson, British business magnate, author, investor, philanthropist and billionaire owner of the Virgin Group of businesses once said, “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”  As concise a statement as that is by such a prominent business person, that statement is precisely what transpired with Dan and Debra Sidon in their quest to secure small business ownership.

Although there are many casual take-out spots in Syracuse that offer Latin food, there is a noticeable lack of appreciation for dine-in dishes and the culture behind them. That's where Clara Cedeno comes in.

After many years working in the corporate world, Clara decided to pursue her dream of owning her own business. Bringing this dream together with her love of food and Latin culture helped her create her brain child, La Patria Café.

As a property manager in Syracuse, NY during the late 1990s, Donna Glassberg noticed a problem that needed a solution.  Renters struggled to find housing in an easy, accessible way. 

While walking in her Syracuse University neighborhood, Donna would see cars pulled off to the side of the road, writing numbers off the for-rent signs plastered on the sides of the buildings.  She thought this was a terribly inefficient way to find housing for students and faculty moving to the area.  Since she was immersed in the industry and understood the process well, she knew she could create something that would help both her employers and her renters to connect in a more efficient way.

We often ask ourselves where great ideas come from.  The answers are many and varied but for Dan Russell of Butt Be Dry the answer was simple.

Russell and his Dad were attending an LPGA Championship event in Rochester a couple of years ago.  It had rained heavily the night before and although it had dried out and the ground appeared dry, when Dan sat down to watch the match he found the seat of his pants soaked and covered with mud.  He and his Dad had a good laugh, but right then a great idea was formed that just needed some nurturing.

Freelance work is on the rise, and many individuals are working hard to turn self-employment into their full-time job.

While unaffiliated workers are often comfortable in their at-home surroundings, they can easily become socially and professionally disconnected. Deciding to utilize a co-working space can be the risk-free, cost-effective way to get everything you need; a middle ground between comfort, social interaction, and a professional brick-and-mortar to work out of.

It all began in 1991. Dawn and Jeff Zarnowski bought a hill top property in McGraw, NY and started what they then called a 'very serious hobby'.

After 25 years of continuous hard work growing and hybridizing hundreds of walnut and chestnut trees, they decided to turn their hobby into a business. Now, Dawn and Jeff Zarnowski are the owners of Z’s Nutty Ridge LLC, a native nut nursery.