JUNE 22, 2015 I SOUTHERN TIER BUSINESS JOURNAL I 1TGBBJ.COM

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People on the Move News: Southern Tier new hires and promotions. Page 7.

VOL. 8 I No. 4 I JUNE 22, 2015 I $2.50TGBBJ.COM

Expansion Moves: Tompkins Financial readies Syracuse office and new corporate HQ.Page 4.

THE LIST:

SOUTHERN TIER CHAMBERS OF

COMMERCE

PAGE 7

S O U T H E R N T I E R

BUSINESS JOURNALBUSINESS JOURNAL

Norwich Pharma begins work on $26 million expansion

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Charlie Andrews, vice president of operations at Norwich Pharma-ceuticals, addresses an audience at the fi rm’s groundbreaking on April 28.

NBT BANKS ON CREATING A KNOWLEDGE PORTAL

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2 I SOUTHERN TIER BUSINESS JOURNAL I JUNE 22, 2015TGBBJ.COM

BINGHAMTON — Tully Rinckey PLLC has opened a new office in Binghamton and hired former Broome County Family Court judge and Acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Peter P. Charnetsky as Binghamton managing partner.

The new 800-square-foot office is located at 64 Front St. in the city’s downtown. It opened June 1, according to a company spokesman. Charnetsky is currently the only attorney and employee in the office, and adminis-trative staff from Tully Rinckey’s Syracuse office are supporting him.

The spokesman noted that the firm is recruiting attorneys in the Binghamton market and hopes to grow its office there. If needed, it will move to a larger office down the line.

Charnetsky’s addition expands Tully Rinckey’s Family and Matrimonial Law team to the Southern Tier, “priming the

practice group for exponential growth throughout New York state and beyond,” the firm contended in a news release.

Charnetsky has nine years of experience as an acting Supreme Court justice and a decade of experience as a Broome County

Family Court judge, the re-lease stated.

During his judicial career,

Charnetsky resolved more than 25,000 cases. He served as a Broome County Family Court judge from 2005 to 2014 and presided over Integrated Domestic Violence Court for all Broome County courts from 2006 to 2014, according to the release. Charnetsky earned his law degree from Stetson University College of Law in Florida.

Tully Rinckey has seven offices, with five located in upstate New York (Albany, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo), one in Washington, D.C., and one in California (San Diego). The firm employs more than 60 attorneys total.

Tully Rinckey opens Binghamton office, hires former Broome County Family Court judge

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Cornell JumpStart program is accepting applications for Fall 2015 projects

ITHACA — The Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) JumpStart program an-nounced it has started accepting applications for projects that faculty and students will work on to help New York businesses beginning in September.

The CCMR JumpStart program is a “semes-ter-long partnership that pairs New York state small businesses that have well-defined techni-cal needs with Cornell [University] faculty and students who have the expertise to help, the center said in a news release.

Under the program, CCMR provides a dollar-for-dollar match for project expenses up to $5,000, according to CCMR.

All New York businesses are eligible to apply, and total project costs cannot exceed $15,000.

Previous projects that CCMR has labeled “success stories” on its website focused on areas that include developing prototypes and “innovative” products; exploring new markets; manufacturing; product improvement or tech-nical “roadblocks,” and new materials.

Those businesses interested in participating in the program can apply at http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/jumpstart by July 1.

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Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling wins top scrap and recycling industry award for North America

OWEGO — Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling announced it has received the top scrap and recycling industry award in North America by American Metal Market (AMM), an online publication for the industry.

The award for “Scrap Company of the Year” was announced June 9 at the an-nual AMM awards dinner in New York City.

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman was nominat-ed for the award in the large company category (over $100 million in an-nual revenue) along with three other scrap-metal recycling firms: Sims Metal Management, Commercial Metals Company, and Scrap Metal Services, the Owego–based company said in a news release.

“We scored a major upset in winning the 2015 award for AMM Scrap Company of the Year in North America. This is a tribute to the hard work and dedica-tion of our 500 employees…. This is the highlight of my professional career and I am honored to have been selected from the extremely deserving candidates in our category. Thank you to American Metal Market and the esteemed judges for their recognition of my team’s tireless

dedication to great customer service and commitment to excellence in the in-dustry,” Adam Weitsman, CEO of Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling, said in accepting the award, according to the release.

For the past six years, AMM has recog-nized innovation and excellence in steel

and related industries with its “Awards for Steel Excellence.” Firms that are finalists and winners demonstrate best practices to achieve outstanding results in their field. A panel of judges with extensive steel-industry

leadership experience selects the win-ners. Judges evaluate the candidates using a point-based qualitative approach to determine the winners in each cat-egory, according to the release.

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling says it’s the East Coast’s largest privately held scrap-metal processor. Its Southern Tier locations include two sites each in Owego and Ithaca, and one each in Binghamton and Hornell.

The company says it will process more than 1.05 million tons of ferrous and 250 million pounds of nonferrous scrap metal in 2015.

Family & Children’s Society elects board of directors

BINGHAMTON — The Family & Children’s Society announced the following people were elected to its board of directors at the nonprofit’s annual meeting held May 14:

• Thomas G. Bosman, vice president, Payco, Inc.; • Jeffrey M. Jacobs, attorney, Coughlin &

Gerhart, LLP; and, • Jason M. Monahan, director of clinical opera-

tions, Lourdes Hospital. They will serve three-year terms.The Family & Children’s Society, which is a

human-services provider offering counseling and home care services, said its elected officers are: David K. Tanenhaus, president; John G. Spencer, vice president; Linda A. Persons, treasurer; and Richard G. DoBell, secretary.

The Society has offices in Binghamton, Owego, and Johnson City.

WRITERS/EDITORS:

Eric Reinhardtereinhardt@tgbbj.com315.579.3915

Norman Poltensonnpoltenson@tgbbj.com315.579.3916

Adam RombelEditor-in-Chiefarombel@tgbbj.com315.579.3902

Nick Kapteynnkapteyn@tgbbj.com

JUNE 22, 2015 I soUthErN tIEr bUsINEss JoUrNal I 3 tgbbJ.com

Norwich Pharma breaks ground on $26 million expansionBY NORMAN POLTENSONnpoltenson@tgbbj.com

NORWICH — Norwich Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s manage-ment and employees, represen-tatives of the parent company — Alvogen, regional elected of-ficials, and the media assembled on April 28 for a groundbreaking ceremony for an expansion at the Norwich plant. Speaking to an au-dience of several hundred, Charlie Andrews, Norwich Pharma’s vice president of operations, noted that “[t]his is the first addition since the facility was built in 1976.”

The $26 million expansion to the north end of the existing structure will add 26,000 square feet to allow for the acquisition and installation of new processing equipment and to enhance the existing infrastruc-ture. Andrews laid an ambitious timeline to complete the construc-tion and installation — he expects the new addition to be completed in September 2016. A March 12 news release from Alvogen said “[t]his investment will allow us to acquire equipment upon which many of the newer drug products are being manufactured and sets us up to capture future business

opportunities …”Norwich Pharmaceuticals is a

full-service contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), with the capacity to pro-duce tablets, capsules, liquids, and semi-solids. It follows a strategy of developing and producing product for selected, third-party custom-ers as well as for Alvogen. As the generic-pharmaceutical industry has become more of a commod-ity-based business, the Norwich CDMO is countering pressures on its operating costs by develop-ing a more efficient and flexible operation.

Norwich Pharmaceuticals has positioned itself as a single-source provider from phase-1 product development through pilot-scale, clinical production, scale-up, reg-istration, clinical services, and manufacturing. The company has two dedicated, approved areas in the plant for development and pilot-scale batch manufacturing that allow a direct transfer from the pilot plant to commercial op-erations, enabling customers a fast transition to the marketplace. With its focus on complex, solid oral-dosage and a flexible production environment, Norwich Pharma has

carved out niches in the market that the proposed, new equipment will support. The firm’s competi-tive position is also enhanced by its designation as a foreign trade zone, which eliminates many of the hurdles in clearing a product through the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and Customs.

The company began in 1887 as Norwich Pharmacal Company. It introduced national favorites such as Unguentine, an antiseptic, surgi-cal dressing, in 1893; Pepto-Bismol in 1901; and aspirin in 1907. In 1939, Norwich was listed on the NYSE. Procter & Gamble bought the company in 1982 before selling it to Outsourcing Service Group in 2001. AFI Partners, LLC, a pri-vate-equity firm and the holding company for Alvogen, acquired Norwich in 2007 and rebranded it as Norwich Pharma Services in 2013.

The current Norwich facility encompasses 359,000 square feet. With its addition, it will comprise 385,000 square feet. Sited on 400 acres just north of the city, the plant employs 277 people with an annual payroll of $25 million. CNYBJ estimates the company’s annual revenue at $80 million to

$100 million.Norwich Pharma is targeting

a number of therapeutic areas for its growth: cardiovascular, central nervous-system, dermatology, on-cology, endocrinology, infectious diseases, nutrition, and respira-tory.

Alvogen, which has more than 350 generic products on the mar-ket and more than 200 develop-ment projects in the pipeline, is a multi-national pharmaceuticals company with commercial opera-

tions in 34 countries. The compa-ny has five manufacturing plants; Norwich is the only American facility. Alvogen, which employs 2,300, is focused on developing, manufacturing, and distribut-ing generic, brand medicines, biosimilars, and over-the-counter products. Chris Young, Alvogen’s executive vice president, global-supply chain, who also spoke at the groundbreaking, said, “…

Charlie Andrews, vice president of operations at Norwich Pharmaceuticals, Inc., addresses an audience at the company’s groundbreaking on April 28. Norwich Pharma is investing $26 million in a 26,000-square-foot expansion that also includes new equipment and improvements to the site’s infrastructure.

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4 I southern tIer busIness journal I june 22, 2015tgbbj.com

BY norman poltensonnpoltenson@tgbbj.com

ITHACA — Tompkins Trust Company and its parent company Tompkins Financial Corp. (ticker symbol: TMP) are busy with a couple major initiatives that could trans-form the Ithaca–based banking company’s business.

Tompkins Trust recently announced it is expanding its efforts in the Syracuse market and has hired Brian Bisaccio as a senior vice president and regional man-

ager to develop commercial-lending ser-vices in Onondaga County. At the same time, Tompkins Financial went before the City of Ithaca Planning Board to present a concept for a new corporate headquarters in Ithaca’s downtown center.

Syracuse expansionRegarding the first set of plans, Bisaccio

is currently reviewing sites for Tompkins Trust’s first office in Onondaga County.

“Syracuse enjoys a steady economy,” he says, explaining the rationale for the

initiative. “It doesn’t experience wild gyra-tions. The economic growth is slow, steady, and predictable. We have seen a lot of development in the area, includ-ing downtown Syracuse, the Inner Harbor, and the [Syracuse] University area. This means a lot of oppor-tunity in those areas as well as throughout Onondaga County.”

Bisaccio, who has had a 34-year career in

banking, continues, “The market is largely comprised of small- and medium-sized busi-nesses, which is the bank’s ‘sweet spot.’

Tompkins Trust is not new to the area; we have been doing sig-nificant business in this market for

quite a while and have more than 1,400 customers. While the new office will be set up as a commercial office focused on loan production, we will also have insurance and wealth-management staff on site. My focus is primarily in Onondaga County, but this office will also respond to business oppor-tunities in the Mohawk Valley and North Country.”

Bisaccio says he has reviewed 13 office locations and narrowed his choices to just a few. “The Syracuse office will be downtown or on the periphery,” he says. “I expect to finalize the location by the end of the sec-ond quarter and have the office open for business by the end of the third quarter. Initially, the staff will include four people, but the 2,500 square feet gives us room to expand. I anticipate hiring additional staff, including relationship managers, early in 2016. The bank has a recognized brand here, and we have a full pipeline of commer-cial activity: That makes me optimistic.”

While the new office will focus on com-mercial business, Tompkins Trust also expects to capture retail deposits — for ex-ample, from business customers’ employ-ees. Tompkins Trust’s offices in Cortland and Auburn both have retail operations in addition to commercial banking.

New corporate HQThe decision to build a new corporate

headquarters was a “no-brainer,” accord-ing to Tompkins Financial’s president and CEO, Stephen S. Romaine. “Our … [mode of operation] requires a collaborative envi-ronment across all of our business lines. The organization currently occupies six different locations in the Ithaca area, which makes communications cumbersome. Since our divisions share the same client base, co-locating makes a lot of sense. The challenge is to bring together 300 employ-ees in a downtown location and to accom-modate anticipated future growth.”

According to a presentation by Ithaca–based Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects LLP (which was re-tained by Tompkins Financial) on May 14 to the Ithaca Planning Board, the new headquarters will be located at 118-119 E. Seneca St. It will be situated between the DeWitt Mall and the new Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca and across the street from Tompkins Financial’s present headquarters. The pro-posal is for a 7-story building containing about 110,000 square feet sited on 0.833 acres. The project is on a fast track, with Tompkins Financial hoping to complete its preparations this summer so that site work can begin this fall. Occupancy is scheduled for early 2017.

The banking company has retained HOLT Architects to design the project, and Elwyn & Palmer Consulting Engineers of Ithaca is responsible for the subsurface in-

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Tompkins Financial readies Syracuse office and new corporate HQ

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JUNE 22, 2015 I soUthErN tIEr bUsINEss JoUrNal I 5 tgbbJ.com

BY norman poltensonnpoltenson@tgbbj.com

t est labs are usually associated with companies that create food, pharmaceutical, and high-tech prod-

ucts. It’s time to add banks to the list.NBT Bank has renovated a branch office

on Marshall Street, adjacent to the Syracuse University campus and surrounded by a plethora of health-care providers. The 900-square-foot office serves as a model for the digital, retail branch of the future. (NBT has also created a new commercial branch model at its office on Wolf Road in Albany.)

“The layout [of the space] is an open en-vironment,” says Andrew J. Stockwell, the Marshall Street branch manager. “Unlike banking of the past, where the customer waited in line to conduct a transaction with a teller, this office relies on self-service technology combined with interaction by knowledgeable staff. In the age of mobile banking, when the customer enters the branch, the object is to transact business quickly and easily. NBT’s employees are here to ensure that happens through our high-tech, high-impact equipment. We are also here to engage with the customer to answer financial questions. That means our staff has to be familiar with the broad array of NBT products in order to answer questions and/or direct the customer to the resource person who has the answer. [In short,] Marshall Street is a full-service delivery channel, what we call a ‘knowledge

portal.’ ” The new NBT retail model is an example

of “expedited deployment of digital branch delivery,” which ranked number 2 on “The Top 10 Retail Banking Trends in 2015,” listed by Jim Marous, publisher of Digital

Banking Report. Marous sees the reshap-ing of branch networks in this digital, omni-channel world as a response to improve the customer experience. Relying on digital touch-points, branch employees can quick-ly recognize the customer, understand the reason for the visit, and respond with out-standing service. According to Marous, this is the confluence of the customer-inter-face and customer-experience platforms, where all banking products, services, and transactions are on a single platform that provides both the customer and staff real-time access and decision-making.

NBT’s Marshall Street test lab is a re-sponse to the explosion of consumers’ growing preference for financial and tech-nical innovations such as mobile banking. About 82 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds own a smart phone, and 61 percent engage in mobile banking. The parents of this cohort trail somewhat with 60 percent ownership and 30 percent using a smartphone for banking. With the explosion of mobile banking, 90 percent of bankers surveyed by Celent, a Boston–based research and advisory firm focused on financial services, in 2014 foresaw a 10 percent decline in branch numbers over the next five years. And, 45 percent said they anticipated a decline in excess of 25 percent. Last year, 51 percent of U.S. adults banked online. The reaction of Millennials is a growing concern, where 53 percent don’t view their bank as any different from other banks and 73 percent would be more excited about a new financial-service offering from Google, Amazon, or Apple.

“Branch and online banking users repre-sent both a challenge and an opportunity,” observes Lori Verzillo, NBT vice president and retail-territory manager. “We spend a lot of time educating our customers on the benefits of mobile banking. It’s true that most bank customers today still use their mobile devices for checking balances or for recent activity, but a lot of our focus is on helping our customers make deposits and payments, and transfer money on their devices. There is no doubt that those adopt-ing mobile banking … [correlate gener-ally] with age, but there are exceptions: the 55 to 64-year-old age category is one of the fastest-growing groups in terms of mobile-banking adoption. Anecdotally, I can confirm that mobile banking at NBT is trending upward, and our customers are becoming more aware of the options we offer.”

Banking challengesIncreasing consumer demand for mobile-

banking options and continued competition are just two of the challenges NBT faces. Much of the competition comes from other financial-services companies, but a growing challenge comes from outside the indus-try. Companies such as PayPal, Google, Square, and Apple represent a growing industry of neo-banks that is capturing mobile payments. While the usage level of what are called “mobile wallets” seri-ously lags the awareness of the products, at some point an industry leader will emerge to standardize the process and get beyond what is today defined as “mobile-payments roulette.” NBT has elected not to sit on the sidelines and has chosen to partner with Apple Pay, which allows users to use their iPhones and Apple Watches to pay in stores and through apps.

The banking industry faces a number of other challenges in deciding how to deploy its attention and funds. There are ongoing concerns about cybersecurity, regulators are demanding higher capital require-ments, the industry has not yet regained its return-on-equity levels since the 2007 re-cession, and economic growth is less than robust. Add to this, declining fee-based income, impending higher interest rates, the replacement of traditional credit cards

with chip-and-PIN cards, and the increas-ing cost of technology. To remain profitable and competitive, banks need to focus on deepening their existing customer relation-ships and differentiating themselves from the competitors.

NBT strategy & resultsIn today’s environment, where differ-

entiation is becoming more difficult, even a slight edge can yield positive results. A quick look at NBT’s “2014 Annual Report” confirms the bank’s savvy strategy of seg-ment targets, product offerings, pricing, customer interfacing, and internal pro-cesses. Established in 1856 as the Bank of Norwich with $125,000 in capital — the same year that the Cunard line established a record crossing of the Atlantic by an iron-hull, paddle-wheel ship in 9 days and 16 hours; Lawrence, Kansas was captured and burned by pro-slavery forces; and James Buchanan beat Millard Fillmore in the U.S. Presidential Election — NBT now has 158 locations in six states, 192 ATMs, and$7.8 billion in total assets. The bank, head-quartered in Norwich, employs more than 1,800 people with more than half working in the circulation area of The Business Journal.

Core net income increased 8.5 per-

NBT banks on creating a knowledge portal

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Andrew J. Stockwell, branch manager of NBT Bank’s Marshall Street office, demonstrates the technology that greets customers as they enter. The office serves as a retail test lab for the bank’s digital, retail branch of the future.

Increasing consumer demand for mobile banking options and continued competition are just two of the challenges NBT faces.

“

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6 I southern tIer busIness journal I june 22, 2015tgbbj.com

vestigation. Preliminary estimates assume the contractor will have to drive piles to a depth of 80 to 85 feet to support the struc-ture. Tompkins Financial has not yet bid the construction contract. The Business Journal estimates the total project will cost well north of $20 million, including planning, site-preparation, construction, moving, and acquisition of furniture and equipment.

The financialsThe recent announcements by Tompkins

Financial and Tompkins Trust follow an-other successful year at the financial-ser-vices enterprise. Stockholders at the annual meeting, held at the Country Club of Ithaca on May 4, were in high spirits, not just from the adult beverages served but also from the financial report, which reflected contin-ued growth and profitability.

The 2014 year-end data showed Tompkins Financial’s assets at $5.27 bil-lion, up 5.3 percent from a year prior. Tompkins Financial posted net income of just over $52 million in 2014, up 2.3 percent from nearly $50.9 million in 2013. Even as net income grew, Tompkins Financial re-duced its non-performing assets by more than 30 percent to a level that makes its peers envious (0.54 percent of total as-sets versus 1.23 percent, according to the Federal Reserve.)

At the same time, loan balances were up by more than 6 percent, average non-interest-bearing deposits increased by 12 percent, and fee-based revenue rose nearly

4 percent. Perhaps of most interest to the assembled stockholders, cash dividends for the year totaled $1.62 per share, up more than 5 percent from 2013. “The finan-cial report is a continuation of a long-term trend,” asserted Romaine at the stockhold-ers’ meeting. “This … [institution] has issued dividends for 136 consecutive years. During the past 26 years, the dividends have increased annually. We are enjoying solid performance from all our divisions.” The 2015 first-quarter earnings report, re-leased on April 24, confirms the trend.

Structure & strategyTompkins Financial acts as the hold-

ing company for three operating divisions: banking, insurance, and wealth manage-ment. The banking group is comprised of four banks: Tompkins Trust serving Tompkins, Cortland, Cayuga, and soon Onondaga counties; Tompkins Bank of Castile in Western New York; Tompkins Mahopac Bank, serving the lower Hudson Valley; and Tompkins VIST Bank in Southeastern Pennsylvania and the sub-urbs of Philadelphia.

Tompkins Financial acquired the Western New York and the Hudson Valley banks in 1999, and the Pennsylvania bank in 2012. The banking group operates 67 offices and 85 ATMs in New York and Pennsylvania. Tompkins Insurance Agencies, Inc. is an amalgam of 12 independent, insurance agencies acquired between 2000 and 2014. Tompkins Financial Advisors, the wealth-

management arm, was formed with the acquisition of AM&M Financial Services in 2007. Tompkins Financial employs 1,037 people.

Tompkins Financial’s success is based on its long-standing strategy. “Our suc-cess comes from pursuing sustainable growth,” opines Romaine, 51, who was ap-pointed president and CEO of Tompkins Financial in 2007. “While the company is publicly traded, we look beyond quarter-to-quarter performance. Our decision-making process requires management to ask what will happen in 50 years. The real question is: will our decision be sustain-able for the long term and deliver results for all of our stakeholders? We consistent-ly find profitable business without neces-sarily being number one in a marketplace or pursuing ‘white-hot’ growth. This has led us to diversify our revenue streams and our geographic reach to minimize localized and industry-segment economic disruptions.

“I think of the analogy to a fisherman who puts multiple lines in the water to … [ensure his catch]. The … [caveat] is to be discriminating in what fish you keep. In the financial-services world, there are many opportunities, but we have to be disciplined in how we do business and with whom. This strategy served us well when, during the recent recession, [Tompkins Financial] continued to post record-breaking financial statements in 2008 and 2009 without the need to take TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money. [Tompkins Trust] was well-capitalized and never had an appetite for the risk associated with participating in the sub-prime market.”

Romaine also credits Tompkins Financial’s continued growth, in part, to what he calls “… customer disruption.

Consolidation in the banking business has grown over the last 20 years as smaller banks have struggled with the high cost of technology, regulation, added competition from non-banks, and the current climate of low interest rates. This trend is sure to continue. The large regional, national, and international banks keep changing their strategy, which usually means concentrat-ing on urban areas. In the process, the large banks often shed their branches in rural areas and in small cities. This disloca-tion has confused banking customers who are looking for a stable institution. I find it particularly interesting that Tompkins Financial’s fastest growth is coming in the suburbs around Philadelphia while the sec-ond fastest growth is in Western New York. Customers are recognizing the Tompkins brand and appreciative that we are part of each community we serve.”

Despite a tepid economy, fierce com-petition, and costly regulation, Tompkins Financial is bullish on its ability to continue its record of growth and profitability while avoiding undue risk. “Our growth over the last 15 years has been [approximately] 50 percent organic and 50 percent the re-sult of our M&A activity,” notes Romaine, who currently serves as the vice chairman of the board of the New York Bankers Association. “It’s a good balance. We will continue this pattern based on the corpora-tion’s values and concern for our custom-ers. But all growth has to be tempered by any exposure to undue risk. That’s why we are so discriminating in our M&A efforts to find businesses that are not only a fit [on paper] but also a cultural fit. Our success in the past year to unwind the non-performing assets we acquired is another indication of how important we monitor exposure to risk.” n

NBT: The Marshall Street office will be a one-stop shopping experience for customers Continued from page 5

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IT’S NOT JUST THE

MONEY THAT’S THERE WHEN YOU NEED IT. WE ARE.

Just ask any one of our 175,000 members or visit one of our 39 o� ces. We’ve got your back whether it’s a planned expense or one of life’s little surprises.Life is unscripted. Trust Visions at every stage.Learn the bene� ts of membership at www.visionsfcu.org/MEMBER or visit your neighborhood o� ce.

cent from $69.9 million in 2013 to $75.8 million in 2014, all while improv-ing the Tier-1 capital ratio. During the same period, earnings per share rose from $1.65 to $1.71, wealth-manage-ment revenue increased 14 percent, and market capitalization improved to $1.153 billion. NBT holds the second highest share of deposits in this region — 9.56 percent. The quality of the loan portfolio has also improved as noted by two benchmarks: a steady decline in net charge-offs to average loans and total non-performing loans as measured against total loans — both over the last five years. Only the return on average-tangible-equity has shown a slight decline over the same pe-riod.

The Marshall Street office is an impor-tant part of NBT’s strategy to get an edge on the competition by creating a one-stop, shopping experience that helps its custom-ers with everything from daily transac-tions to planning for retirement. Unlike the “robo-advisor” phenomenon sweeping the investment-advisory industry with au-tomated advice generated by algorithms, NBT puts a strong emphasis on marry-

ing technology with a human interface. Florence Doller, senior vice president and director of marketing at NBT, sums up the bank’s keen interest in the new retail test lab: “As customers’ preferences evolve in response to technology [advances] and [as] communication channels continue to proliferate, NBT Bank is paying close at-tention to various inputs ranging from transaction data that shows increased use of digital-banking technology to feedback from the direct interactions we are able to initiate with customers in spaces like our Marshall Street office. We’re learning every day and will continue to use that knowledge to educate our customers and create engaging and relevant banking ex-periences for them.”

Perhaps it’s serendipitous that the new Syracuse test lab was formerly occupied by a Baskin-Robbins, a company known for creating more than 1,000 ice-cream fla-vors in its test lab. Where Baskin-Robbins brought a smile to its customers as they savored their favorite flavor, NBT hopes to bring a similar experience to its retail-bank-ing customers with the new knowledge portal. n

TOMPKINS FINANCIAL: Bullish on its ability to continue its record of growth and profitability Continued from page 4

JUNE 22, 2015 I soUthErN tIEr bUsINEss JoUrNal I 7 tgbbJ.com

THE LISTResearch by Vance Marrinervmarriner@tgbbj.com (315) 579-3911Twitter: @cnybjresearch

ABOUT THE LIST

Information was provided by representatives oflisted organizations and their websites. Other groups may have been eligible but did not re-spond to our requests for information. Organiza-tions had to complete the survey by the deadline to be included on the list. While The Business Journal strives to print accurate information, it is not possible to independently verify all data submitted. We reserve the right to edit entries or delete categories for space considerations.

WHAT cOnSTITUTES THE ST REgIOn?

For this list, Southern Tier includes Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Tioga, and Tompkins counties.

nEEd A cOpy Of A LIST?

Electronic versions of all of our lists, with additional fields of information and survey con-tacts, are available for purchase at our website: cnybj.com/ListResearch.aspx

WAnT TO BE On THE LIST?

If your company would like to be considered for next year’s list, or another list, please email topranks@tgbbj.com

SOUTHERN TIER CHAMBERS OF COMMERCERanked by No. of Members

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building supplies

Erie Materials has made several recent ap-pointments and promotions. JACK MATSON has joined the company as vice president of human resources. He has more than 30 years experience in human resources and recruitment, most recently at Le Moyne College and Syracuse University. THERESA THORYK has joined the company as direc-tor of human resources. She has more than 20 years of human resources and benefits management experience, at both insurance companies and client employ-ers. MAGGIE CARTER has been appointed human resources administrator. She has been with Erie Materials for the past eight years, starting in the Millwork depart-ment and most recently as the corporate service administrator. JOE SOBCZAK has been named commercial territory man-ager. He first joined Erie Materials as

a warehouse employee, then became an inside salesperson at the Albany branch in 2006. From 2007 to 2009, Sobczak was a commercial inside sales representative. In 2009, he was promoted to operations manager at the Williamsport, Pa. loca-tion. TIM CRISCO has been promoted to inside sales representative at the Elmira branch. He started his career with the branch in1999 as a warehouse employee and was promoted to assistant warehouse manager in 2003, then to warehouse man-ager. Crisco served as warehouse manager of the Albany branch from 2006 to 2009, when he returned to Elmira to become dis-patcher of that branch. DOUG WOODRUFF has been named inside sales representa-tive at Erie Materials’ Elmira office. He recently rejoined the company in 2014 as a warehouse employee. Woodruff previously worked for the company for nearly 20 years in various positions including warehouse manager and dispatcher.

insurance

RONALD MARTIN has been appointed to the newly created position of vice presi-dent, business compliance & research at Preferred Mutual Insurance Company. He has been with Preferred for more than 28 years, having served in multiple lead-ership roles during this time. He is a graduate of SUNY Cobleskill and has com-pleted the Program in General Insurance and Insurance Regulation. Martin holds the associate in state filings, associate in regula-tion and compliance, and associate in insur-ance services designations. Immediately succeeding Martin is ERNEST W. WEEKS, III, vice president, personal lines profit center. He comes to Preferred Mutual from a na-tional insurance carrier, where he served in a series of leadership positions of increasing responsibility. Weeks is a graduate of St. John Fisher College in Rochester. BRIAN SMITH has been promoted to senior vice president, chief human resources officer. He joined Preferred Mutual in June 2014 as vice

president - chief human resources officer. Smith has more than 30 years of human-resources expe-rience, having served as the HR leader for Allianz Global Risks in Chicago and New York before join-ing Preferred Mutual. He earned his MBA from Adelphi University in New York. CRYSTAL GOODWIN has joined the company as an account management trainee. Prior to this, she worked at the Children’s Home in Binghamton as a teacher’s aide and as a library clerk in Oxford. Goodwin earned a bach-elor’s degree in American Sign Language from Keuka College and a med-ical office certificate from SUNY Broome. n

People on the move NEWSMartin

Smith

Goodwin

[Our] aim is to become a top-10 [industry] player. Our vision is to become the phar-maceutical company of tomorrow, setting a new standard by combining our collec-tive experiences and understanding our customers’ needs … This means creating a lean, flexible, multi-national operation. Our success is dependent on three things: recruiting outstanding talent, building on our U.S. platform, and continuing to develop a complex portfolio.”

AFI Partners is a private-equity firm that makes control and non-control investments in small and middle-market companies un-dergoing change. On its website, the com-pany touts its flexible capital and experience with special operations to source propri-etary deal flow and to help businesses with leading product- and service-offerings to manage growth and to turn around under-performance. AFI prefers to invest in U.S.–based businesses with under $250 million

in revenue, focusing on New York and the Midwest. The equity-firm targets the follow-ing industries for investment: automotive, metals, chemicals, paper, transportation, building products, pharmaceuticals, aero-space/defense, mining, plastics/packaging, and energy/power.

Andrews, who has been at Norwich Pharma eight months, has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Norwich Pharma,

he worked at Abbott Laboratories, Cardinal Health, and Endo Pharmaceuticals. In ad-dition to Andrews, the leadership team at Norwich Pharma includes Ric Festarini, vice president of human resources; Dr. Kristin Arnold, Ph.D., vice president, product de-velopment and technical services; Christina Siniscalchi, site director U.S. quality; Tami Watson, director supply chain; Michael Kriever, controller; and John Bender, vice president commercial operations. n

NORWICH PHARMA: Andrews has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry Continued from page 3

8 I southern tIer busIness journal I june 22, 2015tgbbj.com

EXCELLENCE I N H E A LT H C A R E

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The 4th annual Excellence in Health Care Awards recognizes our region’s top health-care industry leaders, innovators, and companies. This awards-recognition event will honor those individuals and/or organizations that have a signi� cant impact on the quality of health care and services in Central New York. Honorees will be spotlighted in the HealthCare Provider and the Business Journal!

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