SB April2015

April 2015

CONSTRUCTION I N S ID E ACE ELECTRIC FAIRFIELD INN BY MARRIOT NORTHERN HOME & LIFESTYLE ASSOCIATION TISSOT CONSTRUCTION NORTH COUNTRY HARDWARE STORES ADK CUSTOM GRANITE F.W. WEBB INSIGHT: TERRY MERON Published by The Northeast Group

PLATTSBURGH IS TAKING OFF!

Plattsburgh International Airport

www.jeffordssteel.com We believe the growth of Plattsburgh International Airport is critical to economic growth in the North Country. We at Jeffords Steel and Engineering are proud to be working with Murnane Building Contractors on such a regionally important project.

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4398 Route 22 • P0 Box 40 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 (518) 561-4061 145 Maple Street • P0 Box 5000 Potsdam, NY 13676 (315) 265-3871

CONTENTS F E AT U R E S

24 Insight: Terry Meron

COLUMN S

26 Hardware Stores

42 Chamber Wise: “Not a Coincidence”

16 Tissot Construction

34 Adirondack Custom Granite

44 Executive Corner Series: Process Focus

20 NHLA

38 F.W. Webb

6 Ace Electric 10 Fairfield Inn

A Northeast Publication©2015 All Rights Reserved Vol. 26, No. 4, April 2015

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Publisher’s View

A

t Strictly Business we do an annual issue devoted to construction in the North Country. You’d think after all these years we’d run out of new people, projects and services to write about, but we never do. Here are some of the ones you’ll find in this issue.

For our cover feature for this issue of SB we’ve focused on a regional service provider—Ace Electric—that has been quietly building a client base made up of the who’s who of North Country businesses for nearly 20 years. Started by Tom Roberts, Sr. and now run by Tom, Jr., Ace focuses primarily on commercial and new construction work. Currently the company has a number of projects underway in the greater Plattsburgh area including a multi-building housing project on Ampersand Drive behind Sam’s Club, the redo of Fastenal’s new location on Route 3 and Salerno Plastics’ new building in The Development Corp’s industrial park.

Those of you who drive the Route 3 corridor west of Plattsburgh have been able to watch the construction of the area’s newest hotel, Fairfield Inn, also one of Ace Electric’s projects. Despite our worst winter in decades progress has continued and its grand opening is expected later this year.

Traditional Adirondack construction is beautiful to behold and Chris Tissot has built his reputation working in the great camps of the Tri-Lakes region. Make sure to take a close look at the photographs of his beautiful and functional designs.

If you’ve redone your kitchen recently, or are planning to do so, you’ve heard about the advantages of granite countertops. Tucked away on a side street in AuSable Forks you’ll find Adirondack Granite run by a tight knit, hardworking family ready to meet the needs of the most discerning home owner. Find the story of this growing company in this issue.

Our Insight feature this month is Terry Meron, a lawyer, a developer, a Plattsburgh native who had big dreams and turned them into reality. A fire that destroyed much of Terry’s Comfort Inn property was a huge setback a few years ago, but he’s come back strong. Make sure to read his observations on business success.

And there’s more in this issue: F.W. Webb’s new plumbing showroom and warehouse on the Tom Miller Road that is nearing completion and a look at hardware stores in Plattsburgh, Keeseville and Malone.

Herb Carpenter, Publisher

When I came to Plattsburgh nearly 60 years ago it was a sleepy little town whose economy relied heavily on tourists from Montreal. A lot has changed in six decades.

We’ve had a few setbacks, but we’ve had a lot more opportunities, and we’ve capitalized on them. Now, while tourism remains important to our economy, we also look north for business relationships and that has produced winning partnerships that have driven much of the construction in the area. And that has been good for business.

Are you an experienced writer with an interest in local business?

Strictly Business is looking for new talent to join our team of writers.

Please send a brief bio and writing sample to meg.lefevre@thenortheastgroup.com.

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PU B L IS HE R Herbert O. Carpenter M A N A G IN G E DI T O R Mary Carpenter PR E S ID E N T/C EO Mike Carpenter V IC E PR E S ID E N T / C FO Betsy Vicencio AD V IS O R Y B OA R D David Coryer A D V E R TIS ING Frank Davis (518) 324-5123 (518) 534-0539 Cell

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Telephone: (518) 563-8214 Fax: (518) 563-3320.

Strictly Business is published monthly by The Northeast Group 12 Nepco Way, Plattsburgh, NY 12903.

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STRICTLY BUSINESS | 5

COVER STORY

Plattsburgh

Plugged In

BY CHRISTINE R. ANDOLA

W

hen an electric pole caught on fire on a Sunday afternoon shutting down power to a restaurant in town, Ace Electric had the place up and running before the end of the dinner shift. At 3:00 a.m. on a Tuesday, Ace took an emergency call from FedEx Ground because its entire sorting operation was down. Ace got the conveyors going so business could resume.

“We get a lot of emergency stuff like that,” said Thomas Roberts Jr., co-owner of Ace Electric. Their service division handles anywhere from five to twenty-five calls in a day, responding to businesses who are suffering a work interruption, residents with a heating outage or any one of a dozen other issues.

While the preponderance of their work is commercial and new construction, Ace Electric has a residential division, as well. “My father considers it a service to the community to take the small jobs,” explained Thomas.

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Tom Roberts, Sr., established the business in 1996. He moved to the Plattsburgh area to be closer to family after he completing the electrical engineering trades program at Hudson Valley Community College and getting his MBA at RPI in Troy, New York. Ace Electric has experienced consistent growth since then.

What started as a one-man operation currently has 30 employees. Thomas and his brother Joe work in the family business, and a brother-in-law will relocate from out of the area to join them soon. Tom Sr. is building a house nearby for his daughter and son-in-law.

ACE ELECTRIC

“My father is semi-retired now and hopes to fully retire in the next ten years,” said Thomas. The company prospectus for the next decade includes growing the business, involving more family and preparing to welcome the third generation.

Other than a slight slowdown in 2008 when the recession hit, Ace has found enough work in the Plattsburgh area to keep busy and then some. “We only take work outside of Plattsburgh when there is not enough work here and, over the years that has only happened a couple of times,” explained Thomas.

In addition to finishing a one-and-a-half year project at the hospital in Malone, one of their rare out-of-town jobs, Ace is currently working on a number of local commercial projects. “We’re doing three separate buildings for Schluter Systems, the Ampersand housing project, Fairfield Inn on Route 3, another housing project off Court Street in the city, Dr. Davey and Dr. McSweeney’s office renovations, the renovations at Fastenal’s new location, and Salerno’s manufacturing expansion into a new building,” enumerated Thomas.

That’s a full schedule, for now.

Photo by Ty Kretser Thomas Roberts Jr., co-owner of Ace Electric

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Ace contracts companies like Schluter Systems, Salerno, and Prevost to handle all of their electrical needs. They also do all of the maintenance work for the Champlain Centre Mall and Holiday Inn, and the exterior lighting for many of the retail spaces in Plattsburgh, like Consumer Square and the Lowe’s complex. Ace developed relationships with area contractors and often works on new construction projects with Luck Brothers, Murnane Building Contractors and Neagley & Chase.

APRIL 2015

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At this rate, the company is sure it will reach its growth projections. “Having knowledgeable, hardworking employees is the driving force behind any good business,” touted Thomas. “Some of our guys have been with us from the beginning.”

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Ace provides training to keep its people up-to-date on changes in the industry.

Electricity doesn’t really change—a circuit is still a circuit—but how it is used continues to evolve. Energy efficiency is the buzzword these days, which means LED lighting which uses about one quarter of the electricity of conventional lighting, so it can make operating a commercial building less expensive. LED can cut down on the number of circuits needed to power a space. “Planet Fitness has two lighting circuits in the whole place because everything is LED,” added Thomas.

“The other new technology we’re dealing with is arc-fault breakers,” Thomas continued. Similar to the GFI outlets required in bathrooms and kitchens, arc-fault breakers are now a code requirement in new construction residential units. They are designed to sense arcing faults, the primary cause of electrical fires, and add a substantial safety component to any electrical system.

Over nearly two decades Ace Electric has developed into a multi-generational family business, growing its assets, services, and reputation. With a wide range of capabilities, residential and commercial, the business is an established member of the Plattsburgh community and poised to successfully expand into the future.

Ace Electric 20 Flanagan Drive, Suite 101 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 518-561-7923 aceplattsburgh.com

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FEATURE

FINALLY FAIRFIELD:

A HOTEL GROWS IN THE FROZEN GROUND

BY CHRISTINE R. ANDOLA | PHOTOS BY TY KRETSER

D

hiren Amin came to this country from India as an aeronautics engineer. He worked in the quality control division of a company in New Jersey with a manager named Carl Brown. Today Amin is part of a three-man ownership team that is building a Fairfield Inn on Route 3 in Plattsburgh, with a project manager named Carl Brown (yes, the same man). When this group talks about quality construction, it’s like rocket science.

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FAIRFIELD INN BY MARRIOT

Carl Brown, Dhiren Amin, and Sam Sheni

“One thing I learned early in my career is that quality is the number one attribute to any job,” said Amin. Proximity to the airport, which is good for hotel business, prompted an acoustic study and resulted in the decision to upgrade many of the components of the building above the franchise standards.

“Windows have a higher STC (sound transmission class) value and we’ve increased the soundproofing of the walls,” said Brown.

“This is going to be one quiet hotel.”

Soundboard between the drywall and higher quality materials all around should help keep operating costs low, as well.

Amin is also pleased with the addition of a third party inspector on the project.

“New York State code requires a third party inspector for multi-story commercial buildings,” said Steve Imhoff, codes enforcement officer for the Town of Plattsburgh. “They’ve hire Atlantic Testing Laboratories here in Plattsburgh.”

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BUILDING MORE BUSINESS Commercial construction in the North Country signals business expansion and economic growth. Winter construction is a particularly good sign of businesses to open in the spring, like the Fairfield Inn on Route 3 in Plattsburgh. The economic growth that the hotel business brings includes a trickle-down effect that can impact the entire county.

The Fairfield Inn, when it is open, will represent about a 10% growth in the number of hotel rooms in Clinton County.

Additional hotel guests in the area means more potential business for restaurants, stores, gas stations and other local establishments.

It also means a bump in the bed tax revenue for the County.

In 2009, Clinton County instituted a 3% tax on hotel rooms to be used for tourism marketing. After keeping 5% of the gross revenue from the tax for administrative purposes, the County Treasurer’s Office disburses $440,000 to the Visitors Bureau to promote tourism. The County Legislature gets $15,000 for their own tourism marketing initiatives, then, the remaining funds also go to the Visitors Bureau.

Before the implementation of this bed tax, the County used to give $140,000 a year to the North Country Chamber of Commerce to help fund tourism marketing programs throughout the County. Since 2010, that amount has more than tripled and goes to fund a separate tourism agency, the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, which was able to spin off from the Chamber as a result of the hotel tax legislation. Before 2010, tourism marketing efforts were tax-payer funded, now those funds come entirely from visitors to the region.

Each year, the bed tax has yielded a higher amount, exceeding $500,000 by 2012. The increase can be attributed to hotel room rate increases and more rooms being sold. As long as hotel occupancy in the County continues to rise, a 10% increase in the number of rooms available could mean even more funding for marketing Clinton County as a tourist destination.

And, more tourists could create a need for more hotel rooms, making way for future expansion in the hotel industry around Clinton County. The construction trades will be the first to benefit from the need to build new hotels or expand existing structures, but the economic growth will trickle down to other sectors of our business community, as well.

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Atlantic monitors every step of the project to be sure it meets building code requirements.

The site, a construction debris dumping ground for 20 years, required excessive excavation. “Our frost line is at four feet, so typically for a commercial building you would dig down six to eight feet,” explained Imhoff. “On this project, because of all the debris, they had to go down 14 feet to get to virgin ground.”

They brought in 11 feet of soil to bring it back up to grade. Each layer was tested to meet the compaction requirements. “A wood frame building could develop cracks if the base is not solid,” added Brown. According to Imhoff, wood framing is not unusual for multi-story commercial buildings in this area. “Our wood framing decision was driven by cost and flexibility,” said Amin.

“Wood is easier to work with than block for flexibility of design,” added Brown, who made a career change from engineering to construction almost 20 years ago. His quality management skills—attention to detail, adherence to schedule and passion for a quality outcome—made the transition easy.

Now Brown is helping to transition a standard building design into a unique property among other buildings in the franchise.

“We’re building a Fairfield Generation 4 with modifications,” said Amin. They’ve created a two-story lobby, added a second elevator, and increased the size of the meeting room. “We lost three rooms, but we gained a grand entrance,” he explained, indicating the large open area already framed in.

Fairfield Inn is not the first joint business venture for this group of businessmen.

Dhiren Amin, C.B. Patel and Sam Sheni bought the existing Holiday Inn in 2002.

Amin used to drive by Plattsburgh on his way to Montreal to visit Sheni, who studied electrical engineering with him back in India. Sheni became the general manager

of the Holiday Inn and a member of the Plattsburgh community.

FAIRFIELD INN CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE AND CLINTON COUNTY GROSS BED TAX REVENUE

O ver t he ye a rs Shen i not ic ed t hat Plattsburgh did not have a Marriott hotel, a preference for some of his guests. After researching hotel franchise options, the group learned that a Marriott is not available to such a small city, but Fairfield, another brand under the Marriott umbrella, is a perfect fit.

2014 2009

2012

Bought land for new hotel

“The local market needed extra beds and another hotel brand to choose from,” explained Amin. “For us, the choice wasn’t as much about adding rooms as it was about giving guests what they want.”

2002

$523,484.56*

2011

Bought existing Holiday Inn

Construction began $564,725.98*

$468,590.42*

2013

$525,987.92*

2015

Expected Fairfield Opening

2010

After several delays in the six-year process, lengthy site preparation, design changes, and additional engineering reviews, the group was determined not to let a North Country winter delay their build any further.

Bought Fairfield franchise $422,144.24* *Clinton County Gross Bed Tax Revenue

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“Winter construction was a decision based on financial concerns to finish the project,” stated Brown. “The question was how, not whether, we could move ahead.

We approached Luck Brothers and asked if they could pull this off through the winter.”

Framing a multi-story commercial building through one of the toughest winters on record involved some strict coordination.

Safety fences, flags and communication between workers onsite took on a renewed importance. “We got through the winter without any injuries,” emphasized Amin.

As the building went up, the snow fell.

Subzero mornings started with shoveling snow, not a normal part of a construction crew’s day. They used blowers to keep snow from building up during the day. As the cold temperatures continued, torches were used to melt ice in the first floor, which is framed in steel to accommodate the expansive opening in the lobby and the weight of the two floors above.

The contractors went out of their way to prepare the frozen site for work each day. “Luck (Brothers) didn’t cry about it; they just did the framing,” Brown noted. A safety coordinator did periodic inspections to keep the job safe.

Thanks to the efforts of Luck Brothers, Lake Champlain Roofing should be able to get the roof on before the spring rains come.

After that, an army of local contractors will tackle the electrical, insulation, drywall, and plumbing from the inside. Furniture, fixtures and equipment have already been ordered from the Fairfield vendor, and the teams will be working seven days a week to complete the finishing touches in time for a June opening.

Fairfield Inn by Marriott 579 Route 3 Plattsburgh NY 12901

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APRIL 2015

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FEATURE

BY MEG LEFEVRE

Photos Provided

A RURAL SUCCESS

C

hris Tissot slept in the back of his truck for the first four months he lived in Saranac Lake. The twenty-something carpenter with a social worker wife fresh out of grad school moved to the Adirondacks from Vermont seeking as rural a town as could be found. “We couldn’t afford anything in Burlington, but we could afford a big cure house in Saranac Lake for $50,000,” he said.

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TISSOT CONSTRUCTION

He got a job working construction for Pete Torrence, known to many in the industry as the godfather of Adirondack building.

But Tissot was restless. “I got to the point where I was doing everything anyway, so I thought I might as well just do it myself.”

With two young kids by then, Tissot’s wife urged him to go out on his own, which he did. But he quickly realized he had no idea how much more there was to owning a business.

“For the first seven years I worked seven days a week, and I worked nights. My wife hated it, but I wasn’t going to do it and have it not succeed, and to have it succeed meant I was going to have to do a lot of work.”

One of his first jobs was at Camp Topridge in Paul Smiths, one of the largest and most elaborately furnished of the Adirondack great camps. The project took a crew of 25, and Tissot has had steady work ever since.

Business slowed only slightly when the recession caught up to the region, but the clientele Tissot builds for came through with projects even during the temporary lull in the economy. “These projects are a main house with a guesthouse, a boathouse and a garage. We can be on a project for two to four years before we’re done with it,” he noted.

The current five-slip boathouse project at Camp Topridge is an example of the log and stick work that makes Adirondack architecture what it is—natural, native and rustic. Tissot stays true to that as often as he can, getting about 70% of his cedar from local land and the other 30% from Ollie Burgess Specialty Wood Products in Bloomingdale. “When we’re looking for crooked, twisted, more interesting things, we go in the woods and get it. Landowners like us because we don’t go in with skidders

Chris Tissot

and make roads. We use a four-wheeler at most and selectively cut what we need.”

The artistic element of Tissot’s projects is what has kept him interested in the business. Originally wanting to be an architect, many of his jobs are design-build, meaning there is no architect or designer on the job and the contractor is the single point of responsibility. As Tissot confidently put it, “I get to have a lot of input into how things happen. After you’ve done it a bunch, people see your work and start to trust your judgment. The log and stick stuff is more creative. Homeowners come up with an overview of what they want and then we figure out the rest of it.”

As with traditional Adirondack building, much of the decorative work is also structural. For the Topridge boathouse project, the logs and sticks intertwine to create a solid structural being. When modern architectural designs call for hidden support, Tissot has a welding setup at his shop where his crew makes steel posting, brackets and hangers that are used to hold up roofs and overhangs.

And that signature Adirondack look is no longer confined to upstate New York’s Blue Line. Pick up an issue of Fine Home Building or Architectural Digest and you’ll see the style being infused into various designs. Or stop in any Starbucks around APRIL 2015

STRICTLY BUSINESS | 17

Photos Provided

have these homeowners who have money and want a house. I facilitate that.”

Malloch boathouse

Malloch garage

Camp Topridge boathouse (under construction)

the country and you’ll see the influence of Adirondack architecture in the wavy edge countertops. This trend in the Adirondack brand of building has led to regular traveling work for Tissot. “People come here, find us, then hire us.” Things like staircases, porch systems and pergolas are built in Tissot’s shop with local materials then installed at the site where often another crew is doing the main work.

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“I can’t believe this is what’s going on,” Tissot chuckled, reflecting on his enormous success as a businessman and craftsman. He defined that role in an interesting way, “I see myself as a liaison. I bring together two walks of life that would otherwise never communicate with each other and they each have something the other one wants. You have all these guys who need a job and need money and then you

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Tissot built his business on quality and creativity. His reputation continues to spread through word of mouth from one homeowner to another, but he insists he’s only as good as the crew he has. “We can’t leave an unhappy owner, even at the expense of losing money, not in this area. Our next job comes from somebody’s cocktail party, so we always go out of our way to keep owners happy. And we’re spoiled because of it,” Tissot acknowledged. “I stress doing the right thing and doing a good job. I’ll do it three times to do it right.”

Tissot learned what it takes to own his own business and he’s always remembered what it takes to be a good employer. More than a decade ago he was one of the first local contractors to offer health insurance to his employees, and he offers paid vacation time with additional holidays throughout the year, including two weeks off at Christmas. “I don’t mind if people take off time to be with their family. We live here because we enjoy doing stuff outside; if you have to work all the time, you can’t do those things.” Perhaps a firsthand lesson learned the hard way.

Now 20 years in with a 28-man crew juggling as many as six sizeable projects at a time, Tissot can safely say, “It works. It’s a successful business. We were lucky getting some good projects in the beginning and staying in the right neighborhood.

This has been a good area. I had no idea moving here. I was just a carpenter and my wife was a social worker, and we figured the more rural the better.”

Tissot Construction 2078 NY-86 Saranac Lake, NY 12983 (518) 891-1645

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FA Name Compliance-Approved Title Title Compliance-Approved April Bingel Bingel Michael J.April O’Connor April Bingel Address and Suite Number Senior Registered Client Associate Senior Registered Client Associate First Vice President – Investment Officer Address and Suite Number Senior Registered Client Associate 8Name, 8Booth BoothDr. Dr. State ZIP 8City BoothPlattsburgh, Dr. 8 Booth Dr. NY 12901 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 City Name, State ZIP Plattsburgh, NY 12901 XXX-XXX-XXXX • 1-8XX-XXX-XXXX Plattsburgh, NY 12901 518-561-7106 518-561-7106 518-561-7106 518-561-7106 april.bingel@wellsfargoadvisors.com april.bingel@wellsfargoadvisors.com XXX-XXX-XXXX Web or email address• 1-8XX-XXX-XXXX wellsfargoadvisors.com michael.oconnor@wellsfargoadvisors.com april.bingel@wellsfargoadvisors.com

FA Name O'Connor TeamofofWells WellsFargo Fargo Advisors O’ConnorTeam Team Advisors O'Connor

wellsfargoadvisors.com

Web or email wellsfargoadvisors.com

Insurance Products: f Wells FargoInvestment Advisorsand Investment Investmentand andInsurance InsuranceProducts: Products:

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Investment products and services offered through Wells Advisors, LLC, Member SIPC,Insured a registered broker-dealer and a separate non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Value Company.

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WellsAssociate Fargo Advisors, All rights reserved. 1114-02616 [95441-v1] A1819 Senior Registered Client ©Wells 2013Fargo Wells Fargo Advisors, All rights 0214-05368 [78691-v4] and A1608a separate (1217884_410988) Advisors, LLC, LLC. Member SIPC,reserved. is a registered broker-dealer non-bank affiliate 8 Booth Dr. ofPlattsburgh, Wells Fargo & Company. ©2014 Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC. All rights reserved. 1114-02616 [95441-v1] A1819 NY 12901 APRIL 2015 STRICTLY BUSINESS 518-561-7106

| 19

FEATURE

Expanding Tradition B Y K A R E N B O U V I E R | P H OTO S B Y T Y K R E T S E R

F

ormed in 2014 from the Adirondack Builders’ Association (ABA), Northern Home and Lifestyle Association (NHLA) is committed to providing the residents of Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties with a directory of certified professionals for all home and lifestyle services and products. Led by Co-Presidents Tim Lacey and Jason Fuller, the NHLA board ensures that members are experienced, insured, reputable, and run successful local businesses. Consumers can trust that an NHLA member is a certified professional who can complete their project in a timely and safe manner, and within budget guidelines.

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NHLA

Jason Fuller, Jessica Sears and Tim Lacey

“We want to reach out to homeowners, current and potential, and give people an unbiased resource for their construction projects,” said Fuller, who also owns and operates Fuller Excavating in Keeseville, “a research tool that is free to the public.”

“We decided we needed to breathe new life into the organization—expand beyond contractors. That’s why we came up with the name change,” added Jessica Sears, NHLA executive assistant. “Businesses need to be able to network with each other so they can do an entire project. And from the consumer side, we want to be a local resource you don’t have to pay for. Accepting a business as an NHLA member certifies to the consumer that they are the best at what they do.”

Membership in the NHLA gives building and specialty contractors, suppliers and other related service providers, such as banks and government agencies, opportunities to network, expand their contacts and participate in professional training and development. Members will gain marketing insights through each other and the connections they make through NHLA, will hopefully lead to the development of new business.

In addition to their website and Facebook page, the NHLA hosts their “Super Bowl,” the Home and Lifestyle Show (formerly, the Home and Garden Show) at the Crete center in Plattsburgh each March. “In the 1980s and ‘90s, the Home and Garden Show was huge and well-known.

Over the years, however, participation dwindled,” recounted Fuller. Sears agreed.

“We didn’t have enough vendors, and not enough diversity in the offerings.” A refocus on their mission combined with a concerted effort to, according to Fuller, “reach out to current and potential homeowners as well as businesses,” this year, led to over 100 booths. Vendor participation was excellent. “We had double the number, and next year we will expand even more,” said Sears.

During a fun and informative afternoon at this year’s Home and Lifestyle Show, I was able to discuss the viability of solar panels for my home (the representative quickly found my home on Google maps, displayed it on his flat-screen monitor and confirmed that my large, south-facing roof would be a perfect sun-catcher), schedule a much-needed excavation of an old fuel tank, discuss window replacement in my kitchen, and gather literature on re-financing from a local bank. I marveled over the next generation of wood stoves which look like elegant furniture with warm, glowing insides, scheduled a chimney cleaning appointment and got the name of a reputable gutter installation firm.

“From banking to digging to furniture and house plants: our ultimate goal is for

Ten Questions You Should Ask Your Contractor:

According to the NHLA, before hiring a contractor to do a project, consumers should ask many questions, and follow up on the answers.

1. How long have you been in business?

2. Where do you do business?

3. Will you personally be performing the work on this project, if not, then who?

4. Do you have employees, or do you plan to subcontract your project?

5. Who will be the contact for the job? What is their preferred method of contact?

Contact information?

6. Is there a contract? Is it handwritten or typed?

7. How and when will you notify me when there is a change in the project cost?

8. Do you have proof of insurance? Do your employees have Workers’ Compensation insurance?

9. Do you have references?

(Check them.)

10. Do you offer a warranty on your work? What are its terms?

APRIL 2015

STRICTLY BUSINESS | 21

homeowners to walk out of the show with everything done—from legit, reputable, local companies,” said Fuller.

“People could sit home and order from Amazon, but coming here means supporting local businesses,” Lacey added. “Our revitalized organization and enhanced outreach is a good start. We are still working to get the name out.”

Monday – Friday 7:00 to 5:00 Saturday 8:00 to 1:00

“With society changing, we want to become an even more diverse organization. In addition to building contractors, we have locksmiths, concrete/excavating contractors, chimney specialists, windows and siding, countertops, furniture… anything to do with the home,” disclosed Sears. “Our board [which includes Treasurer, Bill Brudvig and Secretary, Duane Bibeau, and members Justin Stearns, Paul Blaine, Terry Besaw, Bruce Champagne, and Darin Childs] meets once a month to discuss outreach, education, networking, and community programs. In addition, the board oversees the certification process for new members.”

We Know Business Matters We Business Matters WeKnow Know Business Matters We Know Business Matters

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As it moves into the future, the NHLA plans to recruit more members, offer more education and safety programs, expand the Home and Lifestyle Expo, develop an C e r t i f i e d P u b l i C A C C o u n t A n t s 24 Margaret St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901 active Facebook presence, and continue to (518) 563-7717 fax (518) 563-7929 provide an on-line, searchable memberr t i f i e d P u b l i C A C C o u n t A n t s ship directory as well as networking opC e r 24 t Margaret i f i e St., d Plattsburgh, P u NY b 12901 l i C A C C o u n t A n t s for its current members. Said (518) 563-771724fax (518) 563-7929 Professional and Margaret St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901Accounting, Taxationportunities (518) 563-7717 e r t i f i e d P u b l fax i (518) C 563-7929 A C C o u n t A n t “We s want to stay specific to the conSears, Consulting Services 24 Margaret St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901 sumers and businesses in our community.”

Professional Accounting, Taxation and (518) 563-7717 fax (518) 563-7929 The NHLA web site has a directory which Professional Accounting, Taxation and Consulting Services Rick Martindale, CPA Eric Keysor, CPA Kevin CPAbusinesses. Consumers C e r t i f i e d P u b l i C A C C o u n t A n t s lists allRoser, certified Consulting Services Daniel Fordham, CPA NY 12901 Michel Phaneuf, CPA David Bushey, CPA 24 Margaret St., Plattsburgh, can search by name or type of business.

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APRIL 2015

Eric Keysor, CPA Eric Keysor, CPA CPA Michel Phaneuf, Michel Phaneuf, CPA

Northern Home and Lifestyle Association P.O. Box 2622 Plattsburgh, NY 12901 (518) 420-1020 Kevin Roser, CPA www.nhlacertified.com Kevin David Roser, CPA Bushey, CPA info@nhlacertified.com David Bushey, CPA

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Insight

BY MICHELLE ST. ONGE | PHOTO BY DAN HOOKER

Terry Meron Hometown: Chazy, New York Family: Wife of 43 years Marlene, “My rock.” Children, Christopher Meron, Kara Battinelli and Ryan Meron Education: B.A., SUNY Plattsburgh; J.D., SUNY Buffalo Law School Community Involvement: Former member North Country Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, SUNY Plattsburgh College Foundation, SUNY Plattsburgh Business Advisory Board, local youth recreation programs and coaching 24 | sbmonthly.com

April 2015

T

erry Meron has been a fixture in and around town for nearly six decades. Born and raised in Plattsburgh, he attended school at the former St. Peter’s Academy and Mount Assumption Institute.

Following graduation from SUNY Plattsburgh, Meron dabbled in the rental property business locally before heading off to law school. Drawn to construction, design and renovation, Meron kept his rental properties afloat on the side while maintaining a law practice in Plattsburgh between 1977–1991. “I didn’t get out of law practice because I didn’t like it,” he reflected, “I got out because I kept expanding the apartments, and then I got involved in the Comfort Inn. In 1986 I bought the land from Gus Lapham. We started building in 1987 and opened in 1988.” A tragic fire nearly leveled Meron’s sprawling hotel and recreation complex in the heart of the uptown business area in 2008. The rebuild after the fire was a pivotal point in Meron’s career, suddenly catapulting him into deeply trying physical, emotional and professional times.

Hesitant at first to agree to sit in the Strictly Business Insight hotseat, Meron finally agreed to grant our interview once he realized that his experiences might help other business people or influence them in a positive way. We’re glad he did.

SB: What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

TM: I over E. This means choosing to use your Intellect over Emotion. Every time you are going to say or do anything, do it out of reason and intellect, not out of emotion. Emotion will make you regret your decision almost every time. I try and balance what I have to gain versus what I have to lose. I also consider other people’s interests in the decision making, and only then will I make the decision. When I look back on my life, I can lump my mistakes into two areas. One is if I violated the ‘I over E’ rule. The second is when I made a decision that was complex or important too hastily. When something is very important, you need to spend some time, think about it, and really dwell on it for a while so that you thoroughly understand the consequences of it.

SB: What important lessons has your life taught you?

TM: I consider myself an athlete turned businessman. I was influenced immensely by playing sports. Playing basketball and baseball taught me that how much you achieve is based on how much effort you put in. I learned the importance of a team, that you have to rely on everyone. It is really the same in business. You do the same things in running a team and coaching as you do in running a business. Business is a competitive event just like sports and it is a team sport like the ones I played. The bottom line is that the best trained and coached team usually wins.

SB: What aspect of your career gives you the most feelings of pride?

TM: Definitely the rebuilding after the fire. I had the opportunity to walk away from it and be financially set for life. I never would have had to do anything else. When the fire happened, it was not just poor me, it was poor us. It became a moral decision.

If I had considered my personal interests to the exclusion of everyone else’s, I would have been a hypocrite from who I said I was all these years. To get back where we are has turned out to be financially worse than I ever could have imagined. The insurance money was vastly deficient. But for anybody that knows what happened, I can really be proud that I did the right thing. I was able to show that my life was really about people, and the impact that I could have on people, and not just about making money.

SB: Do you have a favorite quote?

TM: Become better. This is what everybody should try to do every single day. When you’re constantly improving, everything you do is the best thing you’ve ever done. Go out there every day with the goal to become better. A better person, better in business and just keep improving yourself.

SB: What do you look for when you hire?

TM: During the interview process, I am trying to see in that person whether they care about doing a good job, and if they have enough pride in themselves to want to do their best. If someone cares about doing a good job, you have someone to coach, and you can train them. That’s about all I look for, really.

SB: What does being a leader mean to you?

TM: To be a leader is to be guided by a set of principles and constantly trying to acquire and develop those characteristics. It is nothing more than being a principled person. When I used to put my kids to bed at night, I had a prayer that I said to them. I told them, I hope and prayed that they always did the very best in whatever they did in life, that they were always honest and never cheated, always told the truth and never lied, and were always kind to others and followed the ‘Do unto others as you want them to do unto you’ principle.’ I think if you follow those principles, you will do well in business and in life.

SB: How would you like to be remembered?

TM: That I loved my family immensely. I was a really good friend to those who knew me well and that I had a positive impact on my community. I really hope that I showed that. I have taken a lot of pride in bringing new things to Plattsburgh that weren’t here before, or made a good improvement on what was here. Everything I’ve ever touched, I have improved.

April 2015 Strictly Business | 25

FEATURE

Going to the Hardware Store STORY AND PHOTOS BY GORDIE LITTLE

T

he hardware store is an American institution and, according to one count, there are more than 20,000 of them in our country, employing more than 150,000 people. The economic downturn created a difficult hurdle a few years back, but many hardware stores have steadily recovered, thanks to reasonable mortgage rates, more housing construction and an improving economy. With approximately $21 billion in sales throughout the industry, most hardware stores are independently owned but maintain wholesale affiliations with national brands, making them easily identifiable as they work to keep up with big box giants and online competition.

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APRIL 2015

HARDWARE STORES

The Aubuchon Difference If longevity counts for something, Aubuchon Hardware has a long history. The family owned and operated store has been around for 107 years. The company was founded in Massachusetts by William E. Aubuchon, Sr. in 1908, and the corporation reins are soon to be handed down to the fourth generation in the person of William E. Aubuchon IV. Local storefronts can be found in Plattsburgh, Peru, Elizabethtown, and Malone, where managers Tammy Avery, Steve Duell, Bernard Dusso, and Jason Trombley have combined experience that totals more years than the brand has been in business.

For this story, we met with Tammy Avery at the Skyway Plaza in Plattsburgh. Avery started with the former Aubuchon store in the North Country Shopping Center, worked there for 10 years and moved to the Skyway location in 1996.

She explained it was a blow when Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed in 1995. She remembered, “I had just come over here and we had big losses. As re-development and re-use of the base property got underway, things picked up for this store. Now, we’re doing very well. We do a lot of business with people in Cliff Haven and those who live and work on the former base.”

The Skyway location sells everything from snow blowers in winter to lawn tractors for summer. Avery swept her arm around to reveal snow shovels left over from the long, cold winter along with paints, dog treats, hard fasteners, audio/visual items, tools, electrical and plumbing supplies and more. “We have a little bit of everything,” she said, “even live plants in the spring and summer.”

Jason Trombley, Malone store manager, Steve Duell, Peru store manager and Tammy Avery, Plattsburgh store manager

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She explained, “Ours is a small store, but we have a big product line. About ten years ago we added on by knocking out a wall to utilize space that was once a mattress store.

We needed the extra room for our paint section.” Aubuchon’s exclusive partnership with Benjamin Moore paints has seen sales soar.

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APRIL 2015

To underline the importance of hardware stores on many levels, Avery talked about a well-known Cliff Haven resident who stopped in often when his son was young.

She said, “While Tom shopped, his son wandered about the plumbing department, sliding fittings together and having a ball. I’ve watched so many children grow up over the years and they still come back.

Our key is lots of loyal customers who like us and the way we do business, so they keep coming back again and again. We’re doing well right now and the future looks bright for this store.”

Ace is the Place Who doesn’t remember the advertising jingle for Ace Hardware? “Ace is the place.”

Except that in recent years, the “helpful hardware man” portion has been rendered politically correct by replacing “man” with “folks.” It’s only right, as many stores are owned and operated by women in this enlightened age.

Such is the case at Dame’s Rental Place and Ace Hardware, connected in a complex at 755 Route 3 in the Town of Plattsburgh.

The businesses, building and property are co-owned by Jennifer and Randy Dame, and managed by Brian Martin who has worked for the Dames for 21 years. The business moved from Hammond Lane in 1995. Locals remember other businesses including a plumbing supply store, a bar and an auto parts store that occupied the premises over the years. Martin recalled, “The whole place was torn apart when we came in. We had to do a lot of remodeling.

Everything had to be refigured.

The Dame’s son-in-law, Glenn Cohen, took over the hardware store operation from day one and their daughter, Brandy, works with him part time. Seven-and-a-half-month old Eli spends a lot of time with them at the store. Brandy and Glenn are former teachers who moved around the country and then decided to move back and make this their career.

Glenn came to the hardware business with a wealth of experience as a union carpenter, cabinet maker and builder. He explained the choice of Ace for this location, “The company, which was founded in Chicago back in 1924, was named after the flying fighter pilot aces in WWI. Each of the stores has its own personality; this is not a franchise, it is a cooperative.”

He continued, “Ace is in 70 countries and has almost 5,000 stores worldwide with about 3,770 in the U.S. Among those in this country, our small store ranks #192 and #20 in New York State. This is the second

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STRICTLY BUSINESS | 29

smallest store in upstate New York at 4,926 square feet.”

Cohen stressed that his experienced staff is proud of their service as is evidenced by feedback from satisfied customers. He added that integrity is an important ingredient in all employees. He has a certified HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) expert on staff whom he said, “…knows plumbing, heating and air conditioning thoroughly. We also have an expert in the construction trades.”

All the staff at Ace is trained in paints.

They sell Clark and Kensington brand paints, which, he said, is consistently rated near the top in quality. They also carry Craftsman tools.

Roger T. Long, President Of Adirondack Hardware

Cohen’s philosophy is simple. “Be a servant to your customers,” he said, “My customers are my friends. I care about what they are working on today.”

Adirondack Hardware in it for the Long Haul A sizeable player in the game of North Country hardware is Adirondack Hardware in Keeseville, Malone and Willsboro.

I call it a game, because that’s the word image formed by the current president, Roger T. Long, whose office is in the Front Street store in Keeseville.

Roger’s father, Roger C. Long, started the business, then called Keeseville Hardware, more than 40 years ago across Front Street from its present location. The elder Long once told his son, “You view your store like a game of Monopoly. You have real estate throughout the store. When you have product here, it’s paying for the rent. You stock items appropriate to their location in the store. Your prime real estate is up front. You have some real estate in the back corner, but you don’t want your fast movers there, because people won’t be able to find them.”

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April 2015

Roger T. said his father’s advice worked then and works today. Sadly, Roger C. developed Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) several years ago and is under home care.

Roger T. learned his lessons well, starting by mowing lawns there at age 15 and presently overseeing all three locations. Malone and Willsboro were added to the mix in the early 80s and each store has its own personality according to the needs of its specific community.

Adapting to the times is essential according to Long. He explained, “Things on the Internet are very price competitive. Besides, the box stores add to our competition. That’s why we go above and beyond to cater to our clientele in all three towns. We stock different merchandise in each place, because we have different kinds of customers in each location.”

The business sees its greatest sales volume in Keeseville. In the summer Willsboro vacationers come looking for supplies for their camps. The Malone store is housed in two buildings, one the former Post Office “All our stores are community oriented with first class people on staff. Ed Jennings has been here in Keeseville since 1977 and is an expert in plumbing and electricity.

When a customer comes in with a question, chances are he knows the answer.

“Further,” said Long, “service is our byword. We know our customers—many by their first names. We know where they work and where their kids go to school. We understand price is important, but we know that if we take care of them and treat them as friends, they enjoy our atmosphere. They are not just a dollar sign. They are the center of everything we do.”

Long is a basketball coach and insists that local sports create a huge network that also helps in his hardware business. He’s hopeful that a proposed Keeseville Chamber of Commerce can entice a grocery store to re-

turn to the village. He explained that if people leave town to shop for groceries, they are likely to look for other needs elsewhere.

Adirondack Hardware hangs its hat on seasonal items like lawn and garden supplies in the summer and outdoor furnaces, pellet stoves and Direct-Vent heaters in the winter.

“We’re known in the area from Champlain

to Malone, down as far as Ticonderoga for our stoves, furnaces and heaters.”

He added, “We insist on carrying things that will bring people to our store. We sell pellets and cord wood here. Our Malone store even sells coal. Pellets have been in short supply this year. We bring in forty tons a month and all of it has been pre-sold

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before the truck even gets here.” Adirondack Hardware subcontracts most of its heating work with 24/7 service on much of what they sell, including furnaces, boilers, heaters, pellet stoves, and so-called split systems involving air conditioning and heat. And in Keeseville, the company offers small engine repair of all kinds, from chainsaws to trimmers and lawn mowers, to wood chippers—any brand that is deemed repairable.

Call 518-623-2352 or check out our website at catamountconsultingllc.com for more information or additional safety services.

A tour through the Keeseville store reveals a large quantity of items common to hardware stores like propane, RV antifreeze and windshield washer fluid, plus basic lumber and 2 x 4’s and many specialty items carried for the convenience of shoppers. Long noted the challenge of staying in the game and expressed, “My goals are to stay ahead of the game, remain open and profitable, while continuing to be positive and helpful in our community.”

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12 Nepco Way, Plattsburgh,APRIL NY2015

STRICTLY BUSINESS | 33

FEATURE

A COUNTER APART

BY JULIE CANEPA

T

he types of countertop and bath materials offered by Adirondack Custom Granite read like a middle school Earth Science class: granite, quartz, soapstone, travertine, slate, and marble with mention of mica, feldspar and garnet. Sourced from as close as Vermont and Canada, and as far away as Brazil, Norway and India the mineral names are beautifully complemented by the more romantic names the manufacturers give each style: Black Marinace, Verde Antique Serpentine, Santa Cecilia, and Uba Tuba, to name a few.

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APRIL 2015

ADIRONDACK CUSTOM GRANITE

“We started out primarily creating granite countertops, and we now offer many different types of materials,” explained Julie Lawrence. Julie and her husband, Bradley, along with Tanner Lattrell and Ginger Nutbrown, ventured out on their own after working together at a local quarry.

Adirondack Custom Granite was created in 2003, with the subsequent opening of a fabrication shop, showroom and office.

“Each partner is one hundred percent handson,” said Julie. Bradley and Tanner offer experience creating templates and installing countertops, and they alternate weeks in the shop doing fabrication and on the road doing installations. Ginger’s plant management experience overseeing countertop fabrication is invaluable; she plays a key role in getting each day planned. Julie’s focus is on the customer, ordering materials for every job, scheduling templates and installation in a timely manner, as well as ensuring the proper fabrication time for each job.

The design process usually begins with a customer bringing in a cabinet door, floor tile or even a fabric swatch. On occasion, ACG will work with an architect’s blueprints, but most often they are creating templates (mockups of the counter or tabletop design made from plywood or cardboard). The crew works closely with customers, helping to create the desired look.

Aspects like how much overhang the countertop should have, to the type of lighting installed in the space are things that require an expert’s eye and opinion, as granite’s appearance can change in different light.

Unlike the box stores, ACG quotes complete job cost, not just cost per square foot. No custom request is beyond their expertise.

“On special projects we have even had to purchase special shaping tools to create the look a customer wants,” said Nutbrown. Positive

Photo by Julie Canepa Ginger Nutbrown, Julie Lawrence, Bradley Lawrence and Tanner Lattrell An example of work by Adirondack Custom Granite.

Photo by Julie Canepa

word of mouth from customers and contractors has the business working steadily at one installation per day. “Three years ago our primary customers were remodels due to the economy. Now it is 50-50 remodels and new construction,” noted Bradley.

Granite continues to reign supreme as a countertop choice. “Customers really like the natural look of it and the fact that it is so easy to maintain,” explained Julie. The enduring quality of their work is evident.

When a customer’s home was destroyed by water damage, the granite countertop survived unscathed. At the customer’s request they were able to incorporate the same piece of granite into their new kitchen.

“I think that people definitely care where the products they are using in their homes come from and they take that into consideration when purchasing them. It is nice to be able to get some materials from a reasonable distance like the Verde Antique Serpentine that is quarried in Vermont,” Julie explained.

Ironically, products imported from nearby locations are not always less expensive than their more exotic counterparts.

The partners of Adirondack Custom Granite take pride in the fact that they are locally owned and operated. There is also the family element: Julie and Bradley are married, Ginger is Bradley’s sister and her son Nick is also an employee. Tanner is a close family APRIL 2015

STRICTLY BUSINESS | 35

friend and his sister Bethany works in the office doing sales. They also recently hired Austin Depo who is a lifelong local resident.

From design inspiration in their showroom to cutting and fabrication in their shop, the “family” of professionals at Adirondack Custom Granite enjoy creating work that lasts a lifetime.

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APRIL 2015

STRICTLY BUSINESS | 37

FEATURE

Growth at F.W. WEBB

BY KYLE M. PAGE

I

n the construction field a professional is only as good as his/her skills, tools and materials.

For all three, F.W. Webb says, “We’ve Got It.” It’s more than a slogan for the almost 150-year-old company, it’s the way they do business.

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APRIL 2015

F.W. WEBB

Photo by Dan Hooker

For more than twenty of those years F.W. Webb has had a presence in Plattsburgh and that presence is getting a lot bigger with a new state-of-the-art 30,000 square-foot facility on Tom Miller Road in the Town of Plattsburgh. “We originally came to the area to support the plumbing, heating, cooling, and industrial PVF needs of the many manufacturing mills in the area,” said Alicia Criniti, director of marketing for F.W. Webb.

Criniti continued, “Over the years the opportunity to support residential and commercial contractors, in addition to the industrial base, has grown. Given that, we have expanded our size and offerings to meet the changing needs of the region.

We now offer plumbing, heating, HVAC, refrigeration, industrial PVF, fire protection, propane and natural gas equipment, and residential water systems.”

Since its beginnings in 1866, F.W. Webb has grown to be the “Northeast's largest distributor of critical products that help people build, maintain, repair, and operate homes and facilities.” Nearly 150 years ago, two men, Stulz and Mansur, formed a small brass shop in Boston. That was sold to Henry McShane in 1888. The general manager of the Boston distribution facility was Henry’s brother-in-law, Frank W. Webb. In 1900 Webb purchased the Boston facility and changed the name of the company to the F.W. Webb Manufacturing Company. The new company manufactured brass fittings, faucets and accessories. They also offered china and

enameled iron plumbing fixtures made primarily by Trenton Pottery, under the F.W. Webb label.

The company achieved continual growth by expansions and purchasing existing companies throughout the twentieth century. “Currently, F.W. Webb has more than 80 locations in nine states,” explained Criniti. “We are especially proud of being able to offer our customers exemplary service, a large inventory

and the latest innovations in products and services.”

F.W. Webb boasts over 80,000 product lines in fourteen areas of expertise, and the growth of the Plattsburgh location adds to the company’s expanding services. In addition to the new facility, which is three times the size of the former store on Route 9 North in Plattsburgh, a new training room will provide free technical training to contractors, helping them stay

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With seven employees currently in Plattsburgh, including store manager Adam J. Fitscher, the company plans to add several more in the coming year.

“F.W. Webb’s customer base is as diverse as its product offerings and varies across our footprint. The region dictates the types of customers. In Plattsburgh we have a healthy mix of residential trade contractors, mechanical contractors and manufacturing customers, facility managers, and purchasing agents,” said Criniti. Along with town officials and business leaders, we see tremendous opportunity for growth in Plattsburgh.”

Tripling the size of the Plattsburgh facility and expanding its product line is only the beginning of the plans F.W. Webb has. Criniti continued, “We would like to add a Frank Webb’s Bath Center to the location within two years. We have over 35 showrooms across the Northeast offering homeowners a wide assortment of high quality plumbing fixtures, vanities, mirrors, kitchen sinks, accessories, and more. Working displays, which allow homeowners to experience how water flows from a faucet, tub-filler or showerhead, are a highlight of any Frank Webb’s Bath Center visit.”

As the finishing touches are put on the F.W. Webb facility in Plattsburgh, Fitscher and his crew are poised for business, ready to help improve the skills of area contractors with their new training department as well as providing the very best and latest tools and materials to get all jobs done.

F.W. Webb Company 492 Tom Miller Road Plattsburgh, NY 12901 562-2575 www.fwwebb.com

40 | sbmonthly.com

APRIL 2015

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APRIL 2015

STRICTLY BUSINESS | 41

CHAMBER WISE

“Not a Coincidence�

W

hen Plattsburgh was recently ranked by Site Selection Magazine among the Top 10 micropolitan areas in the country for economic development in the past year, it was very gratifying. But what does it mean?

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APRIL 2015

BY GARRY DOUGLAS

I suggest that it means our economic development team remains on the right course in terms of its strategies, priorities and uniquely collaborative approach.

This is especially true with regard to our day in, day out and year in, year out commitment to broadening and deepening all aspects of our economic connectivity with Quebec in particular and with Canada generally.

Being “Montreal’s U.S. Suburb” is more than a slogan. It is a mindset that reflects a paradigm shift from 20 years ago. And for us, being the gateway and hub of the Quebec-New York Corridor—an emerging new bi-national economic region—is more than a happenstance. It is a responsibility and opportunity to be cultivated and nurtured.

strategies and priorities and which, in turn, has made the North Country a model for the rest of the state, leveraging almost $400 million in four short years for key projects and initiatives.

And other recent findings and rankings are further affirming that we are on the right track. From the recent 92% “Business Confidence Index” established by our survey of the North Country business community, showing 68% anticipating business growth this year, to such news as the recent ranking of Peru as “New York State’s Most Affordable Small Town” by Business Insider magazine, highlighting the comparatively low cost of housing and

of general living in this area compared with other high cost areas we often compete with such as Burlington.

Congratulations to all who are part of these achievements. You’re doing us proud.

Let’s continue the determined pursuit of our clear opportunities for further progress, and the special teamwork which has most other areas scratching their heads as they wonder what’s going on here that’s not going on where they are.

Onward and upward!

Garry Douglas is the president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce.

And so it is not unexpected that this phenomenon has driven us to the top of such a national ranking.

But wait. While Plattsburgh has occasionally been high on this annual list in years past, this was the very first time that the Ogdensburg/Massena micropolitan area also appeared in the top 10.

I suggest it is no coincidence that both areas are on the northern border and are committed to attracting and hosting investment from Canada. And I further suggest that it is no coincidence that we are now in our fifth year of unprecedented economic development collaboration and shared support across the seven county North Country via the North Country Regional Economic Development Council —a new approach which has achieved regional consensus behind well-defined

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Strictly Business | 43

EXECUTIVE CORNER SERIES

ACT

PLAN

• EVALUATE • APPLY LESSONS LEARNED • MODIFY AS NECESSARY

• ESTABLISH A BASELINE • IDENTIFY PRIORITIES • SET IMPROVEMENT GOALS AND STANDARDS CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

DO

CHECK

• IMPLEMENT ACTIONS • PLANS TO ACHIEVE GOALS

• MONITOR AND MEASURE • FIND AND FIX • DOCUMENT RESULTS

W. Edwards Deming in the 1950's proposed that business processes should be analyzed and measured to identify sources of variations that cause products to deviate from customer requirements. He recommended that business processes be placed in a continuous feedback loop so that managers can identify and change the parts of the process that need improvements. As a teacher, Deming created a simplified diagram to illustrate this continuous process, commonly known as the PDCA cycle for Plan, Do, Check, Act. (The W. Edwards Deming Institute®)

PROCESS FOCUS L

ast quarter we wrote about our “Top Five” operational drivers that are the most impactful on day-to-day business success. The five concepts we believe to be essential to the operation of any business or organization, whether large or small, for-profit or not-for-profit, public or private are:

44 | sbmonthly.com

• Customer focus • Process focus • Employee involvement • Data analysis • Leadership commitment APRIL 2015

BY REG CARTER & BILL MURRAY

In this issue of Strictly Business we will focus on “Process Focus.” Successful businesses have processes in place that run well. Less successful businesses have processes that run “not so good.” Running well means that you’re consistently satisfying your customers’ requirements, and you’re consistently hitting your revenue and profitability targets.

“Not so good” means that you’re missing customer expectations or, if you are meeting their expectations, you’re doing so inefficiently and it’s eating into profit margins. The message is simple. Anytime one of your processes goes astray, you pay the price with customer dissatisfaction, inefficiency or both.

end. We live and operate in a world that changes continuously and ever more rapidly. What works best this year may not work best next year. Let us step you through the process in more detail: PLAN: Step one is to define the process you wish to analyze. A common mistake is to select a process that is too large. For example, in our organization we wanted to analyze our customer support system from the first time we meet a potential customer all the way through until the project was done and final billing was completed.

We quickly determined that this was too broad. We asked ourselves, what subsec-

tions of this process are causing us (or our customers) the greatest issues? We realized that the majority of our problems were hiding in the “system” we used to process a client project. Together, we created a Value Stream Map (VSM): a visual representation of every step in the process.

Many lean practitioners see value stream mapping as the fundamental tool to identify waste, reduce process cycle times, and implement process improvement.

DO: By “seeing” each step of our process through our VSM, we were able to determine where opportunities might exist to make improvements. So, in Step Two, we worked on implementing the changes

First, realize that everything is a “process” or a “system.” Whether it is a manufacturing assembly line, the intake of patients to an emergency room or the paper flow of your customer billing process—everything is a process! Accepting that premise, the technique we use for improving a process comes from the Lean Manufacturing System used by all successful manufacturers.

Developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the father of Total Quality Management, it is based on the concept of Plan-Do-CheckAct (PDCA). The philosophy of continuous improvement is to embrace “finding problems” as opposed to implementing “work arounds” and other temporary solutions that do not address the root cause of a problem. The PDCA concept is a simple, yet effective, way of problem solving and finding the root cause of a problem.

As you can see in the illustration this is a continuous cycle—one that should never APRIL 2015

Strictly Business | 45

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that developed out of our Value Stream Mapping exercise: the “Do” part of Dr. Deming’s cycle.

It is important that before you implement a change, you must define how you will measure the change. An old mantra in continuous improvement states that “you cannot fix what you cannot measure.”

CHECK: Once you have implemented a change, you need to know how effective that change is. Rarely does a change correct a process 100%, nor is it expected to.

Analyze the results using the measurements you defined in the previous step.

If it didn’t work, why didn’t it? Can you tweak the process and continue forward, or step back and re-analyze the process?

ACT: Step four is implementing the changes that you identified in the previous CHECK phase. What did you learn during this first cycle? What worked? What didn’t work? What percentage of improvement did you realize? And then, start the process all over again.

The key word in process focus is continual. As the world around us continues to change at an ever rapid pace, so must we continually and vigilantly focus on our business processes so that we successfully achieve another important aspect: customer focus!

Reg Carter and Bill Murray are executives with CITEC Business Solutions, a local nonprofit economic development consulting organization, with over 60 years of business and management experience between them.

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APRIL 2015

Strictly Business

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