business

December 15, 2017 - 2:33pm
Although the cuddling business caters to different types of needs, it seems Americans are deprived of touch, and willing to pay for it.

On a brisk, fall Saturday afternoon in a small slice of the Upper East Side, 28 men and women gather in a loft with the goal of cuddling with a stranger. A full-figured woman with tattoos and a shaven head clutches her teddy bear. A burly veteran, clad in blue flannel pajama pants, shares that he is open to talking about his struggles with mild PTSD. Event facilitator Adam Lippin smiles, greets guests, and moves through the crowd in white Adidas joggers, jeans, and a purple shirt. Soft jazz floats through the apartment, and the faint scent of feet lingers in the air.

March 9, 2017 - 7:22pm
Barbara Jones wants her home-sharing service StayBillety to foster meaningful relationships between hosts and guests.

A Syracuse University professor is joining the sharing economy with her budding homestay service that she hopes will fulfill a demand left unanswered by Airbnb and other competitors.

January 30, 2016 - 4:59pm
Gabriela Ecalante has started three businesses, but she goes beyond these ventures to help others whenever she can.

It’s 6 a.m. on a Monday morning and Gabriela Escalante has been awake for an hour. There are no meetings, phone calls, or obligations to attend until 9 a.m., but Escalante likes to run around her rural neighborhood in Central New York – even on Monday mornings. She laces up her pink and white tennis shoes and begins a 30-minute run around her familiar course. The sun is still sleeping, but the morning’s darkness doesn’t stop Escalante from fulfilling the daily goal she has met for the past year.

November 15, 2015 - 8:19pm
The first annual Little Black Dress event took place at SKY Armory on Thursday to benefit women in business.

Women entrepreneurs networked at the Little Black Dress fundraiser for the Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) Women’s Business Center at SKY Armory on Thursday.

SKY Armory, owned by Nicole Samolis, opened over a year ago. Samolis is aware of what it takes to be a woman entrepreneur because she built her own business. As a member of the WISE advisory board, the Little Black Dress event was her idea and her way of giving back to the organization.

September 28, 2015 - 8:12pm
Her Heartbeat honors 13 women who have made significant impact in areas like education, social services, technology, health care and more.

Thirteen Central New York businesswomen received awards for their leadership examples and services to the community at the Successful Business Women Awards. The event, produced by BizEventz, took place on Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Oncenter, 800 S. State St., in downtown Syracuse. 

March 3, 2015 - 5:41pm
New Tech Garden space provides resources, incubator space for growing technology businesses.

In February, the Syracuse Technology Garden expanded into an 18,000 feet space in AXA Tower, right next to the original location, to accommodate the growth of local innovative businesses.

February 3, 2015 - 1:18am
SU female students show interest in starting their own companies, but the school fails to provide female-specific training on-campus or women-owned business competitions.

As a petite woman with not-so-petite breasts, Eileen Bell knew she wouldn’t find a cute bathing suit that also fit her body for spring break. That’s the thought that sat in her mind as she reunited with her friend Paige Chilson during winter break last year from Syracuse University and High Point University. Bell shared her frustration with Chilson.

September 15, 2014 - 11:30pm
Professors act out drama surrounding a fictional chocolate company to engage students in Whitman's new "Business Essentials" course.

Susan Smith never teaches her newest class with lectures or PowerPoint slides.  When she enters her lecture hall of 105 students, she becomes the marketing executive of the fictional company MJ Whitman Chocolates.

The class, BUA 100: Business Essentials, is a two-course sequence specifically for students who do not major in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. There are no prerequisites for the class, which is taught as if it were an interactive television drama.

September 11, 2014 - 1:49am
After launching Make Fresh Foods in July, local entrepreneur Nancy Rissler looks toward the future of her recipe-based business.

When Nancy Rissler saw a 15-year-old mother give Coca-Cola to her newborn baby, Rissler was not disgusted or judgmental. Instead, she was inspired. She refers to this experience as a moment that changed the course of her life. This moment instilled a desire in her to teach the world about food and how to nourish one’s body, which launched a career as a certified hospitality educator, Syracuse University professor, food scientist and, most recently, an entrepreneur.

December 10, 2013 - 2:24pm
In just one year, the student start-up has moved from the basement of Theta Chi to a real storefront in downtown Syracuse — and brought with it clients from all over the world.

Standing tall on Comstock Avenue, the Theta Chi fraternity house looks more like the site of games of beer pong and brotherhood bonding than it does a hub for new businesses. But for Syracuse University seniors Michael Choi, Adam Day, Pat McGowan and Marcus Baron, it was the perfect setting for their creative juices to come together to form Auxygen.  

“Straight out of that basement, they formed this idea for a company,” said Drew Osumi, Auxygen’s resident photographer.