by Randy Pellis
FULTON, May 8, 2019 — What is it about human nature that loves the thought of a small business? Is it the independence? The challenge? The hope of great success? It seems so American, and though we can hardly claim it as our own, we can certainly claim we’ve made quite something of it. And so, we celebrate Small Business Week.
This year, though we salute all small business, we’re going to focus on an important and impressive subset of it here in Fulton: new small business. Something seems to be happening in Fulton, and like the small crocus that is the first flower to herald even through the snow the great beauty of spring to come, new small businesses popping up in Fulton, after what seems like a long winter of hard economic times, seem to herald better times ahead.
And what could be a better symbol of improvement than a new studio for self- improvement, MISSION: Midlife Wellness Studio at 215 Cayuga Street? Beth Ann Dice, midlife transformation coach, founded the boutique-style wellness studio designed just for women with one-to-one and small group training options. She offers over 30 programs and 600 workouts for all fitness levels with guided eating plans and offers all this in the comfort of your own home or wherever you may be. Her plans seem to cover quite a range of goals from those looking only for fitness programs to those looking only for healthier nutrition programs to those looking for both or looking for a totally customized plan altogether. If you do nothing else, at least check out her blog at bethadice.com for its very enticing recipes. Feel free to call me when you’ve made the creamy garlic-bacon spaghetti squash casserole, the avocado with crab meat, or the sweet potato waffles. It’s always good, you know, to have a second opinion.
After all that eating, delicious as it may be, you may feel a desire to work some of it off. The midlife Wellness Studio can help you there too. It offers a unique program called “PiYo,” which is a combination of pilates and yoga. Although I’d probably be considered an exercise failure, I do know something about pilates. A lot of dancers are into it. I’ve photographed a lot of professional dancers and a lot of professional athletes. All I can say is, no one is in better shape than a ballerina. So, you might want to give pilates a try, and combining it with yoga sounds even better.
One of writing’s, especially journalistic writing’s, never-ending challenges is the segue, or how to transition seamlessly from one topic to the next, as though the two topics were as similar as twins or as opposite as hot and cold. As I foresee this article to be a nightmare of the never-ending segue challenge, I’ve decided to segue into our next new business with a segue on segues followed by another new business in the same way.
So, here we have it: if pilates and yoga and healthy eating just aren’t your cup of tea, maybe riding a bike is. If that’s the case, you’re in luck, for here in Fulton, Greg Bixby has opened Legacy Bicycles in the former Doyle’s Bikes at 316 West First Street South, next to the Foursome Diner and across the street from Pizza Hut. He’ll be selling and repairing new and used bikes, and as someone who trains engineers at Exelon, is
probably pretty good at it. Greg seems thrilled with his new endeavor and simply says, “Here’s to living the dream. Live to ride!”
Now, not to put a damper on all this physical exercise, but accidents can happen, even to a total exercise loser like me, and when they do, it’s good to know that one of Fulton’s newest and most-welcomed businesses will be able to help you. Oswego Health’s Center for Orthopedic Care opened recently in an unused, empty, and now completely newly-built part of the former A. L. Lee Memorial Hospital at 510 S. Fourth Street.
Your care will be in the hands of three orthopedic surgeons, two of them new to Oswego Health.
Doctors Michael Diaz and Greg Keller will join Dr. John Ayres in, according to Dr. Diaz, “covering the whole spectrum of orthopedic procedures, covering about 90 percent of all orthopedic procedures. The only thing we don’t do is complicated hand and spine (surgery).
“This truly will be a state-of-the-art facility,” he said. “I’ve worked at many facilities, and I have to say this really is probably the finest facility that I’ve seen. No expense has been spared, and everything will be up-to-date, with the latest quality x-ray, we’ll have over 15 exam rooms, and certainly the nursing care will be top notch as well.”
For more on the Center for Orthopedic Care and its new doctors, see https:// oswegocountytoday.com/oswego-health-opens-center-for-orthopedic-care-in-fulton/ news/fulton/.
Health seems to be a theme here in the first of these new Fulton businesses. And here are two more. The first is The Maples, a new assisted living home on the site of the old Michaud Residential Health Services nursing home at 453 Park Street.
The city of Fulton’s mayor and Common Council have worked toward and looked forward to Fulton’s turnaround for quite some time. Third ward Councilman Don Patrick is very enthusiastic about the number of new businesses sprouting up in Fulton and in a recent interview expressed his support for The Maples as “something we have more than a need for because people aren’t getting any younger. Now people, when they reach that point in their life, can actually stay here in Fulton instead of being re-located to another city.”
The Maples will house 87 to 89 people. “We’re glad to see that building put in use instead of being vacant,” Patrick said. “Now people are going to have the option of staying here in Fulton at home where their family and loved ones actually can visit them more often.”
Unfortunately, growing older can mean there’s a ride to a hospital in your future. Fortunately, that ride may be close by. Menter Ambulance, a staple for years in Fulton, is expanding, building a very large new structure between Ontario and Erie streets.
“They basically demolished almost a whole block of houses down there,” said Patrick, “and they’re building a huge building. It’s almost a block wide and a block long building to add onto the ambulance service they have here already. It’s great for our city.”
And if one of Menter’s ambulances needs a little repair or maintenance, another new business may have just what they need. O’Reilly Auto Parts, a national chain, is building on the site of a former carwash on Route 48 next to Price Chopper. And although there already are at least three other auto parts stores in Fulton: Advance, Napa, and Autozone, perhaps they’re like donut shops, you can never have too many. O’Reilly claims to expand into 200 new locations each year.
And, of course, speaking of donut shops, we have so cleverly segued right back to food, the seemingly eternal subject in life. And what says food better than Taco Bell? I won’t answer that question, but it is almost certain no other business was as highly anticipated over the past year as Taco Bell, just check the line of cars at its new location at 505 South Second Street (Route 481) if you need convincing. Fulton’s Taco Bell is owned by the Hospitality Restaurant Group of Syracuse, one of the largest franchisers of Taco Bells in the country, including 56 Taco Bells in central New York.
Fultonians may be in love with Taco Bell, but there are certainly many who would say nothing beats a good pizza. And though here again, there seems to be ample competition in Fulton’s pizza niche with Red Baron and Pizza Hut having been around the city for years, The Pies Guys on the scene for a few years now, and numerous other restaurants and gas station convenient stores selling their own versions, just like donut shops, it seems there can never be too many pizza parlors. And with that in mind, Dano’s Pizza has opened on North Second Street (Route 481) near Oneida Street.
So, Fulton certainly has fast food, but it also has frozen food. And that’s a pretty corny segue into Fulton’s next new business, Martens Fresh, which took over 130,000 square feet of freezer space in the former Birdseye plant. Owner Timothy Martens calls this cold storage and distribution center iFreeze. It will be used for railcar and container unloading of vegetables, private label packaging, blanching and quick freezing of vegetables, and general cold storage. There is also room for 14,500 pallets. Martens Fresh also has its own fleet of trucks for inbound and outbound freight.
Not only will Martens Fresh provide new jobs, it will provide the city with new tax revenue. All of the new businesses listed here will do that to some extent. New construction, or the rehab of a vacant building, is especially welcomed by the city, for it adds to the tax rolls. Menter Ambulance’s new building will do that, as will the new O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store. And certainly the new 9,000 to 10,000 square foot building being built by Spectrum’s parent company, Charter Communications, will make for some very welcome new tax revenue along with five office and 25 to 30 warehouse jobs. The new building, on the site of the old Nestle property will serve as an electronic parts warehouse and office space.
Compass Credit Union is similar. It will build along Route 481 near the DMV, and across from Mimi’s. According to Councilman Don Patrick, “They’re going to start construction soon. Everything’s gone through the Zoning and Planning Board. They’re ready to go.”
Some of you may eventually approach Compass Credit Union for a mortgage on that house you’d love to buy. But before you close the deal on that house, you might want to have it inspected by C. Green Home Inspection, another new Fulton business, located on Cayuga Street.
And when you finally settle in to that beautiful new, inspected home, you’re going to want to furnish it with something that speaks to your inner being, maybe even something you created. And where are you going to find, or learn to create, such a thing? Why, at the new CNY Arts Center at 121 Cayuga Street, of course. After receiving a $110,000 grant from the Shineman Foundation, the art center was able to buy the space they’re in, and with an additional recent grant of $19,400, the center is finishing up some of its final reconstruction.
The CNY Arts Center offers numerous classes, exhibits, and performances and is undoubtedly one of Don Patrick’s favorite new Fulton businesses.
“It’s a big addition to our downtown,” he said. “It’s huge for our city. It creates things for our children, they do plays, they do summer programs for the kids. It’s quite an operation. It’s a good thing for our youth and for our adults. They purchased a building downtown, and they converted it over, and it’s very nice.”
Speaking generally of Fulton’s business scene, Patrick said, “Our city is going to be made up of small business. We need to support our small business. That’s how we’re going to make our comeback, and it seems to be working well. People are investing in our city, and I think that’s a great thing.”
Looking at the recent boom in new small business creation within Fulton, Patrick spoke of the city’s role in making that happen.
“We, as a council and the mayor, knew this year was going to be a good year,” he said. “We set up a lot of things, a lot of ground work last year for what’s happening, and there’s going to be more good coming. It’s through a lot of hard work from the mayor and the council. We’re very appreciative to all the businesses that have chosen to make a home here in the city of Fulton. We want to become business friendly.”
And finally, almost as a reflection of the spirit that seems to becoming apparent in Fulton, Don Patrick closed with words that very well may already be true of people here. “People need to be positive,” he said, “they need to stay positive, they need to see the good in what’s happening.”
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