Two companies to bring more than 400 jobs to Syracuse

More than 400 jobs will be available to Syracuse residents with the expansions of Bankers Healthcare Group Inc. and JMA Wireless.

Both of these investments are part of the regional strategy “CNY Rising,” a regional plan and investment prospectus submitted in 2015 for New York State’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

On Oct. 9, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo met with Mayor Ben Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon to announce the investment.

“By expanding into Central New York, these two companies will help transform the region, create new employment opportunities and generate even more economic momentum across upstate New York,” Cuomo said at the meeting.

Founded in 2001, Bankers Healthcare Group specializes in providing healthcare professionals with financial solutions. Last year, the company managed to surpass $4 billion in total funded loans.

The founder of BHG, Chairman and CEO Albert Crawford, sees the investment as a benefactor for both his company and Syracuse.

“Our company headquarters have been in downtown Syracuse for nearly two decades, and it’s an honor to play a key role in attracting top talent, contributing to the local economy, and supporting the redevelopment of the Inner Harbor,” Crawford told New York State in October.

BHG will relocate and consolidate several of their Central New York operations to a newly constructed facility at 300-324 Spencer St.

JMA Wireless is a telecommunications company currently based in Liverpool. The company designs and builds products that enable 4G LTE, 5G, CBRS and LAA on networks worldwide. The company will invest $25 million to create a 5G high tech manufacturing center at the Coyne building and other facilities located at Cortland Avenue. The 100 jobs offered at JMA Wireless will range from entry-level to advanced engineering.

Justin Sayles, the research and communications director at the Onondaga County Executive Office, believes that more and more companies are calling Central New York home for various reasons.

“It’s a number of factors, but the biggest and most important for any business is that they see an alignment in leadership,” Sayles said. “They see their political leaders getting along, looking to help every segment of their community, create opportunity for every member of the community. And it makes it a lot easier for a company to want to move or to grow in a community where everyone is getting along.”

In addition to Syracuse public officials, faculty at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management believe that the expansion of these two companies will benefit the city’s economy.

Penelope Pooler Eisenbies, an assistant professor of finance practice at Whitman, lived in Syracuse for the first 22 years of her life. While she addressed the economic issues the city faces, she is optimistic with the current efforts from CNY Rising to better Syracuse’s economy.

“Syracuse has some of the most dramatic economic inequality of any city in the country,” Eisenbies said. “It really can’t move forward until those economic inequalities and injustices are addressed and I think, finally, we’re at a point where we are addressing them.”

Eisenbies also stated that in order for Syracuse to improve economically, more effort has to be exerted in building a better downtown area.

“There’s no way that Syracuse can move forward and flourish as a city without a thriving downtown,” Eisenbies said. “It will be fascinating to see where we are ten years from now. I think we are at the beginning of a boom.”