ONEONTA _ Cleinman Performance Partners plans a $750,000 expansion in Oneonta and projects doubling its local staff of 20 employees in the next five years, the firm's principal, Alan Cleinman, said Tuesday.
The firm, which opened in 1989, provides consulting and other services for the eye-care industry.
Through a holding company, Cleinman has acquired two properties adjacent to Cleinman Performance Partners' headquarters at 343 Main St., according to a media release. The development entails joining buildings at 343 and 341 Main St. and converting 341 Main St. from vacant apartments to offices. The resultant facility will be about 10,000 square feet, the release said.
Cleinman said the firm will fully occupy 341 Main St. by the end of next year and in the meantime, there is one rented apartment and a studio apartment available.
He also acquired the property at 2-4 Maple St., which will provide access to parking spaces to be developed behind the Main Street properties. The property has four apartments with five occupants and will continue as residential units, he said.
The entire project will involve an investment of about $750,000, of which about $250,000 is construction-related, Cleinman said. Cleinman Properties LLC secured financing commitments from Wilber National Bank, the city of Oneonta and the County of Otsego Industrial Development Agency, the release said, and city-required zoning variances and approvals were obtained in January.
Plans are to do site work this fall and construction in spring, Cleinman said. The project entails razing a garage at 2-4 Maple St.; installing a parking lot; construction of about 800 square feet of office space and interior work at 341 and 343 Main St. The firm chose to stay in downtown Oneonta rather than move, he said.
``We had several options, including a very nice property in Sidney and building a new building near Oneonta in Delaware County. Our decision to move out of Oneonta would have been purely economic and, in spite of a higher cost of facilities, we prefer to remain an anchor of downtown Oneonta,'' Cleinman said.
``We've enjoyed being a quiet employer in downtown Oneonta since 1993 and our team wanted to continue to support the unique character of our wonderful city," he added.
Cleinman said the project has been a complex transaction involving the acquisition and rezoning of properties and a mix of residential and commercial financing.
``We owe thanks to Doug Gulotty, president of Wilber National Bank, Mayor John Nader, the Common Council, the Zoning Board, the City of Oneonta Community Development Office and The County of Otsego Industrial Development Agency for seeing our vision for this property," he said in the release. ``Were it not for financing and variance approvals, we could not have expanded our existing facility.''
Cleinman said the firm has been approved for a $30,000 façade grant and a $25,000 loan/grant package under programs through the city of Oneonta. From the Otsego County Industrial Development Agency, the firm has been approved for a $100,000 construction loan, he said.
Carolyn Lewis, Otsego County economic developer, said the IDA loan stipulates that one job must be created for each $20,000 borrowed. Therefore, the Cleinman firm would have to create five jobs within three years, she said.
The majority of the project funding has been provided by Wilber National Bank.
In the firm's media release, Nader said he was pleased the firm would remain downtown and that Cleinman is ``committed to maintaining the historic character of these buildings.'' Gulotty said Wilber was pleased to support the business.
Cleinman Performance Partners provides consulting, training, publishing and business development services, and 20 of its 35 employees work in Oneonta. The firm is recruiting for several professional positions, Cleinman said, and jobs created will include sales positions, financial analysts, data managers, consultants, writers, project managers and administrative support staff.
