Business

Onondaga County’s Save the Rain program hits the South Side For Amatullah Yamini, improving the South Side with environment-friendly projects is the first step in revitalizing the area and attracting businesses.That’s why the South Side business owner puts such hopes on Onondaga County’s Save the Rain program.

Issue No. 20 of The Stand is packed with 20 pages of South Side profiles, spotlights and vivid photos from this summer’s Third annual South Side Photo Walk. In our Strolling the South Side feature, visit Kirk Park and meet the recently formed Kirk Park Association, who are working to improve and upgrade the park. Also featured are a series …

South Avenue restaurant offers employees stability, a second chance Omanii’s Lemonade Heaven restaurant doesn’t just serve the best lemonade in town. It has helped resurrect the lives of a dozen South Side felons over the last 18 years by giving them a place to work. “Before I was surviving, now I am living,” said Westcoe Williams, 54, the head chef …

Brenee Jones wanted a hair salon of her own, so she saved enough money to rent shop space. After one year of careful saving, a Syracuse beautician realized her dream of opening her own hair salon. The skills she honed dressing customers’ hair at her home, she says, will now be put to use at her new business, the Brenee …

A Community Test Kitchen Helped Echols Gourmet Desserts Get Started In the fast-paced era of frozen meals, Echols Gourmet Desserts offers a taste of the good old days, when most food was made from scratch. Charlene Echols-Barnes founded the wholesale dessert company 15 years ago in Syracuse. She decided to pursue a family dream of opening up a bakery after …

Business Incubator helps aspiring entrepreneurs put ideas to action Bennie McDonald says he runs his company the way he was trained to act in the military — with structure and discipline. “The difference between myself and Bill Gates is that he makes more money than me, but I have to have the same structure set up,” said McDonald, president of …

New location to serve as main rental office for South Side residents Housing Visions is pleased to announce the opening of its sixth satellite office on Dec. 27, 2011. This office serves as the main rental office for its North Side and South Side residents in the city of Syracuse, as well as the residents of Auburn, and represents another …

Leather store provides tools to craft own pieces Tandy Leather Factory, a branch of a national chain and a South Side fixture for 26 years, is the only branch in the entire state. “There used to be one in Rochester, Albany, Binghamton and New York City, but they kept the Syracuse one,” said Donald Sell, 29, Tandy Leather’s new manager. …

Housing Visions was officially inducted into the prestigious Institute of Real Estate Management as an Accredited Management Organization (AMO) on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. The event, held at Syracuse’s Dinosaur Barbecue, included recently accredited Certified Property Manager Rebecca Newman, Housing Visions Vice President, pledging to uphold the ethics and commitments of IREM. 

Food Cooperative’s mission to ease access to fresh produce and empower community The Southside Community Coalition is nearing the end of its design phase for the planned Food Cooperative to be constructed on the South Side, expecting to break ground in mid- to late April.