1. Simon venture fund invests
in Palmyra’s StormBlok
The Simon School Venture Capital
Fund, a student-run effort of the Uni-
versity of Rochester’s Simon Gradu-
ate School of Business Administra-
tion, made its first investment in
Palmyra’s StormBlok Systems Inc.
StormBlok makes a shield designed
to protect signs, ATMs and fuel
pumps from wind and weather dam-
age and a wind resistance shield for
truck fleets.
Simon did not provide financial
details. In a statement, StormBlok
said the money will help in marketing
in areas needing storm and hurricane
protection technology.
Consumer spending drops
Consumer spending dropped a
seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in
April, the Commerce Department said
Friday. That was the first decline
since last May.
A drop in gas prices likely lowered
overall spending.
Crop futures rise on
wet weather concerns
Prices for corn, soybeans and
wheat ended higher Friday as traders
worry about more crop delays caused
by wet weather.
Corn for July delivery rose 7.75
cents to $6.62 a bushel Friday, an in-
crease of 1.2 percent. Soybeans for
delivery in the same month rose 14.25
cents to $15.10 a bushel. July wheat
rose 6.75 cents to $7.055 a bushel.
Wet weather in crop-growing states
in the Midwest sent prices higher
across the board, said Chris Nagel,
market analyst at Northstar Commod-
ity in Minneapolis.
— Staff and wire reports
At a glance
DemocratandChronicle.com Saturday, June 1, 2013 Page 5B
DOW
15,115.57
-208.96
2
S&P 500
1,630.74
-23.67
2
NASDAQ
3,455.91
-35.39
2
Stocks of local interest, 6B
Market Watch
SLM Corp. has been in the cross-
hairs of numerous college student
activists in recent days.
Dozens protested this week outside
the student loan company’s Delaware
headquarters about mounting student
loan debt and to demand more open-
ness about the company’s lobbying
efforts. A shareholder proposal re-
quiring the company to divulge details
about its lobbying and campaign con-
tribution efforts was voted down dur-
ing a shareholder meeting on Thurs-
day.
The meeting came on the heels of
the company’s announcement that it
would cleave into two separate pub-
licly traded companies — one dealing
with educational loans and one in
consumer banking.
SLM, commonly known as Sallie
Mae, employs about 1,000 in Wyoming
County at its Pioneer Credit debt col-
lection operation. SLM stock closed
Friday at $23.74, down 30 cents or a
little more than 1 percent for the day
but up 4 percent for the week.
— Matthew Daneman, staff writer
Local stock highlight
News Tips
Call (585) 258-2416 or (800) 767-7539 from
outside Monroe County.
1 T-note, 10-year yield, 2.13%, up 0.02.
2 Euro vs. dollar, down 0.0062 to $1.2981.
2 Gold, down $18.90 to $1392.60.
2 Oil, light, sweet crude for July delivery, down $1.64
to $91.97.
Key Indicators
Len LaCara Business Editor (585) 258-2416
llacara@democratandchronicle.com
Len LaCara
A new marriage and an exciting trip
to Africa convinced Rochester Business
AlliancepresidentandCEOSandyPark-
er that it was time to retire.
“I’ve had several friends who have
retired over the past couple of years and
every one of them has said, ‘When you
know the time is right, you know it,’ ”
Parker said Friday, after announcing
she was retiring on Jan. 1, 2014.
In October, Parker, 67, married John
Summers, CEO of Jasco Tools Inc. In
January, they took a three-week trip to
Africa.
“I have not traveled a lot in my life,
and I totally enjoyed that trip. I enjoyed
the different cultures. I enjoyed just
seeing the people and decided that while
we’rebothstillhealthyIwanttodomore
traveling,” said
Parker, who has led
the agency since
2005, following the
2003 merger of the
Industrial Manage-
ment Council and
the Chamber of
Commerce.
Parker, a Pitts-
ford resident, said
the time also was
right for her deci-
sion because the RBA is “very strong
fiscally.”
The organization has 37 employees
and an annual budget of $22 million.
“I think one of the goals I had when
we formed RBA back in 2003 was to cre-
ate a single voice for the business com-
munity in our region and I think we’ve
done that,” she said.
A search committee led by Home
Properties president and CEO Edward
Pettinella has started the process to find
the next RBA leader.
“They need to have somebody that is
tenacious. They need to have someone
that gets enjoyment out of small suc-
cesses, because sometime you feel like
you’re banging your head against the
wall. They need to have someone who
isn’t fearful of standing up against poli-
ticians, not afraid of political repercus-
sions,” Parker said.
Sandy Parker retiring from RBA
Recent marriage, desire to travel were deciding factors
Bennett J. Loudon
Staff writer
Sandy Parker
GO DEEPER ON DIGITAL
Click on this story at
DemocratandChronicle.com
or scan this code to view a
video with Sandy Parker.
See PARKER, Page 6B
Wall Street analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg had expected, on average,
sales of about $30 million and profits of
roughly $3 million or 30 cents per share.
At the same time, Graham during the
fourth quarter saw orders of $25.9 mil-
lion, down 39 percent from the same
quarter a year ago, when the company
was enjoying a big surge of nuclear en-
ergy and refining industry orders.
Fourthquarterorderswereup5percent
when compared to the third quarter of
fiscal 2013.
MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
Twitter.com/mdaneman
Facebook.com/mdanemanmedia
After a tough first half, Graham
Corp. finished its 2013 fiscal year on a
higher note.
The Batavia-based maker of heavy
equipment used in the oil, petrochemi-
cal and chemical industries announced
its latest financial results on Friday. The
quarter and fiscal year ending March 31
marked Graham’s second consecutive
quarter of year-over-year revenues and
profits up.
In a statement, CEO James R. Lines
said the company “executed well in 2013
and delivered solid results while operat-
ing in what to date has been a modest re-
covery.”
And for 2014, Graham said it was ex-
pecting sales of $100 to $115 million. For
2013, Graham had sales of $105 million,
up about 2 percent from fiscal 2012.
For the quarter ending March 31,
Graham had sales of $30.9 million, a 52
percent jump over revenues the same
quarter one year earlier as international
business picked up. Particularly driving
business was refining industry demand
in China, according to Graham.
After expenses, Graham pocketed
$4.1 million or 41 cents per share for the
quarter,comparedwithyear-agoresults
of $400,000 or 4 cents per share.
Graham Corp. finishes year stronger
Matthew Daneman
Staff writer
The idea came during a Christmas
shopping excursion at a local mall, when
Mary Tompkins noticed that everyone
around her seemed to be particularly
grumpy.
Tompkins, who lives in Lima, Living-
ston County, saw that people seemed to
be struggling with their bags.
She understood. She had struggled
with her own bags. And as the mother of
a grown daughter who has cerebral pal-
sy, she had juggled shopping with a
wheelchair.
“There’s just got to be a better way,”
Tompkins remembers thinking. The
nextdayafterthatshoppingtrip,shegot
to work trying to find the better way. It
took her eight years and some false
starts, but the Mall Tote might just be
that answer.
The tote is a collapsible cart with a
main stem from which you can hang
shopping bags. The stem is attached to
two wheels, allowing the user to pull the
cart behind or push it ahead. Tompkins
cameupwiththeideaandJoeMcKenzie
of Quality Systems on Lyell Road devel-
oped the models that they’re selling on-
line and soon, they hope, in local malls
and retail outlets. It sells for approxi-
mately $50.
Tompkins got a patent right away, but
coming up with a workable prototype
took a while. She paid thousands to cre-
ate one, only to have the thing collapse
when bags were placed on it. Eventually
she turned to McKenzie, who agreed to
make a new prototype without charge.
“It’s a never-give-up story,” Tomp-
kins said. It’s also a family story. Tomp-
kins brought her daughter, Alisha, in a
wheelchair to every meeting on devel-
oping the product. McKenzie is placing
his son, Chad, in charge of making the
totes.
McKenzie said, “What appealed to
me was the fact that this could be used
by so many people for so many things.”
The device has a slim enough profile to
glidebetweenclothingracks,andcanbe
attached to a wheel chair so the person
in the chair can access bags while roll-
ing along.
Though the Great Recession may
have slowed retail sales in some sectors,
Tompkins said, “People still shop. They
stillgotothepublicmarket.”Butasany-
one who lugged a bunch of bags around
knows, they’ll shop longer if they aren’t
feelingburdenedordon’thavetomakea
trip to their car to drop off bags.
“Once I leave that mall, I’m not going
back in because I’m tired,” Tompkins
said.
McKenzie and Tompkins are now do-
ing business together as Mall Tote Inc.
They hope to generate a second income
for Tompkins, a part-time reiki practi-
tioner living on a pension, and higher
profile for McKenzie’s custom-manu-
facturing shop.
“I feel every company needs a prod-
uct,” said McKenzie.
Typically, Quality Systems designs
and makes things according to specifi-
cations of other manufacturers. A re-
cent project, for example, was building
a system to test an air conditioning sys-
tem. But the other company’s label gets
put on the final product.
Tompkins hopes success of the Mall
Totewillenablehertoaffordbettercare
and experiences for her disabled daugh-
ter.
McKenzie notes that The Mall Tote is
not only made in the United States — in
this case, Rochester — but all its parts
are sourced from U.S. manufacturers,
too, including the powder-coated body,
thehandle,thelabels(whoseinkiscolor-
coded to the product) and the custom-
madepegsonwhichshoppershangtheir
bags.
See TOTES, Page 6B
Joe McKenzie of Quality Systems, a custom-manufacturer in Rochester, helped develop the Mall Tote, which is a foldable cart with pegs
to carry multiple shopping bags that was conceived by Mary Tompkins of Lima, Livingston County. JAMIE GERMANO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Mall Tote Inc. ready to roll
Rochester company
helps Livingston
mom design carts
Diana Louise Carter
Staff writer
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
STAFF GRAPHICSOURCE:AAA
Gas gauge trend
Average gasoline prices (In 52-week period)
(Friday price of self-serve regular, per gallon)
* Includes Livingston,Monroe,Ontario,Seneca,Wayne andYates counties.
2012 2013
High:High: $4.07$4.07 on Oct. 5,on Oct. 5, 2012012
Low:: $3.54$3.54 on July 6,on July 6, 2012012
High: $4.07 on Oct. 5, 2012
Low: $3.54 on July 6, 2012
N.Y. stateN.Y. state
$3.75$3.75
NationalNational
$3.61$3.61
Rochester*ochester*
$3.71$3.71
-1 cent-1 cent
N.Y. state
$3.75
National
$3.61
Rochester*
$3.71
-1 cent
J J A S O N D J F M A M