Our Businesses, Our Community, Our Mission

Better Business Bureau of

Upstate New York

This annual report is a review of Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Upstate New York programs and services for the year ending

December 31, 2016. BBB serves 48 counties of Upstate New York from our headquarters at 100 Bryant Woods South, Amherst,

NY 14228.

2016 highlights:

Started offering businesses a 12-month payment plan option to new

Accredited Businesses

Grew by almost 200 net Accredited Businesses

Through a new program, improved the open rate of emails

Engaged other organizations through a new Community Partner program

Dramatically increased our engagement in the Capital District by

partnering with Chambers of Commerce

Sponsored Home Shows in Buffalo and Rochester, visited Accredited

Businesses and consumers at both

Continued to improve social media outreach by posting from home shows

and our community events

Held a successful and outstanding Secure Your ID day in Syracuse,

Rochester, and Buffalo.

President’s Report

“I am incredibly proud of our entire team which now

numbers over 30 dedicated employees. Our services

throughout the region continue to improve as we reach

more and more businesses, charities, and consumers

with our mission of making the marketplace a place

where buyers and sellers trust one another.”

Patricia McGrath

Lynn Oswald

Brian Peek

Joseph Petrozzi

Joseph Pinkans

David Polino

Norbert Rappl

Paul Stasiak

Thomas Schratz

Eugene Welch

John Wynne

Robert Zabel

Richard Wall, Ph.D., Chair

Sharon Prise Azurin, Counsel

Steven Abramson

Phil Arno

Jason Botticelli

David Carr

Joe Carubba

Warren Clark (BBB President and CEO)

James Dunn

Marilynn Fleckenstein

Cindy Algase Gradl

Carol Horton

Richard Kaplan

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York dedicated its conference room to Philip S. Toohey in 2016.

Phil was a dedicated board member for over 40 years.

Service Area

TOP 10 COMPLAINTS FILED 2016 TOP 10 INQUIRIES MADE 2016

Industry 2016 2015 Change

Collection Agencies 251,751 233,452 7.8%

Contractors 118,987 109,953 8.2%

Roofing Contractors 66,814 75,372 -11.3%

Auto Dealers-Used Cars 48,855 45,304 7.8%

Construction and

Remodeling Services 42,940 38,889 10.4%

Auto Repair/Service 42,647 46,074 -6.8%

Telephone Communications 41,142 31,804 29.3%

Plumbing Contractors 37,291 33,491 11.3%

Paving Contractors 37,145 38,323 -3%

Home Improvements 36,837 34,694 6.1%

Industry 2016 2015 Change

Collection Agencies 2,073 2,374 -12.6%

Auto Dealers-New Cars 573 672 -14.7%

Auto Repair/Service 491 552 -11%

Furniture-Retail 374 336 11.3%

Auto Dealers-Used Cars 335 411 -18.5%

Banks 244 261 -6.5%

Contractor-General 199 263 -24.3%

Online Shopping 193 261 -26%

Dentists 172 188 -8.5%

Roofing Contractors 138 177 -22%

Operations 2016

Operations 2016

Tax Collection 29%

Online Purchase 14%

Debt Collections 7%

Tech Support 6%

Employment 5%

Fake Invoice 4%

Credit Cards 4%

Phishing 4%

Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes 3%

Other 3%

In late 2015, Better Business Bureau launched Scam Tracker, an online tool for consumers to report scams in real time. Scam Tracker

uses crowd-sourced information to let people know about scam activity in their area. 2016 was the first full year for Scam Tracker. In

Upstate New York, we received 760 reportable scams.

TOP 10 REPORTED SCAMS 2016

Accredited Businesses: 6,116

New Accredited Businesses: 1,496

Revenue: $772,807

Retention Overall: 79%

2016 Top Performers

Debbie Bender

316 newly accredited businesses

Mary Griffin

241 newly accredited businesses

Business Relations

Sandra Montgomery

205 newly accredited businesses

Implemented aggressive social media content campaign with blog postings and shared

content to drive impressions

Positioned BBB staff as “subject matter experts” for more quality earned media and coverage

Developed stronger relationships with Rochester and Syracuse media outlets

Put a more “human face” on BBB by using staff in videos and photos for social media

Enhanced communications with Accredited Businesses

Hosted events and seminars, including events for seniors (through a partnership with AT&T),

cybersecurity events, and an opiates in the workplace event

Added AB communications to monthly invoice mailing

Redesigned AB Welcome Kit

Marketing &

Communications

Media Mentions

1,687

Twitter Impressions: 224,851

Followers: 627

Facebook Impressions: 363,555

Fans: 1,914 Users reached: 139,501

BBB sponsored the Buffalo and Rochester Home Shows in 2016.

We got the chance to visit with our Accredited businesses and give them

BBB plaques to display at their booths.

BBB at

the Home Shows

Secure Your ID Day

Year in Photos

Financial Report

Financial Report