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VOL. 32 NO. 01
HH The Business Newspaper of Warren and Washington Counties HH
www.glensfallsbusinessjournal.com
MARCH 2020
SUNY Empire State And SUNY Adirondack FirstLight Tech Company Acquires PrimeLink, Agree To Joint-Admission Pact In Business Enhancing Its Position In Upstate New York
SUNY Empire State President Jim Malatras and SUNY Adirondack President Kristine Duffy, seated, join other officials at the signing of a joint-admission pact in business and management. Courtesy SUNY Empire State
SUNY Empire State College and SUNY Adirondack Community College have approved a phase-one agreement for five joint-admissions degrees in business and management at SUNY Empire’s Saratoga Springs campus. Under the agreement, SUNY Adirondack students will benefit from increased access to SUNY Empire’s campus in Saratoga Springs, where they can matriculate in bachelor’s and eventually graduate programs in a convenient location
upon completing their degree at SUNY Adirondack. While SUNY Empire has shared space on other college campuses around New York state—including Alfred State College, Cayuga Community College, FultonMontgomery Community College, SUNY Adirondack, and SUNY Plattsburgh—this is the first time in its nearly 50-year history that SUNY Empire will host a fellow SUNY institution, creating greater opportunity Continued On Page 13
BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER PrimeLink Fiber Optic Internet and Phone Services is being acquiring by FirstLight, a fiber-optic data, internet, data center, cloud computing and unified communications services provider. Vicki Marking, marketing manager for PrimeLink, said the sale would be complete later this year. “We are really excited about it. It will be our local team and FirstLight’s extensive resources. FirstLight’s infrastructure goes all over New York state. It’s a great compliment to them. The local team will remain in place. The transition will be slow and over a long period of time,” she said. For now, PrimeLink and FirstLight are operating as two separate companies. The agreement has been signed, but the contract has not yet been closed. The company will go through the state regulatory process for communications companies. Marking anticipates the approvals taking at least four to six months. The agreement was signed on Feb. 11. “This transaction reinforces our commitment to ensuring that businesses throughout New York have access to the fiber-based broadband services needed to keep pace with technological innovation,” said Kurt Van Wagenen, president and CEO of FirstLight. “The acquisition will deepen our fiber footprint in the North Country and provide additional fiber capacity on a unique route from Albany, New York up into Montreal, Canada, which will help facilitate cross border communications.” “I am excited that PrimeLink and FirstLight are joining forces. The companies
PrimeLink, with offices in Glens Falls and Queensbury, has been acquired by FirstLight. Courtesy Vicki Marking, PrimeLink
have a complementary footprint and service portfolio as well as a shared philosophy of offering high quality, locally-based service and support to the communities in which we serve,” said Trent Trahan, CEO of PrimeLink. “Now as part of FirstLight, our goal of enhancing the region’s economics and improving the North Country’s quality of life and business climate can be better realized.” “Since acquiring FirstLight in 2018, our goal has been to ensure that it has the guidance and resources necessary to support its organic and strategic growth initiatives. Continued On Page 11
CEO: AngioDynamics Is Making Changes Paul Dowen Receives 31st Juckett Award At To Position Itself For A Stronger Future ARCC’s Annual Dinner At The Sagamore
Jim Clemmer, center, AngioDynamics CEO, speaks at the EDC Warren County Economic Outlook breakfast with Ed Bartholomew and Heather Briccetti looking on. BY R.J. DeLUKE AngioDynamics, the medical device manufacturer with facilities in Glens Falls, has stood true to its promise to change— not to become bigger, but better, its CEO said in his remarks at EDC Warren County’s Economic Outlook breakfast in February at the Queensbury Hotel.
Andrea Harwood Palmer
“We’re going to change because we have to,” said Jim Clemmer. “So that we have a future and not just a past.” AngioDynamics has some 480 employees based in Warren County, including production sites, offices and a distribution center in Glens Falls and Queensbury. Continued On Page 7
Paul Dowen, left, received the ARCC’s J. Walter Juckett Community Service Award on March 6. With him are ARCC President Michael Bittel, center, and Jeff Mead of Cool Insuring Arena. Paul L. Dowen, CPA and managing partner of Whittemore, Dowen and Ricciardelli LLP in Queensbury, received the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 31st annual J. Walter Juckett Community Service Award at the organization’s annual dinner on March 6 at the Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing. More than 300 attended.
The organization’s award is named after J. Walter Juckett, whom ARCC notes had a remarkable business career and was recognized as a major community leader in his adopted home, the village of Hudson Falls, and the entire region. His leadership and commitment traversed a wide range of civic, charitable, Continued On Page 11