Saratoga Business Journal - January 2020

SBJ P.O. Box 766 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

VOL. 24 NO. 11

HH The Business Newspaper of Saratoga County HH

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JANUARY 2020

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Plans Unveiled To Turn Abandoned Building Tedisco Bemoans Loss Of Population In NYS, In Victory Mills Into Apartment Complex Calls For End To Unfunded State Mandates

This five-story, 230,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that closed nearly two decades ago will be turned into an apartment complex by Regan Development.

Regan Development has plans to transform the former Victory Mills, a five-story, 230,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that closed nearly two decades ago, into 186 residential apartment units and a commercial microbrewery.

The building is in the Village of Victory Mills in the northeast part of the town of Saratoga, southwest of Schuylerville.

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, involved in the project, calls it one of the largest economic development initiatives in the past

Courtesy Saratoga Prosperity Partnership

decade in Saratoga County; a $60 million project that will breathe new life into a long-vacant industrial building.

A Westchester County-based entity that specializes in redevelopment projects, Regan Development has done other projects in the area and has a portfolio that includes more than $384 million in new construction and adaptive reuse projects.

“In transforming an iconic, but unused building into a modern residential and Continued On Page 6

BY STATE SEN. JIM TEDISCO “I love New York” is New York’s slogan.

Unfortunately, too many people are saying “I’m leaving New York!”

The millions who have fled our state and those who are now contemplating their exodus to a more taxpayer-friendly state have one thing in common: No one wants to be the last one left in New York to pay for our state’s overzealous taxes, regulations, mandates and laws.

New York’s motto is “Excelsior” or “ever upward.” It should not signify “ever-higher taxes.”

While there’s been some positive changes, such as the success of the tax cap in holding the line on property tax increases, I’m not going to sugarcoat it and say everything’s coming up roses.

By any reasonable metric, New York state and Upstate New York is economically struggling.

Consider these startling statistics: The Empire State is ranked number one in the nation for highest tax burden.

New York is ranked 50th in the nation for “Tax Freedom Day” (May 3) when taxpayers symbolically pay off all their tax obligations on the federal, state and local levels and start pocketing their hard-earned money.

More than 189,000 people escaped from New York last year and one million left the state over the past decade. Millennials making $100,000 or more are leaving New York State at a higher rate than any other state.

New York came in as second worst state to retire in 2019.

As we begin a new year, New York state government is grappling with a $6.1 billion deficit and the solution our downstate leaders are eyeing is more of the same bad medicine

State Sen. Jim Tedisco represents the 49th District, including part of Saratoga County.

Courtesy Sen. Jim Tedisco

that poisoned our state’s economy in the first place: Higher taxes on middle class taxpayers and small businesses.

The Assembly Speaker recently said as much when he said last month that “we always believe in raising revenue,” which is Democrat-speak for new taxes.

Now that our state government is run by one political affiliation with one voice from one region of the state, my Democratic Assembly colleagues have new allies ready, willing and able to raise taxes in the form of the Senate Majority Leader and her Democratic Conference in the state Senate, along with a governor who has shown a willingness to increase taxes.

Continued On Page 10

State REDC Program Gives $5.5 Million Kevin Hedley Becomes Board Chairman Of In Grants For Projects In Saratoga County Saratoga County Chamber Of Commerce Some 13 projects in Saratoga County received a total of nearly $5.5 million from New York state as part of this year’s Regional Economic Development Council grant program.

More than $761 million in economic and community development funding was awarded through Round IX of the REDC initiative statewide.

Since its inception in 2011, over $6.9 billion has been awarded to more than 8,300 projects that are projected to create and retain more than 240,000 jobs statewide through the REDC process, state officials said.

Key among them is $2 million awarded to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, to rehabilitate the Roosevelt II Bathhouse in the Saratoga Spa State Park.

The work will provide year-round spaces that include a teaching kitchen, wellness studio, black box theater, art gallery, rehearsal and learning space. It will also be a year-round facility for regional artists.

The largest was a $5 million grant to Ballston Lake to construct a municipal sewer system to serve over 700 properties currently without sewers. The wastewater will be directed to the existing collection system operated by the Saratoga County Sewer District 1.

“SPAC’s vision for the future includes an expansion of programming that will include the visual arts, the culinary arts, theater, and health and wellness in cooperation with COESA, in addition to our vibrant performing arts season,” said Elizabeth Sobol, SPAC President and CEO. “This new year-round space will restore a historic Park building that has been abandoned for decades, creating a community hub that will celebrate art in all its forms, while also

providing vital learning and rehearsal spaces.”

“We are currently completing the restoration of the grand entry hall and renovations to a portion of the building for COESA to offer health and wellness services this spring. We are thrilled that our long standing partnership with SPAC is growing to include new forms of arts programming in the remainder of the building,” said Erik Kulleseid, commissioner of New York State’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The restored building will feature a black box theater, an art gallery, a rehearsal and learning space, and a teaching kitchen that will be operated

by SPAC in collaboration with the Saratoga Spa State Park. COESA is slated to utilize 2,70 square feet of the building to provide retreat experiences and classes with offerings that include personal wellbeing, leadership, meditation, professional wellness training, and work-life balance.

“Throughout the Regional Economic Development Council process over the past nine years, we have seen unprecedented regional investment focusing on a ground-up, strategic model that has spurred tremendous growth in every corner of this great state,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “By bringing together local leaders and stakeholders who are invested in their communities we have replaced the ‘one size fits all’ approach to economic development with one that is unique to each community, creating opportunities for success all across the Empire State.”

The REDC process creates a statewide framework for bottom-up, regional economic growth and streamlining the state funding application process, Continued On Page 17

Kevin Hedley, owner of Hedley & Co. in Clifton Park, is the chairman of the board of directors of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce for 2020.

He will serve as both the chairman of the 27-member board and the Executive Board.

Hedley was chair-elect of the board in 2019, and was the organization’s treasurer, in 2017.

He was first elected to serve on the board of in 2014.

Joining Hedley on the Chamber’s Executive Board in 2020 are: Theresa Agresta, of Allegory Studios and CultureTalk, in Wilton, immediate past chair; Skip Carlson, of the Saratoga Casino Hotel in Saratoga Springs, chair-elect; Tara Pleat, of Wicenski & Pleat in Clifton Park, vice chair; and Amy Smith of Saratoga Arms Hotel in Saratoga Springs, secretary and treasurer.

The Chamber will celebrate its 102nd year at its 2020 annual dinner on Thursday, Jan. 23, from 6-9:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Springs City Center. Officials said nearly 1,000 people are expected to attend The evening will start with a cocktail reception from 6-6:45 p.m., followed by the program running from 7-7:30 p.m. Dinner will immediately follow, along with networking with local business leaders. Dinner will be provided by Mazzone Hospitality.

During the program, the Chamber will honor Agresta for her leadership and service to the Chamber and the Saratoga County community. Agresta, owner of Allegory Studios and CultureTalk, will continue to

Kevin Hedley is the 2020 board chairman of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce

serve as the immediate past chair.

The Saratoga County Chamber will again present the Joseph Dalton Community Service Award to a person who has an strong record of volunteer leadership and action for the betterment of Saratoga County.

The award will go to John Munter Sr., the founder of Munter Enterprises construction company on Middle Grove, to recognize his decades of volunteer service to the local community.

Continued On Page 17

2 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

Truly Yours Custom Framing In Burnt Hills Becomes Second Store For Area Couple

Personnel Briefs •

Brenda Soucy, who owns a framing shop in Duanesburg, opened a second shop, Truly Yours Custom Framing, at 714 Saratoga Road (Route 50) in Burnt Hills.

BY JILL NAGY After more than 20 years in a rural spot on Route 20 west of Duanesburg, Brenda and Kevin Soucy opened a second custom framing shop in a busier location, 714 Saratoga Road (Route 50) in Burnt Hills.

The new shop, Truly Yours Custom Framing, opened in October. An official ribbon-cutting took place Dec. 3.

According to Soucy, some 20,000 cars a day pass by the Route 50 location.

Truly Yours will primarily be Brenda’s shop, while husband Kevin will be the mainstay at the Duanesburg shop, Country Outlet Framing.

“We kind of work as a team,” she said. She may cut the mats for a job in Burnt Hills and then drive out to Duanesburg to cut the frame and glass.

They also live in Duanesburg, right behind the Country Outlet shop.

The couple started out in business selling furniture and gifts as well as doing custom framing. Now, the business is strictly framing and some sales of art work.

Their 21-year-old daughter, Madison, works

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

part time with her mother. “She loves the creative side of it. I like having her fresh creative mind around,” Brenda said. She hopes that the business will grow enough for Madison to work there full time.

The Soucys try to personalize each project.

They are hired to frame a lot of children’s art work and things in odd sizes and shapes. She recently framed a menu and coaster from a customer’s favorite restaurant.

They have done shadow boxes for military mementoes. Recently, they framed the head of a drum with the name of a band on it.

“We mounted it like a plate,” she said.

They are also completing work for someone who won a Marine marathon, including the medal and a picture of the runner crossing the finish line.

The business had a very busy Christmas season, she said.

Truly Yours Custom Framing is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The telephone number is (518) 280-2233. The website is TrulyYoursCustomFraming.com

Discover Saratoga announced the hiring of Amy Sgromo and the promotion of Karen Verrigni.

Sgromo joins the team as the assistant director and sales coordinator at the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center. She is responsible for all aspects of the Visitor Center operations and services as well as group tour and sports market sales.

Previously, Sgromo worked as the social sales and bistro manager for the Pavilion Grand Hotel where she acquired new business for the hotel and oversaw the food and beverage for hotel functions. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from LeMoyne College School of Communication and an associate degree in hospitality management from Onondaga Community College.

Verrigni was promoted to director of heritage area visitor center, tourism & event sales.

She started her career at Discover Saratoga as the assistant director and sales coordinator at the Visitor Center where she provided service to the group tour market and assisted with all aspects Visitor Center operations, program planning and volunteer recruitment.

She graduated with a master’s degree in reading, a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a certificate in hospitality & tourism after returning to school to further pursue her passion for travel and the tourism industry.

* * * Hodgson Russ announced that Anna-Lesa Calvert has joined the firm as manager of professional development and diversity.

She will work with the firm’s senior leadership to guide the firm’s ongoing diversity projects and processes affecting attorney recruitment, development, and promotion.

Calvert will create new initiatives that support a diverse and inclusive work place and strengthen the firm’s commitment to diversity in the legal profession and the communities it serves.

•

She was recently awarded a master’s degree in strategic leadership from St. Bonaventure University, with honors. Prior to joining Hodgson Russ, Calvert started Algonquin Sports, a nonprofit organization which provides sports for youth development opportunities for underserved youth across Erie County.

* * *

Six Conservation Heroes were honored at the Wm. H. Buckley Farm in the town of Ballston for their contributions to conservation in Saratoga County.

Conservation Heroes are individuals or entities recognized for their extraordinary efforts related to conservation.

Mark Sacco, who hosted the event at his Wm. H. Buckley Farm, is a two-time Conservation Hero. He used some of the proceeds from selling his development rights on his first land easement to purchase an additional 62 acres on adjacent land, which was slated for development and is now permanently conserved as farmland.

Linda, Chad and Amber Barber were honored for their conservation of 463 acres of their 1,200-acre dairy farm in the town of Northumberland, to secure the forage needed for their large dairy herd.

Rick Burke and the Nature Conservancy were awarded for their work in conserving 80 acres of woodland on Irish Hill in the town of Saratoga. Julie Stokes received the award in Burke’s absence, and Peg Olsen represented the Nature Conservancy.

Dolores Arste and David Hickey, represented by daughter Deanna Hadley and her husband Rob, were recognized for conservation of 168 acres straddling the towns of Galway and Providence. The acreage contains woodlands, wetlands, pasture land, and a spring that flows from their land to the Glowegee Creek, a tributary of the Kayaderosseras and into the Saratoga Lake.

Bill Lasher received a Conservation Hero award for his guidance and management of the Monday Steward volunteer group. Lasher coordinates and stays in touch with roughly three dozen or so Monday Stewards who help maintain the public access to PLAN lands.

Together, the Monday Stewards have already donated over 1,700 hours in 2019 alone.

* * * Continued On Page 17

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 3

Marc Conner, Provost At Washington And Saratoga Builders Association Gives Checks Lee University, To Be New Skidmore President To Nonprofit Groups From ‘Showcase’ Profits Marc C. Conner, provost of Washington and Lee University, innovative leader of interdisciplinary academic programs and longtime advocate of diversity and inclusion, has been named the eighth president of Skidmore College.

His term will begin July 1, 2020.

Conner will succeed Philip Glotzbach, who will retire at the end of June 2020.

“I have deep respect for what Skidmore has achieved as a model of an excellent liberal arts education, and I am tremendously excited to be part of its future,” Conner said. “The College has positioned itself in an enviable place of growth and strength. It has become more diverse. It has increased its endowment.

It has become more selective. My role coming in is to put myself in service of Skidmore’s admirable mission of preparing students for lifelong learning and fulfillment.”

Conner, a widely published professor of English, has served as provost of Washington and Lee University, a private liberal arts university in Lexington, Virginia, since January 2016. As chief academic officer, he has led the university in reaffirmation of its accreditation, co-chaired its strategic planning process and overseen the revitalization of its law school.

He also established Washington and Lee’s Office of Community-Based Learning and its Center for Academic Resources and Pedagogical Excellence, created interdisciplinary programs in data science and law, is guiding the university’s $125 million science center renovation project, and steered its faculty recruitment, hiring and retention diversity project.

“Marc Conner brings to Skidmore a commitment to the integrative learning our students and faculty value,” said Nancy Hamilton ‘77, chair of the Skidmore College Board of Trustees. “His extensive experience shaping academic programs across disciplines, alongside his expertise in strategic planning, positions him well to empower the Skidmore community to continue to share their knowledge, talents and perspectives with one another and the broader world.”

Prior to becoming the longest-serving provost in Washington and Lee’s history, Conner served as associate provost from 2013 to 2015. The university’s Jo M. and James M. Ballengee Professor of English, he acted as chair of the English department from 2012 to 2013 and has published extensively on modern American, African American and Irish literature.

He co-founded Washington and Lee’s African American studies program in 2007 and was the program’s director until 2012. It has since grown into the university’s Africana studies program.

A longtime advocate of diversity initiatives at Washington and Lee, Conner helped launch

Marc C. Conner will become the new Skidmore College president in July.

Courtesy Skidmore College

the Advanced Immersion and Mentoring (AIM) program, an outgrowth of the Advanced Research Cohort Program.

The former is an immersive summer program for incoming first-year students that seeks to increase retention of underrepresented students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields and in other areas of study through an early research experience. He has also served as co-chair of the University Committee on Inclusiveness and Campus Climate and as a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Planning Committee.

Conner joined Washington and Lee in 1996 as an assistant professor of English with specializations in American and African American literature. He created a spring term abroad program to Ireland in 2000, which he has now taught 10 times and which led to the creation of several courses in modern Irish literature.

He has also created two lecture series and is currently completing a third for The Great Courses, a series of college-level audio and video courses produced and distributed by The Teaching Company.

Conner was born and raised in Tacoma, Wash. He earned bachelor’s degrees in English literature and philosophy from the University of Washington in 1989, then earned his master’s and Ph.D. in English literature from Princeton University in 1991 and 1994, respectively.

“I want to thank the search committee and the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to serve as Skidmore College’s eighth president, and I also want to extend my gratitude to President Philip Glotzbach for his leadership over the past 17 years. I can’t say enough about what he and the College have been able to accomplish,” Conner said.

The Saratoga Builders Association gave checks totaling $51,000 to Rebuilding Together Saratoga County and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.

The Saratoga Builders Association recently presented two checks totaling $51,000 to Rebuilding Together Saratoga County and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.

The money came from the proceeds of the 2019 Saratoga Showcase of Homes.

The Saratoga Builders Association has now contributed over $1.2 million to local charities from Showcase of Homes.

The 2019 edition, which concluded its 24th year, featured nine award-winning builders presenting 10 homes.

Last year’s tour had over 3,000 visitors touring homes on display over three weekends, the Builders Association said.

In what has become an autumn tradition in the area, the Saratoga Builders Association is dedicated to the long-running show, officials said.

Courtesy Saratoga Builders Association

The 2019 Saratoga Showcase of Homes “People’s Choice” award winners were also announced. They were McPadden Builders for the Classic Home category, Kodiak Construction for the Executive Home category and Bella Home Builders for the Luxury Home category.

The annual community event is made possible with the support of over 75 corporate and media sponsors. All the homes are located throughout Saratoga County and were open for display September 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29.

The 2020 Saratoga Showcase of Homes dates, celebrating 25 years of exceptional homes, are September 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27.

For more details on the showcase, visit www. saratogashowcaseofhomes.com.

For more information, please visit www. saratogabuilders.org or contact Barry Potoker, executive director at 518.366.0946 or bpotoker@ saratogabuilders.org.

4 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

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Fax: (518) 430-3020 SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL REGIONAL STOCKWATCH Stock Name Albany Int’l Arrow AT & T Ball Ballston Spa National Bank Bank of America Best Buy Citizens Bank Espey General Electric Hilton Home Depot Int’l Paper Key Corp Lowe’s Martin Marietta M&T Bank McDonald’s National Grid NBT Bancorp Inc. Plug Power Quad Graphics Starbucks Sysco Target The TorontoDominion Bank Trans World Trustco Bank Verizon Walmart

Closing Price 12/06/2019

Closing Price 12/13/2019

Closing Price 12/20/2019

Closing Price 12/27/2019

Closing Price 01/03/2020

82.87 35.64 38.20 63.55

82.31 37.31 38.26 63.34

77.10 37.78 39.15 65.18

76.61 37.52 39.28 64.68

77.60 37.12 39.06 64.77

56.30 33.67 82.05 39.03 20.50 11.10 105.47 214.28 47.26 19.66 116.28 273.32 166.23 195.35 58.39 40.04 3.15 4.50 86.32 82.77 125.03

57.00 34.44 84.29 40.12 20.57 11.34 107.20 214.08 46.36 20.06 118.50 276.30 170.10 197.12 61.88 40.44 3.09 4.44 88.67 83.54 127.22

57.00 34.96 87.73 40.54 21.25 11.03 111.42 221.19 46.14 20.40 119.73 273.24 169.51 197.14 62.65 41.38 2.94 4.33 88.46 85.44 129.15

57.00 35.35 86.99 40.49 21.50 11.18 112.30 219.97 45.88 20.29 120.23 278.57 169.53 198.16 62.95 40.68 3.08 4.41 88.13 85.71 129.19

57.00 34.91 87.20 39.91 21.66 11.97 109.97 218.94 44.69 19.90 119.63 275.81 169.31 200.02 62.19 40.68 3.23 4.85 88.83 84.35 124.75

55.35 2.85 8.64 61.19 119.78

56.33 3.16 8.75 60.81 120.29

56.14 2.13 9.03 62.07 120.29

56.07 2.01 8.69 61.54 119.70

56.48 1.90 8.77 60.40 117.86

This list of quotations is provided through the courtesy of Robert M. Schermerhorn, CFP®, Saratoga Financial Services, Securities offered through LPL Financial /Member FINRA & SIPC, located in Saratoga Springs, NY. www.SaratogaRetire.com

Adirondack Trust Community Fund Awards Grants To 35 Nonprofits Across The Region The Adirondack Trust Co. Community Fund, through its Independent Advisory Committee, has awarded Lend-A-Hand Grants to 35 local nonprofit organizations.

The grants were presented at the Community Fund’s annual grant award reception on Dec. 10.

Directors or representatives of the organizations were present at the reception and spoke briefly about their respective organization’s mission and how the grant will support their particular cause.

Grant awards were provided to the following organizations: • After the Fire. To help families in Saratoga County who suffer loss due to a fire, including gift certificates that they can immediately use.

• AIM Services Inc. To support its Enhanced Respite After School Program through the purchase of educational and recreational materials such as teaching materials, sensory stations, art supplies, books, musical items, recreational items and provisions of healthy snack foods.

• Amanda’s House at Glens Falls Hospital. To provide funding for monthly tv/cable, internet, and wifi services for comfort and ease of patient and families extended stay during treatments.

• Art in the Public Eye. To provide funding for the licensing fees associated with showing each film in a public setting, which will be free and available to the community, promoting familyfriendly activity opportunities.

• Backstretch Employee Service Team of NY (BEST). To purchase of food and beverages for backstretch workers during the shoulder season where there is limited access to meal options at the track.

• Bikeatoga. To purchase bicycle parts and tools, lights and high visibility items, as well as adult and child helmets.

• Books in Kid’s Hands Corp. To purchase books for students to take home during vacations and summer breaks.

• Brookside Museum/Saratoga County Historical Society. To provide materials for hands -on activities for sheep shearer program.

• CAPTAIN Community Human Services. To support the Getting Ahead program, which assists those living in poverty or low-income situations, by building their resources for a more prosperous, self-sufficient life. Funding supports purchase of program materials, logistics and supplies.

• Catie Hoch Foundation. To purchase gas, food and other gift cards to provide financial assistance to families who have children with cancer.

• Charlton School—David H. Porter Memorial Grant. To provide funding for therapeutic arts classroom renovations, which offers art therapy programming.

• Clifton Park Halfmoon Emergency Corps, Inc. To purchase Stop the Bleed training props for bleed control outreach education and training.

• First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa’s summer lunch program. To purchase food items and supplies for student summer lunch programming.

• Franklin Community Center, Inc. To support program costs for the after-school prevention program, Project Lift, for “high-risk” students.

• Glens Falls Area Youth Center Inc. To provide funding for logistics, meals and educational supplies.

• . Lake George Region Women for WIN Inc. To purchase personal hygiene items for distribution to area elementary students.

• Lower Adirondack Search and Rescue Inc. To purchase updated search-and-rescue GPS units.

• Mechanicville Area Community Services Center. To provide sneakers, nutritious snacks, supplies and race fees for inaugural Boys on the Move program.

• Moreau Community Center­­—Civic Center of Moreau. To purchase an additional commercial refrigerator, and cosmetic upgrades for renovated food pantry.

• The Open Door—Mission Servants of the World Inc. To purchase food, supplies and other direct expenses for the food assistance program.

• Pitney Meadows Community Farm Inc. To provide funding for supplies to construct two handicapped, accessible picnic tables.

• Prospect Center—Center for Disability Services Inc. To provide funding for the development of a fully accessible playground with adaptive equipment to meet the needs of children with different abilities.

• Rebuilding Together Saratoga County. To purchase items for Safe and Healthy Home Kits, which include items such as smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, flashlights and firstaid kits.

• Salvation Army—Saratoga Springs. To provide funding for one-time household expense support, allowing families to stay in their homes.

• NYSARC., Inc Saratoga County Chapter (Saratoga Bridges). To support staffing of new artists for the Creative Endeavors Art Center program.

• Saratoga Center for the Family. For outpatient therapy to individuals with no health insurance or who are under-insured. Therapy will introduce coping and social skills. Services are provided by licensed mental health professionals.

• Saratoga County Children’s Committee—Ned Chapman Memorial Grant. To provide funding for the Empty Stocking Project, which provides local children gifts, clothing and other necessities during the holiday season.

• Saratoga Hospital Foundation (SHF) for Saratoga Community Health Center. To support the costs of medications and co-payments for under-insured patients who may otherwise forego getting treatment due to cost.

• Saratoga Pride, an affiliate of the Capital District Gay Community Council. To purchase replacement Pride banners to be placed on Broadway during the month of June, as well as support the development of a Youth Pride event.

• Saratoga War Horse Foundation. To purchase furniture to insure the Saratoga Veteran classroom is comfortable and accessible to all.

• Shelters of Saratoga. To purchase nonperishable food items that can be easily consumed in places without access to water and kitchens.

• SNACpack Program Inc. To provide nutritional food and drinks weekly to children throughout the school year and summer months in the Saratoga Springs School District.

• Veterans & Community Housing Coalition. To make handicap accessibility bathroom renovations at the Guardian House, a transitional supportive housing program for homeless female veterans.

• Wellspring (formerly Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services). To provide emergency basic needs assistance for the victims and family members of abuse.

• Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park. The purchase of the backpacks and wildlife exploration contents for families to use while they explore the park.

“This year, we received a record-breaking 81 grant applications. Although we wish we could fund every request, every year we are fortunate to be able to fund more and more as our community support grows. This year, the awarded grants will support programs for all ages and our communities’ needs as a whole, and will include the areas of the arts, education, health and family activities,” said Caroline Putman, Volunteer Chair for the ATCCF Independent Advisory Committee.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 5

Warren Tire Service Center To Open New Department Of Labor Order Takes Steps To Location In August, Its 16th Outlet In Region Stop Subminimum Wages For Some Workers

This is a rendering of what the new Warren Tire Service Center store will look like when completed.

It will be located at 573 Route 9 in southern Wilton.

BY JILL NAGY “We’ve always wanted to be in the WiltonSaratoga are,” said Bob Kellogg, president of Warren Tire Service Center Inc. That will happen in August, when he expects to open a 16th outlet at 573 Route 9 in southern Wilton.

Kellogg said the company has received all the necessary government approvals and recently began clearing ground and putting in foundations and the parking lot.

More extensive construction, by CGM Contracting of Waterford, is scheduled to begin in the spring.

The new facility will be a 6,300-squarefoot building with eight service bays, as well as retail and wholesale space. It will be constructed on 5.83 acres across the Northway from the Wilton Mall, in the most southern part of Wilton.

Previously, Warren Tire sought to take over the former Sears automobile service facility at the Wilton Mall. That did not work out and then the current site became available.

Warren Tire was founded in 1983 by Kellogg’s father. It was located on Warren Street in Glens Falls, hence the name Warren Tire.

Kellogg joined the company in 1995. He has since been joined by his sister, senior vice president Denise Potter; his nephew, Derrick Potter, Denise’s son and a vice president; and his daughter, Megan Kellogg. Denise and Derrick take care of payables and Derrick also looks after IT and computer duties and coordinates many facets of the office work.

Megan is involved in advertising and

Courtesy Warren Tire Service Center

promotion and attending to the company’s charitable and humanitarian work.

Kellogg said one of the major charity projects is Wait House in Glens Falls, a shelter for young people with problems transition into the community. Kellogg helped found the facility and serves on its board.

Last November, the Tire Industry Association recognized Warren Tire for its philanthropic work. “They flew my daughter and me out to Las Vegas,” he recalled, and gave them a plaque and made a donation to their charity.

When the new Warren Tire outlet opens, an additional seven people will be added to the company’s payroll. Kellogg expects that number to grow to about 11 employees.

The company presently employs 131 people at its 16 locations in six counties.

Finding qualified employees is “sometimes a challenge,” he said, but their policy of promoting from within helps attract good people.

Kellogg said the company already has several large accounts in the Wilton and Saratoga area: the Saratoga School District, the New York Racing Association, the Saratoga County Highway Department, and a Target warehouse, among them. Currently, they service those accounts through their Clifton Park and Glens Falls outlets.

“We are really looking forward to being in Wilton,” Kellogg said.

He can be reached at the company’s corporate headquarters on Highland Avenue in Glens Falls. The telephone number is (518) 792-0316.

The State Department of Labor is issuing an order eliminating the subminimum wage for ‘miscellaneous’ industries statewide.

The order impacts over 70,000 tipped employees and will end confusion and outright wage theft that evidence shows robs them of tipped income they rightfully earned, state officials said.

Workers that will be impacted by the new measure include: nail salon workers, hairdressers, aestheticians, car wash workers, valet parking attendants, door-persons, tow truck drivers, dog groomers and tour guides.

“In New York, we believe in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work,” Governor Cuomo said. “But after an exhaustive investigation conducted by the Department of Labor, it’s clear the tip system in many situations is needlessly complicated, allowing unscrupulous businesses to flout our nation-leading minimum wage laws and robbing workers of the paycheck they earned. That ends now.

“I am directing the labor department to put an end to the tip credit in the industries with the highest risk of wage theft to help restore fairness for workers, many of whom are critical to the service industries that keep our economy moving forward.”

The elimination of the tip wage for miscellaneous industries will be phased in over a one-year period, an aggressive timetable that will provide employees relief while also giving businesses time to adjust to these changes as to not inadvertently incur job loss.

The schedule includes: • On June 30, the difference between the minimum wage and current tip wages will be cut in half.

• On Dec. 31, the tip wage will be completely eliminated and workers in these effected industries will be making the normal minimum wage.

The ending the state’s tip credit for miscellaneous industries—bringing those workers up to the current minimum wage—came as the Department of Labor released a report and recommendations after conducting hearings

and receiving testimony from individuals across tipped industries.

Key findings in the DOL report note that: 1) The current system of tipping disproportionally impacts the lowest-paid workers in our state: women, minorities and immigrants.

2) Miscellaneous workers receive less in tips and have widespread confusion about whether or not they are entitled to earn minimum wage or not. This has led to rampant wage theft in particular industries, and a real concern that tip credits are simply not appropriate in others, as many of their customers aren’t clear that tips are expected.

State Law allows certain industries to pay tipped employees below the state minimum wage only if those employees earn enough in tips to make up the difference. In certain workplaces where wages and tips are both generally low, workers’ income can rely almost entirely upon tips.

The industries affected were grouped together in a category known as “miscellaneous” more than 30 years ago creating the unintended consequence of establishing a tip credit in various industries where the tip credit had previously been prohibited.

According to state officials, in practice, many employers in these industries find it difficult to keep track of employee tips properly, as they are not a steady and reliable source of income that can be depended upon by workers to meet their living expenses. Additionally, daily and weekly fluctuations make it difficult for workers to know whether they are being underpaid and complicated tip credit record keeping can make it difficult for employers to know whether they are meeting their obligations.

A three year assessment of wage theft cases investigated by the Department of Labor published in 2018 show that nearly twothirds of all minimum wage-related cases were in the industries covering miscellaneous industry workers, and in 80 percent of cases, underpayments were found.

More information is available at www.ny.gov/ minimumwage.

6 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

•

Business Report Lobster Lessons For The New Year

BY ROSE MILLER We take a trip to Cape Cod for my husband’s business conference each summer. It’s at a beautiful resort filled with beach, sun and sand.

My friends come along because my husband is tied up at business meetings during the day.

One of the highlights at the conference is their annual lobster bake. The dining area overlooks the ocean and the menu consists of New England chowder, corn, mussels, potatoes, corn and the main event—lobster.

I love lobster. However, I know not everyone does. I find its one of those things that people either love or hate. I know this may sound peculiar but I found some of the conversations at the table about lobster parallel some of the conversations I hear related to professions and jobs. I’m calling it Lobster Lessons.

One person stated she didn’t like lobster because “it’s too much work.” It’s interesting how one person’s work is another person’s pleasure.

There are so many careers in healthcare and human services, for example, that to one person seem nightmarish yet to others are expressions of their passion and enthusiasm to impact people’s lives.

Workers in construction labor in hot, dirty conditions yet they couldn’t see themselves behind a desk. Some people go into work excited to get their agendas implemented where another person contemplates retirement each day. People who enjoy lobster happily tackle the task of pulling it apart. They enjoy getting to the nooks and crannies to find sweet, tasty morsels of meat.

When you love your work, you develop focus, patience and understanding. My friend noticed that when my lobster arrived, I “zoned right in.”

She giggled as she watched my full attention become directed exclusively towards my plate.

I pride myself into being able to remove, fully intact, the entire claw with precision. It took many years of practice and practice makes perfect in any job we do.

Especially jobs we love where we are always finding innovative ways to get better results.

We automatically utilize the correct amount of focus to perform optimally and we understand the length of time required to do an expert job.

We understand what it takes to get a job done right. We look forward to the challenge.

If you want to get the most out of your lobster, you also need to acquire the knowledge of where all the meat is. If you rush through and toss what’s unfamiliar aside, you’ll probably miss out

•

Rose Miller is president of Pinnacle Human Resources LLC. Courtesy Pinnacle Human Resources LLC

on some great parts.

Doing your best at work increases when you’re a constant learner. Are you pushing yourself to seek out new knowledge or are you satisfied with status quo and avoiding tasks you know little about. The later are the traits of individuals who lose out to others who take the initiative to seek out and explore tasks out of their comfort zone. Rather than throw away the upper body, lobster lovers know how to expertly seek out food from other more difficult sections rather than just go for the easier claws and tail.

And over time, you may decide there is a difference between knowing and wanting to spend time with your lobster. The conference hall had wait staff on hand to dissect your lobster for you at your table. My two friends lead some great organizations. They can’t (and probably shouldn’t) get to every nitty gritty detail on every situation. Professionals know how to leverage others to get tasks done. It’s not that they don’t know how to do it, they prioritize their time and exercise the abilities of others to accomplish a task. My friend’s lobster was plated for her—ready for her to dig in.

Hopefully, you have a job you enjoy as much as I love eating lobster. Give it the energy it deserves if you want to ever be recognized as an expert in your field. Being an expert requires focus, knowledge and patience. Get a team around you to fill in the blanks. You’ll benefit from discovering unfamiliar areas. You’ll be surprised how sweet it can be.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL 2002 Business Of The Year

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Grey Ghost Bicycle Shop In Glens Falls Plans To Open A Second Store in Saratoga Springs Grey Ghost Bicycles in Glens Falls is opening a new store in Saratoga Springs.

Located at 60 West Ave., the new retail space is more than 2,000 square feet and is part of the larger retail strip building that contains other businesses such as Wolberg Lighting Design & Electrical Supply.

According to Steve Fairchild, general manager of Grey Ghost Bicycles, the existing space only needed light modifications, including cleaning and painting, which is being done by the company.

Launched in 2012, Grey Ghost Bicycles is a full-service bike shop. Along with e-bikes and professional mountain and racing bikes, they also sell bikes for children and casual riders. The company recently moved their main store into the former Post-Star building in Glens Falls.

Like the Glens Falls store, the Saratoga site will have accessible parking for customers, located

right in front of the building.

“Initially we plan on having two or three employees on staff in Saratoga. We will likely use some existing staff as well and maybe add a new hire or two as we grow,” said Fairchild.

Fairchild said there is still much work to be done before they are ready to open. At this time, they don’t have a firm date set.

Upon opening in Saratoga, Grey Ghost intends to keep the same hours as they do for their Glens Falls location: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The store will be closed on Sunday and Monday.

“We will be offering some bicycle fitting services in Saratoga, but our main fitting studio will remain in Glens Falls, as we have dedicated space for it in Glens Falls that doesn’t exist in the Saratoga location,” said Fairchild.

For more information, visit greyghostbicycles. com, or call 518-223-0148.

Victory Mills

Continued From Page 1 commercial complex, this project epitomizes the best of economic development,” said Marty Vanags, president of the Prosperity Partnership.

“We are thrilled to have played a critical role in advancing a project that will revitalize a historic structure, create jobs, generate financial support for local schools and governments, address a critical need for workforce housing, and help to reinvigorate a community.”

The concrete and wood structure on Gates Avenue in Victory, built in 1918 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has fallen into disrepair since it closed as a packaging manufacturer in 2000. The development will create 142 one-bedroom and 44 two-bedroom units and help to fill a demonstrated need for workforce housing in Saratoga County, officials said. Apartments will be priced to appeal to a wide range of people working in local schools, businesses and service organizations.

Construction is expected to begin in 2020, and will take approximately two years to complete.

The project will support more than 100 construction jobs during a two-year period, with an estimated annual payroll exceeding $5 million. Additionally, the apartment complex and brewery are expected to initially create eight full-time jobs, officials said.

Through an agreement approved unanimously by the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency, the property will generate $7.5 million in PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) payments over the next 30 years, some 23 times more than if the property remained vacant.

“We always welcome the opportunity to bring new life to a property that was once a cornerstone of the community,” said Larry Regan, president of Regan Development. “We appreciate the support of leaders in village, town and state government, as well as the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership and Saratoga County IDA, and look forward to what will be an exciting project.”

“The ability to take a long-past prime, behemoth property that is not serving the present community and breathe new life into it

with a mixed-use commercial space is exactly what the Village of Victory needs,” said state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner. “This project aligns perfectly with Saratoga County’s vision for a brighter, more robust economic and cultural future.”

Town of Saratoga Supervisor Tom Wood called it “a game-changer” for the town, “one that will pay dividends for generations to come.

The renewal and re-purposing of Victory Mills as an apartment complex and brewery will address an important community need, provide a tremendous financial impact to the town, and ensure we can continue to provide the essential services our residents need.”

“This is a transformational moment for the Village of Victory, one that respects our past and offers a vision for the future,” said Village Mayor Pat Dewey. “In a sense, Victory Mills will be returned to its former glory, providing a home for hard-working individuals. We are thrilled to know that this historic building will once again be a jewel in our community.”

Rod Sutton, chairman of the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency, said the incentives “not only play a critical role in making this effort possible, but just as importantly, they will be returned many times over in terms of PILOT payments, increased economic activity, and the benefits that come with revitalization in the Victory community.”

The financing structure for the project includes owner equity, federal and state housing tax credits, federal and state historic tax credits, and the PILOT agreement with the Saratoga County IDA. Officials said Regan Development will make $158,000 in PILOT payments in the first year, with annual increases of 3 percent over the 30year term. As a result, the property will generate $7.5 million in PILOT payments, including $6.3 million to the Schuylerville Central School District, far exceeding the $324,000 that would have been paid based on current annual taxes of $10,800.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 7

‘Sensory Six’ Commercial, Residential Owners Of Kru Coffee In Saratoga Springs To Design Company Moves To Saratoga Springs Open Second Shop In Burlington, Vermont

The staff at Sensory Six design firm poses outside the company’s new headquarters, located at 8 Butler Place in Saratoga Spring, a space that they say fits all of their needs.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH Sensory Six is a commercial and residential design firm that focuses on comprehensive services to make their projects easy to manage.

The firm located to at 8 Butler Place in Saratoga Spring, a space that they say fits all of their needs.

Sensory Six President Sandra M. Fox said she feels Saratoga is a place that works for the nature of her business. As a resident of Saratoga Springs, she said she loves being able to both live and work in the area.

“I live in Saratoga Springs and love it here. It was important to me to have a studio that was close to home and also supports my values. Saratoga Springs is known for history, architecture, the arts, wellness, nature, beauty, and great restaurants all which are aligned with me and my business,” said Fox. The Spa City is not only beneficial to her, but a place that her entire staff is happy with because of its convenience and inspirational vibe.

“We love being downtown because it is convenient to everything. We have several clients in town, and it is wonderful to just be able to walk to your job sites for meetings and to check on construction details. On a more aesthetic perspective, our name is Sensory Six because we believe great design reflects all the senses. Our design studio was created to reflect that point of view and also showcase what we can do for our clients,” said Fox. Sensory Six is a commercial and residential interior design firm that creates distinctive, highend spaces. Fox said many of their clients love that they provide turnkey services for their design and build needs.

“It makes their lives so much easier. We also provide custom millwork, cabinetry, countertops, tile, plumbing fixtures, appliances, exterior stone, doors and just about anything else you can think of that may be necessary to create a space and complete a renovation or new build, in addition to the standard goods you would expect from an interior design firm such as furniture, rugs, lighting, wall coverings, window treatments,

Courtesy Sensory Six

artwork, and décor accessories,” said Fox. On the commercial end, she said, they focus on clients looking for boutique designs that set them apart from their competition. She said their commercial portfolio ranges from designing office spaces to retail businesses, and with expertise in hospitality, restaurant, and multi-family building design.

“Increasingly, distinctive interior design provides an important differentiator for businesses who want to attract the best customers, employees and tenants. That’s where we come in. On the residential front, we provide luxury design services and materials to discriminating homeowners for their home and vacation properties,” said Fox. Sensory Six began just over five years ago after Fox spent over 20 years as a professional in the engineering and architecture industry. She said the creation of Sensory Six was the result of combining her passions and strengths in the areas of design, project management, technology and business management.

“I started with zero projects and no employees and literally built the company from scratch. The business network I had developed during my career was the key to building the business,” said Fox. Today, they are a company of seven people with commercial and residential projects all over the Capital Region, including the Druthers Brewing Co.’s Schenectady, Saratoga and Albany locations, Cantina Restaurant in Saratoga Springs, the RiverHouse Luxury Apartment in Schenectady, Seneca Restaurant in Saratoga Springs and Tyler Technologies in Latham.

Fox said they are currently in the process of a project involving an outdoor restaurant and bar space for summer of 2020. They also have the state Woman Owned Business Enterprise certification pending that could open up opportunities to both design and provide goods and materials for development projects planned throughout New York state.

They also intend to expand hospitality and restaurant design services nationally.

They are located and online at sensorysix.com.

Luke Rock, a co-founder of Kru Coffee in Saratoga Springs and its head roaster, works with coffee beans at the Saratoga Springs shop. The company is opening a new store in Vermont.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH Kru Coffee in Saratoga Springs is opening a second location in Burlington, Vt. Owner Kyle Brock said it will open in about a month. The coffee shop will be located in the Church Street Marketplace.

Brock said they will look upon additional family members to run the Vermont location.

His sister in-law, Lisa Weber, will manage the Burlington café with her husband, Tom. Brock said Lisa will run the front end, while Tom will handle the kitchen operations. While the menu will mimic that of the Saratoga cafe, Brock said one major difference will be the addition of gourmet donuts.

Brock said Kru Coffee has a partnership with Healthy Living Market & Café, which sells Kru Coffee beans and coffee drinks at its stores in

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

South Burlington and Saratoga Springs.

Both cafés will serve espresso drinks and drip coffee made from beans that Kru roasts in Saratoga Springs at their Marion Avenue location. Brock said they will continue to nurture the heart of the business, which is providing coffee wholesale to over 40 businesses in the area, ranging from the Capital Region to the Lake George area. Coldbrew coffee, teas and breakfast sandwiches will all be available at the Vermont location.

The 2,400-square-foot space required electrical and plumbing work and also vents in order to install a kitchen.

The cafe, which will be open daily, will be able to seat about 60 people, including a space for small gatherings, with additional outdoor seating in the warmer months. More information is available at krucoffee.com.

Dave Bender Owner Contemporary Athlete Reads

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

8 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

SPECIAL SECTION

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

Corporate Tax / Business Planning Company Owners Should Develop Business Plans That Reflect Their Vision for Future

BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL As a new year arrives, many company owners review their business plans to make sure every financial decision, marketing program and staff member remain aligned with their company vision.

“Most of the time a business plan is stuck in a drawer and only revisited when the owner needs something, such as a loan,” said William Brigham, director of the Small Business Development Center of the University of Albany School of Business.

“We see a thousand businesses a year from 11 counties, and people would be surprised by the lack of a formal business plan,” said Brigham, who has been with the nonprofit organization for 20 years.

Financial advisors agree that a solid business plan is at the heart of a company’s success. Some aspects of the planning process are commonly overlooked or under-emphasized, according to local professionals who shared some tips for keeping companies on point, especially this time of year.

“The foundation of a business, whether a starter or existing, is the mission statement—what are our core values and where do we want to go,” said John Crawford, founder of JP Crawford Associates in Glens Falls.

With 30 years of executive and managerial experience in industry and business, Crawford motivates clients whose company vision is poorly articulated and does not explain why someone would buy their product or service and not the competition’s.

“We’re better or we’re cheaper” may be common answers but are not sufficient ones, according to Crawford. So he advises them to “go back and put in your plan the core values that the company is built around.”

“Communicating vision and plan for execution to everyone can start your year off in the right direction,” said Sherry Finkel Murphy, an associate wealth management advisor with The Atrium Financial Group of Northwestern Mutual, which serves the Capital District and North Country.

“Ensure family, employees, partners, and resources are all on the same page and can articulate the value you bring in 2020,” said Finkel Murphy, who has been recognized as one of Northwestern Mutual’s 2019 Most Exceptional Community Service Award winners.

“When the company vision and core values are

•

William Brigham is the director of the Small Business Development Center.

Courtesy Small Business Development Center

Sherry Finkel Murphy, CFP, ChFC, RICP, The Atrium Financial Group of Northwestern Mutual.

Courtesy Atrium Financial Group of Northwestern Mutual.

committed to writing, they provide good talking points for employees to get involved in expressing what those goals mean to them,” Crawford said.

Continued On Page 9

Business Report Are Your Financial And Tax Advisers Talking?

BY ROB SNELL Now that we’ve closed the book on 2019, it’s officially tax season. As you prepare your tax returns for the April 15 deadline, you might already start looking for opportunities to improve your tax-related financial outcomes in the future.

One important step you can take is to connect your tax professional with your financial advisor.

Together, these professionals can help you take advantage of some valuable strategies: • Roth vs. traditional IRA. If you’re eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA, you might find it beneficial to have your financial advisor talk to your tax professional about which is the better choice.

Generally, if you think your tax rate will be higher in retirement, you might want to contribute to the Roth IRA, which provides taxfree withdrawals (if you’re older than 59½ and have had your account at least five years).

But if you think your tax bracket will be lower when you retire, you might be better off with the traditional IRA, which offers upfront tax benefits – specifically, your contributions may reduce your annual taxable income in a given tax year. Your tax advisor may have some thoughts on this issue, as well as how it might fit in with your overall tax picture in retirement.

• Taxable vs. non-taxable income. Turning taxable income into non-taxable income can lower your current year’s tax bracket. Depending on your income, you could potentially subtract your traditional IRA contributions (or your SEP-IRA contributions if you’re self-employed) from your taxable income.

And even now, it’s not too late to affect the 2019 tax year, if you still haven’t reached the IRA or SEP-IRA contribution limits. Before you file your 2019 tax returns, your tax professional can tell your financial advisor how much you would have to contribute to your traditional IRA, SEP-IRA or similar account to potentially lower your taxable income.

If you make the contribution, your financial advisor can illustrate how it would impact your retirement picture and make a recommendation

•

Rob Snell, financial advisor, Edward Jones Financial in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy Edward Jones Financial

on how to invest the money. (You can fund your IRA with virtually any type of investment – stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and so on.)

• Capital gains taxes on mutual funds. You might think you have total control over taxes related to your mutual funds. After all, you decide how long to hold these funds before selling shares and incurring capital gains taxes.

However, mutual fund managers are usually free to buy and sell new investments as they see fit, and some of these sales could generate capital gains taxes for you. If these taxes are relatively large in any one year, your tax professional may notice and could relay this information to your financial advisor.

This doesn’t necessarily mean these mutual funds are inappropriate for you; they still may be suitable for your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. But the tax aspect may be of interest to your financial advisor, who might recommend more tax-efficient investment options.

Your investment and tax pictures have many overlaps, and by ensuring your team of advisors is working together, or at least communicating with each other, you can increase the chances of getting your desired results.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 9

Business Planning

New App Helps Manage Self Employment Taxes

Continued From Page 8

“The value to employees is that they can show supervisors they understand and are working toward that vision.”

“On the manufacturing floor, workers may not have an answer as to what their business believes in,” he said. “This is a critical point but many ignore it and then wonder why people quit. It is because the core values have not been communicated.”

“Is the team in place that can execute your vision?” said Finkel Murphy. “Are you communicating the value of your benefits package to your employees, so that your turnover is low?”

Crawford said businesses should be looking long term and question whether they are achieving the desired culture in the workplace. Does staff really feel integral to the company?

“If not, the owner may need to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

Crawford and Finkel Murphy said the mission statement can be a valuable recruiting tool.

“An active mission shows potential new employees whether the decision they make is aligned with your company’s stated values,” said Crawford.

“The ability to attract new employees is higher when the company has critically assessed its resource needs,” said Finkel Murphy. “We remain in a tight labor market, after all.”

Brigham said another weakness in business planning is often “not knowing what your credit looks like and not having a good idea of capital needs.”

“It says a lot about the character of the business owner if they are paying their personal bills,” he said. “They may be in a position of having to explain why their credit situation is the way it is. The first of the year, working on financial projections and setting milestones are key,” said Brigham.

“Use the new year as an opportunity to physically bring your team together—financial planner, accountant, attorney, and banker—to put an action plan to your goals and adjust your critical business documents as necessary,” said Finkel Murphy.

Crawford recommended sending “all financial information to the accountant throughout the year, ideally every three months, for another set of eyes. If you start going down the wrong path, you can more easily get back on track. And bankers love to see that you are looking for financial trends and asking yourselves, what are we doing differently to make sales go up.”

When applying for financing, the business plan becomes “the document you lead with, but the company spokesman, the business owner, should lead the discussion,” Crawford said. “The bankers should see the company owners are on the ball and understand their selling points.”

Going over revenue and expenses from last year helps the company to better understand what the balance sheet should look like in 2020, said the experts.

“Then set goals that improve even more on prior successes,” said Finkel Murphy. “If

John Crawford, founder of JP Crawford Associates in Glens Falls Courtesy JP Crawford Associates

something works, consider investing in it further to understand why it was successful.”

“Address liquidity early and often to ensure your business has the liquid assets it needs to execute your plans,” she said.

As a company considers how to align marketing efforts with financial execution, Brigham recommended making sure companies have an online presence. Without one, businesses today cannot compete, he said.

“It’s very important to have a website so people can reference your business,” he said. “All companies should get a good idea of how social media works and include it in their marketing plans.”

Calling social media “a huge asset,” Brigham said it tends to be one of the more popular topics for training provided by the Small Business Development Center.

“We have a research network and access to databases that can give relevant marketing information to our clients,“ he said. “There is so much data out there that businesses need to be effective in accessing it.”

He said all types of clients, from hair salons to aerospace companies, have tapped into these resources to find demographic information and similar companies in their area, and thus determine who their competition and their customer base are likely to be.

Now is also the time to review the business owner’s continuity plan and exit strategy, advised Finkel Murphy. “It’s the last thing you want to spend time on, but it is critical for your family, employees, clients, and even lending institutions.”

“If you or a critical team member prematurely dies or is disabled, how does the business run?

How does your estate exit the business?” said Finkel Murphy. “Consider now if anything has changed in your own plans for retirement or exit from the business.”

A business plan can change and become more in-depth over the years, said Crawford, “but all companies should have something tangible that documents what they will shoot for and that guides them.”

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE WE CAN HELP YOU REACH YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS • Financial Planning • Retirement Planning • Investment Management

• Trust & Estate Planning • Wealth Accumulation

For entrepreneurs and freelancers who struggle with quarterly taxes, help is here. AARP Foundation has launched AARP Foundation SelfSaver, an online resource and iOS app that enables the self-employed to anticipate and manage large expenses such as taxes.

Self-Saver is an all-in-one tool 1099 earners can rely on to calculate taxes, itemize expenses, automatically withhold the right amount of tax and submit quarterly filings to the IRS. The convenient, streamlined process makes it easy for users to get a handle on self-employment taxes.

“When I approached it on my own, it was overwhelming,” said solopreneur Connie Johnson, who was close to retirement when she was laid off and began working for herself. “But within a couple of months of using Self-Saver, I was caught up. Now I’m totally on track and excited about it.”

Johnson is one of the more than 7,000 people who have joined the platform since its beta launch in summer 2019.

“Older adults are the fastest growing segment of new entrepreneurs, and their numbers are expected to keep rising,” said Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of AARP Foundation. “Self-Saver eases some of the challenges of self-employment, giving older adults greater control over their financial future coupled with a secure, streamlined process.”

Self-Saver is powered by Track, a secure provider of tax management technology and platforms registered with the IRS. Track ensures that user withholdings are held in an FDICinsured account, and that all data is protected and secured with bank-grade data encryption. SelfSaver is currently being offered free of charge to users who download the iOS app or sign up online before April 15.

For more information, visit AARP Foundation Self-Saver.

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10 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

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SPECIAL SECTION

Economic Outlook 2020 State Senator Jim Tedisco Continued From Page 1

In 2019 alone, their budget raised taxes on hardworking taxpayers and prescribed more of what can be labeled “governmental malpractice” on the economy of New York by offering the same bad medicine.

That bad medicine included ending the popular property tax rebates, new taxes on internet purchases, prescription medicine, gasoline, grocery bags, real estate purchases, car rentals Upstate, the congestion pricing driving tax to visit New York City, and taxpayer-funded political campaigns, which is essentially welfare for politicians and political consultants.

Due to the epic incompetence and utter buffoonery of the Senate majority, New York lost 25,000 jobs that would have been created by Amazon and could have generated $27 billion in revenue to reduce property taxes, help our schools and fix dilapidated infrastructure.

Unfortunately, with the current power structure in our state government, we must overcome geographic discrimination from those downstate leaders that seem to be ambivalent about our quality of life and needs.

A large swath of Upstate New York and the 49th District has poor to no broadband and cellular coverage, where, and this is no joke, the best ways to communicate in an emergency are via smoke signals and carrier pigeons. Given that kind of environment, there are challenges to luring a company like Amazon and all those good-paying jobs Upstate.

This is just the beginning of the new Majorities’ radical reshaping of our state. On deck is a complete government takeover of the state’s healthcare system through single-payer government-run socialized medicine, which

the non-partisan Rand Corp. estimates will cost taxpayers at least $139 billion a year. If passed, single-payer would almost double New York’s annual state budget creating a bureaucratic and financial nightmare.

We have heard no plan from the governor, Senate Majority Leader or Assembly Speaker for Upstate economic development to help the private sector and our small businesses create jobs. They continue to focus on social experimentation and to treat New York with the same poison that got us to this point and clearly refuse to provide a pathway for success or any real prescription for a cure.

The Senate Republican conference and I have put forth major reforms and we have offered a holistic plan to end unfunded state mandates on local governments which cause property taxes to increase. As the original sponsor of and driving force for passage of the Property Tax Cap, I’m heartened that has been made permanent. But what’s good for the goose should be good enough for the gander.

That’s why we need to permanently cap state spending. We must reduce energy taxes and cut taxes, mandates and regulations for taxpayers, municipalities and our small businesses. And we must oppose any toll hike on the New York State Thruway, which is just a backdoor tax that will lead to increased consumer prices and costs to businesses.

New York has a chance to be the Empire State again but we can’t keep reaching into the same well of higher taxes as has happened in the past.

Sure, the Democrats can continue to “just tax it” in New York. And if they do, taxpayers will continue to “just leave it.”

And then who will be left to pay the bills?

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BY MARK SHAW Technology in 2020 is going to be summed up in one word: security. Everything from the latest news with Iran to the multitude of private businesses, as well as public entities like towns and city governments will be consumed by technology and its security.

Security was brought to light by the target level hacks and has filtered down to every local town. Cyber criminals are focusing more and more on smaller and smaller targets.

Why? Because they are easier to attack, they have less support to deal with it and they are often a gateway to a larger number of targets.

Take your local HVAC heating and cooling provider for example. They could be a small business making under one million dollars a year, but they have access to technology they have installed in many major firms. Every hospital, government agency and business in the region depends on their technology to keep their employees warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Having this technology is very commonplace, but it’s a great entry point for cyber criminals. Imagine if they could breach a small firm and gain access to all their client’s networks. This is exactly what is happening.

Toss in the cyber insurance world where such bad acts are covered by insurance. This just adds more incentive for the criminals to target your business. Even if you the business owner wouldn’t pay them to recover from the damage, your insurance policy will.

This has created a chicken/egg scenario.

Are we seeing more attacks because of the increased number of insurance payout or are we seeing an increased number of insurance payouts because of the number of attacks?

It’s something we are watching closely in the technology community.

Long gone are the days when breaching a network is hard, takes skill and costs money.

Now anyone at any skill set can buy a prepackaged set of software to inflict damage on any business with costs as low as one dollar.

No skills needed, no up-front investment.

Just bad actors with low cost options looking for any easy target.

How do you overcome that?

Well its not easy but its not that hard either. If you stop looking at your technology security as an IT problem and start understanding it’s a business problem,

Mark Shaw, president and CEO of Stored Technology Solutions Inc. (StoredTech).

Courtesy StoredTech

you can work with a reputable technology firm to review, plan and execute a plan for security across the organization with several different facets.

To do nothing in today’s world is to wait for a failure. That is not an option. The best networks can be breached, so start the planning backwards. If something happens tomorrow, do you have your insurances up to date and accurate, do you have legal to support you, is your internal IT department or consulting firm ready to respond? Think about what you are going to do minute one and work your way back, all the way back, to the moment you could be breached.

In our world, this means education at the employee level. Is your staff trained and do they have the skills needed to spot a potential issue? How are they trained to respond? Do they just ignore it, do they share with their managers? How are you as an employer helping your employees be the first line of defense?

If you plan and educate before anything bad happens, and you plan for the worst to happen, you will be better able to deal with anything that comes your way.

In 2020, this is no longer a “what if ” scenario, its when and how bad the impact will be. This year will be consumed by your data, your privacy and your businesses ability to handle, respond, and react to the negative forces that come with the technology gains.

You will hear time and again about security.

Get a jump on it and start asking “What’s my plan?” today.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 11

BY TODD SHIMKUS Before we look forward to 2020, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce had such a great 2019 that we have to take a quick look back on just some of our biggest accomplishments, including: 1. In partnership with Discover Saratoga, Mannix Marketing, Skidmore College, the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association and the Saratoga Springs City Center, the Chamber is now one of seven organizations collaborating to provide one online community events calendar.

Event organizers can enter their information about events in Saratoga County on any of our seven websites and that information feeds to all separate sites. The goal is to make sure our local events and festivals are found and more people attend.

2. In partnership with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, Empire State Development, former state Sen. Karen Marchione, state Sen. Daphne Jordan, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, Mayor Meg Kelly, the Chamber hired Munter Enterprises and built a 7,700-square-foot field house on the Navy base in Saratoga Springs. This facility will provide Navy sailors and their families with a safe, secure, convenient and indoor facility for recreation, movies, basketball, volleyball, drills, education, and graduation.

3. In partnership with SUNY Empire State and the Saratoga County Capital Resources Corp., the Chamber created the Saratoga County Institute of Management. Nearly 75 employees from area firms took part in one or more of the three tracks with six classes, each in an effort to learn best practices for becoming a more effective leader in their workplaces.

4. In partnership with the City of Saratoga Springs, the Park Place Condominiums, Saratoga Arts, Discover Saratoga, the Saratoga Springs City Center, and the Saratoga Springs DBA, the Chamber led the effort to save the fireworks display in Congress Park, in downtown Saratoga Springs, as part of the First Night Saratoga Celebration on Dec. 31.

5. In partnership with CDTA, the Chamber is reaching out to employers in Clifton Park, Halfmoon and Mechanicville to help launch a pilot program to test a micro-transit program that would improve public transportation services in southern Saratoga County. The goal is to provide a new public transportation option for workers living in these communities to safely, conveniently and affordably get to and from work.

What do these five accomplishments have in common? The answer is one word : Partnerships.

All of us at the Chamber of Commerce have long believed in convening creative ideas and positive partnerships. Working collaboratively with other organizations who share our mission to expand economic opportunities across Saratoga County is a key to our success in 2019 and that will again be the case in 2020.

In 2020, we will again partner with a range of organizations to change things for the better, including: 1. In partnership with SPAC, UPH, Skidmore College, Caffe Lena and others, we’re helping to organize a comprehensive new advertising campaign to brand Saratoga County as a worldclass community for arts and culture. The goal is to attract more visitors to experience the arts and

Todd Shimkus is president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce

our cultural attractions like never before.

2. In partnership with leaders in the Village of Schuylerville, the Town of Saratoga, Saratoga County, and U.S. Rep Elise Stefanik, Sen. Jordan, and Assemblywoman Woerner, we’re visible and vocal advocates for a plan to restore the Old Champlain Canalway that connects Hudson Crossing Park with Fort Hardy Park and runs along the Empire State Trail.

We expect to have results from the EPA and DEC soon that will inform decisions as to what must be done to get this water flowing again. The goal is to see this area become a new recreational, educational, and historic destination that attracts local residents and visitors to Schuylerville yearround.

3. In partnership with leaders in the Town of Malta, we’re hosting regular meetings between employers in Malta with the town’s elected officials. The goal is to collaborate to support the new Malta Works economic development program.

4. In partnership with RPI’s Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, we look forward to hosting our sixth annual Startup Saratoga event in October. The goal is to shine a light on local tech sector entrepreneurs and to grow Saratoga County’s tech sector.

5. In partnership with dozens of local residents who volunteer for our award-winning SCORE program, we look forward to providing even more free and confidential business planning advice to help local firms get started. These services will be available in both our offices in Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs. The Chamber’s SCORE program has been one of the top performing SCORE programs in the nation in terms of business startup successes and job creation and we hope 2020 will be even better.

Our willingness to partner with so many organizations and leaders in the public, private and impact sectors to get things done is vital to our Chamber’s success but more important to Saratoga County’s success. By combining our time, talent and treasure with other organizations who share our commitment to Saratoga County’s economic success, we are able to do far more than we ever could on our own to ensure Saratoga County will always be a great place to live, work and play.

BY TEDDY FOSTER The much anticipated, re-opening of Universal Preservation Hall on Feb. 29 will prove to be a robust economic boost for Saratoga Springs and the surrounding region.

Located a half block from Broadway in the heart of downtown, UPH will quickly take its place as the pedestrian-friendly, year-round cultural hub that our area has needed for many years.

The re-purposed uniqueness of the historic UPH will draw people from far and wide; the partnership with the powerful Proctors Collaborative will ensure world class programs are presented for people of all ages, backgrounds and interests; and collaborations with arts and community organizations will continue to blossom and lead to economic growth for the entire Capital Region.

As a year-round cultural center with multiple spaces, including a 700-seat, state-of-the-art theater in the round, UPH is uniquely positioned to bring business locally when it is needed most— during the shoulder and off seasons. Feasibility studies project that UPH will attract an addition 65,000 people annually to our area.

UPH will present unique programming in the summer of 2020 that is designed to not only attract families to downtown but also to be an enhancement to the summer programming of SPAC, Caffe Lena, Yaddo, and Skidmore College.

Also this summer, we are thrilled to debut the Collaborative School of the Performing Arts at UPH. Kicking off in July with a two-week program for middle-school students, we will feature a full yearly calendar of classes, workshops, camps and performances.

We look forward to offering your budding

Teddy Foster, campaign director, Universal Preservation Hall. artist or future creative professional the chance to pursue their passion and achieve their artistic goals. Be sure to keep an eye on your social media for the program announcement and registration announcement for UPH’s School of the Performing Arts.

If you are eager to witness the $13.5 million renovation of our 19th century High Victorian Gothic building, consider purchasing tickets now. Several shows are selling briskly. Country star Rosanne Cash, trumpeter Chris Botti, Broadway star Megan Hilty and the bluegrass sensations Steep Canyon Rangers are examples of transcendent artists coming to downtown Saratoga in the coming months.

The best way to keep informed of Continued On Page 12

12 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

Economic Outlook 2020

supporting this initial foreign direct investment outreach and look forward to showcasing our workforce, available commercial sites and market opportunities to Irish businesses.

As we look at the start of another decade, SEDC is pleased to retain the support of so many business and community leaders. We are seeding key sites in our communities, workforce and innovator talent to encourage expanded investment and job creation in Saratoga County.

We are grateful to have our member investor backing, for the collaborative spirit that has led to clearly defined roles with SCPP and to provide marketing support from the County to help deliver economic results.

Continued From Page 11 new happenings at UPH is to visit universalpreservationhall.org and sign up for our e-newsletter. Also, you can follow us on social media. Many exciting programs to be announced in the coming months and beyond.

BY DENNIS BROBSTON As the national economy continues to grow, unemployment declines and wages increase, our business membership driven organization is focused on seeding future investment, talent and workforce alignment to support jobs of the future.

We collaborated with the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership (SCPP) to agree to nonduplicative, complementary roles to support area community and economic development needs respectively. The result led to Saratoga County reengaging SEDC for 2020 as a marketing contractor to entice new investment, entrepreneurs and foreign investment within our communities to help generate job and wage growth.

Thanks to our member investors and business partners, SEDC saw progress made against two of our Advance Saratoga strategic initiatives.

Our five-year strategy stressed creating more inventory of permitted space to locate new employers and attract investment as well as attracting and keeping corporate headquarters.

In Saratoga Springs, Airosmith Development, Inc. is building its own expanded corporate headquarters, investing $3.7 million to retain 51 jobs and add nine jobs. The Saratoga County IDA helped support its investment with a tax abatement agreement. In Clifton Park, the Center for Security expanded into Saratoga County and the investment, supported by the Clifton Park IDA, is helping to add 50 high-wage jobs.

The Clifton Park-based Synergy Tech Park was announced with MJ Properties, Inc. in 2018 and got underway in 2019 by developing the infrastructure to access its 1 million square feet of approved space. Now, they’ve landed a major regional U-Haul Company center fronting the east side of the Northway between exits 9 and 10.

Their $10 million-plus investment creates 10 jobs, opening in 2020 and activates this great Saratoga County asset to accommodate commercial office, service and light manufacturing/distribution space.

The Shaker Group relocated to Saratoga County in the Town of Waterford, buying the former Grand Union/Price Chopper freezer building. They invested $6 million, moving 63 jobs to their new headquarters/warehouse/ distribution facility and will create 12 new jobs.

This reactivates a building recently used only as a warehouse with no full-time employees into a vibrant job producing center.

To capitalize on the success of Saratoga County in recent decades, we listened to early stage and existing company leaders and established the County’s only incubator and accelerator, Spark Saratoga, in April 2017. To help attract and retain talent, it offers advisory services and referrals to

Dennis Brobston, president, Economic Development Corp.

Saratoga

Courtesy Saratoga Economic Development Corp.

proven business experts to prepare for growth, to evaluate capital needs and options and to encourage collaboration with existing proven business partners.

In its short history, Spark Saratoga has already supported 70 companies. For 2020, Spark Saratoga is launching its 2.0 version to include access to proven mentors, nationwide, curated business experts and a means to engage via a 24-7 accessible collaborative web-based platform. This will enable more access to solutions impeding business growth. The goals include more thoughtleadership engagement and access to proven mentors to help guide early businesses through critical capital, human resource, customer acquisition and other core business needs.

Part of our Spark Saratoga efforts and focus on planting seeds to spur future economic growth with high wage jobs includes attracting next generation Electronic Design Innovation Initiative (pronounced EDI squared – EDI2) to design the powerful semiconductor chips. These sophisticated electrical circuits support most major industry sectors use of data powering our information age economy.

In addition to our regional and national partners, we secured the support of Silicon Valley based Cadence Software. They will provide reduced rate access to multi-million dollar powerful software tools in conjunction with support from higher educational institutions generating new electrical engineering talent.

Clarkson University, now being joined by Cornell University, are early supporters of developing education and supporting design using Cadence’s software tools.

We will continue to pursue with our development partners a permanent location for this innovation center at the South Broadway gateway to Saratoga Springs. This will enable an attractive live, work, play environment to entice innovators for the EDI2 and other Spark Saratoga supported entrepreneur teams to develop their next businesses here.

We also seeded initial opportunities in Ireland in 2019 to entice proven businesses coming to evaluate investing in Saratoga County to expand operations and access to the U.S. market. We are grateful for our partners at National Grid

BY DARRYL LEGGIERI Another successful year for the books.

Saratoga Springs remains a vibrant, in-demand destination that people want to visit, hold meetings in, and work and play.

To embrace this popularity, we must look ahead and be ready to serve the meetings and conventions industry effectively and continue to grow our impact on the local community. Before we discuss the economic outlook for 2020, let’s reflect on the past year’s successes.

In 2019, our community came together to create one online community calendar.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Mannix Marketing, Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Association, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs City Center, and Discover Saratoga, event organizers can now enter information on any one of our top performing local websites and that information will populate on all of them.

The goal of this project was to make it easier for event organizers to promote their events and for participants to find them. This community calendar has proven to be a huge success.

Saratoga’s arts and culture scene is flourishing!

This past year, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation approved $1.75 million to rehabilitate and upgrade Saratoga Preforming Arts Center’s (SPAC) infrastructure, including amphitheater ramps and lighting. In December, SPAC was awarded $2 million in funding from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative, which will be used to revitalize the Roosevelt II Bathhouse. Once restored, the old bathhouse will become a unique cultural destination, featuring an art gallery, rehearsal space, teaching kitchen, and more.

SPAC is additionally partnering with COESA, a destination wellness community also located in the Roosevelt II building that will offer wellness programming, retreat experiences, meditation, classes, and more. Wellness tourism is currently a $639 billion market forecasted to grow at an average annual rate of 7.5 percent through 2022.

Unlike other wellness centers, COESA will give participants the ability to choose lodging and restaurants anywhere in the city, at any price point or level of luxury. The addition of COESA will help the Saratoga region thrive through diversified economic development.

After nearly two years of renovation and $9 million raised, Universal Preservation Hall (UPH) will officially open on Feb. 2. The hall is a dynamic space for arts and culture located in the heart of downtown Saratoga Springs. A vibrant arts and culture scene helps local businesses thrive and provides opportunities for visitors and locals alike to spend time here.

2019 was also a great year for our team as well

Darryl Leggieri is president of the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau.

Courtesy Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau

as our members. As a key economic development engine for this community, Discover Saratoga’s mission is to contribute a positive impact on the local economy by promoting and marketing Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County as a worldclass destination for meetings, conventions, and groups.

The bureau team is positioned to target each of these markets proactively to drive business into our city and county. We will continue to leverage our current value propositions like walkability, safety, convenience, and culture. And we will continue to work closely with our city and local partners to develop effective programs and initiatives to promote tourism and hospitality.

Our motto, “heads in beds,” continues to be a main priority. This past year, we saw gains in lodging compared to 2018. Overall hotel demand is up 3.9 percent and new supply (new hotels) was flat. Occupancy was also up 2.8 percent, while average daily rates remained flat. Group bookings continue to grow with a focus on multiyear contracts and filling need times in December through March.

Our hotel partners are working closely with the bureau staff to identify untapped markets and move business through the pipeline.

Our partnership with the Saratoga Springs City Center remains strong. We work together to book large conventions and events for all to benefit from. With the addition of the new parking facility, which will add 600 parking spaces, this project will help us remain competitive with other destinations for convention business, and it will provide ample parking for day visitors who come to Saratoga to shop and dine.

Considering our new racing schedule, our team is working diligently to identify and attract groups that will meet during the beginning of the week, when the track is closed. A few of our dark day marketing initiatives include group incentives and digital marketing like video, search engine optimization and online advertising.

Membership has reached an all-time high with over 500 members! We continue to show value to our members by bringing group business into our community, making our convention calendar easily accessible, and assisting with their marketing efforts.

In addition, events like Discover Saratoga’s annual Restaurant Week and Chowderfest maintain growth in participation and attendance.

Last year’s Chowderfest had a record breaking 96 vendors, 137,000 bowls of chowder served and thousands of loyal attendees!

Continued On Page 13

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 13

Economic Outlook 2020 Continued From Page 12 The Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center is critical to tourism serving 40,000 visitors annually who seek information, advice and education. Through guided walking and trolley tours, the Visitor Center has become an essential gateway for visitors who want to explore our city and all it has to offer. The Visitor Center has also received the coveted TripAdvisor’s certificate of Excellence award three years running, a testament to their success.

Although our mission is to drive group business, our passion remains in sharing Saratoga’s unique story. The future looks even more promising and rewarding.

BY PETE BARDUNIAS A year ago I observed that “organizations which successfully support our business communities in 2019 will be the ones which can effectively and tangibly integrate with and positively impact the individualized needs of community businesses both large and small.”

I am proud to say that my organization has lived up to that standard, and we are now exporting our brand of locally-focused-butregionally-aligned business practices throughout the Capital Region. The much heralded affiliation between the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County (CSSC) and the Capital Region Chamber (CRC) puts three large, formerly-independent business organizations (The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber, the Chamber of Schenectady County, and the CSSC) plus the former Malta Business and Professional Association under one organizational structure and leadership.

Some 2,900 area businesses totaling 160,000 employees are now united with a common purpose and resolve. One large chamber staff of 27 represents their needs and interests (24 full time, plus three at the Southern Saratoga Information Center at the Exit 9 Rest Area on the Northway).

The affiliation structure pioneered during the CRC’s formation in 2015 provided a framework that allowed for this unprecedented level of regional collaboration while keeping in place the ability of the affiliate chambers to maintain their responsiveness and connection to the local communities they serve.

This is being put to the test by the integration of the CSSC and its community-focused program of work, plus the hyper-local Malta BPA, which has been transformed into a steering committee of the CRC to further the cause of business in the Malta/Stillwater/Saratoga Lake area. The genius of this arrangement is demonstrated by the fact that the MBPA’s last president, Michael York of the Lofts at Saratoga Boulevard, now has a seat on the CRC board with an equal vote to Ron Sampson of GlobalFoundries. Big and small fit together at the Capital Region Chamber.

What does this mean for the business community north and south of the Bridges?

Access to amazing resources and a responsive staff for businesses of all sizes. Are you a small

Pete Bardunias, senior VP, community advancement, the Capital Region Chamber.

Courtesy Capital Region Chamber

business entrepreneur? Consider attending a Maximizing Your Membership session.

Comprehensive resources are available, from financing to technical assistance to marketing, continuing education and networking.

Larger businesses will see great benefits in the economies of scale of the combined operation, plus greater advocacy than ever before (the CRC boasts two registered lobbyists on staff) and the clout of being part of an organization with more members than the Business Council of New York State. Things people have come to expect from the CSSC such as the Waterford Canal Festival, the big tent at the Saratoga County Fair, the annual awards dinner in Clifton Park, plus favorite mixers at places like Curtis Lumber in Ballston Spa and McGreivey’s in Waterford, will be continued, as will support for the Chamber Angels holiday gift-giving charity.

For those used to seeing the CSSC operating in Clifton Park, we are still right there where we have always been. Joining myself and Project Manager Sheila Whinnery at 58 Clifton Country Road will be Marna Redding, vice president, member services, and her staff, which handles marketing, events, sponsorships and the Women’s Business Council. She is joined by Debbie Erck, director, signature events, and Taryn Farewell, marketing associate.

This means five employees will be based here in southern Saratoga County, though every member of the CRC staff is able to utilize any of their offices (Wolf Road, Schenectady, Clifton Park, the Southern Saratoga Information Center at the Exit 9 and CSSC’s Waterford Field Office) as necessary to carry out their mission. Heather Tifft, membership executive, has moved from the Clifton Park office to Schenectady, where membership recruitment and support is handled.

I readily admit I had my share of concerns going into this negotiation last year. As the last-ever CEO of the independent Chamber of Southern Saratoga County, which served its members well for nearly 53 years under that structure, I felt a tremendous burden to find a way to accommodate the concerns of our board that an independent, mid-sized chamber simply wasn’t relevant enough in today’s world to survive in the long term, while keeping the intimate, close

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relationship that our chamber has enjoyed with the local communities, especially Clifton Park and Halfmoon which have officially considered us their “official” chamber of commerce.

Fortunately the CRC is led by a strong visionary and competent executive, Mark Eagan, with whom we were able to forge a relationship that truly will, I believe, make the whole of the Capital Region Chamber in 2020 a lot more significant than the sum of its assembled parts that formerly operated independently.

For more information on the programs of the Capital Region Chamber please visit www. capitalregionchamber.com. Due to ongoing systems integration, additional info may be available at www.southernsaratoga.org in the interim.

BY DAVID KOPYC I’ve been fortunate to have been in the financial services business for over 35 years. I saw the Dow break 2000 for the first time and every major event since. Flash crash, internet melt down, financial crisis etc.

I’ve always resorted back to the individuals that I feel are the backbone and the individual financial pillars of our industry: Peter Lynch (Fidelity), Jack Bogle (Vanguard), Charles Schwab (Schwab Investments), and Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway).

If you remember about one year ago, the markets were in high anxiety and most of the wall street experts were predicting doom and gloom.

We were heading for a recession and the stock market was positioned for a major pullback. We are having an exceptional year in the markets and the same experts that were wrong about this year are pretty optimistic for 2020. As I’ve said many times to clients and to radio listeners, it’s “time in the market, not market timing.”

No one likes volatility and the stress that is associated with market corrections. Most individuals seem to think that financial advisors have a crystal ball of the future corrections to come in the financial markets. I can tell you that is not a consistent formula for success and occasionally an advisor makes a correct call and has success for a brief period of time.

Warren Buffet won $1 million bet from a hedge fund manager by simply placing his bet on an index fund, not an actively-managed portfolio. Remember, “time in the market, not market timing.” It has been proven time and time again that trying to pick the bottom and sell at the top is impossible. Buy and hold. Then, when you get a correction, it’s like the blue light special at Walmart—stocks are on sale. The Nasdaq is up over 500 percent from the financial crisis. How many individuals stayed the course, made those returns, and bought when everyone else was leaving?

Louis Rukeyser previously hosted a program on PBS called “Wall Street Week.” At the end of the year, they would make predictions for the future year ahead and take a review of what their expectations had been for the year that was coming to an end. Because I love to seek a challenge, I’m going to do my own version of this for a test of my own personal ability to predict the future outcome of the markets for 2020.

David Kopyc, president of Retirement Planning Group LLC in Saratoga Springs.

2019 was a year that most analysts expected low to moderate returns to stock portfolios.

If you go back and read their predictions, it was considered bullish to have success with a high single digit return on equities. Most bond analysts were not even close to their predictions for the net total return for a fixed income fund.

Remember, it’s “time in the market, not market timing.” All the individuals that went to cash in December of 2018 lost out on great returns.

We are currently sitting on $7 trillion in cash equivalents, and money market funds.

2020, I believe, will be a year of great caution for both equity and fixed income investors. Since 1952, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has averaged 10.1 percent when a sitting president runs for reelection. Wall Street does not like uncertainty, and they know what they have with the current president for economic policies.

But because these are unprecedented times, you throw in all the noise of impeachment, the disfunction of Washington, the extremely low interest rates we still have, and the multitude of other issues we are facing, you have to come up with a personal gut check.

This prediction is taking into consideration that we do not have a Black Swan event in 2020.

I personally believe that most individuals vote with their checkbook and how well they feel about their own personal security. We have a very robust economy with historically low unemployment and the help wanted signs are out wherever you go. I know that I spend a considerable amount of time digesting news and information, but my family who mostly are hard-working earners, find little or no interest in the recent clashes with Washington lawmakers and the media.

It’s my belief that we will continue this Bull Run and the mother’s milk of equities is increasing earnings that will deliver again in 2020. Strong earnings typically give us higher equity prices. A famous quote from Peter Lynch “the key to making money in stocks is not to be scared out of them”.

Find the correct asset allocation of stocks, bonds, and cash and stay fully invested and let “time in the market, not market timing” be your trusted friend.

14 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

Economic Outlook 2020 Continued From Page 13

BY DOUG FORD The construction industry, both nationally and locally, took on a variety challenges this past year, many of which will likely continue to have an impact in 2020.

Despite these difficulties, the industry did well overall. While there are favorable signs of continued growth in the industry, there are still fears in the marketplace that have caused some to proceed with caution.

The biggest single factor, without question, is the lack of skilled labor. This one issue is dramatically influencing how many homes will be physically built in 2020. The skilled labor shortage, combined with an aging workforce and the influx of inexperienced workers, are contributing to the challenges already existing within the industry.

In a national survey produced by Autodesk and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in 2019, 77 percent of construction firms in the Northeast report they are having difficulties filling hourly positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce. This gap has continued to grow in the past year. (The details of the survey are available at www.agc.org/sites/default/files/ WorkforceDevelopment_2019_National_Final. pdf) Much of this pain originates from the economic downturn a few years back when many long-term construction/trade workers did not have work, resulting in more than two million lost jobs.

Displaced workers were forced to look outside their field of expertise and many did not return to the construction industry.

Our current situation of an aging population, baby boomers retiring at a rapid pace and too few millennials entering into construction careers has produced a recipe for disaster.

The Saratoga Builders Association (SBA) formed a Task Force to tackle the problem on a local level.

The primary focus is to encourage young people to consider a career in the construction industry by bringing an awareness to the benefits. SBA developed the following programs for high school juniors and seniors, as a way for them to learn about the various career trades: • Local builders John Witt/Witt Construction Inc. and Matt Whitbeck/Whitbeck Construction LLC both did multiple 90-minute in-school presentations focusing on why they got into the construction business and their individual perspectives.

• A tour of Curtis Lumber headquarters in

Doug Ford, vice president, sales and marketing, Curtis Lumber.

Courtesy Curtis Lumber

Ballston Spa featured educational sessions on estimating, design, logistics, and marketing to name a few were conducted to further expose students to another aspect of the industry. Material suppliers play a critical role and are overlooked as a viable and lucrative career path for young adults entering the workforce.

• On-site job tours of homes in various stages of construction will be conducted in the spring to allow students the chance to experience a working job site. The builders, along with the various trades, will be present to answer questions and explain the role they fill.

Along with the labor shortage, the construction industry has one of the highest rates of substance abuse and substance use disorders compared to other industries in the U.S., as noted in an article published by Confirm Biosciences. Among construction workers 18 to 49 years old, more than 21 percent were reported to have used illicit drugs during the past year. Financial losses due to alcohol and drug abuse may reach billions of dollars.

This situation will not improve in 2020, based on recent statistics. The pending legislation to legalize marijuana will continue to present challenges for the construction industry for obvious reasons.

Another challenge for the construction industry has been the volatility in building material costs.

Products such as steel have become particularly problematic due to the political pressures levied on the tariff costs. Lumber and other commodity products have been a challenge for both builders and suppliers due to the dispute between Canadian and U.S. lumber companies and the problems arising from the differences in their respective forestry management principles.

In addition to the labor gaps and pricing

Card Catalog

pressures, other factors that have caused trepidation within the industry include political and regulatory uncertainty, national economic uncertainty, succession planning, immigration employment protocol, and rapid technology advancements.

Despite all of the challenges noted, the bottom line is that the construction market continues to experience solid results, both nationally and locally, and this will continue into 2020.

New construction will likely decline but remodeling will remain strong and continues to grow. Historically the Capital Region out performs other regions of the state and should continue to do so. The backlog for most contractors remains high, but a stable economy, improved international relationships and, most importantly, finding workers will drive the success in 2020.

STEPHEN KYNE, CFP As we roll into 2020, we have ushered in another decade. We’ve just lived through a decade of economic expansion, and are still in the middle of the longest bull run in history, with no clear end in sight. All of the fear mongering and doom-and-gloom predictions since the recession, a decade ago, have been wrong. The sky has not fallen, and the future still looks promising.

In the last 10 years, the S&P index (a frequently quoted index comprised of 500 commonly held U.S. stocks), has increased 190 percent. Just this year, the index is up about 30 percent. While a third of this year’s gains were a recovery from the correction at the end of 2018, the markets still continue to reward those with the discipline to stay appropriately invested.

Technology and capitalism are amazingly transformative forces, and when working together, they produce astounding results on a global scale. Consider that 100 years ago, 80 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. In the year 2000, 20 percent did, and that number has since been halved.

The last 100 years has seen the rise of America as a global force, spreading and protecting capitalism and democracy around the world, and creating an environment where innovation and entrepreneurship are rewarded.

Technological advances in communications, travel, logistics, heath care, shipping, agriculture, chemistry, energy and in every other part of the economy have freed billions from the shackles of extreme poverty.

Famine is largely a thing of the past. Global inequality has fallen dramatically as Asia and Africa are experiencing faster economic growth than Europe and North America.

For all the talk about an environment on the brink, technology is solving that problem as well and allowing us to do much more with much less, every day. Consider that the computing power in your smart phone would have cost millions of dollars just twenty years ago, and would never have fit in your pocket. Today one device replaces cameras, camcorders, flashlights, atlases, watches, calendars, CD players, newspapers, a stack of board games, and virtually anything else someone with a little ingenuity can dream of.

Twenty years ago, the U.S. was the world’s largest energy beggar, and today we are the

Stephen Kyne, CFP, partner at Sterling Manor Financial LLC in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy Sterling Manor Financial LLC

largest producer of energy in the world, and we owe this to technological advances in fracking.

As natural gas continues to replace coal in the production of power in the U.S., we’ve seen CO2 production plummet since 2005, with per capital levels at their lowest since 1950.

This is absolutely astounding when you consider how much the economy has grown over the same time period.

Yes, sometimes bad things happen, but that doesn’t mean the world isn’t getting better.

We’re going into an election year, so remember to tune out the noise. Both sides need to convince you that they are the only ones with the answers.

Neither is right.

As we turn to the future, we think technology continues to lead the way, as long as governments allow innovators to do what they do best.

Unemployment is functionally zero, with rates among African Americans and Latinos at historic lows. There are only two ways to grow your economy when you’ve exhausted your supply of workers; immigration and technology.

Since immigration is likely to continue to be a political football, that leaves technological innovation as the primary driver for increasing worker productivity.

In addition, wage growth continues to outpace inflation, especially for the poorest among us, which means consumers have more real dollars to spend.

In the coming year, we expect more economic growth for the U.S., and another positive year for the stock markets. We think 10-15 percent growth in the S&P is likely, although the markets will experience their normal swings.

U.S. government policies continue to be accommodative to growth in this country, as long as tax cuts remain in force, regulations remain as their current levels, and interest rates continue to be appropriate. Barring a sweep of both houses of Congress and the White House by the Democrats, we expect this will be the case.

As always our forecast contains forwardlooking statements which may be revised at any time. Stay focused on fundamentals in the coming year, and work closely with your financial advisor to help ensure your investments remain appropriate for your needs and market conditions.

Washington County New Business Registrations DECEMBER

Richard Kessinger Owner

P.O. Box 187 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

(518) 944-0359

saratogalawnmaintenance@gmail.com

JMS Exteriors 11 River St. Granville, NY 12832

196 Bottle Return 1125 State Route 196 Hudson Falls, NY 12839

To and From Services 7A West St. Hudson Falls, NY 12839

Out of the Box Child Care 734 County Route 41 Hudson Falls, NY 12839

Farm Fresh Fitness 672 North Grimes Hill Rd. Granville, NY 12832

A Pleasant View Remodeling 10 Washington St. Granville, NY 12832

Party Poopers Portable Restrooms 1601 County Route 23 Granville, NY 12832

The Legal Forest 20 Baker Rd. Whitehall, NY 12887

JSeeley Masonry 28 Oak St. Hudson Falls, NY 12839

Shepherds Run Farm 232 McDougal Rd. Hartford, NY 12838

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 15

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

SPECIAL SECTION

Health & Fitness

Local Couple Helps Kids Learn Field Hockey, Dr. Tan Selected As Director Of Pathology Stay Fit, Move On To Top Quality Programs And Lab Medicine At Saratoga Hospital

BY CHRISTINE GRAF By offering year-round opportunities for athletes in grades 3 through 12 to train and compete, ADK Field Hockey LLC in Round Lake, is growing the sport of field hockey in the Capital Region and beyond.

Owners Phil and Jen Sykes of Round Lake have been involved in the business for more than 10 years.

The club started with just 14 players but grew rapidly due to positive word of mouth.

“People started hearing about the club and then it doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. It just kept growing and growing,” said Phil Sykes. “We now have more than 250 players.”

Both Jen and Phil Sykes developed a love for field hockey when they were young. Jen is from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the home of the USA women’s field hockey team and one of the country’s epicenters for the sport.

“In Lancaster, you grow up playing field hockey,” she said.

A college All-American in both field hockey and lacrosse, she earned a degree in health and physical education from East Stroudsburg University and a M.S. in education from Canisius College. She has coached at both the high school and college level and is currently a teacher and head field hockey coach at Guilderland High School.

Phil Sykes was attending middle school in California when the U.S. men’s national team coach at the time, Gavin Featherstone, moved to his town. Featherstone set out to grow field hockey in California and recruited thousands of boys from schools throughout the state. Sykes started as a teenager.

When Sykes was 22, he was invited to join the field hockey residency program at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego.

Sykes made the final cut and was one of just 16 selected to play on the U.S. men’s national team. He and his teammates competed in tournaments and matches in 20 different countries and took home the bronze medal from the 1995 Pan American games in Argentina. In 1996, the team competed in the Olympics in Atlanta.

After competing at the national level, Sykes earned a degree in kinesiology from California State University, Hayward. He relocated to the northeast and coached at Towson University and Cornell before being named head women’s field hockey coach at University of Albany in 2004. During his 16 seasons as head coach, the team has won six America East Conference Championships and received six NCAA bids.

According to Phil Sykes, the duo decided to coach field hockey at the club level because they shared a desire to give back to the sport they both love so much.

“We both had significant coaches in our own lives, so the idea of giving back was important to us,” he said.

Field hockey is the world’s third most popular sport, but when ADK Field Hockey was established in 2010, it was experiencing a marked decline in the

Jen and Phil Sykes operate ADK Field Hockey LLC in Round Lake. ©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

area.

“Field hockey was dying out. The numbers were down,” said Jen Sykes. “Before we started the club, not a lot of kids were going on to play in college. Now, every year, we have kids playing at the Division 1, II and III levels. We have had at least 139 collegiate players that have come out of our club. We also have at least 15 or 20 former players who are now coaching at the college level.”

Field hockey has experienced a surge in popularity in the Capital Region in recent years, and the Sykes’ believe ADK Field Hockey has helped make that happen. It is something they are both very proud of.

“When we started, for most kids, field hockey was their second sport, if not their third sport. Now I think it is one of the more popular sports in area because of the success and the enjoyment players have from our club,” said Phil Sykes. “ ADK Field Hockey also formed the Wicked Smart League, a competitive league that takes place during the summer. The league gives ADK players the opportunity to compete against the best players from around the state.

The Sykes admit that managing their club team is a challenging due to their full-time teaching and coaching schedules. They rely on a team of dedicated Division I coaches to assist with coaching responsibilities.

“Finding the time and energy to run the club is a challenge, but it’s fun and rewarding because we get to see these kids grow and evolve. Ultimately, a huge majority—more than 90 percent—play in college, and we get to see them continue on.”

“Our motto is ‘Be One, Teach One, Reach One’.

We believe in providing an opportunity for every kid who loves field hockey to be a player, teach a player, reach a player,” he said. “Our ultimate goal with this is to create fun within our sport, and to help players get better, find enjoyment, and play the sport for life if possible.”

For more information, visit adkfieldhockey.net or email adkfieldhockeyclub@gmail.com.

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Dr. Josenia Tan has been named medical director of pathology and laboratory medicine at Saratoga Hospital. She was also elected chair of the department at the hospital by the Saratoga Hospital medical staff. Dr. Joy Tan Tan came to Saratoga Hospital in 2018 as assistant medical director of pathology and laboratory medicine. Previously, she was an assistant professor and associate chief of laboratory medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center.

She heads a team of three anatomic and clinical pathologists. All are members of the faculty in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Albany Med. All also are on the Saratoga Hospital medical staff, assigned full time—and exclusively—to Saratoga Hospital.

“This arrangement is yet another example of the benefits of our affiliation with Albany Med,” said Dr. Richard Falivena, vice president and chief medical and physician integration officer at Saratoga Hospital. “We have the same experienced team in place, providing the same high-quality pathology services—and we have access to an increased breadth of expertise across the Albany Med system.”

The Saratoga Hospital pathologists can now more easily consult on difficult cases with their department colleagues at Albany Med. In addition, their faculty colleagues at Albany Med are available to provide coverage at Saratoga

Dr. Josenia Tan, director of pathology and laboratory medicine at Saratoga Hospital.

Courtesy Saratoga Hospital

Hospital, if necessary.

Tan earned a medical degree from Far Eastern University Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation in the Philippines. She then completed a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and a fellowship in cytopathology, all at Boston University School of Medicine. Tan is board certified in both anatomic and clinical pathology and has subspecialty certification in cytopathology.

16 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

Hospital Clinical Nutrition Manager Co- Owner Of Concord Pools And Spas Will Authors Diabetes Case Management Article Build A New Storage Facility In Latham Ongoing peer support can have a positive impact on the emotional and physical health of people with diabetes and, whenever possible, should be integrated into diabetes care.

That’s among the recommendations presented in a “Perspectives in Practice” article co-authored by Saratoga Hospital’s Lisa Hodgson and published in the December 2019 issue of The Diabetes Educator.

The peer-reviewed bimonthly journal focuses on the science and art of diabetes management.

A national leader in diabetes self-management education and support, Hodgson is the clinical nutrition manager at Saratoga Hospital, a registered dietitian, certified dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes educator. She is the second of eight coauthors of “From the American Association of Diabetes Educators: The Role and Value of Ongoing and Peer Support in Diabetes Care and Education.”

As clinical nutrition manager at Saratoga Hospital, Hodgson oversees a team of 20 nutritional professionals who work with patients in primary care and endocrinology practices, Saratoga Community Health Center, Saratoga Bariatric Surgery Center and other hospital locations. She also serves on the Saratoga County Prediabetes Coalition and on the board of directors of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

The article reports the findings of a national survey of accredited diabetes self-management education and support programs and emphasizes the vital role of support—from peers, healthcare providers, family and friends and community leaders—in helping those with diabetes meet the challenges of managing their chronic health condition.

The article has implications for diabetes educators and other healthcare professionals who work with the more than 20 million Americans who have been diagnosed with diabetes. In addition, although the article focuses on diabetes care, many of the recommendations could benefit people with other chronic conditions.

“One of the most significant messages is the importance of including support strategies for anyone who is living with a chronic disease,”

Lisa Hodgson is the clinical nutrition manager at Saratoga Hospital.

Courtesy Saratoga Hospital

Hodgson said. “The longer the duration, the more an individual will need support and the more likely the nature of that support will change over time.”

The best way to understand and meet the needs of those with diabetes “is to listen to the people who are living the experience day to day,” Hodgson added.

As part of her research, Hodgson reviewed social media sites and participated in and moderated online chat sessions for people with diabetes. Those interactions have shaped her perspective and practice.

“I’ve become an even stronger advocate for making sure we include ongoing support as part of our programs at Saratoga Hospital,” Hodgson said.

She also advocates for mutual respect between the peer support community and healthcare providers. “Both groups bring enormous value and can do even more if we stay focused on our common goal of supporting the individuals who are living each day with the challenge of managing diabetes,” Hodgson said.

Find all the stories from this issue as well as stories from previous issues on our website.

BY RACHEL PHILLIPS Concord Pools and Spas owner and president Michael Giovanone recently received final approval to open his fourth Boat N RV Condos storage center.

The business also has facilities on Saratoga Lake and Queensbury.

The new storage facility will be located near Northway Exit 7 on Old Sparrowbush Road in Latham, across the street from the current Concord Pools and Spas headquarters. While the other storage centers also house boats, RVs, motor homes and even exotic cars, the new facility will also be a contractor storage condo.

The facility will be for tradesmen, such as electricians and plumbers, located anywhere from the Adirondacks to Albany, who are looking to store their equipment, trucks or supplies.

“The price of the units will save the tradesmen the price of gas, wear and tear,” he said. “What we’re selling is a product that will save you time and money.”

The new center will have 17 units in total, each 14x40 and 16 feet high.

Giovanone started offering storage services a decade ago, when his plans to build 32 townhomes in Saratoga Lake were put on hold due to a multiyear moratorium the town put on the sewers. After seeing all the people driving through the area towing boats and RVs, he saw a demand for boat and RV storage in the area. Since then, he has also opened a second facility on Saratoga Lake, as well as his largest one near Exit 18 in Queensbury.

The new location will have temperaturecontrolled units and video surveillance that clients can view from their computers

•

This is a rendering of the new Boat N RV Condos storage center to be built in Latham.

Courtesy Concord Pools and Spas

at home. Because of the specialized nature of the new facility, it will be smaller than the others, at about 11,000 square feet.

The one-acre lot is currently vacant, and Giovanone plans to break ground in April, with an estimated finish date in July. British American Construction of Latham will do the work.

“We are 30 seconds to the Northway, Route 2, Route 7, Route 9, the Thruway—right on the hub of all the intersections,” said Giovanone.

“I have all anticipation that it will be fully leased before we get it done.”

He said pricing for the units will start around $400 a month. For information, visit boatnrvcondos.com, or call (518) 944-7701.

Business Briefs

For the 14th consecutive year, the Skidmore College community has come together to assist local residents and families through the Skidmore Cares community service program.

This year, Skidmore faculty, staff and families raised more than $14,000, and donated more than 6,000 food items and nearly 1,000 school supplies and personal care items — setting Skidmore Cares fundraising and food collection records — for Saratoga County community organizations.

Founded in 2006 by Skidmore President Philip A. Glotzbach and his wife, Marie Glotzbach, the program has gathered more than $122,000 in monetary gifts and 45,000 food items, school supplies and personal care items over the years.

* * * The Saratoga County Fair received an Award of Excellence in the Hall of Honor Communications contest at the 129th annual International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) convention.

The awards were presented during the final

•

general session on Dec. 4. The Hall of Honor Communications contest received 889 entries, showcasing a vast array of promotional tactics used at fairs across the world. Communication awards are sponsored by K&K Insurance, headquartered in Indiana.

The 21 categories within the communication awards are divided into five divisions by fair attendance. After submission, entries are judged based upon predetermined criteria set forth

by IAFE committees. Judges include industry professionals both within, and outside of, the IAFE membership.

IAFE, based in Springfield, Mo., is a voluntary, nonprofit corporation, serving state, provincial, regional, and county agricultural fairs, shows, exhibitions, and expositions. Its associate members include state and provincial associations of fairs, non-agricultural expositions and festivals, associations, corporations, and individuals engaged in providing products and services to its members, all of whom are interested in the improvement of fairs, shows, expositions and allied fields.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 17

REDC Program

Chamber Board Chairman

Continued From Page 1

Continued From Page 1

officials said. Established in 2011 as a centerpiece of a strategy to jump-start the economy and create jobs, the Regional Councils replaced the state’s old topdown approach with one that is community-based and performance-driven.

In 2019, all 10 REDCs competed for up to $150 million in capital funds and $75 million in Excelsior Tax Credits for projects identified by the Regional Councils as priorities in their regions.

The Regional Council priorities this year included working with local businesses and communities to identify childcare needs and develop potential solutions; developing an economic and environmental justice strategy for the region; supporting community investment in place-making and downtown revitalization; and supporting the state’s $175 million Workforce Development Initiative. Each council was asked to address these items in ways that complement each regional vision.

Other projects in Saratoga County include: • King Brothers Dairy LLC in Schuylerville, $250,000 for a yogurt manufacturing and cold storage facility. The company will expand its processing capacity to add a production line that will produce premium yogurt.

The expansion will include additional processing space, a cold storage unit, and a renovation of part of the barns which house dairy cattle to accommodate the processing expansion. And $225,000 for the dairy to expand its processing capacity to add a production line that will produce premium yogurt.

The expansion will include additional processing space, a cold storage unit, and a renovation of part of the barns which house dairy cattle to accommodate the processing expansion.

• Saratoga Senior Citizens Center of Saratoga Springs Inc., $25,000 for a feasibility study to explore the needs of seniors, adult day programs, intergenerational programming including day care as well as commercial/convertible space needed in Saratoga Springs.

• Town of Clifton Park will get $278,271 to construct a 10-foot wide, half-mile, multi-use trail for bicycle and pedestrian travel on the south side of Hubbs Road to the hamlet of Jonesville.

• A $150,000 grant to Clifton Park for its Clute’s Dry Dock Pedestrian Bridge project. It will expand public access for residents and tourists to the newly restored Erie Canal Community Connector Trail

and connect the north and south sides of the canal, while preserving remnants of the original stone bridge abutments.

The Erie Canal Community Connector Trail is a regional trail that connects the towns of Clifton Park to Halfmoon under the Northway, within the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve. The bridge will provide access for both pedestrians and emergency trail vehicles crossing the Erie Canal Prism to the historic 1825 Erie Canal Towpath.

• A grant of $241,000 to the town of Halfmoon to build a multi-use Erie Canal towpath Link to fill the final gap in the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway, enhancing the Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor.

• A grant of $37,500 to the town of Malta for its Strategic Infrastructure Plan that will develop strategies for the extension of existing water and sewer infrastructure to support economic investment.

• Town of Stillwater Saratoga Lake Water, a $45,000 grant for to prepare a water quality study to identify sources of excess nutrients and sediment entering Saratoga Lake and identify site-specific improvements to address sources. The project will build upon the Saratoga Lake/Route 9P Waterfront Revitalization Plan by using GIS mapping, site visits, and stormwater modeling to identify and prioritize the highest-impact stormwater mitigation and prevention practices.

• Town of Stillwater, a $30,000 grant to complete a green infrastructure engineering feasibility study for the Saratoga Lake Watershed. The goal of the project is to reduce and treat stormwater runoff and improve water quality in the lake.

• Village of Corinth, a $729,000 grant to reline the existing sewer lines and manholes on West Maple, Maple, Gurney, and Winslow streets within the village.

• A $48,750 grant to the Village of Schuylerville to develop a master plan for Fort Hardy Park along the Hudson River. The plan will advance revitalization goals in the Old Saratoga Waterfront Plan by identifying proposed improvements for the park that promote waterfront access and connections to the Champlain Canalway and Empire State Trails.

• The Village of South Glens Falls gets $919,560 to replace deteriorated water main, valves, and hydrants and re-line or replace the existing sewer mains on two residential streets.

Personnel Briefs Continued From Page 2 Two local business people were among 13 honored by the SBA Syracuse District Office upon graduating from the Capital Region Emerging Leaders program.

Nick Patterson of Dig Deep Chiropractic & Massage in Clifton Park and David Sowinski of Miss Steel LLC in Mechanicville were among the graduates.

The SBA program is made possible through support from local partners including the Albany Small Business Development Center, Arsenal Business & Tech Partnership, Capital Region Chamber, New York

Business Development Corporation, and Northeast NY SCORE Chapter.

Emerging Leaders provides free entrepreneurship education and training for executives of small, poised-for-growth companies that are potential job creators. The executive entrepreneurship series includes nearly 100 hours of classroom time. It also provides opportunities for small business owners to work with experienced coaches and mentors, attend workshops, and develop connections with their peers, local leaders, and the financial community.

“During Theresa Agresta’s tenure, the Chamber established the Saratoga County Institute for Management, a Small Business Owners Council and built a new Field House to help US Navy Sailors stationed in Saratoga,” said Hedley.

“Looking forward to 2020, we’re partnering with area cultural attractions, led by SPAC, Skidmore College, Caffe Lena, and UPH to conduct a marketing campaign to promote Saratoga’s world-class arts community. We’re working with CDTA on a micro-transit program to provide a new public transportation option for employees looking to work in Clifton Park, Halfmoon and Mechanicville. It’s going to be another exciting and productive year for the Saratoga County Chamber in our efforts to expand Saratoga County’s economy.”

The Chamber will also will also celebrate the its leading role in building a new 7,700-square-foot field house to provide a safe and secure place for local Navy personnel and their families to learn, recreate, drill and graduate as well as kick-off our Leap of Kindness Day 2020.

Other members elected to the board include: Laurie Kelley of GlobalFoundries, Theresa Skaine of Skaine Associates, John Bove of Bove Fuels, Paul Loomis of Gilbane Construction, Martin Mbugua of Skidmore College, Alexandra Gutelius of the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library and Tom Bellhouse of West Point Thoroughbreds. They will serve three-year terms, running until Dec. 31, 2022, Two members appointed to serve oneyear terms on the board are Melissa Ward of NewWard Development and Randy Metevier of Applied Materials.

Cost of the dinner is $125 and sponsorship starts at $750. Registration deadline is Friday, Jan. 17, at 4 p.m. For more information or to register, contact Keith VanVeghten at kvanveghten@saratoga.org or (518) 584-3255.

Join us Saturday, January 25, 2020 for the

Glen Lake Ice Fishing Tournament 7th Annual David Cunniff

in Memory of Tim Pratt & David Cunniff To raise donations for the NYS Troopers PBA Signal 30 Fund, Cure SMA (Research Programs) & South High Marathon Dance

PRE-REGISTRATION AT THE DOCKSIDER ONLY

Entry Fee:

$

Card Catalog

20

Pre-Registration

$

25

Day of Event

Registration at 5:30am

at The Docksider Restaurant Your ticket from registration will be good for Lunch & Prizes.

This event is open to all ages.

Fishing for children (under 15) must be supervised by an adult!

The proceeds will go to the fund and will include the Chili Buffet/ Lunch at Noon, post tournament awards ceremony at 12:15pm.

EVENT WILL HAPPEN SNOW, RAIN OR SHINE! Please fish at your own risk and under safe conditions at all times.

Categories: • Fish Weigh In at Noon PICKEREL (Adult & Youth Prizes) PERCH (Adult & Youth Prizes) • Post Tournament RAINBOW TROUT (General) Prizes for the longest fish in each category. Tie breaker will be the weight.

Awards Ceremony Organized By: at 12:15pm

Prizes given out randomly

• Chili Buffet/Lunch

&

Glen Lake

298 Glen Lake Rd. • (518) 792-3534 docksiderrestaurant.com

18 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

WestWind Ag Farm In Moreau Makes Plans To Build, Operate Craft Brewery, Taproom

2009 ~ 2010 ~ 2011 ~ 2012 ~ 2013 ~ 2014 ~ 2015 ~ 2016 ~ 2017 ~ 2018 ~ 2019

Happy New Year 2020 Best Wishes to Our Customers and Friends.

We thank you for your support and look forward to serving you in the new year!

Tucked away in the village of Round Lake, Lake Ridge is less than 15 minutes from both Albany and Saratoga Springs, just a half mile from the Northway and even less from route 9. Lake Ridge is a fine dining restaurant with excellent food, great service and an inviting ambiance, featuring three dining rooms and a mahogany bar.

Groups can have lunch in the bright and sunny Saratoga room. Or for a business luncheon choose the more private green room. Chef Scott Ringwood’s lunch menu offers a wide variety of entrees, salads, sandwiches and burgers.

Lake Ridge is perfect for dinner, whether it is enjoying an entrée favorite or something on the expanded small plate menu. The new American cuisine consists of the freshest seafood, great steaks including prime, veal, pastas and a great selection of daily specials.

At Lake Ridge there is an extensive wine menu to accompany any meal along with a large beer selection and a full bar. Martinis and specialty drinks are plentiful. The Lake Ridge bar is stocked with an abundant supply of over 30 scotches and 20 bourbons.

Lunch is served Tuesday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served Tuesday through Sunday starting at 4:30 p.m. The bar is open daily from 11:30am until close.

One needn’t have a passport to enter Boca Bistro at 384 Broadway in the heart of Saratoga Springs, despite the authenticity of its Spanish décor.

From the tapas to the churros, Boca Bistro provides guests with an unforgettable dining experience that is rich in Mediterranean flavor. A hand-carved wooden door, 200-year-old red brick walls and cop-

per ceiling panels are all part of a mosaic that blends earthen and distressed textures with stylistic accents.

Boca Bistro’s main menu, created by Executive Chef Rosalyn Zecchini, is divided into three sections: Tapas, Dinners and Desserts. Foods prepared in small bite form at prices ranging from $5 to $12 consist of three main categories: Costas De Picar (eaten with hands, such as olives), Pinchos (requiring the use of a utensil, such as rice) and Cazuelas (served in a sauce, such as meatballs).

The dinner menu draws attention to the “ancestry, tradition and humble origins” of Old World Spanish dishes that were typically the result of ingredients put together by peasants, farmers or shepherd families, with products from their own fields and orchards.

Dinner items range from $6 to $22.

Traditional sweet Spanish desserts – some influenced by the Moors, others from recipes that can be traced back to centuries-old nunneries – are priced at $6 to $7.

Boca Bistro opens for dinner at 5 p.m. daily. A Happy Hour that includes a specially selected tapas menu takes place daily from 3 to 6 p.m. Tel. 682-2800; www.bocabistro.com.

The moment you enter Osteria Danny’s at 26 Henry Street, you feel as if you’ve stepped into an authentic Neapolitan eatery, complete with friendly chattering diners, waiters carrying plates of lusciously prepared, but still down to earth food, and wine glasses filled with full-bodied reds and crisp Italian whites.

This cozy restaurant isn’t the first time around the block for owners Danny and Cathy Petrofina. The

BY CHRISTINE GRAF The owners of WestWind Ag are seeking approval to open Z-Farm Brewery, a craft brewery and taproom, on their 308-acre farm on Old West Road in Moreau.

The brewery would be located in an existing building on the property that would undergo extensive renovation.

According to WestWind Ag’s Rachel McDermott, “The plan is to take some areas of the farm that we can’t put into crops and make some income on that area of the farm so that we can preserve it.”

In 2016, McDermott left her career as an investment banker in New York City to join the family business. She graduated from Cornell University in 2008 with a degree in applied economics and management.

“I was raised on the farm,” she said. “I always had a desire to be closer to my roots.”

McDermott’s father, James Czub, and uncle, Robert Czub, established WestWind Ag in 1983. The business has grown steadily over the years, and the brothers now farm more than 1,500 acres of land and have six employees. The majority of their 1,500-plus acres of farmland is leased. The Moreau property, a former dairy farm, was purchased in 2016.

Since joining the business, McDermott has focused on diversifying operations. Under her leadership, WestWind Ag invested in soybean processing equipment. As a result, they are now able to extrude their soybeans into oil and meal. The farm’s planting operations have also been expanded to include brewers and distillers grains.

“We’ve spent the last three decades growing crops. We’ve spent the last three or four years investing in the research and development side of specialty crops like malting barley and distillers grains, and now we want to vertically integrate that process and create a destination for these craft beverages where we can grow them on site and create this flavor of our area,” she said. “It’s a sustainable agricultural model, and it’s meant to drive income from the farm from the ground up—you could say from the ground to your glass. Over time, as we continue to invest in the property, we hope to grow up to 100 percent of our ingredients on the farm and brew all of the different seasonal beers on site.”

If the project is approved, brew master Christian Ryan will oversee the brewing operation. Ryan has worked as head brewer at several establishments, including Crossroads Brewing in Catskill.

“The farm is managing the agronomy in connection with the brewer who is making the finished product,” said McDermott. “It’s a partnership. Christian is very qualified. This isn’t a home brewer kind of thing. We want to make this work. We want to take everything we’ve learned and everything we’ve worked for over the last 30 years and apply it to something with more value.”

Some neighboring property owners have expressed concern over potential soil and water contamination.

“We’ve tried our best to abate the concerns

by the local residents,” said McDermott.

“We’ve done extensive studies on our wells and our waters.”

WestWind Ag hired engineering firm C.T. Male & Associates to perform the well and water studies. Engineers determined that the soil is more than adequate for the on-site wastewater disposal and drainage system.

McDermott will be relying on the farm’s water supply for her own family. She and her husband are remodeling the farmhouse on the property and will live there with the baby they are expecting in April WestWind Ag hopes to receive approval for the project at the town’s Jan. 27 planning board meeting. According to McDermott, she has responded to all of the planning board’s requests for additional information and has also provided them with a letter from the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

“This is a Right to Farm town, and Ag and Markets has provided a letter to the town saying that this is a farm use and that it is protected under our Ag and Markets laws,” said McDermott.

McDermott said there have also been misconceptions about the concept of the craft brewery itself.

“Many people don’t quite understand what a craft brewery is and the culture behind it and the art and the chemistry that goes into the whole process. We’re not running a bar in downtown Saratoga open until 4 a.m. This is more like something you would see in the Finger Lakes where there are farm wineries and farm breweries and farm distilleries,” she said. “It’s about someone coming and having a beer or two and leaving with a four pack and some T-shirts.”

McDermott plans to file for licensing with the state Liquor Authority, put a down payment on brewing equipment, and apply for a building permit. Site work will include renovating the existing farm building and installing a deck and a driveway.

“We will hit the ground running,” she said.

“We’re shooting to be finished by mid-July but realistically, it will probably be closer to the fall.”

always crowded tables and booths are a sure sign of their ongoing popularity as a “must dine” on your list of restaurants in Saratoga Springs.

Its rustic yet urbane ambience, punctuated by warm yellow walls and their signature oversized chalk board menu give diners a glimpse of what is in store for their palettes.

The term, “osteria” (Italian pronunciation: [osteria]) refers to places that serve mainly wine and simple food. The menus are typically short and they focus on offering local specialties, which is why the name of this restaurant makes perfect sense. Chef Danny Petrosino has been using local products for his entire culinary career.

With a wood-fired oven imported from Italy, Petrisoino prepares a number of dishes besides pizzas, including one of chef’s favorites, a vegetable terrine, which is an assortment of grilled vegetables layered in a pan and cooked in the oven. It is then served sliced like a bread.

Small plates include “the eggplant,” stacked with layers of fresh, locally sourced ingredients and oozing with cheesy goodness. Or, try the “bada bing” shrimp plate served in buttery garlic and basil. There is no shortage of variety for pasta lovers either. It’s hard to go wrong with the mezza rigatoni Bolognese or the spaghetti Lucia, with roasted red tomatoes and

mushrooms, garlic and fresh basil.

For larger appetites, there’s no shortage of variety there either. Try the chianti-braised boneless short rib, lobster shrimp ravioli or the seared sea scallops.

The chicken and duck dishes on the menu are also two big favorites.

Osteria Danny also serves a variety of veal dishes, chops, and steaks from local sources, including Edelweiss Veal Company in Albany, who supplies the restaurant with dry-aged beef.

In addition to the regular menu items, Osteria Danny features daily specials, which always take advantage of the freshest local vegetables from nearby farms.

And, leave room for dessert. It will be hard to choose from the gelato, tartufo or the creamydelicious coconut cream pie.

Osteria Danny offers an assortment of seating options, with booths as well as tables, and a ten-foot long communal high top table located near the bar.

There is also a large banquette in the rear to serve larger parties. And, if all those are taken, dining at the bar with friendly neighbors is a great way to soak up the festive and lively atmosphere.

Osteria Danny is open seven days a week at 4pm. Reservations are required if you need to book an earlier time.

This old farm building on the WestWind Ag property could become a craft brewery.

Courtesy WestWind Ag

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020 • 19

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2 North Circular Street, Saratoga Springs $930,000 Steps from North Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs, this historic 2-story brick home underwent a gut renovation in 2016. Lovingly cared for, lightly lived in and beautifully restored, now featuring wide-plank wood floors, spacious rooms w/ high ceilings, spectacular natural light, w/ a modern granite & subway-tiled eat-in kitchen, 1st floor laundry / pantry, mudroom, half bath, LR w/ wood fp, formal DR, sun room, dbl stairs, covered porch & stone patio. Fabulous master suite w/ dual vanities, sep. shower / tub, walk-in closet, plus 3 add’l guest bedrooms & a 2nd full bath.

Adding to the value is a legal separate dwelling w/ access off Catherine St. This adorable cottage needs a little TLC and will be sold as-is. Would make a nice in-law or rental. Main house has room for a 2-car garage.

Listing Agent: Mara King 518.527.4003 | marakingrr@gmail.com

20 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JANUARY 2020

Rochester-Based Company Purchases Aztech Walt & Whitman Brewpub and Cafe Technologies; All 30 Employees Will Stay On Opens In The Former Saratogian Building

This is one of the drill rigs used by Aztech Technologies in Ballston Spa. The company was purchased

by LaBella Associates. It will continue its operation with all 30 employees.

LaBella Associates, a multi-discipline design firm, has completed the acquisition of Aztech Technologies in Ballston Spa. Through the deal, LaBella Associates, headquartered in Rochester, expands its umbrella of environmental engineering services to include environmental contracting, such as drilling, excavation and remedial design and construction.

It also augments LaBella’s team with experienced engineers, geologists, drillers, installers and operators, while adding a fleet of construction equipment to its resources.

“Part of our growth strategy has been to identify gaps in our services expertise and find the right partners to help fill them,” said Rob Pepe, chief financial officer, LaBella Associates. “The Aztech team’s environmental contracting experience and technical expertise is unparalled and we look forward to working together to provide the highest quality of client service through all phases of environmental projects.”

Under the leadership of founding co-owners Mary Passaretti and Fil L. Fina III, Aztech Technologies has grown from a small five-person firm to a full-service environmental firm of engineers, geologists, scientists, hydrogeologists, drillers and technical field professionals.

Known for its ability to provide cost effective

Courtesy Aztech Technologies

solutions to complex environmental problems, Aztech clients will now benefit from additional services under the LaBella brand, such as wetlands, urban redevelopment, and solid waste services, company officials said.

“Clearly there is a lot of synergy in our engineering and environmental services, but we found that culturally we also are closely aligned with LaBella, sharing the same commitment to the environment, along with a passion for our people, communities and clients,” said Fina. “We are excited to join forces to provide a broader spectrum of expertise to our clients throughout the Capital Region and beyond.”

LaBella has two offices in Delmar. Aztech Technologies’ Ballston Spa location is its third in the Capital Region.

All 30 Aztech Technologies employees will remain with the company, which will operate as Aztech Environmental Technologies, a LaBella Company. Fina will continue to lead the location.

Passaretti is retiring after nearly 30 years in the industry.

LaBella has grown from its initial entrepreneurial roots in 1978 to a full-service firm with more than 800 employees across more than 20 offices. For more information visit www.labellapc.com.

Aztech Environmental Technologies was founded in 1995.

Walt & Whitman staff: chef Brandon Schatko, rear, and, from left, owner Will Crager, cafe manager Ellen Reidy, operations manager Shawna Jenks and brewery director Keegan Dombrowsky.

BY ANDREA PALMER Coffee, beer, food and ambiance. Those are the primary offerings of the new brewhouse located at 20 Lake Ave. in downtown Saratoga Springs, the former Saratogian newspaper building.

“I like to say that at the center of our mission and our culture is the experience,” said Will Crager, coowner of Walt & Whitman and its brewing company.

“That involves everything you see and hear when you walk into our space. The music, the art on the wall, the lighting, the furniture, that’s really what drives our space. We are about innovation and creative design.”

There is an upstairs cafe, Walt’s, which opened for business on Dec. 16. The brewpub, Whitman’s, located in the downstairs section, opened on Dec. 19.

Beer is brewed on-site using a 10-barrel system, manned by professional brewers Keegan Dombrowsky and Nick Meyer. Both men moved to the area from Connecticut to be part of the Walt & Whitman project. “ We’re really excited to have them up here and on board, and to join the local beer scene. They’ve really done a great job with this first go-round of beers,” said Crager.

On tap is beers from Walt & Whitman, as well as beers from other local and east coast brewers. There is a select cocktail and wine list.

“We collaborated with Bad Seed Cider Co., and

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

have that cider in house,” said Crager.

He is working with Ceremony Coffee Roasters out of Annapolis, Md. “They serve a quality product, sustainably sourced and fair trade. They use cutting-edge coffee brewing equipment called the Modbar System. It’s not a regular commercial coffee machine that you might see at a coffee shop. It creates a very consistent coffee product for our guests, and we’ve gotten great feedback on it so far,” said Crager.

Walt’s Cafe offers a select breakfast and light lunch menu in addition to baked goods made on the premises.

The historic 20,000-square-foot building includes a two-tier patio. Plans for expansion into that area are already under way for this year.

“As we went through the process (with the building), we had our bumps in the road. The most important thing to us was to restore and hold onto the integrity of the building ... We did our best to leave everything exposed. It came out great,” said Crager.

“We’re the place where someone would want to come and spend their entire day,” said Crager. “Coffee in the morning, hang out and do some work, then maybe get a beer later on. We’re hoping to become a true member of the community here.”

The business website is waltandwhitmanbrewing. com.