Saratoga Business Journal - November 2020

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

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New Mohawk Chevy Facility Could Be Done Co-Op Owned Malta Farm And Garden Store

By June; More Employees Will Be Added Sells Grain, Garden, Pet Supplies And More

This new Mohawk Chevrolet facility will be located on Route 67, just off of Northway Exit 12. It is projected to be completed in June, according to company officials.

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Construction on Mohawk Chevrolet’s 65,000-square-foot facility in Malta is projected to be completed in June, according to company officials.

BBL Construction of Albany was hired to build the new dealership, which will replace Mohawk Chevrolet’s Clifton Park location.

Mohawk Auto, the owner of Mohawk Honda in Glenville as well as the local Mohawk Chevrolet, purchased the Clifton Park dealership from Northstar Chevrolet in November 2019.

The new Mohawk Chevrolet will be located on Route 67, just off of Northway Exit 12. The property was purchased several

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

years ago by Mohawk Auto president and third generation owner Jeff Haraden. It was originally slated to become home to the 80,000-square-foot Adirondack Aquatic Center. Ultimately, Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady was selected as the location for the $35 million aquatic center.

Mohawk Auto general manager Andrew Guelcher described the aquatic center’s decision to move to Schenectady as serendipitous. When Mohawk purchased Northstar Chevrolet, it was with the intention of relocating it to Malta.

“We did a lot of due diligence for the location. It is really the epicenter of the Continued On Page 18

Malta Farm and Garden, at the intersection at Route 9 and East High Street, is a new construction of 20,000 square feet. It is the latest of five stores owned by the Millerton Co-op.

BY SUSAN ELISE CAMPBELL Malta Farm and Garden, at 2712 Route 9, is now open to shop for farm, garden and pet supplies.

It is the latest of five stores owned by the Millerton Co-op, a group of farmers who have been supporting each other as an enterprise since the 1940s, according to the store’s general manager Paul O’Neil.

The Malta store is the co-op’s northernmost location, O’Neil said. It opened in early October.

“We were bringing four boxloads a week up from the Chatham store an hour away and getting many referrals,” he said. “So we wanted to plant our flag up here and build a retail store to better serve our customers.”

There are five full-time staff working in the

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

warehouse and showroom, plus four part-timers.

O’Neil said Malta “is a great growing town with plenty of room” and the intersection at Route 9 and East High Street was just right for 20,000 square feet of new construction.

O’Neil and his wife Patti live in Saratoga Springs and their son Christopher lives in Luther Forest. All three work at the Malta location, while Paul has oversight for all five stores. He has been in the animal feed and supply business since the 1980s.

“I was working in the Agway store in Kinderhook part-time while in college and caught someone’s eye in management,” said O’Neil.

“They liked the way I worked and offered me a Continued On Page 16

Former Owner Of Crafters Gallery In Center For Economic Growth Names New Saratoga Opens Motorcycle Shop In Wilton Chief Economic Development Officer

BY JILL NAGY “The end of the riding season is not the most appropriate time to open a motorcycle shop,” said Roger Goldsmith, who opened the Saratoga Motorcycle Center at 4284 Route 50 in Wilton in September.

Like so many other businesses, the opening of this one was delayed by the pandemicrelated shutdown. It was to open in the spring, but Goldsmith moved ahead even as autumn approached.

Goldsmith owned the Crafters Gallery in downtown Saratoga Springs for 24 years, selling it in 2017.

“I’ve always been a motorcycle enthusiastic and wanted to do something like this,” he said.

He purchased a vacant lot and had a 5.000-square-foot building designed and built by JAG Construction, specifically for his purpose. The motorcycle shop occupies 3,000 square feet and the rest is available for lease.

The shop services motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and related recreational vehicles. They sell parts, accessories, and related merchandise and clothing. Goldsmith is not a motorcycle dealer, but his shop services all brands.

Winter storage is also available and Goldsmith has found “a lot of interest in it.”

Goldsmith grew up in South Glens Falls but has lived in Saratoga Springs for 41 years.

The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Roger Goldsmith opened the Saratoga Motorcycle Center in Wilton in September. ©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

Tuesday through Friday. He has no website yet but has registered a URL and Goldsmith has creation of the website on his to-do list. The business is on Facebook and can be reached by telephone at 518-886-8319.

The Center for Economic Growth (CEG) announced that Katie Newcombe was named its new chief economic development officer.

She comes to CEG with more than a decade of experience in economic development, spanning multiple states and public, private and nonprofit sectors. Since 2014, Newcombe has led economic development for National Grid in the Capital Region.

“Katie’s depth and breadth of economic development experience makes her an ideal fit for this newly created position. She will lead CEG’s business attraction and expansions activities, direct and implement strategies for innovation, entrepreneurship, business growth, workforce and talent,” said Mark Eagan, CEG president and CEO. “Katie has a strong history of collaborating with stakeholders to move high-impact projects forward and we are excited to welcome her to our organization.”

Newcombe’s selection marks one of the first major steps for CEG under its new affiliation with the Capital Region Chamber. CEG investors approved the affiliation on Oct. 6.

Newcombe begins her new job on Nov. 16.

“I am thrilled to join the CEG team and excited to work with investors and community stakeholders to move the Capital Region forward,” said Newcombe.

“A global pandemic is not something any of us would have predicted a year ago, but as a region, we can come together and chart a path to grow back stronger and more resilient.

Katie Newcombe is the new CEG economic development officer.

chief Courtesy CEG

“With great change comes immense opportunity.

The recent affiliation between CEG and the Capital Region Chamber brings together two dynamic organizations whose missions are to drive growth Continued On Page 6

2 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

Mitzen Family, New Owners Of The Bread Pearl-Mansman Turns At-Home Baking Basket, Give Business Profits To Charities Business Into ‘Darling Doughnuts’ Storefront

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH The Bread Basket Bakery is under new ownership as of July.

As Bread Basket Bakery founder Joan Tallman enters retirement, Ed and Lisa Mitzen, the bakery’s new owners, purchased the business and pledged to keep the bakery a Saratoga mainstay the same, according to marketing director Pascal Salvatore.

The Mitzens own Fingerpaint, a prosperous marketing company in Saratoga Springs.

Salvatore said the building has undergone some minor updates and renovations, but “everything is still the same on the menu. Everything is still the way Joan made it.”

Updates to the bakery included new floors, coolers, updated display cases and fresh paint.

“We removed some drywall and found some amazing windows that we were able to uncover.

It’s a building from 1933 and we want to really preserve that historic feel,” said Salvatore.

Tallman’s son, Matt, remains as the bakery’s general manager.

An important aspect of the business, Pascal said, is the commitment that the Mitzen family has made to fighting hunger and food insecurity in the community. The bakery has a mission of donating its profits to charity. The Mitzen family alreeady presented a check for $25,000 to Capital Roots, a Troy-based nonprofit focused on public health.

“The Mitzens decided that all the bakery’s profits will be donated monthly or quarterly to charities focused on fighting hunger and food

Ed and Lisa Mitzen are the new owners of The Bread Basket in Saratoga Springs. ©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

insecurity,” said Salvatore.

The Bread Basket Bakery has been selling baked goods, soups, and sandwiches for over 30 years.

“Just the other day we had a dad come in with a student at Skidmore. He remembered coming in when he was a Skidmore student, so we are seeing generations come in. The bakery has a very loyal base,” said Salvatore.

The Bread Basket Bakery is located at 65 Spring St., Saratoga Springs. The phone number is (518) 587-4233.

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Natascha Pearl-Mansman, is co-owner of Darling Doughnuts on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. She offers a large variety of glazes and flavors available on a regular rotation basis.

BY JILL NAGY After a series of delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Darling Doughnuts opened at 441 Broadway in Saratoga Springs at the end of July.

Natascha Pearl-Mansman, co-owner of the shop, said they have been making and selling 1,000 doughnuts a day.

“We no longer sell out by 11 a.m. but business is really steady,” she said.

The owners signed the lease for the shop in November 2019, but ran into “a lot of hurdles.”

Just as construction got underway and the owners were starting to hire staff, the stateordered shutdown was imposed. Even after things eased up, only one person at a time could work in the building—and it was usually Glenn Severance, Pearl-Mansman’s business partner.

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

Work was completed just before PearlMansman’s second daughter, Georgia, was born.

“I never anticipated opening a storefront during a pandemic, let alone while nearly nine months pregnant, but here we are,” she said.

Darling Doughnuts are made from a yeastbased dough that ferments for 15 hours before it is ready. It is a long, slow fermentation, she explained, like sourdough but without a sourdough taste.

The doughnuts are made with fresh natural ingredients sourced within 100 miles of the shop and flavored with “real things.” The yeast dough gives a better texture, making a “very fluffy” doughnut, Pearl-Mansman said.

This is Pearl-Mansman’s first business Continued On Page 16

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 3

Prosperity Partnership Creates Plan For Showcase Of Homes Virtual Event Raises Development In The Village Of Ballston Spa $10,000 For Two Charities In The Region

Officials launch an economic development plan at a ceremony marking the restoration of Wiswall Park fountain, fed by the historic San Souci Spring, previously capped for several years.

The Village of Ballston Spa and the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, a Saratoga Countybased economic development organization, unveiled in October a comprehensive and customized economic development plan designed to promote future growth and drive long-term prosperity in the village.

Prosperity Partnership said the effort was guided by input from hundreds of citizens and community, business and government leaders. The blueprint outlines a strategic and tactical approach to attracting visitors, residents and businesses to Ballston Spa by enriching and promoting the assets, resources and character of the village.

It is a product of the Saratoga Partnership’s Next Wave Communities initiative.

“The plan heralds a new beginning for the Village of Ballston Spa and makes it abundantly clear that we are open for business,” said Ballston Spa Mayor Larry Woolbright. “I’m particularly proud that our village is proactively taking this important step forward, undaunted by the impact of COVID-19 on the state and national economies.”

“We are delighted to have worked with Mayor Woolbright and the steering committee, the Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association, and village residents to create a thoughtful and tailored economic development plan that harnesses Ballston Spa’s assets and resources and supports its future goals and aspirations,” said Shelby Schneider, president and CEO of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership.

The plan outlines four major goals and includes a matrix of timelines for implementation.

The goals are: • Enhance the Central Business District. To attract and retain complementary retail and experiencebased businesses and create a positive shopping experience, the plan recommends creating a Business Improvement District (BID) to fund infrastructure improvements; reviewing transportation and parking strategies; and encouraging merchants to collaborate, from coordinating hours of operation to developing a collaborative merchandising approach.

• Enrich the village’s Quality of Place. To bolster the atmosphere for visitors, residents and businesses,

Courtesy Saratoga Prosperity Partnership

the plan calls for updating the Village Master Plan, which was last done in 1994; pursuing the Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) Initiative; improving walkability in the Central Business District; creating a facade improvement program; and exploring options for affordable, workforce and senior housing.

• Provide support and resources to small businesses. To help small businesses and proprietors prosper and grow, the plan suggests conducting a feasibility study to explore coworking spaces; establishing a network of supportive workforce services and facilities, including a physical resource hub; creating peer groups, roundtables, and regional business-to-business (B2B) platforms to connect business owners for collaboration and sourcing; and tracking and sharing retail and consumer trends to guide business decisions.

• Create an economic development and community branding strategy. To enable small businesses and proprietors to compete in the regional marketplace, the plan recommends developing a community branding strategy to raise the village’s visibility and showcase its assets and opportunities; targeting vacant and underutilized properties for economic development; evaluating village zoning, land use and other ordinances to support business growth; and conducting community surveys to continue gathering input on future directions.

The Saratoga Partnership worked with the village for over a year to create the economic development plan. A survey of more than 400 Ballston Spa residents was conducted to gauge the community’s vision, identify its strengths and assets, and address current needs and challenges.

In addition, Woolbright and the Saratoga Partnership conducted six focus group meetings with a diverse group of stakeholders, and a public forum was held to generate further participation and solicit additional ideas.

“This plan is both comprehensive and flexible; it will help guide us toward the goal of maintaining our unique village, while improving our ability to attract new residents and businesses to join us in the opportunities our community offers,” said Rory O’Connor, chair of the Steering Committee.

From left, Barry Potoker of Saratoga Builders Association, Adam Feldman of Habitat for Humanity, Michelle Larkin of Rebuilding Together Saratoga County and Lisa Licata of Sterling Homes.

The Saratoga Builders Association presented checks totaling $10,000 to two area charities, the result of money raised from this year’s Showcase of Homes event.

Funds went to Rebuilding Together Saratoga County and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.

This year, the live 2020 Saratoga Showcase of Homes tour, where people buy tickets and physically visit the homes, was cancelled due to health and safety concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s edition of the Saratoga Showcase of Homes was a “re-imagined” event in the form of a one-hour TV show special hosted

by CBS-6 News Anchor Liz Bishop.

There were 12 builders featured in the program, which aired on CBS-6 and CW-15.

“This was only accomplished with the help of donations from the public along with the generous support of our sponsors and builders, as there were no ticket sales this year, which normally make up the charitable

Courtesy Saratoga Builders Association

contribution,” the builders association said in a news release.

The Saratoga Builders Association has donated nearly $1.3 million dollars to local charities from home tour event over the years.

The show can still be viewed on the event website at www.saratogashowcaseofhomes. com.

The 2021 Saratoga Showcase of Homes dates, celebrating 25 years of exceptional homes, has been scheduled for Sept. 18-19, 25-26 and Oct. 2-3.

The Saratoga Builders Association membership includes residential and commercial builders, developers, remodelers, building material suppliers, sub-contractors, financial institutions, architects, engineers, realtors, attorneys and other industry professionals.

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 • NOVEMBER 2020

NEXT ISSUE

SPECIAL SECTION

Saratoga County Capital Resources Corp.

Donates Funds To ‘Save Our Locals’ Project

Non-Profits Retirement Planning Holiday Gift Guide Publication Date: December 9, 2020 Officials gather as Saratoga County Capital Resources Corp. donated $10,000 to the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s Save Our Locals campaign.

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The Saratoga County Capital Resources Corp. has donated $10,000 to the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s Save Our Locals campaign.

The funds will be used to create a help line for use by businesses in Saratoga County during the pandemic, as well as to create boosted social media posts and videos to promote hundreds of local independently owned businesses, officials said.

The Save Our Locals campaign will also include a new take out promotion to support area restaurants and an online gift card promotion to support local shops, stores, salons and spas, florists and home goods, wineries, breweries, hotels and any other Saratoga County business that sells gift cards online.

“The Capital Resources Corp.’s board of directors voted unanimously to support this Save Our Locals campaign,” said Anita Daly, corporation chair. “We all realize just how important it is to help our local independently owned firms across all of Saratoga County as they face restrictions and limitations to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“The leadership provided by the Chamber for all businesses across Saratoga County during this pandemic provided our board with the confidence to know that they will use these funds wisely to help the businesses we love to survive this crisis.”

The Chamber launched the Save Our Locals campaign in October.

“We were looking to raise at least $10,000 for the Save Our Locals campaign,” said Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga

County Chamber of Commerce. “Every dime we raise will be used to promote and inform local businesses who need a boost during this pandemic whether they are a Chamber member or not.”

Local businesses interested in joining or taking advantage of the Save Our Local campaign can visit www.saratoga.org and to click the Save Our Locals button.

They can also send an email to info@ saratoga.org to ask to be included in the boosted social media posts, the take out promotion or the online gift card promotion.

The Chamber’s local SCORE volunteers are also switching from providing virtual one-on-one counseling to startups to helping local businesses to adapt to the pandemic.

Local businesses can sign up to receive weekly emails about the Save Our Locals campaign and to stay informed as state protocols change or new programs are launched of value to businesses across Saratoga County.

The Saratoga County Capital Resources Corp. is a local nonprofit development company that provides low-interest rate, tax-exempt and taxable debt financing to nonprofits and other organizations. The activities of the Saratoga County Capital Resource cover all of the towns, cities and villages in Saratoga County.

The organization is able to assist existing non-profits and for-profit private sector organizations already located within the county, or organizations outside the county that want to move into Saratoga County or branch out to one of the communities within our borders.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 5

Locally Owned ‘Your CBD Store’ In Clifton Park Offers Products And Education •

Jennifer Modaffari is the owner of Your CBD Store in Clifton Park, part of a nationwide chain that offers pain management products and provides education on CBD. Your CBD Store celebrated the opening of its Clifton Park store on Oct. 8.

According to the company, in less than two years, Your CBD Stores has grown with over 600 locations in 40 states. Founded with an emphasis on education and community, Your CBD Store is a member of the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce.

The store is located at 22 Clifton Country Road, Suite 140 in Clifton Park. It is locally owned and is managed by Jennifer Modaffari.

She said she looks forward to helping the community of Clifton park and beyond by educating them on the benefits of using high quality CBD products.

“We are a comfortable, high-quality learning environment where customers can try our products and leave knowing exactly what is in our CBD products,” Modaffari said.

“We just released a line of USDA-certified, organic CBD products and we are so excited to share them with everyone,.”

“We are not just another retail chain. We are a large family of store owners who truly care about educating and improving the

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

quality of life in communities around the nation using high quality CBD ,” she added.

The store offers a variety of quality and award winning products, made in the U.S., she said. The products don’t require a prescription or medical card.

Your CBD Store sells products manufactured by SunMed, which the company said uses a special CO2-critical extraction process to eliminate the need for chemical solvents, producing a terpene-rich CBD. The CBD is then processed again to extract the THC. With a focus on quality, Your CBD Store, has helped drive legislation across the globe towards transparency and testing, according to the company. The product is FDA compliant and third party lab reports as well as lot and batch numbers can be found on every product. In addition, code’s are on every bottle for easy scanning to access the lab reports.

Call the store at 518-982-0015 for additional information, a free consultation or to place an order.

Business Briefs

The City Center parking facility, under construction since Sept. 23, 2019, is open.

The new facility, located between Maple and High Rock Avenues, has secure covered parking for over 620 vehicles. The building features a pedestrian bridge over Maple Avenue that leads into the City Center.

It has four electric car charging stations, two green spaces, and a roof top area that can be utilized for parking and conventionrelated events. Evening hours will have a security guard on premise.

The facility has a pay-per-park system, with the first hour of parking free and each additional hour being $1, up to a maximum of $15 per day. Yearly parking passes will also be available.

To help downtown Saratoga Springs restaurants and retail businesses this holiday season during the challenge of a pandemic, City Center will offer four hours of complementary parking on a daily basis until Jan. 1.

A limited number of yearly parking passes are now available for purchase. Pass holders will enjoy many benefits including: covered parking, electric charging stations, video surveillance and overnight security on site.

Spaces can be reserved by contacting Lauren Delaney at laurend@saratogacitycenter. org or calling the City Center at 518-5840027.

* * * Saratoga Hospital has again been named one of the nation’s “most wired” healthcare organizations.

The Digital Health Most Wired designation, from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, affirms Saratoga Hospital’s effective use of advanced information and digital technology to enhance patient care and safety.

The recognition comes at a time when

•

Saratoga Hospital—and healthcare organizations across the nation—have deployed technology solutions to bring telehealth services to patients and enable staff to conduct virtual meetings and work from home.

The CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively healthcare organizations apply core and advanced technologies to their clinical and business programs to improve health and care in their communities. This year, 30,091 U.S. organizations participated and were certified at levels ranging from 1 to 10. The “most wired” designation is reserved for organizations certified at levels 7 and above.

Organizations are evaluated in seven areas: infrastructure, security, administrative/ supply chain, analytics/data management, interoperability/population health, patient engagement, and clinical quality and safety.

In the Capital Region, only Saratoga Hospital and its affiliate Albany Med attained the designation. Both earned quality awards for being certified at level 8, which recognizes organizations whose technology and strategies are achieving meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes.

Saratoga Hospital has earned the designation for four of the past five years. Albany Med has made the list for each of the past seven years.

* * * Sunmark Credit Union was approved to acquire Hudson River Financial Federal Credit Union, a Westchester County-based credit union in Mohegan Lake.

The credit union also received approval to acquire another small credit union, Columbia-Greene Federal Credit Union in Hudson.

Hudson River Financial members recentContinued On Page 18

6 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL 2002 Business Of The Year

The Chamber of Southern Saratoga County P.O. Box 766 • Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 (518) 581-0600 • Fax: (518) 430-3020 • www.saratogabusinessjournal.com Editorial: RJDeLuke@saratogabusinessjournal.com Advertising: HarryW@saratogabusinessjournal.com Publisher & Editor Harry Weinhagen Associate Editor R.J. DeLuke Editor Emeritus Rod Bacon Sales and Customer Service Harry Weinhagen Production Manager Graphic Precision Photographer Stock Studios Photography Contributing Writers Susan Campbell Jill Nagy Jennifer Farnsworth Christine Graf Andrea Palmer Lisa Balschunat Saratoga Business Journal is published monthly, the second week of each month, by Weinhagen Associates, LLC and mailed to business and professional people in Saratoga county.

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Witt Construction Seeks To Build Another Hotel, Apartments And More At Excelsior Park

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Witt Construction of Saratoga Springs is seeking approval to build a mix of 63 townhouses, condos, and apartments as well as a 60-room hotel, spa, restaurant and commercial space at Excelsior Park.

Located near Northway Exit 15, Excelsior Park is an upscale luxury apartment community. It is already home to 105 apartments, 30 condos and a 100-suite Marriott Residence Inn. Company president John Witt began working on the project 20 years ago.

“We put it under contract in 1999, and we went through a major process going through EIS (environmental impact statement),” he said. “We ended up with a special use permit which allowed a hotel, spa, mixed use townhomes, and condos.

In 2006-2007, we had the hotel up and the first 30 condos built and sold.”

Just as Witt was about to begin construction on additional condos, the 2007 economic crisis occurred and Witt halted work.

In 2016, Witt sold a portion of the 35-acre property to Burns Management of Albany for $1.58 million. Burns built 105 luxury apartments on the property.

Witt also donated a portion of the land to the City of Saratoga Springs to create the Spring Run Trail. The pedestrian and bike path is approximately one mile in length.

In 2018, Witt began construction of 18 townhomes at Excelsior Park. They are priced between $300,000 and $500,000. Approximately half of the units have already been sold, he said.

The next phase of construction will include an additional 50-plus townhomes.

“For new construction, it is somewhat affordable for Saratoga Springs,” he said. “It’s just two miles from Broadway, so it is a walkable distance. I’ve lived here in one of the townhomes for 13 years, and I love it. The location is great, and one of the great amenities is the open space. We have a 20-acre preserve that in perpetuity will be forever wild open space.”

The boutique hotel Witt plans for Excelsior Park will overlook the preserve. He is currently seeking re-approval of the mixed-use permit that will allow construction to proceed. He expects the process to be relatively smooth.

“We’re not changing the original intent. What changed is that originally we had condos that were going to be more expensive,” he said. “I redesigned the project, doing some more marketrate apartments. We have some workforce housing, some more affordable apartments.”

Witt remains optimistic about the project despite the COVID-19 pandemic. All work at Excelsior Park was shut down during the first three months of the pandemic.

“We’re back working now, and sales in Saratoga Springs have been very good,” he said. “We are getting a lot of people from downstate and other states that are looking to move to Saratoga. If you look at the past 15 years, prices have been pretty flat in our area in the real estate market. The market was kind of stagnant, and “I think there is a lot of pent up demand locally.

Now you have COVID and people who can work anywhere. If you are working from home, you may as well live in a great place. And I think Saratoga Springs is one of the top 10 cities in the world to live in.”

CEG

as Northwest Region director for Pennsylvania’s Governor Action Team, where she led business attraction and expansion efforts on behalf of the Department of Community and Economic Development and the governor’s office in a 12-county region.

Prior to that, she was a project manager for the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Newcombe is active in the community and serves on multiple boards. She received dual B.S. degrees in economics and finance and an MBA from Penn State.

The CEG mission is to market the Capital Region to attract new business and encourage new investments, enable existing businesses to be more competitive in the global marketplace, and promote collaboration and enhance partnerships among the region’s stakeholders.

CEG is the Capital Region’s regional economic development organization, supported by hundreds of investors in business, government, education, and the nonprofit sectors. It is also a New York Empire State Development Division of Science, Technology and Innovation-designated Regional Technology Development Center and an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/ Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

CEG has been serving the Capital Region since 1988. For more information, visit www.ceg.org.

Continued From Page 1 and development for the betterment of all who call our region home.”

Under the new affiliation model, Eagan will oversee CEG governance and business operations.

Newcombe will lead the industry attraction and workforce development efforts of CEG. She will also oversee its Business Growth Solutions (BGS) and Chief Executives Network (CEN) initiatives that help fuel the growth of existing businesses.

Newcombe has been a resident of the Capital Region since 2013. She has worked at Capitalize Albany Corp. and National Grid.

In her most recent role, as senior economic developer, she led business attraction and expansion initiatives for National Grid in the Capital Region.

In addition to helping develop statewide strategic, policy and program objectives, she generated a significant portfolio of grant projects that helped revitalize the region’s downtowns and grow its technology, manufacturing, agricultural and logistics sectors.

At Capitalize Albany Corp., she helped manage business development efforts and Downtown Albany’s Strategic Plan: Impact Downtown. Before moving to the Capital Region, Newcombe served

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 7

‘Bride And Gown’ Moves To Saratoga Springs, Adelphi Hotel In Downtown Saratoga Springs Providing Gown And Necessary Accessories Unveils Its ‘Morrissey’s Bistro Dining Room’

Eliza DeRocker has moved her Bride and Gown business, previously located in Glens Falls,to the upper level of Saratoga Closet, 38 Van Dam St., Saratoga Springs.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH Eliza DeRocker has moved her Bride and Gown business, previously located in Glens Falls,to the upper level of Saratoga Closet, 38 Van Dam St., Saratoga Springs.

DeRocker also owns Saratoga Closet.

“Being in the same spot, I don’t feel so split between the two. I was going back and forth up to three times a day. I love just being in one location. It has really allowed me to enjoy the atmosphere at both places that I have tried to create, which is comfortable and relaxed,” said DeRocker.

She earned a fashion design degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

She designed for Wathne Limited for Chanel and was the stylist for Lilly Pulitzer, as well as having her own line of handbags and clothing, all before opening Bride and Gown in Glens Falls in 2013.

Both Bride and Gown and Saratoga Closet sell new and lightly used luxury clothing and gowns.

DeRocker said she decided to make the change after COVID-19 hit. It gave her the time to move her business to the Van Dam Street spot.

She is only seeing brides by appointment to help control the amount of people in the store, which allows for her to meet CDC standards, as well as give customers her undivided attention.

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

Many customers video chat with people while trying on dresses, which helps to include family members and friends who otherwise would be able to attend the try-on session.

Visitors are only allowed to bring a small number of guests, in order to comply with health guidelines. DeRocker said business was surprisingly steady during the summer months.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I did have a number of brides. October has been a little strange but I am continuing to be hopeful that things will be back on track. Despite what is going on, we work to make sure our brides feel good. We put the music on, stay upbeat and we have a good time,” said DeRocker.

She has a wide range of bridal gowns in all sizes and price ranges on site. Her collection includes discounted sample dresses, including bridesmaids, ranging in price from $100 to $2,000. She is also selling fashionable face masks at both businesses.

DeRocker said from a fashion standpoint, masks have become the latest accessories.

Saratoga Closet carries designer brand masks for everyday wear, while Bride & Gown is carrying more elegant masks for brides to wear with their wedding gown.

More information is available at www. thebrideandgown.com. Appointments can be booked online.

The Adelphi Hotel renovated its dining area and re-opened it as Morrissey’s Bistro Dining Room.

They also created an expanded all-day menu with added features including deli sandwiches.

The Adelphi Hotel has re-opened the dining area as Morrissey’s Bistro Dining Room in the Adelphi Conservatory.

Morrissey’s Lounge, as it existed since October 2017, was met with immediate success, hotel officials aid. It was achieved “by the consistent combination of providing its guests with a welcoming, casual, authentic environment along with an extraordinary food and beverage experience. And just when our loyal followers near and far thought it could not get any better, here comes the Morrissey’s Bistro,” a company news release said.

Culinary director, and chef David Burke has created an all-day menu with added features to include cheese fondues with truffles, short rib croquets, an array of specialty paninis, wood-fired flatbreads, pastas and more.

At dinner time, guests can choose from an expanded selection of main courses that include coq au vin served with roasted root vegetables in bacon jus, sourdough crusted halibut with artichoke hummus and ratatouille, steak frites

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

hanger steak with house made chimichurri, just to name a few.

In addition, authentic New York City Carnegie Deli hot pastrami and hot corned beef sandwiches are now available during brunch, lunch, dinner and for take out as well.

Desserts include seasonal fruit crisps and chocolate fondues served with fruit and rice crispy treats, along with our other selections.

“We are thrilled to be able to welcome our local community and hotel guests to experience the enhanced Morrissey’s Lounge and Bistro at our grand Adelphi Hotel” said Larry Roth, a hotel owner.

David Roth, an ownership partner, said Saratoga Springs “is a special town year-round, and there is something magical about Morrissey’s. We look forward to being able to accommodate more guests to share in the new Morrissey’s experience ”.

Morrissey’s Lounge and Bistro at The Adelphi Hotel is located at 365 Broadway.

For more information, visit www. morrisseyslounge.com or call 518-678-6000.

Dan Bullis Co-owner drb Business Interiors Reads

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

8 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

Holiday Shopping

Artisan Market Returns To The Brookside ‘Save Our Locals’ Effort To Urge Shopping Museum In Time For The Holiday Season Local Will Help Holiday Season And Beyond

The Brookside Museum at 6 Charlton St. in Ballston Spa is the site of the Artisan’s Market, which is returning for the 2020 holiday shopping season.

The popular Artisan Market at Brookside Museum is returning soon for the 2020 holiday shopping season.

The event will be held from Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28, through Dec. 24 at Brookside Museum, 6 Charlton St. in Ballston Spa. Its hours will be noon to 4 p.m. on Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Like its predecessors, the 20th installment of the market will feature only handcrafted products created by local artisans, including everything from natural soaps and lotions to unique ornaments and jewelry to scrumptious syrups and eatables.

“It is truly a unique shopping experience,” museum retail manager Beth Silvestri said.

“There is such a variety of items, it makes holiday shopping simple, plus each item sold supports both the Saratoga County History Center and local artisans. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

All money raised by the Artisan Market will fund public programming and collection maintenance for the Saratoga County History Center, which is headquartered at Brookside Museum and dedicated to preserving local history, educating the public and serving the diverse Saratoga County communities.

Silvestri said the fundraiser helps ensure that future generations of Saratoga County residents, as well as people from around the world, will be able to learn about and enjoy the historic region.

Any inquiries about the market should be directed to Silvestri at bsilvestri@ brooksidemuseum.org.

Additional information about the

Courtesy Brookside Museum

Artisan Market can be found online at brooksidemuseum.org.

The Artisan’s Market is a juried, month long market, for local vendors of hand-made goods. Vendors set up their displays and Brookside handles all sales and taxes.

The Saratoga County Historical Society at Brookside Museum is reinventing itself as the Saratoga County History Center.

For nearly 60 years, the organization has focused primarily on Brookside Museum (a 1792 summer boarding house in Ballston Spa), catering to local history enthusiasts and genealogy hunters.

By October 2019, however, it was clear to the board of trustees that traditional approaches to public history and community engagement would no longer sustain the institution. On the brink of closing, a “Save Brookside” campaign was launched, ultimately raising over $90,000.

Nevertheless, the sudden onset of COVID-19 pandemic kept the historical society in crisis.

A reshuffling of the board of trustees yielded new, innovative approaches to serving the community and preserving history, society officials aid.

Rather than concentrating exclusively on Ballston Spa locals and museum walk-ins, the organization now endeavors to represent all the diverse populations and histories of Saratoga County as a whole through a variety of online and in-person exhibits, programs, and events. Thus, rebranding as the Saratoga County History Center with a vision to “Share history to promote community.”

The Save Our Locals logo was created and shared with thousands of local businesses. There are versions customized for all municipalities in the county, like this one for Saratoga Springs.

A new campaign called “Save Our Locals” is aiming to help local businesses, particularly during the holiday season.

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce is leading the effort to bring awareness to community members on how crucial it is to shop at local, independent businesses to help ensure their survival as restrictions on businesses due to COVID-19 continues to take a toll.

The Chamber is partnering with business organizations across Saratoga County— including Discover Saratoga, Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, the MechanicvilleStillwater Chamber of Commerce, the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association, Saratoga Springs City Center, and the Ballston Spa Business and Professional Association—in this united effort to save local businesses.

“As winter nears, many local businesses continue to operate with severe restrictions placed on them in the effort to stop the spread of COVID 19,” Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus said.

“These restrictions are already having a devastating economic impact locally. We all need to realize just how hard it is to sustain a business over a number of months if not longer when you can only use 25 percent of your space as is the case with fitness facilities or 50 percent of your space with restaurants.”

A special Save Our Locals logo was created and shared with thousands of local businesses via email and social media. Businesses of all kinds are being urged to print and display this logo to remind their customers, clients, and employees to support local businesses in the coming weeks and months.

The email that was sent to close to 10,000

Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce

contacts in the Chamber’s database. Recipients were invited to download a Save Our Locals poster and to display the poster in their place of business to remind their employees, customers, and clients to make as many purchases of goods and services from local businesses as possible.

There are actually 28 different Save Our Locals posters available. Each of them uses the same logo but is then customized to promote each of the 27 cities, towns and villages across Saratoga County as well as the county itself.

Like the Stronger Together Saratoga County campaign instituted by the Chamber earlier this year, the Save Our Locals campaign is meant to bring awareness to consumers on how crucial it is to shop locally, especially for the upcoming holiday season.

The campaign is highlighting Saratoga County restaurant take-out and online gift card sales for local businesses that offer them, including salons and spas, retail stores, florists, home goods, gyms, photographers, breweries, and wineries.

The Chamber’s Saratoga County SCORE chapter of volunteer business counselors will be available for virtual and in-person confidential sessions to help small businesses looking for advice to adapt their finances, human resources, sales, marketing, and more.

“Winter is coming. COVID 19 is still here.

Let’s join together to Save Our Locals,” Shimkus said. “We are Stronger Together in Saratoga County. Let us know if we can help your business. Let us know if you can help others as well.”

More information about the Save Our Locals campaign is available online at www.saratoga. org/save-our-locals.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 9

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10 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

SPECIAL SECTION

Health & Wellness

Acupuncture Practitioners Say Treating For Licensed Massage Therapist Moves Her Depression During Pandemic Is On The Rise Offices To Wells Street In Saratoga Springs

BY CHRISTINE GRAF After being deemed non-essential and forced to close at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, acupuncturists were permitted to reopen in June.

During the closure, the Acupuncture Society of New York (ASNY) pushed for the governor to grant the profession essential status.

Licensed acupuncturist Bridgette Shea, owner of Ageless Acupuncture in Saratoga Springs, is treating several patients who recovered from COVID but have lingering and often debilitating symptoms.

“I’m finding that the combination of acupuncture and herbs—Chinese medicine—is what works best,” said Shea. “I treat them with acupuncture because the body work really helps. Most of them have lung stuff going on still or something chest related or upper back related that was related to when they had the actual acute infection. I’ll also do some cupping on their backs to draw out some of the leftover heat, inflammation, or dampness that may still be residing in the body.”

According to Shea, acupuncture has proven to be beneficial for both the physical and mental well being of her post-COVID patients. Many report feeling depressed due to the lingering symptoms of the virus.

“It’s depressing, and the feel like they will never get better. When they start coming in for the body work, it really helps to alleviate their symptoms but it also helps to get them into a better mental state,” she said. “Once they start feeling better physically, they start feeling better emotionally. By treating the body with acupuncture, we are also treating the mind.”

“We were closed for two-and-a-half months, and then we were granted essential status,” said Katherine “Kat” MacKenzie, licensed acupuncturist and owner of Acupuncture Nirvana in Glens Falls.

“We fought for it and got it. We have a very strong association, and they went after it and they won.”

MacKenzie is an incoming board member of ASNY, the Acupuncture Society of New York (ASNY). During the shutdown, she helped author a 22-page document that contained COVID-19 reopening guidelines and recommended best

Bridgette Shea, owner of Ageless Acupuncture in Saratoga Springs. ©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

practices. It was distributed to all acupuncturists in the state.

“We reopened in early June and saw one patient an hour,” she said. “We have all of these new cleaning procedures. We disinfect everything that can possibly be touched. We have to go a lot slower.

I used to see 55 to 60 patients a week, and now I see 35.”

None of MacKenzie’s patients have suffered from COVID, but she is seeing the impact the pandemic is having on mental health. Her patients are reporting high levels of anxiety.

“We have mostly been treating pain and anxiety,” she said. “We’re seeing a ton of anxiety.

Almost everyone is anxious. We treated anxiety before but it’s never been to this degree.”

MacKenzie also treats other conditions including allergies, gynecological and fertility issues, migraines, and digestive issues. She incorporates Chinese medicine into her practice and is currently enrolled in a clinical herbalist program. She hopes Continued On Page 11

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Licensed massage therapist and certified Feldenkrais Method practitioner Evan Rock has moved her Saratoga Awareness business to 7 Wells St. in Saratoga Springs.

Rock, a Saratoga native, founded her business in 2015 and previously operated out of a shared space at 2 Franklin Square.

She has an applied science degree in massage therapy from SUNY Morrisville and completed a four-year certification program at the Feldenkrais Institute in Manhattan.

The method employs the use of gentle movement and increased awareness to improve range of motion, flexibility, and coordination.

It was developed in the 1940s by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli engineer, physicist, and martial arts expert. The method is based on the principles of physics and biomechanics and was introduced to the United States in the 1970s.

“It’s a method of reeducating your nervous system for more efficient movement,” said Rock.

“Our body gets stuck in habits of repetition, and this is introducing variety into your movement repertoire so that all movement can be more efficient. That way you are not straining the same joints over and over again.

“It decreases overuse and allows your body to do things with more strength and better balance and better posture. It’s a really amazing method, and it changed how I worked. It changed how I looked at the body and how I looked for connections in the body—the way that somebody is standing, sitting, or communicating in other non-verbal ways. You get a lot from what they are telling you verbally, but their body is telling you the rest of the story.”

The Feldenkrais Method has both a classroom and a one-on-one component. Rock taught the classroom component, Awareness Through Movement, at Saratoga Health and Wellness.

Classes have been suspended indefinitely due to COVID-19.

She practices the one-on-one, hands-on Functional Integration component of the method at her office on Wells Street. Many of Rock’s

Evan Rock moved her Saratoga Awareness business to 7 Wells St. in Saratoga Springs. ©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

Functional Integration clients are seeking relief from some type of acute or chronic pain.

“We often times start from a place of pain, but after somebody comes back to a more neutral place, there is always room to improve as well,” said Rock. “People definitely get hooked on it.”

Rock’s business is split evenly between therapeutic massage and Functional Integration.

She follows rigorous COVID-19 health protocols in her office.

“When I reopened, I did so much research on what COVID was and how it was spread, not just on CDC regulations but on how I could really protect my clients from it. I developed a plan of action,” she said. “I think people feel comfortable, and they were excited to come back to see me because they had been away from body work.

Not only were things aching, but their whole lives were upended.”

For more information about Saratoga Awareness visit saratogaawareness.com or call 518-368-9112.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 11

Dr. Lisa Yacovani Provides Physical Therapy Via A Mobile Service Traveling To Clients

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH Dr. Lisa Yacovani, PT, DPT is bringing a fresh approach to physical therapy through her new mobile practice, Dynamo Physical Therapy PLLC. Based out of Saratoga County, Yacovani offers individualized care to her patients through her traveling concierge physical therapy practice.

Yacovani said Dynamo Physical Therapy is based on the notion of being proactive about health through a comprehensive approach. Although she works with patients in all stages of life, she said her passion is reaching age groups that are able to take preventative measures that will impact their lives in the future.

“My target population of 45 to 65-yearolds, the ‘pre golden years,’ is a crucial time to invest in ourselves in order to set us up for participating in life to the fullest across our life span. In doing so we avoid missing out on life’s endless opportunities and can gain the confidence to always pursue new things. Within this target population, I also am passionate about working with golfers, individuals with hip or knee arthritis, and individuals who are pre- or post-hip or knee replacement,” she said.

For people with physical problems, Yacovani warned against trying to wait it out. She said early intervention is key.

“We can work together to try and target problems early on, bringing better results later on. (Waiting) makes us more susceptible to developing something much more difficult to manage,” said Dr. Yacovani.

Providing individualized care is a major

Dr. Lisa Yacovani offers care through her traveling concierge physical therapy practice.

Courtesy Dynamo Physical Therapy PLLC

reason that Yacovani decided to start her own mobile practice.

The concept of Dynamo began when COVID-19 hit, said Dr. Yacovani. She said it gave her time to put the idea into motion.

“The timing was somewhat of a silver lining. I have an amazing support system that really allowed me to be able to go out on my own and make this happen,” she said.

The name Dynamo is ref lective of what it means to be a self starter or a doer, she said.

Yacovani can be contacted at 518300-1841, or by email at drlisa@ dynamophysicaltherapy.com. Her wbsite is at www.DynamoPT.com.

Albany Med Says, Despite Pandemic, It’s Safe For Women To Schedule Their Mammograms According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. It is the most common cancer in American women after skin cancer.

And though the coronavirus pandemic continues, Albany Medical Center’s breast care experts stress that it is safe to schedule a mammogram this year.

“Annual screening mammograms are recommended starting at age 40 but can be sooner depending on risk factors,”said Dr. Beth Whiteside, medical director of Albany Med’s Breast Care Center and a breast radiologist with Community Care Physicians PC. “Early detection is an important tool in fighting breast cancer and delaying a breast cancer screening can have serious health consequences.

We urge patients not to delay their care. We have enhanced protocols in place to ensure that our patients will have a safe and positive experience at our Breast Care Center,” she said.

Prior to visiting a clinic, every patient is screened for possible COVID-19 symptoms or exposure to the virus, following guidelines set forth by the New York State Department of Health and the CDC. When patients arrive, they will be screened again, their temperatures will be taken and they will be asked to wear a mask for the duration of their visit. All staff members will also be wearing masks. They, too, have their temperatures taken and are screened daily for COVID-19.

In compliance with social distancing guidelines, furniture in waiting rooms has been spaced or blocked off to maintain a six-foot distance, and plexiglass shields have been installed.

Albany Med’s Breast Care Center offers convenient mammography appointments Monday through Friday, beginning as early as 7 a.m. and running through 4 p.m. Call 518-2649729 to schedule an appointment.

Acupuncture

Continued From Page 10 to establish an in-house apothecary by the summer of next year.

Many of Shea’s patients are suffering from inflammatory disorders or other chronic conditions.

When treating her patients, she incorporates a combination of acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and Ayurvedic (traditional Indian) medicine.

Shea also leads seasonal cleanses that are intended to reduce inflammation and create balance in the microbiome of the gut. Her recently released book, Cultivating Your Microbiome, provides detailed guidance on managing gut health naturally.

Licensed acupuncturist Danielle DeVivo, owner of Phoenix Rising Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic in Saratoga Springs, also works extensively with patients suffering from pain and inflammatory conditions including fibromyalgia and Lyme Disease. DeVivo specialized in fertility while in acupuncture school and was diagnosed with Lyme after graduating.

“That sort of led me into my specialization of treating these types of diseases,” she said.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies have shown that acupuncture is an effective treatment alone or in combination with conventional therapies to treat numerous pain and inflammatory conditions.

“It is very effective. I would say that 85 percent of the time we get what I would specify as a good result—meaning it brings your pain down measurable,” said DeVivo. “And there are a lot of things we can cure. Things that are curable are things that don’t have underlying conditions.

Things like tendonitis, tennis elbow, torn meniscus, sprained ankle. For things that aren’t necessarily fixable like arthritis, we can manage the pain.”

DeVivo is not treating COVID patients, but the pandemic has had a devastating impact on her practice. Many of her chronically ill patients are too concerned to leave their homes.

“I had a thriving practice prior to this. I was seeing 40 or sometimes 50 patients a week,” she said. “With the reopening, people have become very fearful. I have lost at least two-thirds of my practice.”

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12 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

SPECIAL SECTION

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

Year End Tax & Financial Planing Financial Advisors Urge People Not To Panic Amid The Uncertainty Caused By COVID-19

BY JILL NAGY Get your life in order, think about possible tax changes and, above all, don’t panic. That is the advice of area financial advisors for surviving in the age of COVID-19.

“It’s never been more important to attend to your estate plan,” said Jeff Vahanian of Vahanian & Associates in Saratoga Springs.

“We are very aggressive about this. People have had to adjust their behavior in many ways. I hope they refocus on things that matter.”

He urges his clients to have a health care proxy, naming someone to make medical decisions if they are unable to; a living will, to indicate their preferences in connection with medical care; and a power of attorney, appointing someone to make decisions in non-medical matters if they are unable to do so.

“In times like these, they are very critical.

Nobody should be without them,” he said.

Vahanian said people with young children to should decide who they want to raise them if they are unable to do so.

Dan Hazewski, Jr., of Legacy Planning Partners in Glens Falls, advised, “Don’t change anything. We are in a much better spot than last year.”

Tim Pehl of Luther Forest Wealth Advisors in Malta said the COVID-19 situation should not have much effect on financial decisions.

“It’s a blip on the screen as far as the economy is concerned.”

He is, however, worried about taxes. He suggested “trying to push income into this current year,” contrary to conventional yearend tax advice. He includes capital gains in that advice because that tax rate is also likely to go up.

“Talk to your tax professional or tax advisor,” he said.

Dale Mullin of WDR Financial Services in Queensbury recommended making sure to have enough money set aside for financial emergencies such as furloughs

from employment or failure of a business.

Set aside cash for at least six months’ worth of expenses, he advises. Think also about putting more money into an IRA or Roth IRA account. Make longer term investments on a gradual basis so that market ups and downs can average out.

Mullin is bullish on IRA and Roth IRA taxdeferred retirement accounts. Up to $20,000 invested in such accounts is excluded from New York state taxable income. The mandatory minimum distribution was waived for 2020 and, in future years, it will kick in at age 72, not 70 1/2. Another recent change is that people who are still working can contribute to an IRA account, regardless of their age.

Except for the waiver of the minimum distribution, these changes are permanent, he noted.

“The rules are more complicated,” he said, “But they create more flexibility.”

He said people should consider taking investment income, including capital gains, in 2020. Even if taxes are not increased next year, the tax reductions in the 2018 income tax bill expire in 2026 and rates return to pre-2018 levels.

Pehl also advised investing in tax-deferred savings funds such as IRA, Roth IRA or 401K. Because of “these crazy market swings, I would probably wait until the last minute” to make investment decisions.

He said the economy will recover from the damage of the COVID pandemic and resulting economic shutdown but it may take a year or more.

Vahanian said life changes are more important than what happens in the world when making financial decisions. “Wait and see,” he advised, and warned that this is not a good time to take on additional overhead.

“No one is un-impacted by what is happening in the country,” he said. “In times like these, some of the best returns are made.

Maintain your poise.”

Serving Capital Region businesses, not-for-profits, municipalities and governmental entities with comprehensive legal services

•

Business Report When Are Meals, Entertainment Deductible?

BY JOANNA PISCITELLA, CPA The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations on the business expense deduction for meals and entertainment following changes made by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

The Treasury Department and the IRS did not receive any requests to speak at a public hearing on the proposed regulations but they had received written and electronic comments in response to the proposed regulations.

These written comments were incorporated into the new regulations.

As a reminder, the 2017 TCJA generally eliminated the deduction for any expenses related to activities generally considered entertainment, amusement or recreation. However, taxpayers may still deduct business expenses related to food and beverages if certain requirements are met (Typically limited to 50 percent of the expenditure).

These final regulations address the disallowance of the deduction for expenditures related to entertainment, amusement or recreation activities, including the applicability of certain exceptions to this disallowance. They also provide guidance to determine whether an activity is considered entertainment. The final regulations also address the limitation on the deduction of food and beverage expenses.

Prior to amendment by the TCJA, section 274(n)(1) generally limited the deduction of food or beverage expenses and entertainment expenditures to 50 percent of the amount that otherwise would have been allowable. Thus, under prior law, taxpayers could deduct 50 percent of meal expenses, and 50 percent of entertainment expenditures that met the directly related or business discussion exceptions.

Distinguishing between meal expenses and entertainment expenditures was previously unnecessary for purposes of the 50 percent limitation but with the advent of the 2017 TCJA rules this became an issue.

TCJA repealed the directly related and business discussion exceptions to the general prohibition on deducting entertainment expenditures.

Thus, entertainment expenditures are no longer deductible unless one of the nine exceptions

Joanna Piscitella is a CPA with Hedley & Co. PPLC. Hedley & Co., PLLC

applies.

The regulations provide that the term “entertainment” does not include food or beverages unless the food or beverages are provided at or during an entertainment activity.

Food or beverages provided at or during an entertainment activity generally are treated as part of the entertainment activity.

However, in the case of food or beverages provided at or during an entertainment activity, the food or beverages are not considered entertainment if the food or beverages are purchased separately from the entertainment, or the cost of the food or beverages is stated separately from the cost of the entertainment on one or more bills, invoices, or receipts.

An objective test is used to determine whether an activity is of a type generally considered to be entertainment. Thus, if an activity is generally considered to be entertainment, it will be treated as entertainment regardless of whether the expenditure can also be described otherwise, and even though the expenditure relates to the taxpayer alone.

However, in applying this test the taxpayer’s trade or business is considered.

Continued On Page 16

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•

Robert Schermerhorn, CFP® | (518) 584-2555 www.SaratogaRetire.com | 18 Division Street, Suite 305, Saratoga Springs Securities & advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 13

•

Business Report Focus On What You Can Control

BY MICKEY ORTA The top two questions that financial professionals have been hearing from customers are: “What’s going to happen to my investments and financial plans depending on the results of the presidential election?” and “When will things get back to normal postCOVID?” While these questions can’t be answered directly, that doesn’t mean we have to sit tight without taking any action.

It’s probably safe to say that 2020 has not unfolded in a way that any of us could have predicted. The COVID-19 pandemic upended everyone’s plans—financially, and in general—starting in March. A busy and heavily contested election season added to the feeling of heading into the unknown.

Whether you’re looking at financial planning for 2021 from the perspective of a business or as an individual, the pandemic isn’t going away and so uncertainty is likely to continue.

To help reduce some stress, take a look at what is in your control and focus on those elements. Financial planning has many components that are squarely within your control.

The end of the year is a good time to pull together documents and start preparing for the next year. It’s a good idea to have the tax side of your house in order by the end of the first quarter anyway, so get a head start by doing the following tasks now.

• Retirement planning tune-up. Carve out some time to review your retirement planning.

Despite a global pandemic, equity markets have done reasonably well this year. Take a look at asset allocation quarterly, to make sure that asset mix is in line with risk/return objectives.

It’s also a good time to schedule year-end reviews with your financial professional to make sure that your plan remains on track.

• Beneficiary review. While looking at 401(k) or IRA accounts, review the beneficiary information in place and make sure it’s upto-date and accurate. Take this step for any of your asset documents, including your will or any other estate planning documents.

• Savings review. Most financial professionals suggest having six months’ salary saved for emergencies. If the pandemic has caused you to dip into those savings, see where you are and make a plan to replenish. Even if you haven’t needed to access savings, take a few minutes to review accounts, particularly if any expenses have changed dramatically, to make certain that savings are at a sufficient level.

This is a busy time of year for financial professionals, so if you are planning on sitting down with yours, get that meeting scheduled as soon as possible.

Business owners also have a number of yearend financial steps to consider.

• PPP loans. If you’re a business owner who participated in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), you probably already know that many of those loans are eligible to be forgiven. Make sure you know what the important dates and details are, especially the deadlines for applying, and when your lender

• •

Mickey Orta, senior vice president for wealth management at NBT Bank.

Courtesy NBT Bank

will accept applications. If you do not yet have this information, reach out to your bank or visit SBA.gov for guidance. And take this opportunity to make sure you understand the other loan programs that were made available this year.

• Cash on hand and in reserve. Just as individuals should have savings to cover up to six months of personal expenses, so should a business. Anything could disrupt the U.S. and global economies in the coming months, so it is important to anticipate and plan for potential impacts to your business. So ensure you have cash on hand or in reserve to help weather the storm. This includes working closely with a relationship banker to ensure you have established lines of credit in place if they are needed.

• Revenue and expense planning. The disruption from this year may provide an opportunity to diversity your business offerings, or it might make more sense to simplify your business focus. Investing in additional employees or equipment could be critical to sustainability. Or, it may not be prudent at this point. It’s a great time to work with a business banker or financial professional to either create a new budget for 2021, or get your budget back on track.

Reaching out to financial professionals now for help and advice is a wise use of your time, especially this year with all of the changes in the CARES act and additional aid from Congress. They will know and understand the details in these legislative packages, and how those changes might impact you and your situation.

Presidential elections don’t typically have a substantial impact on financial markets.

The White House and Congress each have a role to play in shaping economic policy, with the Judiciary settling disputes between the branches. Post-election trading volatility is normal immediately following an election.

But it doesn’t last—equity markets return to looking at the fundamentals that really matter.

So, focusing on what you can control is the best advice to navigate through uncertain times.

Business Report Your Lease Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

BY JESSICA M. BLANCHETTE Commercial tenants: Remember that extensive and wholly uninteresting document entitled “lease agreement” that you scanned, signed, then shoved into a file folder and never thought of again?

Well, it’s making a comeback.

If you are one of the many businesses struggling to pay your rent due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, your lease agreement should be one of the first resources to which you turn for guidance.

Like all contracts, commercial leases typically include the standard who, what, where, when, and why provisions of an agreement between a landlord and tenant. But they generally go beyond that as well and many leases, especially long-term ones, also contain lengthy provisions outlining the rights, obligations, and, perhaps most importantly, protections for both landlords and tenants.

One such protection that is at the forefront of discussions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is the “force majeure” clause. Force majeure clauses address a variety of catastrophic events beyond the parties’ control that, if they occur, may relieve one or both parties from performing their contractual obligations.

To be effective, however, the clause must contain the specific event that a party is claiming occurred. Applied to today, whether the COVID-19 pandemic is sufficiently similar to the events listed in a lease agreement’s force majeure clause, such that performance might be excused, is completely dependent upon the particular language in the agreement and requires a close examination.

Other provisions of a lease agreement might also lend some guidance as to how parties should proceed if an unforeseen event prevents either party from fulfilling its obligations. At the very least, the lease agreement can act as a catalyst to a conversation between a tenant and a landlord about the tenant’s realistic ability to pay rent. It goes without saying that these conversations can be uncomfortable and downright stressful for both tenants and landlords.

Yet many landlords are receptive to proactive, open dialogue, and may be willing to work out a modified agreement with a tenant rather than maintain an uncompromising position in which both parties lose.

Modified agreements between a landlord and tenant can take many forms and are dependent upon the specific needs and abilities of the parties involved. Some of the more popular modifications are to: (1) reduce a tenant’s monthly rent payment by, for example, temporarily reducing or deferring interest rates or waiving late fees and penalties; (2) completely defer rent obligations for a period of time; (3) apply any security deposit to rent; and (4) extend

•

Lisa Blanchette is an associate with Bond, Schoeneck & King.

Courtesy Bond, Schoeneck & King

the lease term to collect additional rent on the back end of the agreement.

It is important to note, however, that each of these options may come with unique financial consequences, such as increased interest rates in the future or additional costs or fees, and tenants should be sure that they fully understand the modified agreement before they enter into it. Moreover, any modification should be documented in writing and executed in the manner outlined in the current lease agreement.

In addition to knowing their rights and obligations under the lease agreement, tenants should also stay on top of legal developments. For example, currently in effect in New York state is a moratorium on COVID-19 related commercial evictions and foreclosures until Oct. 20.

With this moratorium, however, tenants should be careful to not confuse an inability to evict with an inability to cancel a contract.

Tenants who simply stop paying rent with no prior communication with the landlord might not be at risk for immediate eviction, but most certainly are at risk for breaching the lease agreement.

This can then allow a landlord to terminate the lease agreement and eventually evict the tenant once the moratorium is lifted, even though the tenant might, at some point in the future, be able to pay the overdue rent. Again, the specific terms of the lease agreement will govern.

In approaching these difficult conversations with your landlord, preparation is key and your lease agreement is your best resource as a means by which to offer to your landlord meaningful suggestions and solutions that are aligned with your financial realities.

Confronting this issue in a proactive manner, instead of waiting for the situation to deteriorate, can save a landlord-tenant relationship and set it up for long-term future success.

14 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

REGIONAL STOCKWATCH Stock Name

Closing Price 10/16/2020

Closing Price 10/23/2020

Albany Int’l

56.37 54.45 50.94 54.11

Arrow

27.02 29.19 27.37 26.56

AT & T

27.33

Ball

91.42 92.72 89.00 97.46

27.82

Closing Price 10/30/2020

27.02

Closing Price 11/6/2020

27.44

Ballston Spa National Bank

41.50 41.50 41.50 41.50

Bank of America

24.24 24.90 23.70 24.31

Best Buy

119.35 118.21 111.55 123.06

Citizens Bank

26.24 28.73 27.25 27.71

Espey

17.56 18.25 18.85 18.75

General Electric

7.29 7.63 7.42 8.09

Hilton

89.50 94.61 87.81 92.84

Home Depot

287.66 283.00 266.71 284.24

Int’l Paper

46.54 46.40 43.75 46.49

Key Corp

12.93 13.45 12.98 12.82

Lowe’s

177.70 172.14 158.10 168.52

Martin Marietta

258.97 262.41 266.35 256.18

M&T Bank

100.11 106.12 103.58 99.06

McDonald’s

229.37 228.71 213.00 216.56

National Grid

61.05 61.69 59.45 61.32

NBT Bancorp Inc.

28.08 29.17 27.38 26.61

Plug Power

16.27 15.03 14.00 18.86

Quad Graphics

2.92 2.73 2.27 2.17

Starbucks

88.52 90.80 86.96 90.65

Sysco

65.78 64.80 55.31 60.86

Target

164.92 160.23 152.22 161.50

The TorontoDominion Bank

45.79 46.06 44.23 45.62

Kaspien Holdings

9.95 10.25 11.25 10.41

Trustco Bank

5.47 5.80 5.49 5.48

Verizon

58.05 57.96 56.99 58.53

Walmart

144.71 143.85 138.75 145.77

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

Business Registrations •

Innovative Creations Joshua Smith 208 Airtrace Court Ballston Spa 12020 On Spot Screen Repair Michael O’Brien 26 Murray Ave. Waterford 12188 Rozell Painting George Rozell 17 Dormie Ave. Mechanicville 12118 Garin’s Painting Garin Cohen 21 Birchwood Aver.

Halfmoon 12065 KC Specialty Welding Kent Chase 1 Chase Lane Burnt Hills 12027 DJ Interior Repairs Daniel Deluca 69 Pyramid Pine East Saratoga Springs 12866 True Shine Services Starr Austin 885 Middeline Road Ballston Spa 12020 Enlighten Skin and Wellness Alicia Bertrand Brittany Harrington 1 Barney Road Clifton Park 12065 Upkeep Autos Teresa Morris 19 Nicklaus Drive Gansevoort 12831 Neahr and Dear Creations Chelsea Lee Neahr 478 Centerline Road Galway 12074 Butterfly Kiss Lashes Erin Brown 287 Maple Ave. Saratoga Springs 12855 Inside and Out Cleaning Chastity Nasworthy 36A Feeder South Glens Falls 12803 Prestine Cleaning Danielle Benedict 33 Evergreen Ave.

•

Clifton Park 12065 Junk Bugz Aaron Blau Ricardo Gimondo 170 Lake Ave. Saratoga Springs 12866 Serenity Properties Edward Goldner 12 Grant Hill Road Clifton Park 12065 R and L Fitness Flooring Rory Murray 12 Jamaica Road South Glens Falls 12803 AG Workforce Solutions Paul Molesky 211 N. Second Ave. Mechanicville 12118 Saratoga Medical Taxi Ryan Nunnery 154 Knabner Road Mechanicville 12118 Henry J. Moak Trucking Henry Moak Adelbert Moak 457 Route 32 Schuylerville 12871 Maiello’s Barber Shop Christopher Maiello 21 1/2 First Street South Glens Falls 12803 Adirondack Amish Sheds Thomas Donahue 800 Route 50 Burnt Hills 12027 Saratoga Workshop Pam Krison 30 Gick Road Saratoga Springs 12866 Burnham Mountain Lodge Robert Fosmer 3 Jackson Road South Glens Falls 12803 SGF Tactical Justin Flewelling 142 Main St. South Glens Falls 12803 Keith’s Carpentry Keith Bohling 730 Rock City Road Ballston Spa 12020

Continued On Page 18

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 15

•

Business Report Businesses Should Take To The Offensive

BY JOHN FLORY III It is time for businesses to play offense against cyber criminals: For the last 200 days the business world has faced unimaginable challenges. These challenges have forced us to stray from our comfort zone, modify our existing tried and true policies as we fought to survive. Going forward we have to anticipate the unexpected and be prepared for anything.

The strength of the American Economy comes from the resilient nature of its’ businesses.

Solving for these challenges just makes them stronger.

The speed at which a “work from home” adaptation occurred and the laxing of policies to account for the transition, while closing the doors, has opened an enormous number of windows. While we have been learning how to be “operable”, cyber criminals have been ramping up their capabilities to exploit this new opportunity exposed to them. Where email phishing is still the primary way criminals are stealing from us, their tactics are changing, and we need to take an offensive approach to defending our livelihoods and our homes.

I have spent the better part of the last several months responding to businesses that have been victim to ransomware and assisting them in uncharted waters. The sophistication and execution of these attacks are daunting. It has forced many organizations to pay the ransom to survive. Paying ransom is a slippery slope and never recommended as re-attacks are an unfortunate trend. If you are known as a “payer”, be assured the cyber criminals will be back.

The shift in criminal activity has gone from locking people out and encrypting data, to the stealing all sensitive data first and then encrypting. Criminals are accessing networks through phishing, mailbox takeovers, unpatched systems, etc. This activity is going undetected, because we have forgotten the window is open and the move to “work from home” comes with the expectation of unknown quantities of traffic utilization. The surgical like methodology of; infiltrating, performing the reconnaissance for valuable data , executing the theft of critical information, then removing the backups that allow for recovery followed by the encryption of your data is what leaves these businesses with the decision to become a “payer” or not.

Once encrypted, hackers will show snapshots of your sensitive data (proving they have it) and demand ransom for the encryption keys to decrypt your data. If you do not comply, they will specify what they are going to do with the data, it is methodical and destructive. What follows next is that the hackers will make their identity know. You will need to invest in security forensics specialists to research and explain the track record of the attackers. Help you close the windows and assist in the negotiation. For most this is a surreal experience, negotiating and communicating with criminals.

When organizations ask me how to prevent this from happening to them, I tell them to go on offensive and give the following advice: • It all starts with a security plan.

• Perform a risk assessment to understand

Ravenous Restaurant, A Fixture On Phila St. In Saratoga Springs, Will Close On Nov. 30 •

John D. Flory III, chief information security officer, Harbor Networks.

Courtesy Harbor Networks

what and where your risk is.

• Have an incident response plan.

• Implement 7x24x365 monitoring on your network, endpoint, and cloud infrastructures.

• Scan and test your systems.

• Enable multifactor authentication and encryption.

• Implement a security awareness program for your staff.

These steps will help keep you and your information safe, while identifying unauthorized access and activity. Monitoring is key as early detection can inform you if someone has unauthorized access before they steal your data.

The software only approach to detection, is no longer an effective approach.

“Zero day attacks” are being used every day and this simply means it is a new method of attack that software has never seen, therefore unable to stop. Criminals use these methods to get in and the devastation begins.

Our best offense in ensuring against cyber criminals is having a policy/program with “eyes on glass”, 24/7 monitoring rather than relying on a software’s point in time testing. Understanding your risk will allow you to build the right policy/ program for your business with the best tools to defend.

Make cybersecurity a part of your culture and make sure employees play their part. We find that IT departments generally hold about 30% of the organizations overall risk, but ultimately is looked at as having to be 100 percent of the protection. This simply is not effective, having a risk assessment performed will allow you to understand your risks, who owns them, who should be accountable, and what metrics to put in place to measure our success in reducing it.

A very old saying in IT is that “people, process and technology” prevents and solves problems.

In the modern cyber world this is just not enough. Businesses and Humans are fallible even on their best days. Building a security conscious first “Culture” is what ultimately is required. It is what will make the execution of the processes, by the people, with the right enabling technologies successful. CPPT (Culture, People, Process, & Technology). The time for offense is now.

Ravenous Restaurant will be serving their final sweet and savory crepes and pommes frites at 21 Phila St. in downtown Saratoga Springs at the end of November.

After 21 years, owner David Zuka made the announcement On Nov. 2 that he will close the creperie on Nov. 30.

“It is with heavy heart that I’ve made this decision to close Ravenous and move on to my next chapter,” said Zuka. “I am indebted to this community, moreover, to the outstanding efforts of the staff who have helped me build upon the reputation of Ravenous since I purchased it in 2014. It certainly has been an enjoyable ride.”

Zuka purchased Ravenous in 2014 in a partnership. He became the sole owner in 2018.

“Maintaining the restaurant in the midst of the 2020 pandemic has resulted in a restructuring of the business model to accommodate a new volume of take-out offerings. Mission accomplished,” he said.

“Despite this regained stability, and the many pinnacles for the business over the years, I’ve decided to cease restaurant operations for personal and family reasons. Although a difficult decision, I’ve always preached and supported my staff in putting themselves and their families first, and now I’m following my own advice.”

Zuka said he thanked the “loyal customers for the opportunity to serve them and express my creativity in coming up with new fillings and menu items to tantalize and satisfy their taste buds. For some reason, they kept coming back.

We’ve had a loyal following and I am grateful for their continued patronage throughout our history.

“My hope is that Ravenous provided them with a dining experience that left an impression that will be fondly remembered in the years to

After 21 years, David Zuka is closing Ravenous Restaurant on Phila Street.

Courtesy Ravenous

come.”

Ravenous celebrated 21 years of business in October of 2020. For two decades, Ravenous has been known for and committed to sourcing the highest quality ingredients available, to prepare daily from scratch - crepes, sauces, pommes frites, poutine and house-made beverages.

Ravenous will be open through Nov. 30 for lunch and dinner on Tuesdays through Fridays, and for brunch and dinner on weekends.

Due to limited seating capacity, reservations are recommended. For more information, visit www.ravenouscrepes.com/ For inquiries about the availability of the business, contact Zuka at info@ravenouscrepes. com.

More To Read . . . More Leads For You. (518) 581-0600

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

16 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

Zark’s Angels Hair Salon In Schuylerville Moves Into Larger Space In Same Mini-Mall

Shelly Squires has move her business, Zark’s Angles Hair Salon, to new, larger space within the same building at 118 Broad St. in Schuylerville.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH McCarthy’s Zark’s Angels Hair Salon owner Shelly Squires is feeling good about her new space and her working partner—her daughter.

With a recent move to new space within the same building, she said she feels positive about where her business is going.

The business is located at 118 Broad St., Schuylerville.

“Honestly, we feel like we are in heaven right now. We are content and happy with the changes that we made with the move, and of course I have my rock star daughter, Erica, to work with,” said Squires.

The Schuylerville salon had to close in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said she and Erica had to split shifts when they tried to reopen in order to operate safely. It was difficult for them to work apart in the old space.

“I knew we needed more space in order to get us back together safely. We needed room to maintain the distance required,” said

©2020 SaratogaPhotographer.com

Squires.

Squires said she worked with building owner Jim Parisi, who was instrumental in helping her business. When a larger spot on the other end of the mini-mall opened up, Squires said she knew it was a perfect fit.

There is more space and a quality air filter system.

The name of the salon comes from the original owner of the barbershop, Zark McCarthy. Squires said she began working in the business in 1986 with McCarthy and later purchased the salon from him.

She worked on her own until bringing her daughter into the business.

Squires said Erica brings an expertise in coloring, including Biolage, highlights and lowlights.

“We had missed working together. Now we are side by side and having so much fun, “ said Squires.

To make an appointment, text or call Squires at 518-369-1403 or Erika Squires at 518-469-2252.

Card Catalog

Meals/Entertainment

Farm And Garden

As an example, attending a theatrical performance generally would be considered entertainment, it would not be so considered in the case of a professional theater critic attending in a professional capacity. Similarly, if a manufacturer of dresses conducts a fashion show to introduce its products to a group of store buyers, the show generally would not be considered entertainment.

However, if an appliance distributor conducts a fashion show, the fashion show generally would be considered to be entertainment.

As another example Taxpayer A invites, B, a business associate, to a baseball game to discuss a proposed business deal. Taxpayer A purchases tickets for A and B to attend the game. The baseball game is entertainment as defined in the regulations and thus, the cost of the tickets is an entertainment expenditure and is not deductible

by A. While at the game A also buys hot dogs and drinks for A and B from a concession stand.

The cost of the hot dogs and drinks, which are purchased separately from the game tickets, is not an entertainment expenditure and is not subject to the disallowance. Therefore, A may deduct 50 percent of the expenses associated with the hot dogs and drinks purchased at the game.

Changing those facts slightly if A purchased tickets to attend the game in a suite, where they have access to food and beverages the result will be different. The cost of the game tickets, as stated on the invoice, includes the food or beverages.

The game is entertainment therefore the cost of the game tickets is an entertainment expenditure and is not deductible (same as noted above).

Thus, the cost of the food and beverages is also an entertainment expenditure that is subject to disallowance and may not deducted either because the food and beverages are not separately stated. Therefore, in this case the cost of the tickets for the game and the food and beverages are not deductible.

Perhaps your business holds business meetings at a hotel during which food and beverages are provided to attendees. Expenses for the business meeting, other than the cost of food and beverages, are not subject to the deduction limitations. In all likelihood you may deduct 50 percent of the food and beverage expenses.

Understanding these rules, and more, is important if meals and entertainment are integral to your business.

position.”

In 1984, the Agway Corporation went bankrupt and the farmers co-op that had been grinding, mixing and selling grain for 40 years separated from Agway. They set up their first store in Millerton, N.Y. O’Neil became general manager.

By 1996, the Chatham store had been established. Over the decades the co-op evolved their farm supplies and feed store into a retailer of diverse lawn and garden supplies, pool chemicals, wild bird seed and pet food. Ownership does not include as many dairy farms as it once did, but members who participate join for free and receive an annual patronage refund, according to O’Neil.

“A member needs to have either a horse farm or a dairy or cattle, not just six chickens in the back yard,” he said. “The co-op was designed for those making a living off their land or their livestock, and that includes horse rescues.”

When the pandemic hit, he worked with a feed company to provide food for the standardbreds at Saratoga harness track.

“They weren’t racing and there was no income coming in,” he said. “We fed more than 600 horses stabled at the track and three training facilities off-site for a week in mid-April. We did it again in June working along with the Horseman’s Association.”

At Malta Farm and Garden, visitors are viewed “not as customers but as partners” and O’Neil wants “all local businesses to do well,” he said.

“The smaller family-owned stores are always in competition, but if we don’t carry an item we will always send a customer to a local shop before we send them to a big box store,” he said. “I believe we can all work together to compete with the big guys.”

“If someone is looking for a specific item or brand, we won’t say nope, we don’t have it,” said O’Neil. “We’ll try to find or recommend an alternative, something comparable to resolve their issue.”

Bishop Beaudry Construction LLC of Colonie was general contractor and Syversten Riguso Architects, PLLC out of Clifton Park was the design firm. Ballston Spa-based Bohler Engineering was responsible for land development and Sienna Fence Company of Clifton Park and AJ Sign Company of Burnt Hills were also sub-contracted Visit www.maltafarmandgarden.com for more information.

Continued From Page 12

Continued From Page 1

Washington County New Business Registrations OCTOBER One Eleven Business Consulting 311 Lohret Rd. Argyle, NY 12809

Let er Eat Logging and Firewood 370 Dublin Rd. Granville, NY 12832

Jerry Simon Auto Sales 45 South Park St. Cambridge, NY 12816

HR Schmitt Transport 195 County Route 74A Greenwich, NY 12834

My Shop Around the Corner Boutique and Salon 67 East Main St. Cambridge, NY 12816

Green Mountain Custom Countertops, Marble, Granite and Soapstone 2180 State Route 22A Hampton, NY 12837

Lime Leopard Boutique 9 Shovahs Way Fort Ann, NY 12827

M and P Boutique 14B Maynard St. Hudson Falls, NY 12839

Fiend Coffeeworks 1269 Burgoyne Ave. Fort Edward, NY 12828

Farmhouse Table Co of Vermont 32 Blanchard St. Salem, NY 12865

Thompson Woodworks 2657 County Route 17 Granville, NY 12832

Whisky Throttle 308 199 South Rd. Whitehall, NY 12887

Sure Time Contracting 238 Dublin Rd. Granville, NY 12832

TDT Mechanical 27 Elizabeth St. Whitehall, NY 12887

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 17

WellNow Urgent Care Facility On South Saratoga Hospital Offering Occupational Broadway Expected To Open In Early 2021 Medicine Services At Queensbury Location

WellNow, an urgent care provider in the region, will open a new facility on South Broadway in Saratoga Springs after the first of the year.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH WellNow, an urgent care provider in the region, will open a new facility in Saratoga Springs after the first of the year.

The shuttered Boston Market on South Broadway, near the intersection with Circular Street, is being renovated by the company.

Developer Devin Dal Pos of Laker Development owns the lot. He said renovations are being completed by J. Luke Construction/.He said the layout for the new WellNow location is similar to other locations in the area, with a spacious reception area and six exam rooms. They will be able to perform some lab functions like X-rays and screenings, including COVID-19 testing.

“It is their standard facility, with all the amenities needed to provide urgent care.

There is plenty of parking at this location, which will is also central and convenient for area residents,” said Dal Pos.

Courtesy WellNow

Dal Pos’s LLC, 204 Saratoga Broadway Partners, paid $1.6 million for the property in December 2019.

“WellNow is very savvy when it comes to choosing real estate, which is part of what has lead to their success,” said Dal Pos. WellNow is working with St. Peter’s Health Partners to oversee the clinics across the area, including the new 2,832-square-foot Saratoga location.

Based in Buffalo, WellNow has locations in Latham and Niskayuna. Other facilities are planned for Glens Falls, Rotterdam, Troy, Gloversville, Rensselaer, Glenville, North Greenbush, Amsterdam and Cobleskill.

Construction at the Saratoga location is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Dal Pos said everything has been on schedule and they have not hit many delays through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company website is WellNow.com.

Saratoga Hospital now offers comprehensive occupational medicine services in Queensbury to help area businesses maintain safe, healthy environments for employees and clients.

Services are provided by Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Occupational Medicine, 959 Route 9, Queensbury.

Members of the practice are experts in preventing, diagnosing and treating workplace injuries, helping businesses comply with regulatory requirements and ensuring safe work environments.

“Our team has extensive experience working with businesses on customized, comprehensive occupational medicine solutions,” said Taryn Woodard, associate director of occupational medicine services at Saratoga Hospital. “We look forward to partnering with companies and organizations in Warren County and north to help them provide workplace-related health and safety services that are good for employees and for business.”

Examples include: • Physicals and industry-specific exams.

• Injury prevention, care and management.

• Drug and alcohol screening.

• Comprehensive rehabilitation services.

• Return-to-work evaluations.

• Workforce safety consultations, including COVID-19 related assessments.

• Ergonomic consultations.

• On-site employee health services.

• Travel medicine consultations.

This is the lobby Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Occupational Medicine in Queensbury.

Courtesy Saratoga Hospital

• Employee and management training.

The Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Occupational Medicine site is also home to Saratoga Hospital Urgent Care – Adirondack.

To learn more, go to www.SaratogaHospital. org. For an appointment to discuss your company’s occupational medicine needs, contact Taryn Woodard at 518-886-5414 or twoodard@SaratogaHospital.org.

Darling Doughnuts Continued From Page 2

venture. She studied art and philosophy in college and begin thinking about starting a business a few years ago. She didn’t want to work full time and began baking and selling from home.

On Broadway, she works “more than fulltime,” she said.

There are more than 50 glazes and flavors available on a regular rotation basis. Flavors change weekly and are posted on Tuesdays on the business Instagram and Facebook

pages. Coffee—fair trade and roasted in Pennsylvania—is sold by the cup or by the bag.

The shop is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or until the doughnuts are gone.

Customers can pre-order for Wednesday or Thursday pick-up through the shop’s website, darlingdoughnuts.com, after 6 p.m. Custom orders can be placed by email, darlingdoughnuts@gmail.com, or through the “contact us” section of the website. The telephone number is 518 430-2018.

Card Catalog

Richard Kessinger Owner

P.O. Box 187 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

(518) 944-0359

saratogalawnmaintenance@gmail.com

18 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

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Personnel Briefs

Morgan Stanley has named Rhonda Viapiano as branch manager of its Albany branch office.

The Albany branch is part of three locations in the capital region for which she has oversight, including the Latham, and Saratoga Springs branch offices.

Viapiano has spent her entire 35 year career in financial services, performing a variety of roles in capital markets, sales, operations and field management.

Outside her role as branch manager, she is co-chair of Morgan Stanley’s National Diversity and Inclusion Council. In September 2018, Viapiano was named among the Top 10 branch managers by On Wall Street. In 2019, she was named a Morgan Stanley MAKER, a class of trailblazing women of accomplishment nominated by their peers. She has also spearheaded several educational forums in support of women business owners.

* * * Saratoga Hospital’s Saratoga Community Health Center has added a fifth primary care provider, Dr. Sophia Conroy, to help keep pace with increased demand for these services.

She joins Drs. Renee Rodriguez-Goodemote and Alexander Cardiel, family nurse practitioner Claudina Ashelman and physi-

Mohawk Chevy Facility •

cian assistant Kelly McAree on the primary care team.

Conroy entered medical school after a 13-year career with human rights and social justice organizations. She earned a Doctor of Medicine degree with a distinction in bioethics from Albany Medical College and completed a residency in family medicine at Albany Medical Center. She is board certified in family medicine.

Conroy serves on the Public Health Commission of the state Academy of Family Physicians. She also is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Wilderness Medical Society and the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Continued From Page 1

Chevrolet registrations for Saratoga County and also has great access off the Northway,” he said. “We really like Malta, and it is growing incredibly quickly. And the town has been great to work with. From a logistical standpoint, it’s one of the best spots we can be in. I think we are going to do very well there. ” The facility will include a customer business center, service area, a touchless car wash, rooftop event space and one-mile walking trail.

Business Briefs

Continued From Page 5

* * * Carla Alvord, licensed real estate salesperson, has joined the Sterling Homes Real Estate team in its Ballston Spa office.

Alvord has decided to make the switch after five years in the

real estate business.

The company said Alvord is ranked among the top 10 percent of all real estate agents in the Capital Region.

She holds the certified negotiation expert designation and is a member of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

“It’s more than double the size of our current Chevrolet location,” said Guelcher.

“Inventory, sales volume, employee count— there’s going to be significant growth throughout the entire store. In short order, we will probably add 20 to 25 employees.

When we bought the store (Northstar Chevrolet) a year ago, we had 40 employees and we are now at 72 in our current location.”

Mohawk Honda, a family-owned dealership, has 245 employees. The company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019.

ly approved the merger along with a conversion from a federally chartered credit union to a state-chartered one.

Hudson River Financial has about 7,000 members. Sunmark has more than 64,000 members among 10 branches in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties.

Columbia-Greene members approved the merger as well as a conversion from a federally chartered credit union to a statechartered one. The credit union has two branches, in Hudson and Coxsackie, with 5,000 members. The acquisition is expected to close on Nov. 30.

They are the first acquisitions for Sunmark since converting to a state-chartered credit union from a federally chartered institution in early 2020.

Sunmark started in 1937 as a credit union for General Electric employees.

* * * Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park will hold a Wellness Walk led by Linda Hovi-

ous, fitness instructor at the Saratoga Springs YMCA, on Monday, Nov. 16 at 10 a.m.

The Wellness Walk is geared toward gentle exercise and the enjoyment of nature and will be accessible for participants at basic fitness levels. The walk will depart from the Camp Saratoga South trailhead.

Participants should park in Parking Lot 3 on Scout Road.

Registration is required. Face masks will be expected to be worn throughout the duration of the program.

The Wellness Walks are a bi-monthly activity with the next walk scheduled for Nov. 30, departing from the Opdahl trailhead located off of Ballard Road.

For more information or to register for the program, call the Preserve & Park office at 518-450-0321 or via email at info@ wiltonpreserve.org.

The Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park is a nonprofit organization that conserves ecological systems and natural settings while providing opportunities for environmental education and outdoor recreation.

Momentive Performance Materials Finalizes Sale Of Sealant Business To German Group Momentive Performance Materials Inc. in Waterford has closed on the previously announced sale of its consumer sealants business to Henkel Corp., a chemical and consumer good company headquartered in Germany.

The sale comprises a portfolio of consumer sealants sold under license from General Electric Com. and available through homeimprovement centers, major retailers and hardware stores.

Momentive officials said the transaction does not include the GE-branded construction sealants product line, which will remain a Momentive focus.

The sale “is another step toward building Momentive’s future and will allow us to better focus on silicone and specialties products for growing markets and advanced customer applications,” said Momentive President

Business Registrations Continued From Page 14

TOT Tricks of Trades Renovations Patrick Hayes 66 White Road Ballston Spa 12020 Rynne Press Kelli McCracken Cynthia Lacey 5 Southside Drive, Suite 11 Clifton Park 12065

and CEO Sam Conzone. “We look forward to shifting our focus and investments toward specialty businesses where we have unique capabilities to win.”

Momentive develops advanced silicone and specialty products for innovative applications in healthcare, telecommunications, electronics, personal care, construction, transportation, agriculture, energy and many other industries.

Momentive previously announced plans to invest $15 million in specialized electronics materials production at its Waterford plant.

The company is investing $40 million overall as part of its global transition from commodity basics chemicals to specialty silicones.

The Valence Group of Piper Sandler acted as financial advisor to Momentive Performance Materials.

Step By Step Peer Services Patricia Chant 111 White Birch Estates Fort Edward 12828 Techmonkeys Christopher Payant 123 Homestead Road Saratoga Springs 12866 Linda Loeffler Productions Linda Loeffler 2330 Ellsworth Boulevard Malta 12020

Aerial Image Rendering Richard Castle 59 Canal Road Halfmoon 12065

Capital Region Masonry Jami Margiasso 7a Shader Drive Clifton Park 12065

Bella’s Nest Scott Cornell 5 Fowler Lane Gansevoort 12831

R Wealth Management Charles Reinmann 282 Ushers Road Clifton Park 12065

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020 • 19

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Available Commercial & Residential Properties We’d like to promote your commercial or residential property. Call us, 581-0600.

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5-11 Maple Street | Corinth $319,000 Attractive property located in the center of town! Property includes a 5,415 SF building that has had some extensive renovations including siding, roof and windows. 3 commercial spaces at street level offer large windows, wood floors & beautiful tin ceilings. Remainder of the building is framed for 3 apartments and ready for the new owner to finish. An additional 60’X120” corner lot is used for parking but would be perfect for redevelopment. Solid opportunity! Call agents for details.

Listing Agent: Cynthia Hollowood | 518.207.7682 Anne O’Toole | 518.207.5090

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20 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 2020

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