Saratoga Business Journal - April 2020

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

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

VOL. 25 NO. 02

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Task Force Created To Help Local Business Quick Response Offers Free Disinfecting Stay Afloat, Cope With COVID-19 Issues For All Area First Responder Vehicles

Normally teeming with people, Broadway in Saratoga Springs in this recent photo is quiet with most establishments closed. A task force has formed to provide services to help businesses cope.

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER In response to the mandated shutting down of all non-essential businesses, six Saratoga organizations have collaborated to form a task force.

The group is comprised of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC), the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, Discover Saratoga, Saratoga Springs City Center and the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association.

“The first thing we did on March 13, as it was becoming crystal clear that the world was about to change, was start a collaborative conversation.

All of us have formed a partnership to get Saratoga County through this,” said Todd Shimkus, Chamber president.

“We agreed on a division of labor and a variety

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

of programs we would each undertake. The underlying message we wanted to get out was that if you called any one of the six organizations, we were all coming to help,” said Shimkus.

In the first few weeks of working together, the task force did a survey of businesses for the purpose of having an economic impact assessment.

“It gave us a snapshot of the immediate impact of the shutdown of all non-essential businesses,” said Shimkus.

“The second thing we did was partner with Star Radio. We did a three-hour community broadcast with local educators, healthcare folks, local officials and all of our organizations, to answer people’s questions and let them know what we could do to help,” he said.

The chamber started sending daily update Continued On Page 15

Emergency vehicles line up in the Quick Response parking lot in Halfmoon waiting for the company to disinfect the vehicle and equipment. The service is provided free to area first responders.

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER Quick Response Restoration in Round Lake is offering a free disinfecting service for all first responder vehicles used during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vince Laurenzo, Jr., CEO, said “given the nature of our business, we work with first responders quite a bit already ... All first responders that want to bring their vehicle to our headquarters in Round Lake from 2-5 p.m. every day, we’re going to have our guys out there kind of like a carwash, but a disinfection carwash. We have them line up in a row, drive through, get out and we’ll spray down the cab and whatever else needs to be disinfected for the day,” said Laurenzo.

“We have a large property and the infrastructure for proper distancing to easily

Courtesy Quick Response

and efficiently do this,” said Laurenzo.

Disinfecting services are also available on a paid-for basis for customers who are not first responders.

The company recently received attention for providing pizza to over 240 employees at Glens Falls Hospital.

“We know how much hospital workers are getting inundated, and usually without proper protective equipment. We know it’s very stressful. We wanted to give something back to them, and make them feel a little better,” he said.

“Secondarily, we wanted to place orders at local pizza places and restaurants, as they’re all financially distraught right now.”

Quick Response Restoration is a familyContinued On Page 9

Much Of The Construction Industry At A Work Continues On Parking Garage Project Standstill Amid Struggle With Pandemic For Saratoga Springs City Center Authority

BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL Coming out of winter, construction companies were getting ready for building and renovation activity that accelerates with warmer weather. But the coronavirus pandemic has changed things.

The state has ordered non-essential projects be put on hold until further notice.

“The construction industry was in very good shape, both residential and commercial,” said Barry Potoker, executive director of Saratoga Builders Association, a nonprofit trade group. “Prior to the virus, demand was for a lot more building.”

“The rules of engagement are somewhat unclear, as you would expect,” Potoker said.

“This is a devastating change for residential construction. If projects are unsafe, the sites are to be made safe and then shut down.”

“Saratoga Builders Association has 160 members who are not just builders, but mortgage companies, lumberyards, HVAC companies, and others affected by new rules,” he said.

There are many other professions tied to the construction industry with their work trimmed or eliminated. Architects, engineers, real estate agents, attorneys, masons, electricians, plumbers and roofers

Construction projects, like this one on Broadway, are being put on hold. are among them.

Meanwhile all non-essential construction has been limited to one worker per site, even if only a few days from completion. Potoker said, “How much can one person get done on Continued On Page 16

The Saratoga Springs City Center Authority and its design build partner, Bette and Cring, will continue work on the Flat Rock Parking Center.

The decision was made after the Authority received Bette and Cring’s sitespecific COVID-19 procedures, according to Ryan McMahon, the executive Director.

“We are confident that Bette and Cring is able to meet these procedures and they are prepared to continue work in accordance with such policies. “ The Authority’s action is in keeping with guidelines issued by Empire State Development (ESD) and is deemed an essential infrastructure project.

McMahon said the project will meet all appropriate social distancing, cleaning, and disinfection standards. The multiacre site will maintain an extremely low concentration of workers and have multiple hand wash stations as well available hand sanitizer.

“The continuation of the Flat Rock Center parking structure is vital for the city of Saratoga Springs to recover from the damages of this pandemic,” he said. “Allowing people to walk safely and conveniently to enjoy our beautiful

Work is allowed to continue on the parking garage on the City Center parking garage. ©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

downtown is central to the function of the economy and the city’s status as a premier destination for leisure tourism, conferences, and special events. These tourists are the life blood that allow the shop owners and Continued On Page 7

2 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

Personnel Briefs •

Kathleen Occhiogrosso, SPHR, SHRMSCP has joined Saratoga Human Resources Solutions, Inc. as a senior human resources consultant.

Occhiogrosso will be responsible for working with business clients to address and solve their HR challenges.

Occhiogrosso brings over 30 years of HR leadership experience to her new role. She is experienced in all facets of HR including employee engagement, HR department operations and performance metrics, labor relations, compensation, recruiting, compliance, and benefits.

She has served as vice president of HR/ CHRO for the Seton Health System, now part of St. Peters Health Partners; vice president of HR/CHRO for St. Mary’s Healthcare in Amsterdam and director of human resources for Logistics One in Saratoga Springs.

Occhiogrosso is a senior certified professional through SHRM and holds HRCI designation as a senior professional in human resources. She is an HR Committee volunteer for Capital Roots, is a current member of the Steering Committee for HR Executive Briefings, Saratoga Chamber HR Advisory Council, and is a former board member of the New York Employee Benefit Conference.

* * * Saratoga Living’s group publisher Abby Tegnelia was promoted to chief executive officer, announced Empire Media Network.

In this role, Tegnelia will manage the publishing, financial and

•

editorial components of Saratoga Living and Capital Region Living magazines. She will work closely with journalists and ad teams, and continue leading the publishing company’s expansion into events and custom publishing for city non\profit groups.

A veteran of both local and national magazine leadership, Tegnelia has run the financial and publishing side of Saratoga Living for a year.

She has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and she wrote for and edited national publications before transitioning to editorial leadership at multiple outlets. Prior to Saratoga Living, she ran a successful marketing and business development agency in Silicon Valley, Calif.

* * *

Saratoga Hospital has promoted Sharman Lisieski to the new role of administrative director of surgical services. She now has direct responsibility for Saratoga Hospital surgery departments, including sterile supply, gastrointestinal services and Saratoga Surgery Center, which is located on the hospital’s Wilton campus.

Lisieski has extensive surgical nursing and management experience. She has spent her entire nearly 30-year nursing career at Saratoga Hospital in positions of increasing responsibility and impact. Most recently, Lisieski was director of the operating room and preoperative and post-anesthesia care units.

Lisieski came to Saratoga Hospital in 1990 as a staff nurse in the orthopedic unit. Four years later, she joined the surgical nursing team. She played a key role in Saratoga Hoschemungcanal.com pital’s successful effort to become the Capital

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Region’s first hospital to earn the prestigious Magnet designation for nursing excellence— a distinction the hospital has maintained since 2004. She also was involved in the design and development of the Surgical Pavilion that opened in 2015. As a member of numerous hospital committees, Lisieski influences policies and practices for infection prevention, pharmacy and therapeutics, the surgical experience and care environment.

Lisieski’s accomplishments have earned her the Nursing Excellence in Administration/ Management Award from the state Nurses Association and Saratoga Hospital’s Spirit Award.

She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the Association of Operating Room Nurses, American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, New York Organization of Nurse Executives and Leaders, and Northeast New York Professional Nurses Organization.

A graduate of Adirondack Community College, Lisieski has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Russell Sage College in Troy. She has been a certified perioperative nurse (CNOR) since 1996.

* * * The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation added three new members to its board of directors.

Jaime Butler-Binley is the owner and president of Brand 21, a brand and marketing consultancy in Saratoga Springs. With a BFA from Syracuse University in advertising and communication design, her career began in New York City where she developed campaigns for several top agencies. She returned to Saratoga Springs where she was group creative supervisor for Palio Communications before founding her own business B-Squared Integrated Marketing.

In 2008 she co-founded Fingerpaint Marketing where she served as global creative director.

Stephen Kyne is the owner of Sterling Manor Financial, an independent financial planning and investment advisory firm with offices in downtown Saratoga Springs and Rhinebeck.

A graduate of SUNY Albany, he holds a certificate in financial planning from New York University as well as several related licenses in the financial planning and insurance industries.

Prior to establishing his own firm in 2006, Kyne worked for American Express Financial Advisors.

He is a board member of several nonprofit organizations, including Saratoga Springs Rotary and its Education Foundation, Boy Scouts of America’s Camp Wakpominee Alumni Association, and Friends of Camp Little Notch

Bill McCarthy Jr. is senior vice-president of Bolton St. Johns, a government relations and public affairs firm with offices in Albany and Buffalo.

A graduate of RPI and Albany Law School, he worked as counsel and policy advisor for the state Senate and as assistant attorney general. In this latter position, he represented the state in both state and federal courts. Before joining the lobbying team at Bolton St. Johns, he served NYRA as assistant general counsel, where he managed relationships with legislators, the New York State Gaming Commission, and other state offices on horse racing-related issues.

* * * Dr. Heather Kidd has joined Saratoga Hospital’s Medical Group Primary Care – Scotia-Glenville. Also, clinical audiologist Sean Fuster has joined the Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Ear, Nose & Throat.

A graduate of SUNY Buffalo, Kidd earned her doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania. She completed a residency at Albany Medical Center and is board certified in family medicine.

Fuster is experienced in treating patients of all ages. He comes to Saratoga Hospital from Oviatt Hearing and Balance, a private practice in Syracuse.

Fuster earned a doctorate in audiology from Salus University in Pennsylvania and completed residencies at Dent Neurologic Institute and Hearing Evaluation Services, both in Amherst, N.Y. He holds a certificate of clinical competency in audiology from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.

* * * Colette Broestler has joined the Grant Cottage team as manager of marketing and development.

Colette will be managing membership and donor relations as well as marketing efforts.

She has extensive experience with museum and nonprofit organization. After graduating magna cum laude with a double major from the Univeristy of Hartford, she attended the graduate program at Denver University in Colorado for museum studies.

Since moving to Queensbury, Broestler has worked with The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls as the external affairs associate.

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 3

Cleaning Services In Demand, Taking On Concord Pools Sold To Its Vice President Of Employees To Meet The Increased Demand Pool Sales; Smooth Transition Anticipated

North Country Janitorial maintains a training facility for its employees that is a replica medical exam room modeled after those found in Hudson Headwaters heath centers.

BY RACHEL PHILLIPS With the emergence and spread of COVID-19, proper cleaning and disinfecting are more important than ever. As an essential service, there are several Capital Region commercial cleaning services still operating on the front lines during the pandemic.

When the first cases of COVID-19 broke out in the U.S., Matthew Montesi, president and owner of North Country Janitorial Inc. in Glens Falls, said he saw an uptick in business.

Initially, many businesses were requesting more thorough or more frequent services, he said. After the state-wide lock down went into effect, many of his contracts had to freeze services. However, business has increased for clients in essential industries, such as medical facilities and hospitals.

Derek Foster, president of Daigle Cleaning Systems, which has clients from Albany to Lake George, is using displaced workers to fill the void and cover the increased demand for his company’s services.

“In our industry as a whole, we’re trying to do our part by helping those who are either out of work or are temporarily looking for something to keep them busy,” he said.

“I’ve spoken with a few folks who are in the restaurant or bar industry who are reliant on tips. Unemployment isn’t able to cover their living expenses, so we’ve been able to train them and bring them on, and they’ve been able to help keep people safe and healthy and get a living wage at the same time.”

Though many of her clients’ offices have closed, April Weygand, president of April Fresh Cleaning, said she has received more requests from one-time clients requesting

Courtesy North Country Janitorial

large disinfectant cleans.

“I’m hoping that people will realize that real clean is more than just ‘looking clean,’ and that ‘real clean’ takes time, and is therefore more costly,” said Weygand.

North Country Janitorial Inc. has five different divisions: janitorial, rental mat/ laundry, resilient floor care, residential and commercial carpet cleaning and disaster restoration. Montesi said his company is particularly well-prepared to deal with the current pandemic thanks to its new training facility.

The training facility features a replica medical exam room modeled after those found in Hudson Headwaters heath centers.

The facility also features a janitor’s closet, a waiting room and a kitchen, all of which are used to train new workers in how to properly clean these areas, as well as proper use of tools and equipment.

“We partnered with healthcare officers to plan how this should be done. There’s certain protocols in place from the CDC determining how offices have to be cleaned with regard to COVID-19,” said Montesi. “Training is the key for the future of mentoring people in our field. It’s not just about picking up a mop and broom, it’s a little more technical than that.”

North Country Janitorial, who employs between 240-250 cleaners, is looking to hire more to help meet this increased demand.

North Country’s chief operating officer Chris Barden emphasized that a big concern for the company is keeping the employees safe, which they are doing through increased education and strict monitoring of equipment, Continued On Page 20

This is the South Broadway, Saratoga Springs office of Concord Pools. The business was purchased by its vice president of pool sales, Jon Foshee.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH Concord Pools of Latham and Saratoga Springs has a new owner.

Mike Giovanone, the former president and chief executive, recently sold the business to his vice president of pool sales, Jon Foshee.

Foshee worked 12 years working as a sales director and executive for Latham Pool Products. In February of 2019, he was asked if he would be interested in buying and running Concord Pools, with the intention of also managing the business.

“It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a tremendous offer. Everything seemed to line up and we worked together to make it as seamless as possible,” said Foshee.

The process, Foshee said, took about 12 months to complete. He said it was unlike any other deal he had witnessed because all sides sat down and worked together to find the best way to meet everyone’s needs.

“This is really a special group of people who made something special happen. You don’t always see buyers and sellers on the same side, but that is what you had here, everyone supporting every single person involved. I am proud of everyone who was involved in this unique deal,” said Foshee.

Giovanone will act as a sort of mentor to Foshee for the next three years as he develops a plan to take the company into

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

the next phase of the industry. Foshee said Concord and Latham Pool Products have worked closely for years and are always willing to help each other with changes that happen with things like installations and maintenance. Concord and Latham pools opened a fiberglass pool distribution center in Queensbury.

Foshee said during the winter the company employs around 25-30 people but have about 75 on staff during the summer.

With the current COVID-19 crises, Foshee said that they have had an influx of calls for people wanting their hot tubs serviced because so many people are home. He said he anticipates the possibility of more consumers looking to install pools, since most people will not be planning a vacation given the uncertainty of the duration of the virus.

Concord Pools & Spas is the 20th largest pool builder in North America, according to Pool and Spa News. Only three builders in the Northeast outrank them, including one in Connecticut, one in New Jersey and one in Ontario, Canada.

They are located on South Broadway in Saratoga. COVID-19 special store hours are listed on their website at concordpools.com, along with a Notice Regarding COVID-19 Store Operations.

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4 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

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

As Restaurants Close Around The State, Local Eateries Transition To Take-Out, Delivery

The Olde Bryan Inn operated for a time doing take-out meals with a trimmed-down staff. It has since closed in order to complete some interior projects while the restaurant shutdown continues.

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 Barbara Brewer LaMere Jill Nagy Liz Witbeck Maureen Werther Jennifer Farnsworth Barbara Pinckney Andrea Palmer 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.

Saratoga Business Journal is independently owned and is a registered tradename of Weinhagen Associates, LLC, P.O. Box 766, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 (518) 581-0600. Saratoga Business Journal is a registered tradename in New York.

Saratoga Business Journal has been founded to promote business in Saratoga county and to provide a forum that will increase the awareness of issues and activities that are of interest to the business community. Subscription price is $25.00 per year. Third class postage paid at Glens Falls, New York.

Rights to editorial content and layouts of advertising placed with Saratoga Business Journal which are the creative effort of its contractors, and printing materials supplied by Saratoga Business Journal are the property of Saratoga Business Journal and may not be reproduced by photographic or similar methods, or otherwise, without the specific authorization of Saratoga Business Journal.

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BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL Saratoga restaurants are handling the challenges of the coronavirus crisis with a sense of family, social responsibility, and grace.

When the governor’s mandate to close sit-down services for all restaurants and bars went into effect on March 16, establishments across the state were forced to deal with the hardship. Many have had to shut down completely and await the fate of their business as the pandemic continues.

The option for restaurants is making take-out available for curbside pickup, or delivering. Some restaurants who were previously not involved in either practice are implementing them to stay afloat.

New York state’s restaurant industry is among the most impacted, losing $1.9 billion and more than 250,000 jobs, according to a recent report by the National Restaurant Association. A nationwide survey of more than 4,500 restaurant operators, conducted from March through 26, found that an estimated $25 billion in sales and more than 3 million jobs were lost in the industry in the first 22 days of March 2020.

In New York, an estimated $1.9 billion in sales and more than 250,000 jobs were lost in the same time period.

“While our industry nationwide is deeply impacted, New York state restaurants are among the hardest hit,” New York State Restaurant Association President and CEO Melissa Fleischut said in a news release.

An estimated 3 percent of restaurant operators nationwide, and 5 percent in New York, have permanently closed their doors. Yet another 11 percent, and 12 percent in New York, anticipated eventually having to closing their restaurant by the end of April.

“Many restaurants have already closed and will never reopen, and restaurant employees are out of work, trying to figure out what’s next,” Fleischut said.

Locally, there is still restaurant activity.

The Olde Bryan Inn in Saratoga Springs had a successful weekend preparing traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinners, according to Robin Kelsey, manager for 25 years.

“We typically have a busy take-out service and just as when eating in, every item is made to order,” said

Kelsey. There had been some 160 items available for pickup normally and the chefs have pared down to about 30.

Olde Bryan Inn also trimmed its staff. Bartenders and servers were laid off with pay, while some of the salaried positions are on-site for projects, according to Kelsey.

“The atmosphere has been good, and we are being cautious by turning the building inside out and doing a thorough cleaning,” she said.

Takeout had been priority for the week when on March 24 owner Steve Sullivan announced he would close the restaurant completely for a short time, Kelsey said.

“We had some interior work to do, so we just pushed up those plans,” said Kelsey. Some projects included regrouting, treating the hardwood with linseed oil, and putting polyurethane on the bar, she said.

Kelsey said the owner “went above and beyond” for the crew, many of whom have been with the restaurant a dozen years or more. Staff turnover is very low, she said.

“We have a phone tree and check in with a few at a time regularly,” she said. “Plus, I send messages through the internet every day. We will get through this together,” said Kelsey.

At Augie’s Family Style Italian Restaurant in Ballston Spa, owner Augie Vitiello said that after an initial “sense of despair” he was “breathing a sigh of relief and feeling grateful to still be open to do curbside and take-out. Augie’s was always geared to take-out service and big family-sized portions, so the transition for us has been seamless,” he said.

The business also has Augie’s To Go in Saratoga Springs. That has always been operating as a take-out venue, so it operates as usual.

“We are excited about doing what restaurants are supposed to be doing, and have been cautious with sanitizing, using gloves, appropriate distancing, as well as bringing food out to the car,” Vitiello said. “The customers have been loyal and we have a steady swath of business.”

Vitiello said he feels fortunate he hasn’t been forced to shutter his restaurant.

Continued On Page 5 

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 5

Coronavirus Pandemic Creates Challenges FirstLight Tech Company Acquires PrimeLink, For New York State Craft Brewing Industry Enhancing Its Position In Upstate New York The unprecedented situation presented by COVID-19 has created challenging times for all, with breweries as no exception. The small businesses of the New York state craft beer industry, as with many industries, are feeling the impact of necessary restrictions on public gatherings.

The potential short-term and long-term effects of COVID-19 on the state craft beer industry will be dependent on the actions of consumers and business owners, as well as local, state and federal policy makers, according to the New York State Craft Brewers Association (NYSBA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the industry through advocacy, education and marketing.

NYSBA is working closely with state policy makers to protect New York’s 5.4 billion-dollar craft beer industry, responsible for 20,000 jobs across the state.

After much negotiating between NYSBA and the state Liquor Authority, breweries can temporarily sell packaged beer in a closed, sealed container for curbside pickup and home delivery, officials said. All home delivery orders must be delivered by the licensee and/or their employees or by a licensed third-party delivery service and accompanied with the purchase of a food item.

These rules are temporary and are due to expire on April 15 unless extended or reduced by the State Liquor Authority.

“We are very grateful for the quick action by the governor’s office and State Liquor Authority to reach out and offer help any way they could,” said Paul Leone, NYSBA executive director. “There are also a number of options in consideration to allow tax and loan payment deferments, no interest loans and the elimination of late payments on bills to name a few. Although this will not fill the financial loss in both jobs and revenue in the short term, it will help breweries survive in these unprecedented times.”

State authorities and breweries have been taking extreme precautions to keep craft beer safe

and accessible to consumers statewide.

“We are still brewing and trying to have fun with it. Our primary focus is getting beer to our customers safely and effectively,” said Ethan Cox, NYSBA treasurer and president of Community Beer Works. “We are looking into methods for safe and effective home delivery services, however there are a lot of logistics involved.”

Craft breweries provide their communities with a place to gather, entertainment, food, and of course, fresh craft beer. In order to assist these small businesses, NYSBA is urging consumers to continue to purchase beer from local breweries via carry-out, curbside pickup and home delivery, as well as merchandise and gift certificates from breweries’ online stores.

To make it easier, the official New York state craft beer app, created by NYSBA and available for all mobile devices, lists which services state breweries are currently offering. The app features a map of every brewery in the state along with special hours, beer lists and more, found in the “details” section of each brewery’s profile.

Breweries across New York are also doing everything they can to continue operations and keep their staff employed, although many have already felt the impact, NYSBA said.

“The effects of the pandemic have been immediate and debilitating to our two brew pubs.

We were forced to lay-off almost 90 employees yesterday,” said Chris Ericson, president of the NYSBA and owner of Lake Placid Pub & Brewery and Big Slide Brewery & Public House. “While togo beer sales and to-go food sales are available, the amount of revenue that will generate is token at best.”

NYSBA will continue to provide information and guidance as this situation develops. Craft beer enthusiasts can visit www.thinkNYdrinkNY. com to learn how they safely access and support craft beer. Breweries and staff can refer to www. newyorkcraftbeer.com for industry updates.

“I have friends with clothing and retail stores who are out of business for now,” he said. “Some restaurants in the area have had to close because it is difficult to do a volume of take-out if not used to it.”

The wait staff and busboys at Augie’s are “taking the biggest hit, and the people here are working hard,” he said.

Vitiello is “trying to be fair by cutting back across the board” on shifts and hours, he said. For example, if a waiter typically worked three nights a week, now their shift might be once every 10 days, he said. “We get that we have to roll up our sleeves. This is not the first time the country has gone through something.”

“We have to live life and look after each other, and support all our local restaurants,” he said.

Marino’s Pizza in Saratoga Springs is in its 40th year of business. Owner Gary Latte admits this year poses the most difficult challenges he has faced.

Shortly after the mandate to close earlier and discontinue table service, it was business as usual at Marino’s. He has very few tables and relies on takeout. But the following week there was a 30 percent drop in business.

“We reduced the hours for each of our 13 employees by about three hours a week,” he said. “We have a good staff who have been with us a while and are now multitasking different positions.”

Latte said he was not worried about breaking even. He continued to serve loyal customers. He also

realized that financially a cut-back was a concern for everyone, but reasoned that reducing staff “would help cut down the risk of infection.”

Meanwhile coronavirus cases started to rise. After discussing it with his two managers, Latte decided to close during the week of April 2 and re-evaluate thereafter.

“In preparation of the peak I am putting health first,” he said. “We questioned: Is it really wise to continue to be open during this health crisis?”

“How important it is for the government to fulfill its promise for financial assistance, because small businesses need the help now,” he said.

The New York State Restaurant Association is supporting its members by working with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in advocating for a delay in sales tax payments, a moratorium on evictions and adjustments in State Liquor Authority regulations. This has allowed some operators to keep their doors open during this crisis.

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, Discover Saratoga, the Saratoga Springs City Center and the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association, aims to keep restaurateurs informed via email of the various programs being offered to the local owners and their employees who have become unemployed through no fault of their own.

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER PrimeLink Fiber Optic Internet and Phone Services is being acquiring by FirstLight, a fiber-optic data, internet, data center, cloud computing and unified communications services provider.

Vicki Marking, marketing manager for PrimeLink, said the sale would be complete later this year.

“We are really excited about it. It will be our local team and FirstLight’s extensive resources. FirstLight’s infrastructure goes all over New York state. It’s a great compliment to them. The local team will remain in place. The transition will be slow and over a long period of time,” she said.

For now, PrimeLink and FirstLight are operating as two separate companies. The agreement has been signed, but the contract has not yet been closed. The company will go through the state regulatory process for communications companies. Marking anticipates the approvals taking at least four to six months.

The agreement was signed on Feb. 11.

“This transaction reinforces our commitment to ensuring that businesses throughout New York have access to the fiber-based broadband services needed to keep pace with technological innovation,” said Kurt Van Wagenen, president and CEO of FirstLight. “The acquisition will deepen our fiber footprint in the North Country and provide additional fiber capacity on a unique route from Albany, New York up into Montreal, Canada, which will help facilitate cross border communications.”

“I am excited that PrimeLink and FirstLight are joining forces. The companies have a complementary footprint and service portfolio as well as a shared philosophy of offering high quality, locally-based service and support to the communities in which we serve,” said Trent Trahan, CEO of PrimeLink. “Now as part of FirstLight, our

PrimeLink, with offices in Glens Falls and Queensbury, has been acquired by FirstLight.

Courtesy Vicki Marking, PrimeLink

goal of enhancing the region’s economics and improving the North Country’s quality of life and business climate can be better realized.”

“Since acquiring FirstLight in 2018, our goal has been to ensure that it has the guidance and resources necessary to support its organic and strategic growth initiatives. This acquisition is ideal in that it enhances FirstLight’s already strong capabilities in a region it currently serves, with a client base that it is familiar supporting. We look forward to realizing the promise that this acquisition presents,” said Kevin Genieser, senior partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners.

Marking stressed the commitment both companies have to making the transition as smooth as possible for clients.

“Once the contract closes, we have a transition agreement with FirstLight. It’s a Continued On Page 20

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Roberta Stock Owner Roberta Stock Bookkeeping Reads

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

6 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

New Company Will Take Over Concessions At Track; Mazzone Hospitality Will Be Involved The New York Racing Association selected Chicago restaurant and concessions giant Levy as the new food and beverage vendor for Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park.

The multi-year contract will bring several hospitality companies to the tracks, including Mazzone Hospitality of Clifton Park.

Levy is the concessions manager for the home stadiums of the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. The company also is the food and beverage vendor at several auto and thoroughbred racetracks including Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Churchill Downs in Kentucky.

“Few venues and events match the impact Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park have had on our sports culture,” said Andy Lansing, Levy president and chief executive.

NYRA sought proposals from prospective food vendors in January, one year after the racing organization announced it was ending a 25-year relationship with Centerplate.

That opened up an opportunity that Mazzone Hospitality founder Angelo Mazzone has been pursuing for years: Managing food and beverage at the FasigTipton thoroughbred auctions and hosting private events for the racing community.

“These kind of deals are the whole reason we partnered with Compass,” Mazzone said. “Before that, we weren’t big enough to go after them.”

Mazzone partnered with Compass Group of England in July 2017. That positioned him to expand his catering and corporate food service businesses and develop relationships with large arena concession companies like Levy.

•

Angelo Mazzone is the founder and CEO of Mazzone Hospitality.

Courtesy Mazzone Hospitality

“It took a lot of work to put this together, but it is well worth it for such a prestigious account,” Mazzone said.

Levy and Mazzone Hospitality are working out logistics for the upcoming racing seasons. Mazzone expects the concessions and food and beverage contract will employ a combination of 300 Levy and Mazzone staff during the Saratoga summer meet.

Mazzone Hospitality will focus on highend catering events and potentially will be involved with the track’s $30 million, 36,000-square-foot 1863 Club that opened last year.

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Business Report Marketing During Uncertain Times

BY SARA MANNIX How on earth do you market your business during uncertain times I am frequently asked how businesses can market during Covid-19. Although every situation is unique, my advice is, don’t stop marketing, but change how you are doing your marketing.

Your customers have fears and uncertainties.

Understanding those fears and how they relate to buying your product or service, will help you do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) that can be used to inform your plan.

Here are 13 ideas to consider when marketing your business now: 1. Think about who you are marketing to.

This may seem pretty obvious to you as you already know who your customers are But, I am encouraging you to imagine your customer’s current state of mind. They are isolated in their home, concerned about the future of their business and finances, but also hopeful for the future.

2. Speak to that customer you just imagined.

Every word you write should consider their current circumstance: Every time you write an email, make a call, create a social media post or create an ad, modify your marketing message to speak directly to that customer. For example, Visit Great Britain has created amazing marketing campaigns which say “we can’t wait to welcome you back again soon”.

They are respecting that the person can not come and visit now, but are looking forward to the future. They are also staying top of mind to hit the ground running, as they know the rule that it takes at least 7 touches to generate a sales lead.

3. Be helpful. Lanette Akerson of the Plant Doctor normally maintains beautiful indoor plants for local corporate offices, which she can no longer access. She is using her extra time to start a blog for those same corporate business owners who now find themselves at home. Her blog showcases her expertise on plants but is focused on the now—how to plant a garden.

Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Regional Chamber of Commerce, isn’t out asking for memberships, he’s out supporting the members who need it most by tirelessly posting on social media about takeout available at local Saratoga restaurants. How can you help your customers?

4. Be Human. Take a look at Morgan and Co.’s Facebook Page, The chef-owner, Rebecca, is often holding today’s takeout menu or talking directly to us about what she has made for today’s individual specials or family takeout meals.

5. Alleviate your customers’ fears. Know their fear and address it head on. For example, many hotels are writing to their guests about new, more flexible, cancelation policies, posting safety statements and sharing their cleaning protocols.

6. Be old fashioned. Write a letter or email with no other purpose but to encourage. I recently received two of the most beautiful letters from people I work with. The humanity of the personal notes that were sent just to uplift me in this difficult time were so appreciated and meant so

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much. They will never be forgotten.

7. Update your website. How long has it been since you took a good hard look at your website?

Now is the perfect time to look at every page and improve it word by word and photo by photo.

Service businesses should focus on industry and service specific case studies.

8. Content is king. For SEO and search engine ranking, if you find yourself with a little extra time on your hands, use it to write a blog, create helpful video content or take great photos for your website.

9. Focus on your reputation management.

Your clients who may have been too busy before to review you online might now have the time.

Google your business name plus the word reviews and see what comes up. That is where you want to ask your happy clients to review you. Pleper tool link.

10. Try something new. Have you always focused on Facebook? Learn about Instagram.

Try out TikTok B2B. Post to Linkedin. Are you in a retail business? Market on Pinterest.

11. Sign up for the Facebook Small Business Grants program. Facebook is offering cash grants and ad credits. Sign up now for updates, and apply for the program as soon as it becomes available.

12. Improve your Bing Places and Google My Business Listing. Not sure how? Google it or call your webmaster. You should be working on those listings every week.

13. Paid Search or SEO? If your buyers are buying right now, then there is no better time to jump on paid search. However, if sales have slumped, a better investment is organic search engine optimization as that has long term results and value.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing so you have to follow your gut. Let empathy be your guide but don’t slow down. Dig in your heels, do the marketing planning and execution that you always wanted to but never had the time to do.

I am a firm believer that those that wisely invest their time and or money in marketing during tough times will gain market share and come out ahead.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 7

Area Distilleries Switch To Making Hand Sanitizer To Help Prevent COVID-19 Spread

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH With the coronavirus pandemic gripping the nation, using hand sanitizer is one of the strong recommendation of health agencies around the globe.

To help bolster supplies locally, some businesses have turned completely away from their normal mission and are making sanitizer.

Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery in Queensbury is one, since distilleries have the necessary equipment to transition to sanitizer, which has a high percentage of alcohol.

Since the state ordered the temporary closure of bars and restaurants last month, owner Matt Colucci is responding to the need for sanitizer.

“We are more than happy to get to work.

Essential businesses who have to stay open need it for their employees, so we are working hard to try and help make that happen,” said Colucci. The distillery was about to lay staff off until the government asked distilleries to stay open to produce the desperately needed product.

Colucci said SheetLabels in Queensbury is donating the labels and Burch Bottle and Packaging in Waterford is providing the bottles.

SheetLabels Chief Executive Officer Adam Gray said they have been at work producing the labels needed by various local distilleries in order to prepare product for distribution.

“It has been a great opportunity for us to get to work and help the community, “ said Gray.

At Upstate Distilling Co., in Saratoga Springs, owner Ryen VanHall said as a result of their recent move, their distillery was not operational at this point, however VanHall plans to be joining the effort.

“I’ll be going down to Yankee Distillers and assisting them with their production,” said VanHall. The Clifton Park distiller is another involved in the hand sanitizer production effort.

Yankee Distillery in Clifton Park has also created a hand sanitizer. It is available for purchase 64 oz. refill bottles. Yankee Distillers will also allow customers to fill any container they bring in for 50 cents per ounce from a sealed tank in the tasting room, according to said Matthew Jager, co-founder and distiller.

Purchases are limited to 64 oz. per household or one gallon per business for the first batch as Yankee Distillers continues to source and produce raw materials for the next batch.

If any business owners or institutional buyers need more for their organizations, they

•

Bottles of hand sanitizer are being produced at Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery.

Courtesy Springbrook Hallow Farm Distillery

can e-mail us at info@yankeedistillers.com.

VanHall said Upstate Distilling is also selling off their on-hand inventory of whiskey and cocktails, donating 50 percent of the proceeds to local charities.

At Lake George Distillery in Fort Ann, owner Robin McDougall has his company responding to the call for help.

“We decided we wanted to do something for our community in this time of need and we knew we had the ability to make the product. Once the federal government and the state government relaxed the rules that were required to make it and provided us with the World Health Organization’s formula for the product, we decided to begin,” said McDougall.

He said they outsourced the products needed to produce the sanitizer, glycerin and hydrogen peroxide, then started making 1,000 bottles to hand out to our community.

They also received aid from SheetLabels.

“SheetsLabels very generously donated 1,000 labels to our cause,” said McDougall.

Springbrook has set up an online fundraiser to offset costs and allow them to distribute free sanitizers to the public. The GoFundMe page is at www.gofundme.com/f/free-handsa nitizer?ut m _ source=facebook& ut m _ med iu m=socia l& ut m _ c a mpa ig n=p_ cp+share-sheet.

Business Report Plan When You Work Remotely

BY DOROTHY ROGERS-BULLIS I’ve had so many calls over the last two weeks from clients preparing to work from home. drb Business Interiors is known for designing and furnishing the most productive spaces to work in, and now is doing so for clients conducting “business and school out of the home” sessions for the next few months.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the new work space standard calls for multiple workspaces for multiple types of work. From the business professional who needs to conduct Zoom calls throughout the day, to the children who are being homeschooled, all are sharing the same home and space. It can get very stressful just to find a productive space to work, especially in your own home.

It’s important to plan when you work remotely. Here are some tips: • Test your technology and plan ahead for all logistics. Do you have all your necessary tools? Cords, headset, mouse? Have you tested all your technology? Does Zoom work? How do you look to others? What is your backdrop?

There is much to consider here.

• Your new Space. Consider the setting.

Where will you conduct ‘work’? Make sure it will have the least amount of distractions possible. If natural light is available, it is recommended to have a window and a green plant on your workstation • Structuring your day. Spouses, roommates and children. Have a planning meeting the evening before to go over schedules. With multiple workers in the same house it’s important to know who is needing quiet times for meeting calls.

• Consider you daily rituals. Do whatever it takes to ‘be at work’. This means getting dressed in presentable work attire. You will get a lot more work accomplished if you have taken a shower and ‘traveled’ to work, even if it’s to the next room.

Parking Garage Project Continued From Page 1

workers in downtown Saratoga Springs to survive and thrive.”

Question can be directed to McMahon at ryanm@saratogacitycenter.org.

Dorothy Rogers-Bullis is owner and president of drb Business Interiors in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy drb Business Interiors

• Taking multiple physical breaks throughout the day is imperative. It gets your blood flowing and helps with the creative problem solving challenges. Get good exercise.

Whether this means going for a walk, run or You tubing a workout. It does not matter what exercise you choose, what matters is daily exercise.

• Stay current with video social chats.

Maintaining your connections visually is imperative. You don’t realize how much socializing we do at the water cooler until you don’t have that anymore.

• Use the best task chair and have your work area the correct height for your keyboard and monitor. Try standing throughout the day or working at the counter will help with your work output. We take for granted our work task chair we left at the office. Use your best option at home.

Learn, grow and remember everyone is in the same situation.

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8 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

SPECIAL SECTION

Entrepreneurship

Owner Of Palette Cafe In Saratoga Springs Custom Wooden Sign Maker In Malta To Plans To Open A Second Cafe In Schenectady Make Signs For Yellowstone National Park

Catherine Hover owns the Palette Cafe in downtown Saratoga Springs. She is planning a second location, this one in Schenectady on State Street.

JILL NAGY Only months after opening the Palette cafe and workspace in Saratoga Springs, Catherine Hover is planning a second location, this one in Schenectady.

The Saratoga cafe opened last June. The upstairs co-working space opened in November.

The Schenectady location will probably open in late spring or early summer, she said.

For now, things are slow due to COVID-19 restrictions but, “We’re hanging in there,” she said. The cafe is restricted to curbside pick-up, delivery, and takeout.

“We’re doing as we are told, trying to make the best of it and stay cheerful,” she said. The cafe still offers members a menu of hot and cold beverages, sandwiches, soups, and homemade baked goods. Baker Sam Pierre remains on staff and, in fact, “We’re not laying off anybody.”

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

The Schenectady cafe and co-working space will be located in the Foster Building at 508 State St. Palette will replace Liza’s Cafe on the ground floor and occupy office space upstairs. They will share the building with other businesses, including a new restaurant, and apartments.

“It may seem like Saratoga and Schenectady are very different,” Hover said. “Saratoga has that stigma of being upper-lip and snooty and Schenectady has got this persona of being blue collar and gritty. I think that, at the end of the day, all of that is irrelevant. Wherever there is a space, there are women who need support.”

For now, planned events are digital only and so is the shop. They are listed on Palette’s website, palettecafe.com. The shop offers clothing items and jewelry.

The Schenectady facility will have a dedicated child care space.

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Jim Thomson, owner of custom wooden sign company Adirondack Jim’s, made these signs for the Adirondack Park and does work for other North Country and local entities.

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Malta resident Jim Thomson, owner of custom wooden sign company Adirondack Jim’s, recently secured a contract to make signs for Yellowstone National Park’s historic Lake Lodge.

The lodge was built in 1891 and is undergoing a $19 million makeover. According to Thomson, it was well-known Montana historical architect Ken Sievert who recommended he be chosen to make the interior and exterior signs for the lodge.

The signs will measure between 5-8 feet in length and will be framed in logs. Scott Phillips of Adirondack LogWorks in Schroon Lake will be making the frames.

For the past 30 years, Thomson has worked full-time as a social worker for New York state.

He operates Adirondack Jim’s out of his home woodshop and made his first carved wooden sign 12 years ago when decorating his yard for Halloween.

“When I started, I didn’t know anything about how to carve signs. I spent the next two to three years reading books and watching videos,” he said.

The quality of his signs improved dramatically over time and he was encouraged to sell them at craft shows. He first show was in Bolton Landing and was a success. He did several additional shows before deciding to market his products online.

In 2012, Thomson invested in a website and learned to use social media. He went from being the “most un-savvy social media person you could think of” to becoming a social media “wiz,” he said. He also harnessed the power of Facebook analytics to determine his target audience.

“I have a background in psychology and research, so I know all about data and analyzing data,” he said. “It (Facebook analytics) tells you everything you need to know about who your customer is.”

Thomson said his customer base has evolved over time. When he started, the majority of his

Courtesy Adirondack Jim’s

customers were local. Today, his signs can be found throughout the United States and as far away as London.

An “average” sign from Adirondack Jim’s costs approximately $300. The average wait time is eight weeks. All signs are made from wood that won’t rot or decay.

“The wood I use is very expensive,” said Thomson. “I’m not interested in cutting corners.”

Many of his customers have homes in the Adirondacks and are part of what he described as a high-end demographic. They are very concerned with tradition and preservation.

“My whole marketing approach was based on the fact that I share my passion, which is the Adirondacks,” said Thomson. “I don’t have a hard time advertising because people come to me. There’s a niche market because everyone is using computers and synthetic materials, and I’m one of the few people who actually does wood signs. It’s me doing them. I’m a one-manshow. These signs are handcrafted and take me multiple hours to do.”

His signs can be found throughout the region including at the Adirondack Welcome Center in Queensbury, Word of Life Camp in Schroon Lake, YMCA Outdoor Adventure Camp in Saratoga Springs and Whitney Industries in the Adirondacks.

His wedding signs (trail signs that contain the names of the wedding couple) have also become very popular, he said.

Thomson said he looks forward to the day he retires from the state and can focus full-time on Adirondack Jim’s.

“I’ve always enjoyed being a social worker, but when I’m gone I don’t think anyone will be saying, ‘Hey, do you remember Jim Thomson?’

But my signs—because of the materials I use— will be around for generations and generations to come. It’s my own little piece of history.”

His website is adirondackjims.com and he can be reached at adirondackjims@gmail.com and 518-207-6205.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 9

SCORE Mentorship Program Provides FuzeHub Has Grants Entrepreneurs With Hands-On Assistance For Innovative Projects

BY CHRISTINE GRAF As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, small business owners are facing unprecedented challenges, according to Bill Edwards, local coordinator of SCORE of Northeast New York.

He said his team of volunteers is prepared to offer assistance to these business owners in whatever way possible.

SCORE is a network of volunteer expert business mentors. Founded in 1964, the nonprofit group has grown to include a nationwide network of more than 10,000 volunteers and approximately 300 chapters. It offers its services free of charge and receives it primary funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). As a result, they only work with businesses that are considered small business based on SBA criteria.

The Northeast New York chapter has four local offices that are housed by what Edwards referred to as “host locations.” The Clifton Park office is hosted by Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the Saratoga office is hosted by Saratoga County, the Malta office is hosted by the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership, and the Glens Falls office is hosted by the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Edwards has been volunteering for SCORE since retiring from the corporate world at age 65.

He opened the first SCORE office in the area in 2016. During his business career, he was a senior financial officer for a Fortune 500 company where he specialized in buying and selling companies.

He also worked for 20 years as the corporate vice president and regional director of the world’s largest consulting company. Additionally, Edwards was on the faculty at Skidmore College and SUNY Albany.

According to Edwards, it was through his volunteer work at Perkins School for the Blind that he first became familiar with SCORE. At the time, the school was manufacturing up to 90 percent of the world’s braille machines. They were experiencing production problems and turned to SCORE for help. Edwards was so impressed with the organization that he joined it.

One of his first clients was Gail Hamel, owner of Lake George human resource company Hamel Resources.

According to Hamel, SCORE was instrumental in helping her to start her own business. In addition to providing her with guidance on how to legally structure her business as a corporation, they helped her develop a business plan that was both realistic and thorough.

“Bill provided guidance to me to focus on exactly what it was that I would be doing. This would help me to be able to speak to potential clients as to the specifics of what I could offer to them. That may sound simple, however, in my case, I needed a lot of help in determining those services,” she said. “I would not have been successful in launching my business if it were not for Bill Edwards and SCORE.” Edwards said he appreciates when former clients share their positive experiences with

SCORE with the public. It is because of positive word of mouth that they are able to attract so many new clients.

He said it is word of mouth that also helps SCORE recruit mentors. His team of mentors currently numbers between 25 and 30, and they are always looking for more. All mentors must go through a screening process that involves two interviews. SCORE asks mentors to commit to working five hours a week for 50 weeks. Mentors in this area serve for an average of eight years.

“Our mentors refer others, and they tend to be in an age bracket where the youngest are in their mid-50s,” said Edwards. “They are the ones who have the experience. We have so much talent that of the 24 North American classifications codes for businesses, we have experience in 22 of those categories. Our mentors are interested in using their experience and giving back to the local community because we live here we want to see them succeed.”

In 2019, SCORE mentors worked with close to 30,000 new businesses. These businesses created almost 100,000 new jobs throughout the U.S. During 2019, 67 percent of SCORE clients were able to increase their revenue.

In addition to offering their services at no cost, SCORE guarantees their clients complete confidentiality. They do not release the names of the businesses they work with. All SCORE volunteers—called mentors—are required to sign a Code of Ethics and Conduct. Mentors work in teams of two or three and are assigned based on the individual needs of a business. As an example, Edwards mentioned that some Northeast New York mentors have experience in the areas of intellectual property and complex business acquisitions.

In addition to offering mentoring, SCORE offers webinars, interactive courses, workshops, and online resources. All are provided at no cost to their clients.

The businesses that SCORE works with fall into three different categories.

“One of them is startups, and it doesn’t have to be a full-time startup” said Edwards. “We go through a planning process with them. The second is early stage companies. Very often people get into trouble because they never went through the stages of really understanding what they were getting into. The third are operating companies—36 months and greater—and they tend to have functional problems that they encounter. Right now, because of the virus (COVID-19), there are cash flow problems.”

Edwards estimated that less than 50 percent of their clients are startups. Many of the other companies they work with are experiencing expansion and growth. Some need assistance with acquisitions and mergers.

Local business owners who are interested in working with SCORE can contact Edwards directly for a phone consultation. He can be reached at 518-893-7364.

For more information on SCORE, visit northeastny.score.org.

FuzeHub, the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, has opened a new grant fund as part of its Build4Scale NY initiative, a program that helps innovators and manufacturers take new products to market and more rapidly expand their operations in New York state.

The Build4Scale NY fund will provide startups and product innovators with grants of as much as $10,000 to launch or accelerate manufacturing projects.

“Access to funding tends to be a significant barrier for a lot of startups and small manufacturers,” FuzeHub Executive Director Elena Garuc said in a press release. “The Build4Scale NY fund will help alleviate the financial obstacles they encounter when trying to scale a new product. It will award grants to support great ideas and inventions that will generate new manufacturing activity and help create jobs in New York state.”

The fund is an element of the overall Build4Scale NY program, which provides training, one-on-one guidance and matchmaking to state resources and contract manufacturers. It provides companies with individualized support to address specific needs, solve unique challenges and spark growth.

Build4Scale NY is a membership program that is open to startups, early-stage developers of physical products and small to mediumsized manufacturers across New York state.

Funding will be awarded to member companies that are pursuing projects aligned with a set of requirements, which include company readiness, project fit, aligned resources and location in the state.

FuzeHub will award Build4Scale NY grants of varying values, up to $10,000. A total of $140,000 in grant funding is available.

To apply, companies can visit fuzehub.com/ build4scale-ny/membership.

For more information about Build4Scale NY membership, training, workshops,resources and grant funding visit fuzehub.com/build4scale-ny.

Quick Response Helps Continued From Page 1

owned, family-run fire company. Fire and mold remediation are their core business.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, they have extended cleaning and disinfecting services to all commercial buildings, including offices, schools and grocery stores.

Quick Response offers preventative or post-exposure disinfecting with electrostatic sprayers using green-based products.

“Our sprayers are state-of-the-art and cover anything in a room with a magnetic force field around objects. It leaves no wet residue on a room after you spray it. It’s clean, safe, quick and it’s not messy,” said Laurenzo.

The products used are EPA approved IRC benchmark product disinfectants.

SEDC is committed to our members and our mission:

Promote, Retain & Grow Saratoga County As COVID-19 reaches across New York State, we will continue to closely monitor this situation, provide you with resources, and continue to work.

Reach out. We are here for you, your team and your business.

Dennis Brobston: dbrobston@saratogaedc.com Tori Riley: toririley@saratogaedc.com Susan Rowland: srowland@saratogaedc.com Allyssa Wanser: awanser@saratogaedc.com

SAVE THE DATES

2020 SEDC Annual Reception June 18th or July 21st TBD

10 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

SPECIAL SECTION

Home / Real Estate

Jennifer Vucetic Named Secretary/Treasurer Alyssa Hackett Passionate About Her Of NYS Association Of Realtors For 2020 ‘Wolf Hollow Home Inspections’ Business Jennifer Vucetic, broker/owner of EXIT Realty Empire Associates, has been named the 2020 secretary/treasurer of the New York State Association of Realtors.

In her role, Vucetic will be responsible for all records and financial reporting to the Association’s board of directors, as well as keeping meeting minutes and issuing calls for meetings.

Prior to being sworn in as the secretary/ treasurer, Vucetic was also presented with the highly acclaimed New York State Women’s Council 2019 Member of the Year Award.

“This achievement demonstrates Jennifer’s willingness to be involved and help others,” said John DiBlasi, co-owner of EXIT Realty Empire Associates.

“When I see Jennifer, I see a leader. I see someone passionate about connecting people and serving others, as well as sharing her wisdom to help those around her grow and prosper,” said Craig Witt, president, U.S. Division, EXIT Realty Corp. International. “This unselfish method of leadership is indicative of influencing people by example. We are proud to have her in our company and excited to see what the future uncovers.”

EXIT Realty Empire Associates is located at 805 Route 146 in Clifton Park.

EXIT has paid out more than $460 million in single-level residual income to its associates across the U.S. and Canada, according to the company.

A portion of every transaction fee received by

Jennifer Vucetic, broker/owner of EXIT Realty Empire Associates in Clifton Park.

Courtesy EXIT Realty Empire Associates

EXIT Realty Corp. International is applied to its charitable fund and to-date, $5.5 million has been pledged to charity.

New York. For more information, please call (833) 518-3948 or visit our website at www. exitrealtyempireassociates.com or www. jennsoldit.com.

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BY CHRISTINE GRAF Alyssa Hackett opened Wolf Hollow Home Inspection last year and is certified to perform both home and mold inspections and works in numerous counties including Albany, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington.

She is willing to travel within a 1.5 hour radius of Albany.

Just six months after graduating from high school in 2001, Hackett enlisted in the Navy. She had no intention of entering the military but felt a call to serve after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A few months later, she deployed to the Middle East aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

After serving, she returned home and worked at a variety of different jobs before earning a degree in social work from the College of Saint Rose.

“I recognized something in myself that I felt a deep call to be of service in some capacity,” said Hackett. “Social work felt like a really natural fit for me.”

After receiving her degree, she worked for the Alliance for Positive Health and provided mental health services to the LGBTQ community. She also worked as the program director at the Pride Center of the Capital Region until she and many of her colleagues were laid off in 2016.

For the next three years, she worked odd jobs. She also did home maintenance and repairs and considered getting her general contractor’s license. It was at that point in time that she met someone who worked as a home inspector.

“He told me about the job, and I said, ‘I can walk into a house, point out things that are wrong, guide people through the emotional process of buying their home, and not be the responsible party for having to fix anything?” she said. “It seemed like a match made in heaven.”

The following week, Hackett enrolled in CATS Home Inspection Training School.

Four months later, she obtained her license. Before opening Wolf Hollow Home Inspections, she worked for an established home inspector and performed some 100 inspections.

Hackett said the home inspection business is a natural fit for her and that she enjoys

Alyssa Hackett does home inspections in counties including Warren and Washington. “exploring every dark corner” of a property.

From the time she was a child, she has had an interest in home maintenance and repair.

“I was that kid that wanted to know why everything worked the way it did,” she said.

“My parents used to give me handheld video games, and I wanted to take them apart and then got in trouble for not being able to put them back together. I had a deep desire to know how things work.”

Most of Hackett’s work has come from referrals from real estate agents and former colleagues from her time working in social justice. She prefers to work with agents who share her desire to prioritize relationships.

“What I set out to do was find agents that would be excited when I found things in a home that would provide their clients extra awareness about whether or not this was the right property for them,” she said.

“I want to work with agents that are really concerned with due diligence and who want to make sure that the homes their clients are buying aren’t getting them into situations where they would be in over their heads with repair work. I really set out to find ethical, honest agents who don’t want me to rush Continued On Page 15

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 11

Real Estate Agents Get ‘Essential’ Status, But Still Move Cautiously With Aid Of Technology

Equitas Realty owner Janet Besheer says that her more than 20 agents are relying on technology to connect with their buyers and sellers.

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Local real estate agents and brokers have been forced to change the way they do business in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Until this month, the work of real estate agents was considered non-essential, creating a severe hardship. This month, that was relaxed somewhat, but challenges still exist.

New York state opened up part of the real estate market on April 1 with a the ruling that residential and commercial showings and some other limited functions are essential businesses and can continue.

According to Empire State Development, the following functions are considered essential: residential home and office showings, home inspections and residential appraiser work. But the state asked real estate agents to continue to telecommute or work from home to the maximum extent possible.

Under the guidance, brokers can visit properties to conduct virtual showings, and they can oversee transactions or signings at their offices as long as they follow social distancing protocols. Appraisers and inspectors can also visit properties for inspections.

The New York State Association of Realtors urged agents to limit person-to-person contact and keep six feet between people.

Equitas Realty owner Janet Besheer said that her more than 20 agents are relying on technology to connect with their buyers and sellers. They had not been able to show properties or have in-person meeting with clients early in the pandemic. The company’s Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls offices were closed, but she has not had to furlough her two W-2 office employees.

“So far, we have not laid anyone off,” she said.

“I’m waiting to see what is going to happen with this PPP (payroll protection package). I’m trying to keep everyone onboard, and if we can get this assistance, we will definitely be able to do that.”

The $349 billion payroll protection package is part of the U.S. government’s $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package that was recently signed into law. It is intended to ensure that small business owners can continue to pay their employees during the pandemic. The aid will be delivered in the form of loans provided by Small Business Administrationapproved lenders.

“Our industry has been given a great

responsibility in this time of crisis to help meet the needs of New York’s residential and commercial property buyers and owners, and the overall welfare of the local and state economy,” said NYSAR President Jennifer Stevenson. “But our priority must be to the safety of our customers, clients and indeed for ourselves, as we all continue to practice socially responsible distancing that is helping to flatten the curve during this national health crisis. Our mantra must be ‘safety first, work second.”

“While our industry is one that relies on personal contact to best serve our clients, during this crisis, we will all need to adjust our approach. For example, you must limit person to person contact and observe the six-foot separation guidance,” she said.

In the midst of these uncertain times, Besheer said brokers and agents are still working but have been relying on technology to do their jobs.

“If this had happened 20 years ago, we would have been totally dead in the water,” she said. “We are using technology to allow clients to virtually visit homes. For us, it’s being creative. We are communicating through things like Facebook Live.

And we are texting and emailing to stay in touch with our clients. As agents and as brokers, we are doing everything we can with our technology to help bridge the gap and keep people aware of what’s happening and aware of properties that are for sale.”

Real estate agents throughout the country are relying on virtual open houses and showings to allow buyers to view properties. The number of 3-D home tours available on real estate web site Zillow have increased 326 percent from this time last year.

Although the majority of buyers have put their home buying plans on hold, Besheer said there are exceptions. Some buyers have unusual circumstances that prevent them from waiting out the pandemic.

“There’s very little inventory on the market right now, and when a well-priced property comes on, people are jumping on it,” she said. “We have seen people putting offers in without seeing it in person. That means we have to rewrite our contracts to indicate that everything in that contract is contingent on getting into the house in addition to having it inspected and everything else.”

Deed contingencies must also be written into these contracts. This is necessitated by the fact that deeds cannot be filed for as long as county offices remain closed.

“That’s another contingency in the contract,” she said. “They can convey the property, but the deed may be held up until they can get it into the county offices.”

Attorneys, banks, and notaries involved in pending real estate transactions have also had to adjust the way they do business. Closings are still

taking place, and the governor granted notaries the approval to utilize audio-video technology to complete their notarial acts.

Although notaries must follow strict protocol when using this technology, Besheer said not all attorneys are comfortable with the process. For example, a local attorney told Besheer that she arranged for documents to be notarized in a parking lot. The attorney and client had no physical contact, and the documents were placed in the open trunk of one of their cars. The attorney was able to witness the signing of the documents from a distance before removing the signed documents from the trunk.

Keller Williams real estate agent Mike Zygo said he appeared at a recent client closing via FaceTime.

The closing took place in the hallway of a law office.

“The attorneys shuttled the paperwork in and out of the office, but no one else was allowed to go into the office,” said Zygo. “It’s a very strange time.”

Because he has been working in real estate for less than one year, the pandemic restrictions have been especially difficult for Zygo.

“This is a business that is about outreach and generating leads,” he said. “I can’t meet anybody in person, so if it isn’t anyone I don’t already know personally, it’s going to be hard to let someone trust me to represent them.”

Zygo said he and others in the field are concerned about the long-term economic impact of the pandemic.

“With people losing jobs, it’s going to be tough for banks to give people mortgages,” he said. “People who otherwise would have been really excited to buy a house at the moment have put their plans on hold because their financial futures are less certain.”

Besheer said the pandemic has caused buyers to become hesitant, but she is hopeful the economy will rebound quickly. She expects there to be surge of buyers and sellers after social distancing restrictions are lifted.

The COVID-19 pandemic has occurred at a time when agents are preparing for their busy season.

According to data from the National Association of Realtors, 40 percent of home sales take place between the months of May and August.

“There was no way we saw this coming. It wasn’t like a recession or a depression where it was a systemic thing that was happening over time.

When this thing hit us, our economy was at its highest level ever,” Besheer said.

It is because of the strength of the economy before the pandemic that Besheer is hopeful that it will rebound quickly. She and other agents both locally and throughout the country are ready to make up for lost time.

NYSAR is working on further guidance for how communities can be served while adhering to these critical important health directives.

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12 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

SPECIAL SECTION

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

Insurance / Medical Services Agreement Allows SUNY Empire State To Help IHA Hospital Employees Get Degrees SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras and Iroquois Healthcare Association (IHA) President and CEO Gary J. Fitzgerald have signed a partnership agreement to lower barriers to college degrees for IHA’s 54 hospitals with 300,000 employees from Buffalo to Albany through SUNY Empire State College’s Corporate and Community Partner Benefits program.

The program will also be offered to retirees, and family members.

Through the partnership, SUNY Empire will waive the registration fee and all fulland part-time matriculated students will receive a $100 Presidential Scholarship.

New students will be able to complete their associate, undergraduate, or graduate degree at any one of SUNY Empire’s 30plus locations across New York state, online, or a combination of both using Empire’s highly f lexible individualized programs built especially for busy working individuals.

IHA participants may be able to further reduce time to graduation with transfer credits from traditional colleges and universities, as well as credits earned through SUNY Empire’s one-on-one individualized Prior Learning Assessment.

The process identifies college-level learning acquired through professional development, licenses, and certifications.

Officials said the healthcare industry in New York, like many others, is facing a shortage of qualified workers. By helping hospital employees advance their education, this partnership addresses specific workforce needs while helping employees achieve their own personal and professional goals. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for registered nurses to grow 15 percent by 2026, faster than for most other professions.

“SUNY Empire is proud to open the doors to a quality, f lexible education

designed for busy working healthcare professionals to more than 300,000 employees across Upstate New York, as well as their families, and retirees through the Iroquois Healthcare Association,” said SUNY Empire State President Jim Malatras.

“SUNY Empire programs like healthcare management or healthcare leadership are ideal for healthcare workers at all levels of their career who want to take the next step and provide better care for their communities. Thank you to Mr. Fitzgerald and everyone at Iroquois Healthcare Association for recognizing and responding to the needs of your membership.”

“Hospitals and health systems in Upstate New York are often the largest employers in their respective regions,” said IHA President and CEO Gary J. Fitzgerald. “This new partnership with SUNY Empire will create opportunities for hospital employees and their families to access and enhance higher education, creating a pipeline of qualified healthcare workers desperately needed throughout Upstate New York.

With over 2,000 registered nurse vacancies in hospitals alone, from Buffalo to Albany, innovative affiliations like this are integral to the future of healthcare.”

SUNY Empire corporate partners in healthcare include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital School of Radiology, CVS, ENT and Allergy Associates, Glens Falls Hospital, University of Buffalo Childcare Center, and University of Vermont Health Network.

The Iroquois Healthcare Association is a regional healthcare trade organization representing over 50 hospitals and health systems, spanning over 28,000 square miles, across 32 counties of Upstate New York. IHA is the leading resource for facilities and professionals bringing quality health care to the region.

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Business Report Empower Recovery For Your People, Business

BY BRIAN M. JOHNSON, MBA, CLTC The COVID-19 crisis is an event like no other in our lifetime. It is forcing us to live life in a new way. In some cases we feel we have lost control of our future and lives.

Fear of the unknown and perceived loss of control are just two of the issues all of us are dealing with in our personal lives and in business. It’s now safe to say there will be no going “back to normal.”

Instead, what we are currently experiencing IS the new normal and it will be this way for a while. So, how do you protect your business, operate during this unprecedented crisis, and emerge stronger on the other side?

There are myriad of insurance policies that address this concern such as business interruption coverage, disability insurance and business overhead expense insurance to name a few. However, I’m talking about an insurance that protects your most valuable asset, your people.

Everyone in an organization plays integral role in the survival of a company.

Hopefully most employees have basic benefits such as health insurance and group disability to protect themselves and their families if they are physically injured or sick. But what about their mental health and emotional well being? Many traditional insurances fail to address mental health, which can be even more debilitating to a person, their family and ultimately the employer they work for.

A coverage every employer should think about is trauma coverage. It’s one of the most cost effective benefits to offer and has probably the highest utilization of any insurance, next to health insurance. The world is ever changing and in every day life and work, people face trauma. Trauma coverage was created to empower the recovery of individuals and families with financial security, physical recuperation, and emotional well being after trauma.

Trauma coverage provides employees with trauma counseling, 100 percent of their regular income (up to a cap), 100 percent of a family member’s regular income (up to a cap) providing at-home support and reimbursement for out-ofpocket recovery care expenses, like co-pays, child care and/or travel.

COVID-19 is fresh in our minds and has heightened the importance of this coverage.

However, trauma coverage also addresses other incidents we face in life such as aggravated and sexual assaults, domestic violence, bullying, natural disasters, acts of terror, mass shootings, witnessing violence and contraction of an infectious disease. For many of our clients, we also

had a grief Counseling session built into the policy to specifically address COVID-19.

If an employee has a family member pass due to the disease, they receive two therapy sessions over the phone from a masters level or higher mental health professional and action steps at the end of the counseling. The counseling benefit of trauma coverage is what many employers are drawn to.

Too often mental health goes untreated because of either the stigma associated with counseling, confusion where to turn and/or the cost involved. Counseling through trauma coverage is conducted confidentially either over the phone, for up to three months or via an artificial intelligence web application that was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Counseling has been proven to assist employees with a successful recovery after a traumatic incident or experiencing PTSD. Trauma coverage gives employees an easier path to receive the assistance they need. With this coverage, there is no underwriting and virtually every profession is eligible. Employees even have the option to voluntarily cover family members under their policy, making this is insurance one of the most comprehensive protections an employee can own.

Our country and people are resilient and we will recover from the current pandemic. It may take some time and life may look a little different going forward, but we will carry on. Trauma coverage only makes recovery from any traumatic incident easier on a person, their family and employer.

Johnson is Director, Business Development at Advisors Insurance Brokers.

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 13

•

Business Report COVID-19 Estate Planning Issues

BY DAVID KUBIKIAN, ESQ. When did COVID-19 first enter your radar as something that would change our lives? Was it news about South Korea? Italy?

Was it when Tom Hanks announced he had contracted the coronavirus? Or when every sport suspended its season?

For estate planning attorneys, who by nature contemplate the future more than most, the radar had a blip in early February. It is about then that the casual conversations we normally have with clients prior to the serious business of estate and elder planning began to change.

Conversations about their recent trips or future travel plans included some reference to that “virus thing”.

A few weeks of government directives for closures and social distancing later, we are adjusting to pandemic life. Thankfully, food and supplies are available in local grocery stores and supermarkets. The banks and postal service are still running.

And of course, the internet still works.

Thank goodness for that.

Internet means access to digital newspapers. Internet means lots of social media (the good and the bad). And for the world of estate planning and elder law, the internet means that the business of helping clients can continue.

In the age of COVID-19, it is simply not a good idea to be across the table from anyone except your family at dinner. Handshakes are forbidden and a random sneeze or cough in a supermarket will lead to people choosing to skip that aisle all together.

But what if you need to create or update an estate plan? What if you lack the basic fundamental must-have documents like a health care proxy or power of attorney?

What if you want to start your long term care plan now and don’t want to wait 6 months before getting the “five-year look back” to start ticking? How do you go about meeting with an attorney and starting the process. Better yet, how, where, when and in front of whom do you sign your documents?

The answer starts with the internet and your phone. In-person consults have turned into phone conferences or better yet, video conferences through applications such as Zoom (one of the only winners from the pandemic). It is not the traditional face to face meeting but our office has still been able to create the important attorney/client

Emergency, Sick Leave Enrollment Extended Enacted For Pandemic For NY State Of Health •

David Kubikian is a principal with Herzog Law Firm in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy Herzog Law

connection.

Perhaps it even helps focus conversations on the facts that the client presents once the small talk ends. The goal of an estate planning attorney is to not just hear a client’s story, it is to hear the WHOLE story, warts and all.

The best legal diagnosis only comes with the entirety of the legal facts. The COVID-19 virus has not and will not prevent that alltoo-important initial client meeting or any follow up calls and discussions.

Estate and elder Law firms remain open to some degree with most operations having the majority of staff working remotely and a skeleton crew working to keep logistics in place. Documents get drafted in the case of estate planning and for elder law, we are still helping our clients get nursing home or home-care coverage from the Medicaid program.

Thankfully the internet has made most aspects of estate planning and elder law business as usual. However, eventually clients need to sign their important legal documents and that, in a word, has been challenging.

Whether it is a health care proxy or a will or a trust, witnesses or notaries (and sometimes both) are required under New York law. How does one go about witnessing a document without being in the room?

How does a notary legally apply their stamp to a page without having the signor present Continued On Page 17

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The U.S. Department of Labor announced new action regarding how American workers and employers will benefit from the protections and relief offered by the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, both part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) posted a temporary rule issuing regulations pursuant to this new law. It took effective April 1.

FFCRA helps the U.S. combat the workplace effects of COVID-19 by reimbursing American private employers that have fewer than 500 employees with tax credits for the cost of providing employees with paid leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The law enables employers to keep their workers on their payrolls, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus. WHD administers the paid leave portions of the FFCRA. “The bill provides unprecedented paid leave benefits to American workers affected by the virus, while ensuring that businesses are reimbursed dollar-for-dollar. This is one of a number of important actions being taken to protect and sustain workers and their families during this time of need,” said Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia.

“With so many workers and so many employers struggling with the effects of these unprecedented conditions, this rule provides answers and relief,” said Wage and Hour Division Administrator Cheryl Stanton. “We remain committed to providing the information and tools required for employees and employers alike to be fully informed about their rights and protections under this new law.”

WHD recorded a webinar on April 3 to provide a more in-depth description and help them learn more about the FFCRA. To view the webinar visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/ pandemic.

WHD provides additional information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to COVID-19 and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act at www.dol.gov/ agencies/whd/pandemic.

NY State of Health, together with the state Department of Financial Services (DFS), have extended enrollment period available to New Yorkers during which eligible individuals will be able to enroll in insurance coverage through NY State of Health.

The step was taken in light of the COVID-19 public health emergency to further protect the public health of New Yorkers, so that individuals do not avoid seeking testing or medical care for fear of cost. The open enrollment period for coverage in 2020 had previously ended on Feb. 7.

NY State of Health has opened a special enrollment period for uninsured individuals who need to enroll in a Qualified Health Plan. The period runs through April 15.

People who are eligible for other NY State of Health programs—Medicaid, Essential Plan and Child Health Plus—can enroll year-round. As always, consumers can apply for coverage through NY State of Health on-line at nystateofhealth.ny.gov, by phone at 855-355-5777, and working with enrollment assistors.

Due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Adirondack Health Institute’s Enrollment Assistance Services and Education (EASE) team has stopped seeing clients in person, however, continues to offer free health insurance enrollment assistance via telephone.

People in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren, or Washington counties who need enrollment assistance can call 1-866872-3740, or visit ahihealth.org/ease/appointmentrequest/ to request a free telephone appointment.

A joint venture of Adirondack Health, Glens Falls Hospital, Hudson Headwaters Health Network, St. Lawrence Health System, and the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, Adirondack Health Institute’s mission is to create transformative initiatives to improve access to health care services allowing the residents of the Adirondack region to realize their full potential and live a healthy life.

For more information, please visit www.ahihealth. org.

The Department of Health provides public health information and guidance for COVID-19 at www. health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/, and has implemented a Novel Coronavirus Hotline at 1-888-364-3065.

The Centers for Disease Control’s website offers up to date information at www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov.

14 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

•

Business Report Fight For Your Business, Early Steps Crucial

BY AMY ROMAN, CPA, CGMA, CM&AA The daily challenges of running and growing a business take the full focus of business owners.

The hardest thing you’ve had to face most recently has centered around finding qualified help rather than how to manage employees remotely or put them on furlough.

I hear you. The forced changes to, and even temporary closure of, your business could well be the worst pill you’ve ever had to swallow as an entrepreneur. But the best way to minimize damage is to face the hard realities head on. You need to reduce your exposure quickly.

While this may be challenging to consider today, this crisis could actually push you toward healthy business decisions you should have been planning for all along. If you had a contingency plan in place prior to the coronavirus, high marks for you. You’re among the business owners best positioned to come through this intact.

Continue to work your plan and read on for additional tips. Use the following checklist to institute changes and preserve your business: 1. Cash is king. While it’s important all the time, it’s imperative now. Consider the following: • Prepare a basic cash scenario over a threemonth horizon to evaluate best and worst case outcomes. We start each of our clients with a 13week cash flow analysis tool.

• Immediately get on top of collecting receivables. This is always a best practice, however it could be a do-or-die strategy now. At the same time, remember that many businesses and individuals are sharing your pain. Review your accounts and be willing to extend grace periods and negotiate terms. Consider being proactive and offering your clients a discount, using your 13-week cash flow as your guide. Pay it forward.

Investing in the mutual success of your loyal customers builds strong connections and will benefit you in the long run.

• Pick up the phone and begin an honest conversation with vendors, bankers, landlords and service providers. Negotiate a delay in payments or change in payment plans. Many lenders have already communicated these

•

Amy Roman, CPA,at CEFO Advisors, Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy CEFO Advisors

options and stand ready to work with you. They understand that cash conservation needs to be your first priority.

• Temporarily change appropriate large vendor payments from check to credit card.

• Delay your 2019 US federal tax payment.

The IRS has extended filing six months and will forgive interest and penalties allowing you to “finance” your taxes due.

• Suspend shareholder distribution payments.

• Implement a temporary 10 percent or 20 percent employee pay reduction and as the owner, communicate you have led the way by cutting your compensation first.

• Pursue grant or loan options from the SBA. New low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital were put in place last week specifically for small businesses and private nonprofits suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the coronavirus.

2. You need a lifeboat strategy. Although the immediate crisis may recede in a few weeks to months the effects will be felt for much longer.

Many of your assumptions about customers, sales cycles and revenue are no longer true. In some

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cases, you should even evaluate your business model.

• Make an honest assessment of the minimal things you need to keep your company alive and what you need to leave behind.

• Segregate expenses between direct (expenses necessary to produce goods or services) and indirect (general expenses necessary to operate your business). Attack the indirect expenses to significantly reduce or eliminate costs. Be sure to eliminate monthly costs for phone lines, data storage, software subscriptions and virtual planning tools for those who have left in good times or through necessary layoffs. If revenue starts to flow the day you reopen your doors, than a freeze on variable spending, such as hiring, staffing, marketing and travel, may do the trick.

• Eliminate perks and programs that drain cash.

• Evaluate your product and market fit for the ‘new normal,’ even though you are hoping that it is temporary. Can you change your delivery model to online? Can you provide consulting services via video? Do you need new sales messaging to address immediate points of pain that may not have existed last month?

• Cut prices. We are all aware of customers that want to do business with us, but have not been in a position to purchase. When you are trying to keep afloat, offering significant discounts on products or services may be just the ticket. Use your 13week cash flow analysis as a guide to understand how far you can go and still meet minimal goals.

• Develop a contingency plan early to manage the worst-case cash scenario. For service businesses, the reality is that revenue may still come in the early days of the crisis, but slow to a trickle as weeks and months unfold. You will be able to see this in your 13-week cash flow.

Unfortunately, it means that will probably need to stay in the lifeboat longer.

3. Address staffing levels. Employees are your biggest expense; cutting them is often the most painful challenge. But if you cannot avoid layoffs, failing to act quickly could be fatal. Don’t leave it for last.

• Plan, communicate and act with compassion.

Be completely transparent. Your employees are

scared, too. Your leadership skills and emotional intelligence will be under a spotlight and you need to get this right. You may also benefit from counseling on how to handle any layoffs from a legal perspective.

• Consider job-share options for hourly employees if that works for your business. By reducing hours from full time to two days a week, employees may be eligible to collect several days of unemployment each week as well. This strategy could minimize their financial pain and keep them engaged until you are able to bring them back full time.

• When considering whom to cut, keep your team and culture front and center. The reality for many businesses is that not all hires are created equal. One potential benefit of a layoff is the opportunity for a do-over on a hire that is a poor fit for your team, or someone who does not share the core beliefs that are central to your culture.

• Reserve enough cash to offer two-weeks compensation to anyone you need to let go, if at all possible. This is another reason to act early.

4. Preserve your culture. You worked hard during the good times to instill core values and behaviors as a foundation for your business. Lean on your culture now to guide you through the challenges.

• Over-communicate and be consistent, using the core language of your culture as you consider and share important decisions.

• Double down on team building. Create opportunities to connect, share feedback and relieve stress. If you’ve made layoffs, don’t forget that the remaining people are grieving, could feel guilty and may be concerned that they are next.

• Consider the personalities of each employee.

Each will benefit from personal check-ins and may need direct reassurance and guidance from you.

• Create a clear charter for moving forward.

At this early stage in the crisis, the only thing that we know for sure is that there are more surprises ahead. You may need to consider this list more than once as you navigate through new territory. Remember that you are not alone. But you are the one person who can stand up and fight for the survival of your business.

Cudney’s Cleaners Remains Open, Taking Safety Steps To Keep Its Customers Safe Cudney’s Launderers and Dry Cleaners is all keeping a close eye on the novel coronavirus and will remain open unless directed to close by federal or local government agencies, said Joyce Ure, owner/president.

In a news release, she said the company’s professional dry cleaning and laundry services already include standard operating procedures that not only clean but sanitize garments and household items.

“Cold, flu and coronavirus cannot survive professional cleaning at our facility,” she said.

“Furthermore, according to the CDC, flu viruses are killed by heat above 167 degrees Farenheit.

Our cleaning process includes finishing garments individually on our presses—heating items to a minimum 200 degrees ... We then return all clean items protected in plastic wrap. Our detergents, cleaning programs, and the high temperature steam are simply not

available to consumers in-home.”

“We want to be able to meet all your cleaning needs and help you and your family stay healthy. We offer home delivery in the Saratoga/Malta/Wilton area. We can come to your home and pick up your cleaning and return it to you, usually within three days. We also have a 24 hour drop box and pickup kiosk at our Springs location at 3 Hampstead Place.

And, if you prefer to stay in your car, you can notify us via our app that you are on the way and we will bring your garments out to your car.

The app is at www.cudneys.com/mobileapp/ For customers who prefer to get laundry done in large-capacity machines, laundromats are open. The South Broadway laundromat is open 24 hours/day and the West Ave laundromat is open 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

COVID-19 Update + Resources for Saratoga County Businesses SaratogaPartnership.org | 518.871.1887

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 15

Agencies Form Task Force Continued From Page 1

emails to every business and nonprofit within their database, regardless of membership. Over 10,000 recipients are on the list. They are sent information on the latest developments and recommendations for additional resources, loans, unemployment information, HR and legal issues.

“All of our groups agreed that we didn’t care if you were a member or not, an investor or not.

If your business or nonprofit was in Saratoga County, we were going to help. A piece of that was communicating with everybody,” said Shimkus.

“We also created a Saratoga County take-out program, to promote the 130 or so businesses and restaurants that are doing take-out across Saratoga County. Our website page for takeout alone had 31,000 unique views in the first two weeks. Our social media pages have had tens of thousands of unique views for that promotion,” said Shimkus.

In late March, the chamber created a Saratoga County online gift card platform at www.saratoga. org. Nearly 100 businesses are linked on the page, offering gift cards online.

“We’ve offered to host Zoom meet-ups for different groups. We did a meet-up with Elise Stefanik a week ago. We did one for businesses in Ballston Spa, Schuylerville, Malta, Burnt Hills and Ballston Lake. One for our Veterans Council. A bunch more,” said Shimkus.

Collectively, the task force has identified companies that are hiring. Over two dozen companies are hiring in Saratoga County.

The chamber has been promoting those job opportunities with instructions on how to apply, since people are unable to drop in in-person.

Additionally, the Chamber reached out to nonprofits in the community, and created a page to list what those organizations needed.

“We’ve worked with Saratoga County and Saratoga Hospital to encourage our members to make donations of gloves, masks, robes, and if they can, to transition their manufacturing into producing those items as well as hand sanitizer.

We’ve had quite a bit of luck to get local companies to make those transformations to serve our local community,” he said.

“We understand that firms that are most atrisk for not being able to reopen, or succeed in the long term, are the small, locally owned businesses.

We’re in the process of identifying every potential resource we can to help them and their employees get back up and running as soon as they’re allowed

to reopen,” said Shimkus.

“The Chamber serves as Saratoga County’s tourism promotion agency. Our job is to promote Saratoga County as a great place to visit,” he said.

“Discover Saratoga promotes Saratoga County as a great place for meetings, weddings, conferences and other groups. Our teams are now re-imagining our entire marketing approach now. It will focus not only on how much fun it is to come to Saratoga, but how it’s fun and safe and healthy to do so.

“It’s one of those times when we need to rethink how we promote ourselves. If we can get the hotels back open and attract people to stay here, they’re also going to dine here and shop here. That will help everyone.”

Allyssa Wanser, SEDC investment development director, has been working with people one-on-one.

“At the SEDC, we are contacting our members and investors individually. Everyone has a different situation,” she said. “We’re connecting them with other members and investors who can help them with a free service or consultation—whatever we have to do help people get in the right mindset, to keep them from panicking. We want to help them make good decisions in the moment.”

She said a lot of businesses are benefiting from putting together a 13-week cash flow statement, “to help them take a realistic look at what the next few months look like for them, and what the best decisions are for them to make. We have businesses helping them do that, as a free service,” said Wanser.

Shelby Schneider, president of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, said, “We are here to ensure that people who are making public policy decisions know what is going on on Main Street USA. Our businesses need to understand what tools and resources are out there, how they work, and how long it will take for support to come home to those who need it most.”

She said the agency partnership “ensures we are speaking with one voice, in collaboration, to ensure our business community has the most current, accurate information and resources to navigate through this uncertain and difficult time. Society may be on pause but we are planning for economic recovery now and we are all in this together.”

“The number-one message is that you can call any one of us, if you have any need or any idea. We all collectively have the capacity to get things done,” said Shimkus. “I can’t wait for us to move into a recovery plan with all six of us working together.”

Home Inspections

is using my knowledge and expertise before making the largest investment they will probably ever make,” she said. “Your $400 doesn’t just buy my time for two hours on an inspection. You bought my time for the entire time you are in the house. If anything comes up at any point, I want to be there as resource for you. I will go on your final walkthrough at no additional cost. You can call me any time.”

To learn more, visit www. wolfhollowhomeinspections.com or call 518-407-5260.

Continued From Page 10

through an inspection and who really want me to protect their clients.”

Business at Wolf Hollow Home Inspections grew steadily, but has slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although her rates are standard for the industry, her commitment to her customers goes beyond the norm.

“I take what I do very seriously. Someone

•

Business Report Resiliency Is Key To Overcoming Adversity

BY ROSE MILLER Business and the workplace have had to make dramatic shifts during the current crisis. It is being named the Adaptation Era. During times of adversity, situations require adaptation, major pivots and an increased need for creative solutions. All of this equals Change.

Change in the workplace has always been inevitable and most employees are uncomfortable with change. Change brings uncertainty. Change involves a loss of the familiar and it requires a considerable amount of effort to learn and adjust to innovative ways of doing things. Organizations that did not embrace a culture of change struggle to endure high times of adversity.

The one certain thing is things will change. I looked up from my computer this morning and I saw my kitchen instead of a downtown view. Change is continual and it will never stop. That leaves us with only one choice—to survive—to learn to accept the challenge, to seek new ideas and try to use it to our advantage.

What this means is that to deal with change successfully, we need to be resilient.

In terms of workplace change, this means the ability to bounce back from challenges like the sudden closing of your business, a sudden loss in revenue, decisions regarding your workforce, and even a sudden increase in business to respond to crisis-related needs.

Being resilient doesn’t mean that employees are not stressed by events. Being resilient does, however, mean everyone is not paralyzed by it. Being resilient is being able to cope with change and adapt to it in a positive way so that you’re able to take advantage of the opportunities it presents. It may be hard to see opportunities right now, but there are a few.

Although not everyone is born resilient, resiliency can be developed through deliberate action. Employees can increase their ability to face challenges when their leaders communicate resilient attributes such as asking for proactive problem solving, requests to be more organized, flexibility, patience, a sense of humor, focus and a positive “can do” attitude towards the challenge.

Individuals who are less resilient are more likely to dwell on problems, feel overwhelmed, use unhealthy coping tactics to handle

Rose Miller is president of Pinnacle Human Resources LLC. stress, and develop anxiety and depression.

Resilient people address problems rather than avoid them. They have a positive and optimistic outlook. We need to be optimistic right now. Managers need to be flexibile and demonstrate an adaptive disposition. People who are resilient maintain a calm and a healthy level of physical and psychological wellness during this time. They will share toilet paper versus hoarding it.

I had the good fortune to listen to Bonnie St. John, the first African American to win medals in Winter Paralympic competition as a ski-racer. She told an inspirational story of how during her Olympic race, she fell yet managed to get up to finish the race. She came in third and earned a bronze medal.

She later found out the first-place winner had also fallen during the race. She realized that getting up and moving forward in the face of adversity was key to success. Whoever recoups the fastest wins the race. Bonnie’s quote, “She was the faster, getter-upper.”

We are faced with one of the greatest challenges in our lives- both in our personal wellbeing and our economy. Resiliency is a basic requirement to overcome this challenge.

Leaders can help by preparing workers to embrace change quickly so we can all meet the demands placed on us and keep a positive attitude. They can seek new ideas and we can capitalize on new opportunities. We are a Resilient society. We will be able to get up quickly after a fall and win this battle.

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16 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

SPECIAL SECTION

NEXT ISSUE

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Construction Education / Training / Personal Development Health / Community Services Publication Date: May 6, 2020

Healthcare Financial Planning / Investments Building Trades Publication Date: June 3, 2020

Business Report Workforce Management During COVID-19

BY JIM MARCO It was just a few weeks ago that employers were lamenting the fact that they could not find enough qualified employees to help run their businesses. Now, these same business owners are faced with questions of whether they are essential/non-essential, closing store fronts and offices, remote work, layoffs, furloughs and more.

While you might be trying to recover from “managerial whiplash” at the moment, it’s time to start planning for your business to emerge from the other side of this pandemic.

That starts with making sure you have the people to help you successfully recover from this challenging time.

While it is true every day, communication with your employees is more important now that it ever has been. Frequent, honest, thorough communication with your staff, whether actively employed or on furlough or layoff, will help you gain the trust you need to retain these folks so they will be ready to come back to work and help you re-start your business.

Remember that communications isn’t just about what you say to your people, it’s equally important to listen to what they have to say to you. What are their questions, concerns, fears, or ideas? As a manager or business owner, your job isn’t to have all the answers, your job is to bring out the best in your people.

Is there an idea that you may not have considered? Have you established enough trust with your employees that they are

Jim Marco, president of Saratoga Human Resources Solutions Inc. Courtesy Saratoga Human Resources Solutions Inc.

willing to share those ideas with you?

If you have furloughed any members of your staff, you have a great deal of competition out there! Many businesses are hiring right now, and with hundreds of thousands of people filing unemployment benefits, these employers have a ready pool of applicants.

If your employees trust you, and genuinely believe that you are doing your best on their behalf, they are more likely to be there for you when you need them to get your business up and running again after this pandemic.

The time, effort, and care you invest now will help ensure that you emerge from this successfully.

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 17

•

Business Report Everyone Is Their Own Movie

BY BILL MURRAY AND GRETTA KEENE Relationships lie at the heart of a business.

As psychotherapists, we have observed that effective communication promotes healthy relationships. And healthy relationships will improve the outcome, whatever challenges your business is currently facing.

We teach our clients this important and often overlooked principle of effective communication: Everyone is in their own movie.

We all tend to assume that others are experiencing life in the same way we are. In fact, that’s why we’re often puzzled—or outraged— by other people’s words and actions. Their behaviors don’t make sense in our movie, so we label them wrong or bad or stupid or worse.

But if we could see the other person’s inner movie, follow the plot, and hear the soundtrack, it would become clear. We might not agree with the movie’s premise, we might dispute the motivation assigned to the various characters, but we could understand how it all fits together.

Covid-19 is spreading, leaving economic turmoil in its wake along with massive amounts of anxiety and confusion. If there were closed captioning for everyone’s inner movie, we might read [ominous music] as a description of most soundtracks.

It is more crucial than ever for business leaders to keep in mind the principle everyone is in their own movie, as they communicate with employees, customers, and vendors and keep their relationships—and businesses—as healthy as possible.

This means that, rather than assuming we know how others are experiencing this crisis, we recognize that everyone is taking in information differently and from different sources, and interpreting it in different ways, depending on their background and previous life experience.

How can you put this principle into practice?

Here are some suggestions: • Ground yourself in the present moment.

We’re not exempt from the distortions caused by fear and dread. While it’s important to bring clear-eyed planning to worst-case scenarios, fear-driven responses (often described as fight, flight, freeze, and fawn) emerge from a different part of the brain—one that short-circuits thoughtful communication and perspectivetaking.

• As a way to dispel a focus on fear, ground yourself in the present moment. That’s what the practice of mindfulness is all about.

Here is a link to some practical instruction, Mindfulness in Business: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=s9BDziasyH0.

• Be curious and kind. Fear is a natural enemy of curiosity. The panic of “I don’t know what to do” and the single-minded reaction of “I’ve got to do this” leave no space for the openness and explorative interest that comprise curiosity. But curiosity, coupled with compassion, is essential for effective communication.

• Start with yourself. Imagine that a kind and interested friend—someone you trust— is asking you about your needs and concerns because they simply want to understand what life is like for you just now. Allow your thoughts and feelings to emerge and simply notice them without judging them as bad or stupid or wrong. They just are. That’s your movie.

• Use the same approach with others.

People tend to respond well to conversations that begin with this sort of kind curiosity. A second step reinforces the effectiveness of the communication—the skill of paraphrase.

• Paraphrase. We teach couples a technique we call Speaker-Listener to improve their overall

• •

Business Briefs

The Adirondack Trust Co. reported it has once again secured a 5-Star rating from BauerFinancial, the nation’s premier bank rating firm.

A five-star rating indicates that the bank excels in areas of capital adequacy, profitability, asset quality and much more. Earning and maintaining this top rating for 55 consecutive quarters puts Adirondack Trust in the most prestigious bracket as an Exceptional Performance Bank.

BauerFinancial, Inc., based in Coral Gables, Fla., is an independent bank and credit union rating and research firm, has been reporting on and analyzing the performance of U.S. banks and credit unions since 1983.

* * *

Bill Murray, Ph.D., is a partner in Keene Murray Therapy.

Courtesy Keene Murray Therapy

Gretta Keene, LCSW, CST, is a partner in Keene Murray Therapy.

Courtesy Keene Murray Therapy

communication skills. An essential element is learning how to paraphrase accurately.

The person who is the speaker relates some aspect of their inner experience—their movie—a few sentences at a time. The person who is the listener is required, first, to listen.

Then the listener must put into their own words what it is they understood the speaker to have said.

It’s astonishing how frequently well-meaning people unintentionally misunderstand each other. This is revealed in the listener’s paraphrase, to which the speaker replies, “That’s not what I meant at all.”

In the current climate of uncertainty and alarm, it’s important to reduce miscommunication and increase the sense of being understood.

During this crisis of physical and economic health, difficult decisions need to be made.

Getting a buy-in from stakeholders often depends on how information is communicated.

Our final suggestion regarding effective communication is an adaptation of a tried and true sales technique: Yes, and . . .

Curiosity has elicited the other person’s experience—their concerns, hopes, and needs (their movie). Paraphrasing has insured that you understand accurately. “Yes” indicates that you see those concerns, hopes, and needs as valid. Too often, though, what follows “Yes” is “but,” which sets up a dynamic of conflict.

It can be experienced as, “I understand your needs; however, my needs take precedent.”

“Yes, and” places both people’s concerns, hopes, and needs side-by-side. It fosters a sense of mutuality, including mutual problemsolving, and promotes agreement, whether it be a sale or a buy-in to a new business model.

The GlobalFoundries-Town of Malta Foundation announced a grant for up to $50,000 to the town of Malta to help local individuals and families affected by COVID-19.

The town will initially purchase 250 gift cards from local grocery stores in the amount of $100 each, and an additional 250 gift cards when needed.

The town will distribute the grocery store gift cards to Malta residents, families and seniors in need from Town Hall, 2540 Route 9, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The grocery store gift cards will allow local residents to buy food and personal items for themselves and their families during this time of crisis.

The GlobalFoundries-Town of Malta Foundation annually provides grants to local organizations and will continue to award grants during its annual grant cycle. The foundation awards grants for projects that are creative, innovative, and inclusive in their scope and opportunities that will provide the maximum amount of benefit to the local Malta community.

More information about the GlobalFoundries-Town of Malta Foundation is available online at sites.google.com/site/gfmaltafoundationorg/home.

* * * Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP and McNamee Lochner PC announced they are exploring a relationship under which most of the attorneys of McNamee Lochner would join their practices with Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to align our firms and bolster the practice areas and legal experience available to our clients. The attorneys at McNamee offer depth of experience in sophisticated practice areas, and we believe that our combined strength will prove to be an asset to our clients and the community” said John Henry, co-managing partner of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. “Joining our practices will allow our clients to draw upon the collective experience, depth and breadth of both firms” said Scott Barbour comanaging partner of McNamee Lochner.

Both firms anticipate announcing further details of their arrangement within the coming weeks.

* * * CAP COM Federal Credit Union and its charitable giving arm, the CAP COM Cares Foundation, have announced a $50,000 donation to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY. The support has been provided to help alleviate hunger needs in the Capital Region in the wake of coronavirus. The Regional Food Bank heavily depends on funds to meet the growing demand to feed children, seniors, and families.

Across 23 Capital Region counties, the organization is receiving an unprecedented number of requests for assistance in the midst of the crisis.

CAP COM’s $50,000 gift to the Regional Food Bank is in addition to the $450,000 slated for donation by the CAP COM Cares Foundation to hundreds of community organizations this year.

COVID-19 Estate Planning Continued From Page 13

themselves to the notary?

Those are excellent questions which New York state has considered. In recent weeks, they have enacted guidelines for notarizing via video. The guidelines provide a lengthy checklist for notarizations to be valid but nonetheless, your important legal documents can be notarized. Witnessing a will is a bit more tricky but our profession is nothing if not creative.

Some firms have implemented video conference procedures for document signings for certain documents as well as signing of critical documents in open air spaces with a well-choreographed procedure to prevent exposure to client or attorney. This includes but is not limited to

clients using their own pens, appropriate physical distancing, and a safe postsigning document detoxification (for lack of a better word) and perhaps the most important, a pre-signing phone conference to explain documents to the client so the actual signing is shorter.

Our profession is committed to continuing to help our clients in their hour, days, weeks or months of need. Thankfully our state has provided guidance that will allow important documents to be signed and notarized. The fact is that the pandemic did not eliminate dementia or incapacity, death or family conf lict and because those parts of life (and death) still exist, we need to accommodate our clients as best we can.

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18 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

Creatacor, Which Builds Displays, Exhibits, Hopes To Build Temporary Medical Facilities

The staff at Creatacor poses in the Halfmoon headquarters surrounded by tools they use to make exhibits. The company wants to make medical items to help during COVID-19 pandemic.

BY JILL NAGY William Farmer, chief operating officer of Creatacor Inc., is hoping to help with the coronavirus pandemic with a plan he has to build hospital beds and other things to help out in the crisis.

The company, located in Halfmoon, usually builds displays for retail stores, trade shows and other events. It is well positioned to create temporary structures for use in the crisis, building things like beds, waiting rooms and treatment areas, Farmer said.

Normally, Creatacor would be preparing exhibits for events like South by Southwest and companies like AngioDynamics, General Electric, Lego and Ikea.

“The event business is not coming back right away,” he said.

“We have a lot of temporary walls,” Farmer said.

They could be used to create a room similar to the temporary hospital in New York City’s Javits Center, he said. They also have “a very creative team that can come up with ideas quickly.”

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

Perhaps, equally important, he said, “We have lots of room in our facility to keep people spread apart.”

Farmer has been in touch with FEMA, other government offices, the Veterans Administration, area hospitals and others.

There has been some interest but, so far, no business, he reported. He is also working with the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. and county chambers of commerce.

For now, 18 of Creatacor’s 46 employees are at home. “We are paying them to be at home,” he said.

He is hoping that the recently passed federal stimulus package will help keep the company afloat. He plans to apply for enough to pay rent and salaries for eight weeks.

The company, located on Route 146 near Routes 9 and 236, has been in business since 1987 when it was spun off from General Electric. Farmer was with the company from the beginning. The last original owner retired in 2010 and sold the company to three employees, including Farmer.

Construction During COVID-19 Continued From Page 1

a residential home?”

“It is a challenge to keep a safe distance on a job site, which is why the governor put a stop to it,” said Thomas Albrecht Sr., CEO of Hilltop Construction Co. in Hudson Falls.

“Only one guy on a site is keeping things going,” said Albrecht. “So my cup is half full.”

Albrecht continued to pay all staff until April 2, when they became eligible for unemployment compensation. Some have been with the company 20 years and he expects “100 percent of them to return. Their jobs will be there,” he said.

“We compensate well and promote a good environment to work in,” Albrecht said. He is “saddened” by the developments.

Even if more workers at a site were possible, Albrecht said his company and others would still be “getting inundated with materials delays.”

“The supply chain can be disruptive,” said Doug Ford, vice president in charge of sales and purchasing at Curtis Lumber Co. “Some truckers from Canada are not comfortable coming into the States,” said Ford. “Manufacturing of all kinds was shut down in Pennsylvania and that has had an impact.”

Many such operations in Pennsylvania “were since deemed essential and are coming back,” he said.

Like the other administrative positions at Curtis Lumber, Ford has been working from home. This the first time he has done so in 25 years with the company, he said.

Curtis is closed to all customers but pickup is available.

“About half the staff are onsite in our stores, including materials handlers and front-line staff,” he said. “We have had no layoffs.”

The headquarters store in Ballston Spa, where Ford and about 200 other administrative personnel work, houses a separate building with kitchen and bath showrooms, where customers usually browse for ideas and place their orders. Now personnel assist clients by using their tablets and cell phones to show what items look like so that they can make selections by video, Ford said.

“One positive thing that may come out of this crisis is that the industry is exploring technology that it was not using a few months ago,” he said.

Another is the positive atmosphere among employees.

“The employees are looking out for one another and have the sense that we are in this together,” Ford said.

At Precise Painting & Wallcovering serving the Glens Falls area, owner Jay Dickinson is facing his first layoff in 43 years.

“We have a staff of 18 and have been buried

with work we can’t do now,” said Dickinson.

He said there have been winters when his company may be short staffed, but this year they were “swamped” up until the crisis. Now he has to limit his workers to one per project, whether interior or exterior, residential or commercial, and regardless of the size of the building.

Some homeowners may be nervous about having workers inside their homes for the foreseeable future. But Precise Painting’s high-end clientele this time of year is largely absent.

“We have second homes and vacation homes in Lake George that we get ready for the owners to move into,” Dickinson said.

“Usually we have October through May to touch up cracks and paint and do other maintenance.”

One such home is 70,000 square feet, others may be 10,000 square feet or more.

“I’m figuring out how to get those projects done with only one person,” he said. “But I am confident we will work our way through.”

Dickinson said he is “amazed at how the public has responded to how we all should act. Job sites have turned super clean. The staff often gets the flu this time of year, but not this season because of these new practices,” he said. “I think it will be a long time before relaxing these standards of hygiene.”

Dickinson’s company is “the only contractor allowed in Glens Falls Hospital right now,” he said. “We did the coronavirus command center there.”

He said his estimator is busier than ever.

“There is no limit to what he can bid on,” he said. “He does bids remotely from home, based on floor plans and parameters he receives electronically.”

The professionals all recognize the financial impact on the community as a whole.

“My heart aches for the nonprofits who rely solely on gift givers,” Albrecht said. “I can imagine a company that was instrumental in supporting an organization going into survival mode. Everyone is in survival mode right now. You can’t give all your cash away.”

Potoker said that the 25th annual Saratoga Showcase of Homes scheduled for midSeptember may be delayed, or worse.

The residences showcased, most of which are under contract with a buyer, may not move along unless and until the residential construction mandate is lifted.

“We are in a holding pattern because these are high-end private homes and deemed non-essential,” Potoker said.

Construction trade associations throughout New York have reportedly asked the state to allow residential construction to resume while maintaining strict adherence to the higher safety standards recently imposed.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020 • 19

Holiday Inn Steps Up To Help Shelter The Homeless During COVID-19 Crisis •

The Holiday Inn in downtown Saratoga Springs is serving as a temporary location for the city’s homeless operated by Shelters of Saratoga.

The Holiday Inn in downtown Saratoga Springs is now serving as a temporary location for the city’s homeless.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shelters of Saratoga (SOS) Executive Director Karen Gregory said isolating people experiencing homelessness in individual hotel rooms with access to private bathrooms is the best possible solution to facilitate safe distancing and the ability to practice good hygiene thus preventing a community-wide spread of COVID-19.

Food service, basic necessities and case management is being provided to those staying in the hotel. The shelters on Walworth Street remain open and SOS is serving over 100 people through the outreach program which provides people with food and hygiene products, she said.

“Our number one priority is the health and safety of people we are helping each day. Social distancing and hygiene is the only way to slow the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, people experiencing homelessness don’t have the ability to stay home.” Gregory said.

“People experiencing homelessness don’t have regular access to sinks where they can wash their hands and those staying at homeless shelters can’t always remain six feet from another person. There are simply too many people and not enough space.”

Quarantine for a sick or exposed individual would not be possible in these settings.

In addition, homeless individuals face a variety of issues when it comes to COVID-19, Gregory said. Age, poor health, disability, and living conditions make them highly vulnerable to illness. Once the virus is introduced to this high-risk population, further transmission

will be very difficult to contain. As such, Shelters of Saratoga initiated this proactive, rapid response plan for this crisis.

“I made several requests to Saratoga County to move our shelters into a local hotel before someone was symptomatic or tested positive for COVID-19,” she aid. “I was told over and over again that would not be possible until somebody tested positive, although I explained at that point it would be too late and I was afraid we would have a shelter full of very sick people including my staff. Ultimately, I did not want anyone to die.”

When Gregory voiced her concerns and ideas to Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly, they met the next morning and started looking for a hotel. Kevin Tuohy, general manager of the Holiday Inn in Saratoga, offered his support.

While the guests will be staying at the hotel, Gregory has opted to move in as well to keep operations running smoothly. “Although, I miss my family tremendously, it is critically important to me, to keep both my family safe as well as the people SOS is serving,” she said.

“As mayor, it’s my job to protect all of my citizens, including and especially those most vulnerable,” Kelly said. “Current federal and state guidelines for COVID-19 and homeless individuals set a reactive threshold— quarantine only after an individual presents with symptoms. For our city, this was not a high enough standard. I’m proud that Saratoga Springs is joining a short, but growing list of communities across the country prepared to prevent infection and spread among our homeless population by using hotels to practice social distancing and enable access to adequate hygiene, hand washing, and quarantine. This will save lives.”

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Business Report Stimulus Provision To Help Weather The Storm

BY STEPHEN KYNE, CFP At the end of March Congress passed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, which is a $2.2 Trillion life support bill to help the economy survive the duration of the government-imposed shutdown.

While the bill is extremely wide-ranging, and many provisions may not apply to you, there are some items in the Act which you should at least be aware of.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is included in the Act and provides extended eligibility for individuals who are traditionally ineligible for unemployment benefits, including the self-employed and independent contractors.

It also provides an additional $600 on top of regular benefits, each week for up to 39 weeks.

You are encouraged to check the New York state unemployment insurance website at www.labor. ny.gov for details and read the “Frequently Asked Questions” page to help determine eligibility.

The CARES Act also includes a provision to temporarily suspend most Required Minimum Distributions from IRAs and retirement plans.

People who were 70½ before Jan. 1 or who turn 72 this year, would otherwise be required to withdraw a portion of their accounts and pay taxes on the distribution. The Act suspends this requirement through the end of 2020, resuming again next year.

Recovery rebates, which are direct payments from the government to individuals, have also been approved as part of the Act. These one-time payments will include $1,200 for each adult plus an additional $500 per qualifying child, however there is a caveat. Individuals with income higher the $75,000, and joint filers with incomes great than $150,000 will have their rebates gradually reduced, and eliminated for those individuals with income great than $99,000 and joint filers with incomes greater than $198,000. These payments will be automatic, and should require no action on your part.

For people under that age of 59½, who qualify, the government is allowing access to up to $100,000 of your IRA or certain retirement plans without the usual 10 percent early withdrawal penalty. In addition to waiving the penalty, the government is allowing the income to be recognized over three years which would help most individuals remain in a relatively lower tax bracket than they would be in, had they recognized all of the income in just one year.

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For those who only need to take the withdrawal as a short-term financial bridge, the Act also allows repayment of the distribution within three years of receipt which would avoid the income recognition altogether.

For small business owners, it is important to note that the ACT makes loans and grants available through the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Contact the SBA directly for details on these programs.

While not technically part of the CARES Act, it is worth mentioning that the IRS has postponed the tax filing deadline for individuals from April 15 to July 15. They tax payment date has also been delayed. According to the IRS, this extension is automatic, and does not require you to file any forms.

While nobody knows the depth or duration of the economic impact from the coronavirus and the subsequent government-mandated economic shutdown, the CARES Act is a huge step, at least in the short-term, toward providing resources to help individuals and families weather the storm.

Like any piece of legislation, the CARES Act is convoluted and contains a myriad of provisions.

Work directly with your certified financial planner professional and your CPA to help determine which provisions may apply to you, and how best to use them to benefit you and your family.

Kyne is a partner at Sterling Manor Financial in Saratoga Springs and Rhinebeck.

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22 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • APRIL 2020

Cleaning Services In Demand

PrimeLink Aquired

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disinfectants, and PPE. North Country Janitorial has also been offering advice to clients.

“Two things to underscore are the importance of good cleaning and disinfecting, which are two separate processes. We’re still learning about this disease and how it works.

I think it’s important to follow the directions from the CDC and the health professionals, such as consistent and vigilant hand washing, as well as maintaining our distance from our most vulnerable populations.

“Minimizing our interaction even in the office, having phone conversations instead of in person conversations. We’re offering them service where we can, and even products to clients who would prefer to do things themselves.”

Weygand had similar advice for mitigating the risks of COVID-19.

“Disinfection is a moment-in-time. An office can be 100 percent disinfected, but as soon as someone sneezes or touches a doorknob, that disinfection is gone.

Businesses can help by cleaning high touch

points such as door handles, light switches, etc. frequently, as well as ensuring soap and water in the restrooms is full. If anyone is working in the office, professional cleaning is recommended.

“This is also a good time for carpet cleaning with steam, as well as tile and grout cleaning, because the COVID-19 virus is easily killed with high heat.”

April Fresh Cleaning operates out of Saratoga Springs, and offers services to clients ranging from Clifton Park to Queensbury.

Along with full janitorial cleaning, they also offer carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, upholstery cleaning and residential move-in and move-out cleaning.

Daigle Cleaning Systems offers commercial and residential cleaning company offers office cleaning, all aspects of commercial maintenance, specialty work with trauma remediation, post-construction cleanups, apartment turnovers, as well as some house cleaning.

The company currently has 75 workers on staff, and is also looking to hire temporary

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minimum of six months and a maximum of 24 months. There’s so much to change over and so much in connecting the networks. We don’t want to rush anything for our clients.

It will be seamless, behind the scenes. We’re purposely giving ourselves an abundance of time to make that happen,” she said.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on our personal service. Our account managers aren’t going way. We’re still going to have the same contacts and technicians. We will get the additional resources that a large company like FirstLight brings.

We’ll bring all of these things together for our customers. It’s a win-win all the way around,” said Marking.

Since its inception in 1997, PrimeLink has carved its niche in the North Country, specializing in business communication solutions and catering to delivering voice and data services to small and mid-size businesses.

PrimeLink is a subsidiary of the Champlain Telephone Co., which has over 100 years experience in the telecommunications industry.

workers to meet increased demand.

According to Foster, Daigle Cleaning Systems cross trains their employees, allowing them to be a “one-stop shop” for clients who need multiple cleaning services done.

Foster anticipates there will be another increase in clients requesting large-scale, one-time cleaning services for their offices when the pandemic winds down.

He said above all, he hopes his business can be of help to the community during this trying time.

“If anybody needs any guidance, if any folks that are in the restaurant or another business that has been closed or effected by this, if we can do our part in putting people to work temporarily to help them provide for their family, reach out and we’ll do whatever we can to help out,” he said.

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