Saratoga Business Journal - June 2020

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

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

VOL. 25 NO. 04

HH The Business Newspaper of Saratoga County HH

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GLENS FALLS, NY 12801 PERMIT #600

JUNE 2020

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Many Saratoga Springs Business Owners Tax Incentive Approval Makes Way For Confident City Can Rebounded From Crises Expansion, More Jobs, At Quad Graphics

BY RACHEL PHILLIPS Slowly but surely, New York is beginning to emerge from the months-long shutdown that resulted from the outbreak of COVID-19.

In Saratoga Springs, in particular, the lack of tourists and probable dearth of fans in the city for the Saratoga Race Course this summer pose yet another hurdle to overcome for small businesses.

However, business owners and organizations are hopeful that people and entrepreneurs can work together to keep the area thriving.

There has been no official word that fans won’t be allowed at the track while horses race. But indications are that the situation will be like the current Belmont Park meet--racing and online betting, but no fans at the facility.

Deann Devitt, president of the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association, is optimistic about Saratoga’s ability to rebound.

“Saratoga Race Course is a huge draw to our little city, but it isn’t all we have to offer,” said Devitt. “I have faith in our community to master this challenge. We will need to think creatively and will need to work together. Residents will continue to show their support of our small businesses.

This helps our businesses remain strong and feel appreciated.

“Our small businesses will continue to offer alternative options for those who may not be ready to venture out, and work to create new experiences for all to enjoy, while adapting to our new normal.”

According to Devitt, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Saratoga Economic Development Corp., Discover Saratoga and Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership have been participating in the efforts to keep small businesses running during these difficult times.

In addition to offering sample reopening plans for businesses, they have created reopening starter

As the state eases COVID-19 rules, more people are showing up in downtown Saratoga. kits that contain hand sanitizer, social distancing signs and face masks.

Heidi Owen West, owner of three downtown businesses—Lifestyles of Saratoga, Caroline and Main and Union Hall Supply Co.—has created a five-page “business precautions plan” to keep employees and clients safe for when they reopen.

According to West, it includes “new procedures for fitting rooms, sanitization stations, social distancing floor plans, masks will be required or one-on-one appointments for clients unable to cover their faces, pre-screening for employees and tracing of possible symptoms. It’s quite extensive and covers everything we do on a daily basis.

I have it posted in the shop and creating social Continued On Page 18

Quad Graphics will be installing two state-of-the-art commercial printing presses in its Saratoga Springs plant. Officials said eventually it will create 74 new jobs.

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Quad Graphics plans to invest $45 million in plant upgrades and was recently awarded $1.05 million in tax incentives from the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency (IDA).

The company said it will be installing two state-of-the-art commercial printing presses in its Saratoga Springs plant where they print magazines, catalogs, and retail print inserts.

As part of the incentive package, Quad said it will save $211,000 in sales tax on equipment purchases. It will save an additional $105,000 a year

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

in property tax as part of a 10-year payment-in-lieuof-taxes agreement that freezes Quad’s property assessment.

According to Rod Sutton, IDA chairman, Quad Graphics approached the agency in October. At that time, the Saratoga Springs plant was one of 10 in the U.S. being considered as the location for the new presses. Quad Graphics has more than 35 plants in the U.S. and also has plants in Latin America and Europe.

“They indicated to us that if they were not Continued On Page 15

79th Season Of Harness Racing Resumes Family Vision Center In Saratoga Springs At Saratoga Casino Hotel, But Without Fans Marks Its 100th Anniversary Of Operation Harness racing resumed on Thursday, June 18, at Saratoga Casino Hotel in Saratoga Springs, but no spectators are allowed at the track due to state guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fans can wager remotely on the races through Saratoga Casino Hotel’s online wagering platform, SaratogaBets.com, or on any other New York State approved online waging platform.

The casino remains closed and is awaiting further guidance from the state regarding a reopen date for the entire property.

Following the directive outlined by the state Gaming Commission and the state Department of Health, Saratoga Casino Hotel developed new policies and procedures to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak and ensure the safety of employees, horsemen, and horses, officials said.

“We’re very excited to resume our 79th season of racing here at the historic Spa Oval, and are particularly happy that our horsemen will be able to get back to the sport they love after a time that’s been difficult for so many,” said John Matarazzo, director of racing operations at Saratoga Casino Hotel. “We’d like to extend a special thank you to the Gaming Commission and the Department of Health for making this possible.”

He said races will run two days a week, every Thursday and Sunday with a noon post time.

On all race dates throughout June and July, SaratogaBets will be offering a 5 percent bonus on all winning Saratoga Harness wagers, as well as double the money back on program purchases.

These bonuses are in addition to up to 5 percent in daily or weekly player reward payouts regularly offered to SaratogaBets account holders. To open

Harness racing continues at Saratoga Casino Hotel, but without fans.

Courtesy Saratoga Casino Hotel

a new account to wager on tracks from around the world, go to SaratogaBets.com.

Saratoga Casino Hotel, located on Crescent Avenue features slots, a 117-room luxury hotel, electronic table games, Vapor, Morton’s The Steakhouse, casual dining restaurant, three fullservice bars including a sports bar, deli and a variety of guest services including valet parking and coat check.

BY JILL NAGY Family Vision Care Center at 205 Lake Ave. in Saratoga Springs is celebrating its 100th anniversary,doing so with monthly events for the rest of the year.

Plans changed, both for the celebration and for the business itself, with the advent of the coronavirus lockdown. But the center is reopening and will continue marking the anniversary.

The business in March was restricted to emergency care only and the staff worked at home or not at all. April, usually the center’s business month, saw essentially no business at all, the owners said. The celebration went online, with monthly raffles and a “throwback” video every Thursday recounting some of the business’s history.

Owner Susan Halstead said she has been cross-promoting with other Saratoga businesses on the monthly raffles. For example, one month the Vision Center combined an offer of sunglasses with a prize of wine and dinner at Taverna Novo. Another month, children’s sunglasses were combined with a gift certificate from the Saratoga Springs toy store G. Willikers. Anyone who contacts the center is entered in the raffle. There is no cost involved.

Throwback Thursdays feature videos on Facebook and Instagram recounting stories of previous owners. The first owner, named Nimimoto, changed his name during World Was II because he feared he would be interned.

He was born and raised in Saratoga Springs but his father was Asian. The second owner

Family Vision Center on Lake Avenue has been in business for 100 years. ©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

produced a memoir, that Halstead is sharing through the Throwback series. She is the third owner.

During the slowdown, Halstead transformed her office to be as virus-proof as possible when it re-opened. The first things patients will notice is the receptionist “in a bubble,” an anti-bacterial plastic curtain. Clients will have Continued On Page 13

2 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

‘550 Waterfront’ On Saratoga Lake Ready To Inn At Saratoga Serves Outdoor Patio Open, Replacing Fire Ravaged ‘Lake Local’ Meals, Awaits Bringing Customers Indoors

John Boyle, managing partner, stands before the new 550 Waterfront restaurant on Saratoga Lake. It has vast outdoor seating and 110 boat slips in addition to the inside restaurant.

BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL A new restaurant on Saratoga Lake, dubbed 550 Waterfront, is slated to open soon at the site of the former Lake Local.

The restaurant was about three years in the making.

Managing partner John Boyle said he expects to receive a certificate of occupancy soon.

Upon opening, the restaurant will serve clients curbside, boatside and at its expansive outdoor spaces.

Lake Local was lost to a fire a few years ago.

As Boyle and his partners discussed how to rebuild the “clear vision was to have similar cuisine and keep the same vibe as a family oriented restaurant,” he said.

The once intimate, approximately 1,000-square-foot structure was rebuilt and now encompasses 7,000 square feet. It sits at the northern tip of Saratoga Lake and has “one of the most beautiful views in Upstate New York,” according to Boyle. “550 Waterfront is the only place where you can see from one end of the lake to the other. There is sun on the patio from sunrise to sunset.”

It was important to Boyle and majority partners Dan Collins of Select Sotheby’s International Realty and Mike Phinney of Phinney Design Group to provide access to the restaurant by water, so 550 Marina was designed with 110 boat slips.

“We used the highest-end teak wood and

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

galvanized steel for the dock,” he said.

There are also two courtesy docks where people can tie up for food pick-up, especially as the community continues to shelter at home during the coronavirus pandemic, Boyle said.

There are three large fire pits outside, outdoor bars and raised decking so guests can enjoy the views with music and a cocktail, said Boyle.

“There was always a lively bar crowd with reggae music and indoor and outdoor fun,” he said.

Phinney designed the interior and outdoor spaces and Trinity Construction was the general contractor. Interiors designed by Ed Rovetto and Claudia Boyle are bright and airy in keeping with the nautical theme.

“We took an old sailboat, renovated it and hung it from the ceiling,” Boyle said. “The design makes use of nautical features like ship lap and beautiful lighting, and huge glass garage doors face the lake.”

Seafood is featured daily, including lobster and swordfish BLTs. But as in the past, the new restaurant will also serve burgers, hot dogs and pub food, Boyle said.

Executive chef Barry Dillon is back and is joined by general manager Corey Melancon.

They pair also works together at Taquero Tacos and Donuts at 68 Putnam St. in Saratoga Springs.

A grand re-opening of 550 Waterfront was being planned at presstime.

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Inn at Saratoga owner Elizabeth Israel was able to open its outdoor dining area in early June. It is also accepting reservations. Dinner is served there Thursday through Sunday nights.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH The Inn at Saratoga, at 231 Broadway in Saratoga Springs is ready to re-open.

The business was also able to open its outdoor dining area in early June. It is also accepting reservations.

“It has just been so great to have people back,” said owner Elizabeth Israel. “We have missed the feeling of seeing people be able to enjoy themselves. Having people on the patio or on the front porch has just felt great.”

Israel said her staff has been hard at work developing a plan that will ensure guests are in a safe environment.

The inn has a cleaning regime that includes disinfecting surfaces continually throughout the day, plexiglass around the front desk, and signs reminding guests to wear their masks and to maintain social distancing.

She said the safety of her staff is a top priority. Staff will wear masks, regularly washing their hands and sanitizing. One major component of maintaining safety is the checkout process after overnight guests leave.

Rooms will be completely disinfected and then left for a total of 48 hours before they can be ready for the next guests, said Israel.

Dinner outside on the patio is served on

Courtesy Inn at Saratoga

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The previously offered buffet has been transformed into a grab-and-go process to be eaten in the dining room or in the guest rooms.

Israel said the patio is a spacious area that lets them easily keep guests spread out.

“We are so fortunate to have such a large outdoor area where we can easily social distance. We plan to bring an element of performing arts once we are allowed to have live music. We also plan to livestream the horse races, which will hopefully bring the feeling of the track (Saratoga Race Course) in. We have had guests come and have beer or wine on the porch. It has just been so great to see that again,” said Israel.

Israel said they are designing creative packages that provide fun for the family while making social distancing and low-risk activities a priority such as a “scenic road trip” package from Saratoga to Vermont to Maine, or a “picnic in the park” package that features a picnic lunch prepared at the inn.

“We know it’s not going to look like the numbers we had last summer,” she said. “It will be a difficult summer but we are seeing some people.”

The Inn at Saratoga can be reached at 518-583-1890. The website is www. theinnatsaratoga.com.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 3

Shopping Malls Move Slowly; Businesses With ‘Finishing Touches’ Design Business Moves Exterior Entrances Are First Allowed To Open To New Location In Malta; Reopening June 23

BY JILL NAGY The owners of Aviation Mall in Glens Falls received two pieces of good news in June.

They received the go-ahead from the town of Queensbury to expand the mall to include a mixed-use and residential development project and, along with other malls in the area, they received permission to re-open part of the mall as the state moves forward with reopening during the coronavirus pandemic.

As New York state slowly allows businesses look to reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, shopping malls are acclimating to the new rules.

At malls in the Capital Region, stores with exterior entrances can open and many have done so. The malls themselves remain closed, as do stores within its walls that cannot be accessed from outside the mall.

Shoppers can return to the stores with exterior entrances, mostly national brands, while other stores remain closed until June 29. Restaurants and entertainment venues also remain closed, except for those with outdoor dining.

Town Supervisor John Strough said he hopes the zoning changes help the Aviation Mall become a “mall of the future.”

At Aviation Mall, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet were part of the first phase of the reopening.

“Over the last several weeks we have worked with hundreds of businesses to ensure a safe and responsible re-opening consistent with the detailed phasing plan released by New York state,” said a statement from the Pyramid Management Group that owns the Aviation Mall and 124 others in the state including Crossgates in Albany.

“Our collective investment of time and money into safely and responsibly re-opening Aviation Mall was considerable ... re-opening is key to the survival of these retailers, many of which are locally owned and are now in grave danger of never being able to open their doors.”

The group said “we believe our very large open spaces easily facilitates social distancing and will lessen the density in stand-alone stores ... Restaurants and entertainment venues, which comprise a good portion of our facilities, will remain closed until subsequent phases. By design, this will further lessen the density of guests in our centers.

The group said extensive safety protocols put into place over the past two months meet or

Shopping malls like the Wilton Mall, shown here, are adopting safety measures. ©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

exceed state, CDC and national health guidelines to protect the health, safety and workers and customers. “And our tenants and their employees are anxious to get back to work.”

“We are ready to open with the health and wellbeing of our guests, retailers and their employees a top priority.”

At Clifton Park Center, general manager Bob Ristau was delighted to see cars in the parking lot again and shoppers pouring into Boscov’s department store, one of the center’s anchor stores.

Other stores, like Marshall’s and J.C. Penney, are within the state guidelines for reopening but are awaiting instruction from their national headquarters.

“Every store has its own guidelines, especially the nationals,” he said. Generally, stores will designate travel routes, enforce spacing between shoppers, and require shoppers and employees to wear masks. He said the center has a “very minimal” interior and estimated that 90 percent of the businesses at Clifton Center are accessible from outside the mall.

“I think everybody wants to shop,” he said.

At Wilton Mall, Mike Schaefer, senior property manager, said several of that mall’s tenants were considered essential businesses and never closed: BJ’s, Healthy Market and Cafe, and Trustco Bank all remained open during the lockdown.

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER Shelly Walker is relocating her interior design business and showroom, Finishing Touches Home Décor.

The new location is at 450 E. High St. in Malta, on the corner of Route 9, across the highway from the Publik House. The property previously housed Collamer House Bike & Ski. “I started a moving sale. The sale, had fliers and mailings—everything ready for a big sale. The following week, we had to close down. (Due to the coronavirus). I sold a few little things and put some larger items like furniture into our storage facility.

We had to pack most of the store up and move it all with us to the new location,” said Walker.

“Thank goodness we have some friends who have been helping us move,” said Walker.

Finishing Touches was located just off of Exit 16 in Wilton. Walker closed on the purchase of the new building just before the state ordered business closures earlier this year.

Walker was forced to lay off her employee when she closed.

She began looking for a new location that would offer more passerby traffic. “We’ve renovated the inside, completely repainted, added landscaping and a patio. It looks great,” she said.

“Our new building has a whole bunch of windows. I’ll have different styles of blinds, shades, shutters, all the different window treatments. I’ve always done window treatments, but now it will be a whole lot easier for people to come in and see all the different options they can have,” said Walker.

“We also added a babies, kids and pet section.

We’ll have more gift items. Things for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries. We’re adding a card and gift bag section. It’s a one-stop shop to pick up a gift, a card and a bag. We will continue to carry furniture, and of course we can order furniture for clients as we always have for design jobs,” she said.

Walker has been an interior designer for over 20 years. She opened her brick-and-mortar showroom in Wilton five years ago. She also maintains a wellreceived interior design blog on her website.

“My interior design work definitely kept me

Finishing Touches Home Décor is in a new location is at 450 E. High St. in Malta. ©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

afloat while people weren’t able to come into my store. I was doing design work and working with clients outside of the store during that time,” said Walker.

Her services include renovations and remodeling; room restyling; model home staging; artwork and accessories selection and placement; bedding, pillows and slipcovers; table linens, flatware, dishes and glasses; lighting; furniture; pet beds; paint color, faux painting and wall coverings; window treatments; area rugs; holiday decorating; outdoor patios, kitchens and living areas; new home construction materials selection; and vacation restyling.

Finishing Touches Home Décor will re-open in their new location on June 23. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.

“We’re looking forward to seeing all of our friends and our people again,” said Walker.

Email is the best way to reach Walker, at info@ finishingtoucheshd.com. The website is www. finishingtouchesstore.com

4 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

Saratoga-Based Fingerpaint Marketing Adds As Company Continues To Grow, Death Wish California Company To Its Expanding Group Coffee Creates Three Vice President Positions

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER Fingerpaint Marketing, the health and wellness marketing agency in Saratoga Springs, has acquired the California-based market access and commercialization firm 1798.

The acquisition took place earlier this year.

Fingerpaint works primarily with health care, biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

1798 is a 60-person team located on La Jolla, Calif. The agency specializes in health consulting services to medical device, pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. The company is named after the year in which the modern health insurance system was created.

Bill McEllen, a partner at Fingerpaint, said the coronavirus shutdown has not slowed down the integration process of the two companies.

“We’ve been integrating the businesses and moving along. As you can imagine, COVID-19 has had us all hopping over the last few months.

We’re working with our clients to help them maintain business continuity,” he said.

Fingerpaint employees at all locations have been working from home since mid-March.

“Business continues to go. We acquired 1798, we continue to integrate it into our business, and we continue to move forward. COVID-19 did not have a negative impact on our integration at all. Things are going well,” said McEllen.

The acquisition of 1798 will help Fingerpaint’s clients in analyzing the pricing, reimbursement and financial data of their products, the company said.

“With the acquisition of 1798, Fingerpaint will be able to assure our life sciences clients that we can provide the full continuum of market access planning and commercialization support services to successfully assist them in building their brands and launching

Fingerpaint Marketing is headquartered on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. ©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

new products,” said Ed Mitzen, founder of Fingerpaint. “We are honored and excited that 1798 is joining the Fingerpaint family.”

Roshawn Blunt, a former biopharmaceutical company senior executive with experience in hospital administration and the founder of 1798, said “It was a welcome opportunity to join a great creative powerhouse within the health and wellness industry, and we look forward to a synergistic relationship that will provide elegant solutions and superior outcomes for our clients.”

The acquisition will bring 60 new employees, one new office, 20-30 new clients and potentially an extra $15 million in revenue, the company said.

Death Wish Coffee officials say their product is in over 11,000 grocery stores and is the number-one selling coffee on Amazon. The company recently added three vice president positions to its ranks.

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER Death Wish Coffee Co. has added a vice president of supply chain to its staff as the company continues to grow.

Jason Mazzotti joins the Saratoga County business from GlobalFoundries, where he led global materials procurement. He will be in charge of the manufacturing plant, working closely with the warehouse team.

The hire was part of three new positions created in the company. Death Wish promoted former wholesale director Eric Donovan to vice president of business development, and former human resources director Lindsey Speech to vice president of talent & culture.

“We are growing very rapidly,” said Shannon Sweeney, marketing manager. “Despite everything that has been going on the last few months, the demand for coffee has gone up. We’ve been laying the foundation for these positions for years, especially for someone to manage our supply chain. It was time to expand our executive team.”

“He’ll help us find the gaps in our supply chain and make sure we’re a well-oiled machine, all the time,” she said of Mazzotti. “We have a lot of moving parts, whether it’s from importing green coffee to working with partners to help us roast, grind and package coffee. We needed someone to oversee all of that. Jason’s background in international procurement really stood out to us.

We knew he would be a huge asset for us as we continue to experience growth.”

“We’ve never had someone focused on the entire supply chain, from the green coffee bean all the way to the end user,” Chief Operating Officer Mike Pilkington said. “His scope, his experience working across many teams, is something that internally we hadn’t had that expertise in the past.”

Death Wish brought on Pilkington late last year as the company’s first ever chief operating officer. He was previously president of Sysco Albany and Sysco Western Minnesota, and vice president of sales for Sysco Detroit.

The coffee company also developed an

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

advisory board made up of experts in the industry. The board includes Jim Amos of Sysco, John Keller of the Jahnel Group, Emily Coburn of Coburn’s Inc., Joseph Navin of Forward Alliance Resource Group LLC and Duncan Wardle of the Walt Disney Co. With many consumers now purchasing groceries online, Death Wish Coffee Co. is focusing on direct-to-consumer sales. Death Wish has always had an online sales presence and is now directing more energy to that method of sales.

Said Sweeney, “We’ve been expanding rapidly with our wholesale. We’re in over 11,000 grocery stores. We’re the number-one selling coffee on Amazon. We have our own e-commerce channel.

We’re making sure those platforms are supported in whatever way they need to be.” The company is “making sure that we have everything we need internally to support our goals.”

“Right now, we’re focused on what we’ve always been focused on—providing the world’s strongest coffee to our customers, above and beyond just highly caffeinated coffee,” Sweeney said. “From where we source it to how its packaged, we want everything to be customer driven. Our customers are our number one value, so anything we can do to make sure they’re happy, that’s what we focus on.

“It’s been an exciting time for us. The fact that we announced three new VP hires, two internal and one new—it reinforces to us and the community that we’re growing. We’re so proud to be part of this community that’s been so supportive of us. We’re really excited to see what happens as we grow.”

Death Wish was founded in 2012 and gained national recognition when it won a free Super Bowl commercial in 2016. Death Wish has more than tripled its annual gross revenue since then, according to the company.

The coffee continues to be made at the Death Wish facility in Round Lake.

More information for Death Wish Coffee Co. can be found online at www.deathwishcoffee. com.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 5

•

Personnel Briefs

Harris-Pero Legal Counsel, PLLC, of Saratoga Springs, recently named Jessica R. Botelho, Esq. as a partner at the firm, now Harris-Pero & Botelho, PLLC. Botelho joined the firm last May after gaining significant experience in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate settlements, and elder law at firms in Glens Falls and Albany.

She graduated from Albany Law School in 2014, after receiving a B.A. in psychology from the University at Albany. Her practice focuses in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate settlements, and elder law.

Botelho serves as Fourth District delegate and vice-chair of the Special Needs Committee of the state Bar Association Elder Law & Special Needs Section. She also serves as a director for the Estate Planning Council of Eastern New York Inc. and as a board member for Warren Washington Albany ARC (WWAARC) board, finance committee, and foundation board.

* * * Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP announced that Vincent L. Valenza joined the law firm as a partner.

Valenza provides legal advice and counsel to a wide variety of closely held businesses, business owners, CEOs and CFOs. Valenza also counsels nonprofit organizations on issues of formation, operation and tax-exempt status.

He is a board member of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and serves on the Town of Niskayuna Ethics Committee. He is former president of both the Niskayuna Community Foundation and the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy.

He has served on the boards of the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce and the Schenectady County Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, he was a shareholder and head of the Corporate and Tax Practice Group at McNamee Lochner PC, where he practiced since 1991. He was previously an associate at Baker & Hostetler LLP. Valenza earned his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Florida College of Law as well as his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in taxation and earned his Bachelor of Science in finance, cum laude, from the University of Florida. He is a member of the New York and Florida Bar Associations.

* * * Kathleen Occhiogrosso, SPHR, SHRMSCP has joined Saratoga Human Resources Solutions Inc. as a senior human resources consultant. She will be responsible for working with business clients to

Northway Exit 16 Self Storage Offers Climate Controlled Units, Around-The-Clock Access •

address and solve their HR challenges.

Occhiogrosso brings over 30 years of experience to her new role, skilled in all facets of HR including employee engagement, 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.

She is a Senior certified professional through SHRM and holds HRCI designation as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. Occhiogrosso 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.

* * * Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced May 8. that SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras will chair the state’s new Reimagine Education Advisory Council to assist schools and colleges in adopting technological innovations to reopen safely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SUNY Empire Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Meg Benke will also serve on the council as an expert in higher education, particularly online and

distance learning.

The 19 members of the task force will consider how to utilize technology to provide more opportunities to students, how schools can share educational resources, how technology can reduce inequities, and better meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Malatras has served on the state’s COVID-19 Task Force for the past two months.

Benke is a leader in adult learning and emerging technologies, and previously served as SUNY Empire’s dean of the Center for Distance Learning from 1995 through a period of high growth and experimentation in online learning programs. SUNY Empire State College led the country in the development of fully online degree programs, with the first online courses launched in 1995, and in the provision of comprehensive virtual student services.

She was inducted into the International Distance Learning Hall of Fame for her contributions to adult and online learning, and was recognized as the Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an individual in the Online Learning Consortium (OCL) in 2007. She also served as president of OCL’s board of directors for six years. She also serves as a member of the state Regents Advisory Council.

* * * Continued On Page 14

Tom Samascott, left, and son Wayne Samascott, recently built a new climate-controlled storage center on Ballard Road, near Northway Exit 16.

BY RACHEL PHILLIPS The father and son team of Tom and Wayne Samascott recently built a new climatecontrolled storage center o n Ballard Road, near Northway Exit 16.

Northway Exit 16 Self Storage offers clients a convenient access as it is located just 1,000 feet down from the exit.

Tom and Wayne Samascott are president and vice president, respectively, of Malta Development Co. They opened the storage center in March.

“I have been interested in doing self-storage for the past several years and the opportunity to by this project came along,” Wayne Samascott said. “We liked the location. Ballard Road gets a lot of traffic.”

The center contains 48,400 square feet of rentable space, with units ranging from 5x5 feet, up to 13x20 feet. In addition to heated and air-conditioned units, clients will have 24/7 access.

Units are monitored by a security camera system that covers every part of the

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

building. Renting units can be done online at northwayexit16selfstorage.com. Upon rental, clients receive a code to access the building without ever having to interact with anyone.

The center even accepts package deliveries for clients, and will place the deliveries in their units for them.

Munter Enterprises of Middle Grove did the construction, which was completed just before the quarantine began.

According to Samascott, “We actually opened the same day the governor shut down the state. Timing was terrible due to that.”

Despite that, Samascott believes business is going well. “We have rented 15 units since opening. This is much slower than we would like, but I think it is OK considering the word we are in right now.”

Though this is the first storage center the Samascotts have opened, they have their eye out for another location. In addition, they have already been approved to expand an additional 75,000 square feet of storage at the Ballard Road site if they so choose.

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

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

6 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

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.

New OrbitalFire Security Service Is Launched To Help Small Businesses

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER OrbitalFire, a managed security service provider headquartered in Queensbury, launched a new service platform in early June. It is designed to help small businesses.

“OrbitalFire provides cybersecurity solutions specially designed for small and medium-sized businesses, including regulatory compliance, risk management, assessment, training, security monitoring and other services that have traditionally been available only to enterprises,” according to CEO Reg Harnish.

“Cybersecurity is confusing for most businesses—they don’t know where to start. Our goal at OrbitalFire is to redefine cybersecurity for small businesses. Your small to medium business doesn’t look like Target, or Walmart, or Boeing.

So you shouldn’t think about cybersecurity in the same way they do,” he said.

He said the company exists for “every small- and medium-sized business owner who has ignored cybersecurity, or who has felt neglected, or has done their best to invest and do the right things in cybersecurity and still felt alienated ... We want to help them solve this problem in a way that scales with their business, is affordable and, from a best practice standpoint, delivers effective cybersecurity without treating you like you’re the Pentagon.”

Harnish is no stranger to the tech space. He is the founder of GreyCastle Security in Troy and continues to sit on its board of directors.

He recently launched Slingshot Cyberventures, a cybersecurity advisory service firm targeting earlystage cybersecurity companies. He has been doing startups since 1995 and has been through several initial public offerings (IPOs) and acquisitions.

He is the former chief technology officer of the Autotask Corp.

Harnish partnered with Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon Musk’s—a noted engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist—on internet venture FunkyTalk. com.

“Cybersecurity in general has become a highly visible, important undertaking for most businesses. Larger organizations have the benefit of more resources—people, time, energy, money— and small businesses have really suffered. Whether its technology or service providers, the industry has historically focused on medium to larger sized businesses because there is more margin and bigger contracts. Meanwhile, smaller businesses have gotten left behind,” said Harnish.

He said small businesses have distinct advantages in cybersecurity. They don’t have as much data, they tend to be less complex, have fewer business partners and often have a better general sense of where their data is stored.

“Security really relies on your ability to understand what kind of data you have, who has

Reg Harnish is the chief operating officer of OrbitalFire, a cybersecurity business.

Courtesy Reg Harnish

access to it, where it goes. Small businesses can do that. Large businesses can’t, because there’s just too much of it,” Harnish said.

“In our quest here, we want to take some of these implicit advantages that small businesses have, leverage those and start to redefine what makes sense for a small business to do from a security standpoint.”

“While some of this dialog has been going in the industry for some time, no one has really come up with a good solution for small managed practices.

They’ve really been left behind. We’re going to take care of that,” he said.

OrbitalFire has been working in “stealth mode,” as Harnish referred to their pre-launch strategy.

They have nearly 40 clients.

The company will partner with managed security service providers (MSSPs) and IT providers. StoredTech in Queensbury is the first MSSP partner from the region to come on board.

OrbitalFire will partner with other firms both locally and throughout the U.S. The firm has several other silent partners from various sub-sectors the tech services space, according to Harnish.

He anticipates close to $1 million in gross revenue during the first 12 months.

“We’ve got a good grounding here. We’re starting from a good point,” he said.

Though the company is currently in Queensbury, that could change in the future.

OrbitalFire can be reached at media@orbitalfire. com or at 1-800-ORB-FIRE. The website is www. orbitalfire.com.

Card Catalog

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 7

Thermal Camera Screening System Can State Parks Taking Camping Reservations; Detect Elevated Body Temperaturess Health, Distancing Guidelines Are In Place

BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL Shepherd Communication & Security, an electronic security and structured wiring integrator, is helping client companies stop coronavirus “at the front door” by offering thermal cameras it says that screen people for elevated body temperature before they step into a business.

“Thermal imaging is a fairly mature technology that came out of the military 45 years ago,” said Richard Ruzzo, managing partner, who founded the company with Robert Guillerault in 2007. “Infrared thermal imaging today has a broad variety of medical applications for screening and diagnosing a patient in real time.”

Ruzzo said elevated body temperature levels (EBT ) are being captured extensively with cameras and scanners by first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“EBT is highly correlated with sickness,” he said. “Identifying individuals with EBT as an early warning can dramatically slow the spread of viruses and infections,” he said.

The temperature reading is a first line of defense, Ruzzo said. Secondarily, there would be actual temperature readings taken and the person would be questioned about their health and symptoms.

Shepherd was already in the business of installing thermal technology for its clients but as a source of surveillance, not as a fever detector, according to Michael Taber, director of business development.

“When the pandemic broke out in China and traveled into Italy, I saw that the virus would hit the U.S.,” Taber said. “I said to Rich Ruzzo, ‘This is worth exploring.’”

Taber and a product engineer began investigating and vetting the different products and applications from around the world.

“A good portion of the equipment out there does not live up to what the manufacturers say,” according to Taber.

Ruzzo said Shepherd Communications identified three or four manufacturers with a supply chain and “price differentials our clients can afford.”

“Our primary goal is education,” said Taber. “We install the products, give the client a basic knowledge, train them how to operate it and give ongoing support so that users can navigate the process of capturing EBT in their buildings.”

According to Ruzzo, detection products can range from a dual lens camera, with a clear view and a thermal view, to a self-standing kiosk with facial recognition that can send an alert if an individual is not wearing a mask.

“The most sophisticated models give a highly accurate body temperature at a rate three times faster than manual readings,” he said. “Some have recording capabilities so that if contact tracking is needed, that

Richard Ruzzo, managing partner, co-founder of Shepherd Communication & Security. information will have been captured.”

Company literature says Shepherd thermal solutions offer more social distancing, higher accuracy of body temperature within 0.3 degrees Celsius, and the capacity to monitor up to 5,000 people in 30 minutes.

“We are in effect protecting the perimeter and enhancing the wellbeing of our clients,” said Ruzzo. “Our company is really about employee health and wellness and confidence building among the workforce and the community at large.”

“SARS, ebola and other viruses have impacted world technology in the past. With the globalization of trade and travel, there will be victims of potentially serious outbreaks in the future,” he said.

“Since 9/11 the population has more of a sense that personal safety, such as at airports and controlled areas, outweighs personal liberty,” he said. “But next time a pandemic happens, we need to get in front of it. Then if employers have a good health screening program in place, everybody can feel comfortable about being around everyone else.”

“By offering a full line of this kind of technology in offices, transportation hubs, schools and other high traffic areas, we are already helping tamp down the curve,” Ruzzo claimed.

He said Shepherd is working with wellness organizations and places like the Times Union Center, Albany International Airport and nanotech facilities to set up secondary screenings.

“The company is designing a mobile cabinet that includes internet and battery back-up so that the thermal imaging product becomes an entire, full-service package with installation, set-up, training and ongoing support,” he said.

Visit www.shepherdcny.com for more information.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation began accepting new camping reservations as of June 8, for check-in beginning June 22.

Officials said campers are reminded to practice social distancing, bring and wear a face covering, respect the rules, and do their part to keep the campgrounds, parks and beaches open and safe for everyone. Camping capacity is limited and visitors must make an advance reservation before arriving at a campground.

Reservations are expected to fill quickly.

Reservations can be made in advance by calling toll free 1-800-456-CAMP or by visiting newyorkstateparks.reserveamerica.com. Online reservations are encouraged.

State Park Police and operations staff are patrolling campgrounds to ensure compliance with social distancing and crowd control measures. Anyone who does not adhere to this guidance will be requested to leave the facility, and will not receive a refund.

Upon check-in, campers will be asked a series of screening questions to determine if they may have been in contact with anyone suffering from COVID-19, or if they have any potential symptoms of COVID-19, including fever or respiratory illness. People who may be at risk will not be permitted to camp, park officials said.

Campground density reduction and social distancing measures will be in effect, including: No walk-up reservations allowed, each congregate restroom facility will be opened and cleaned per DOH protocols; rest rooms and shower buildings may have reduced capacity and may be closed periodically for cleaning. campground gatherings will be limited to immediate household members only; all campground events and programs are suspended.

Park Social Distancing Ambassadors will monitor campgrounds, picnic areas, beachfronts, lawns, boardwalks and other areas to ensure park guidelines are being met.

COVID related signs have been installed

throughout the park system.

State Parks’ beaches and day-use areas are open for visitation across the state. In alignment with NY Forward, beaches, day-use areas and historic sites will return to charging the normal entrance fee of between $6-$10 as regions reach phase 2 of reopening. For information, visit forward.ny.gov/.

Entrance fees may apply. Visitors can purchase a 2020 Season Empire Pass for unlimited dayuse entry. Available for $80, the pass is a walletsized card that can be shared within a household and not assigned to a specific vehicle. For more details, visit parks.ny.gov/admission/empirepassport/default.aspx To encourage physical social distancing at popular parks, beaches, trailheads, and scenic areas, several restrictions are in effect, including reduced access on high visitation days State Parks encourage visitors to: • Visit in small groups limited to immediate household members.

• Maintain distance from others while in places where people tend to congregate, such as parking lots, trailheads, and scenic overlooks.

• Bring and wear a face covering when social distancing cannot be maintained.

• Face coverings are required to be worn anytime you enter a rest room or park office.

• Avoid games and activities that require close contact, such as basketball, football or soccer.

• Avoid playground equipment like slides and swings and other frequently touched surfaces.

• Do not share equipment, such as bicycles, helmets, balls or frisbees.

• If you arrive at a park and crowds are forming, choose a different park, a different trail, or return another time/day to visit; and • If parking lots are full, do not park along roadsides or other undesignated areas. Choose a different area to visit, or return another time or day when parking is available.

For information and guidance on visiting New York State Parks during the COVID-19 public health crisis, visit parks.ny.gov/covid19/.

8 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

Retirement Planning Group, Setup For Video Conferences Pre-Pandemic, Moves Its Offices

BY JILL NAGY Retirement Planning Group LLC, has been on the move, both physically and technologically, this year.

In January, they moved their Saratoga County office from Saratoga Springs to a building on Route 9 in Malta. More recently, the company moved its Glens Falls offices to 238 Bay Road from a previous space on Glen Street.

Both moves resulted in larger buildings and better parking facilities, according to James Corcoran. In Malta, for example, there is space for two or three more offices.

At the same time, working with PrimeLink, the company increased the technology in the conference rooms, created an audio studio for podcasts and radio broadcasts, and installed an internet-based telephone system. The new system allowed employees to take their telephones home and work from there.

Last January, David Kopyc, president of the Retirement Planning Group LLC, wrote an article warning readers of “black swan events”—unexpected developments.

“Little did I suspect that we would have one in just six weeks,” he said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

When the “black swan event” arrived, the company was ready. They instituted biweekly conference calls with clients who could send questions ahead of time by email.

Clients kept in touch by telephone or through the internet.

So far, the company adapted, and the group is “holding our own” during the shutdown, Kopyc said. Half of the six employees worked from home at any given time. The other half were in the office, appropriately spaced apart.

“We are making sure everything is wiped down and disinfected,” he said. There were no face-to-face meetings with clients, he added, but there is a way for them to drop off documents, checks, and the like.

During the shutdown, the offices were further modified. When they reopened in June, things looked very different. The conference rooms are now “COVID-19 compliant,” Corcoran said.

There is a plexiglass “sneeze guard” around the conference table, with curtains at either end. There are facilities to check people’s

body temperatures as they arrive to check for signs of a virus, and there are procedures in place to disinfect the area afterward.

“We’re trying to do our part the best we can,” Corcoran said.

“It’s kind of weird,” Kopyc said. But, without the means to reach clients remotely, “We’d really be in deep weeds.”

Kopyc’s advice for clients is not very different during the COVID-19 shutdown than in more normal times.

“Don’t overreact. Don’t allow your emotions to make decisions for you. Hold on to your investments,” he said.

Being in the retirement business, “We have a lot of seniors who are clients,” and Kopyc worries about their welfare. He is also concerned because “some people are just not suitable for risk,” but “they gravitated toward risk” because low-risk investments, like certificates of deposit, were paying almost no interest.

While fairly hopeful about the rest of the market, he noted that stocks in fossil fuelbased companies, especially fracking, were “decimated by this.”

Some businesses have been hit especially hard by the economic shutdown. Restaurants and bars, he pointed out, were “totally decapitated, probably on top of my list.”

Even the partial opening has brought problems for local businesses, Kopyc said.

“Employers want to bring people back and they won’t come” because they can earn more from unemployment and safety net benefits.

He advises employees to think more in terms of their long-term economic stability. When the benefits run out, the job may not be there.

Kopyc predicts, “We’re going to look back on this and think: It changed our lives, but we made it through.” He has faith that American ingenuity will come up with medications and a vaccine.

Kopyc and his colleagues share their thoughts and advice on a Sunday morning weekly radio program on Glens Falls regional stations WCKM 98.5 and WDKM 92.5. Saturday morning, the program airs on Albany radio on News Radio 810 and WGY 103.1.

Retirement Planning Group can also be reached online at www.rpgretire.com.

•

Business Report Estate And Tax Planning During COVID-19

BY JENNIFER M. BOLL, ESQ. In the last several months, we have seen the drastic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on our health, way of living and the economy. While these times may feel uncertain, there are still many factors in your control and even opportunities for those who seek them out. This is especially true as it relates to your estate and tax plan.

The current environment of low interest rates and depressed asset values presents several unique estate planning opportunities for individuals to make the most of their hard-hit assets and leverage the transfer of wealth and business interests. There are a few items to consider.

• Federal gift tax exemption and annual exclusion remain at all time highs.

In 2020, the federal gift and estate tax lifetime exemption amount is $11.58 million per individual, and the annual exclusion for gifts is $15,000 per recipient per year.

These figures will remain in effect until 2026, when the lifetime exemption will “sunset” and revert back to approximately $5 million (as adjusted for inflation), barring any intervening legislation before then. The IRS has also clarified that individuals making gifts prior to 2026 can do so without concern that they will lose the tax benefit of the higher exclusion level if the current law sunsets.

• Depressed asset values = opportunity for tax advantaged transfers.

Whether you want to leverage your annual exclusions, preserve your federal exemption or limit your gift tax exposure, the depressed asset values and business interests provide an opportunity to make tax advantaged transfers to other individuals or trusts and allow any future growth to occur outside of your estate.

While outright gifts are certainly an option, the transfer of appreciable assets and interests to certain trusts can provide additional benefits and tax advantages that are intensified under the current depressed value conditions.

Trust instruments such as Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRAT), Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts (CLAT) and Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGT), are just a few examples of low-risk vehicles that facilitate tax advantaged transfers of appreciable assets while reducing your taxable estate. The advantages of these options are further amplified when the interest rates used in determining the taxability of such transfers are lower.

• Low interest rates = more efficient tax advantaged transfers.

In response to the slowed economy, we have seen various interest rates being lowered to stimulate economic growth and to encourage borrowing and investment. This includes reductions in interest rates like the IRS §7520 Rate and Applicable Federal Rates (FAR) that directly

•

Jennifer M. Boll of Bond, Schoenecke and King PLCC. Courtesy Bond, Schoenecke and King PLCC

affect the taxability of transferring wealth and business interests.

Historically low IRS §7520 Rate: The IRS §7520 rate, a rate used to determine the gift tax consequences of transfers to trusts like GRATs and CLATs, has reached a historic low of 0.8 percent in May 2020. This is down from 2.8 percent in May 2019, and 3.2 percent in May of 2018.

Simply stated – the current §7520 rate presents an opportunity to make larger gift-tax advantaged transfers to your beneficiaries.

Low applicable federal rates: We have also seen drastic reductions in the Applicable Federal Rates (AFR), which are used to determine interest charged on below-market value loans and promissory notes.

Low AFR makes this a good time to consider issuing or restructuring loans to family members while also reducing your taxable estate. This method of transfer is most successful if the assets appreciate over the course of the loan in excess of the applicable AFR. For owners of closely held businesses, it may also be a good time to consider transferring your closely held business interests to your family members or successors. Tax advantaged transfers of business interests can be accomplished by strategic gifting plans or by a series of sales. While circumstances will vary for each individual and his or her business, in many cases, low AFR will permit larger tax advantaged transfers.

• Higher deductions for charitable giving = rewards for reducing your estate while giving more to those in need.

The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) encourages individuals and corporations to “give more” by increasing tax deductions for charitable donations.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 9

•

Business Report Explaining The 2020 W-4 Form

BY JEANNINE DUBIAC, FPC Employers be aware. The IRS has updated the 2020 Form W-4 Employee’s Withholding Certificate.

This new version of the W-4 form is required for all new hires in 2020 and for employees who want to make a change to their withholding for 2020. Employees hired prior to Jan. 1 are not required to submit a new form.

This new 2020 W-4 form will look different! There is no longer the ability to select withholding allowances to account for additional income, deductions and tax credits. The new form include lines where employees can enter those amounts directly that will be used in calculating the withholding amount.

The IRS is not requiring all employees to complete the new W-4. Only those employees that are new hires or those that would like to make changes to their withholdings will be required to use the new revised form. The IRS has designed the tax tables to work with both the new form and the prior year versions of the form.

Is your withholding correct for your personal situation? The IRS does not require all employees to complete the new revised W-4 form, however they are recommending that all individuals perform a “paycheck checkup” to see if they need to make adjustments to their withholding.

To conduct the checkup, individuals can use the IRS’s Tax Withholding Estimator (www.irs.gov/W4App). To effectively use the estimator, it is helpful to have a copy of a recent pay stub and tax return. Please note: if the new 2020 W-4 form is not provided, withholding will continue based on your previously submitted form.

What to expect when completing the new form: The form W-4 has five steps, however only steps 1 and 5 are required. The form can be found at https://www.irs.gov/pub/ irs-pdf/fw4.pdf Step 1. For an employee’s personal information. Name, address, social security number and filing status.

Step 2. For an employee or households who have multiple jobs.

Step 3. Provides instructions to

• •

Business Report

•

Making Sure Employees Are Ready For Reopening

Jeannine Dubiac, FPC is a partner at Priority One Payroll in Malta.

Courtesy Priority One Payroll LLC

determine the amount of the child tax credit and the credit for other dependents that you may be able to claim when you file your tax return.

Step 4. Is for other adjustments such as interest and dividends, deductions other than the standard deduction to reduce withholding and any additional tax the employee wants withheld for each pay period.

Step 5. The employee signs and dates the form.

Compete steps 2-4 only if they apply to your situation, doing so will make your withholding more accurately match your tax liability.

The IRS also created a new publication – Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods www.irs.gov/ pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf– to explain how withholding is calculated with the prior year and 2020 Forms W-4.

Because the 2020 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, is very different from previous versions, communicating the changes to employees will be challenging. Employers should understand that they need to be careful not to give tax or legal advice. Employees should seek the advice of their tax advisor or accountant if they have questions on how to complete the form.

BY JAMES MARCO I find it exciting that more and more conversations and news stories are talking about re-opening the economy. I know that I’m ready to get back “out there” and start meeting people again. I have my PPE and I’m ready to go.

Maybe you have been able to keep your business open, or maybe you have been able to keep your folks busy while working remote. If you have been shut down, then re-opening has some challenges that you’ll need to address.

This piece won’t focus on all of the legal requirements for re-opening. All the rules that were there before the pandemic still apply (Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII, OSHA to name a few), as do some new rules under FFCRA, the CARES Act, and others.

Make sure you understand your obligations and work pro-actively to ensure compliance.

Once you take care of the regulatory matters, you need to work with your employees to make sure they are comfortable and confident when they return. Communication is key, and you should have been communicating with them throughout this entire time. Let them know what steps you have taken regarding PPE, the availability of things like hand sanitizers, social distancing, office disinfecting, etc.

But most importantly: Listen.

For many of your employees, there could be changes in their lives that you’ll need to think about in your re-opening plan. Were some of your employees counting on school to run into June, and then summer camps to take over the bulk of caring for their children—and now those options don’t exist?

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

Does your employee have scheduling problems related to a significant other whose job situation may have changed during the shut down? What fears do they have about returning to the office or workplace? How you speak with your employees, and how you listen to them can mean the difference between successfully re-opening, or re-opening with significant difficulty.

As a manager, you are not responsible for having all the answers, your job is to help your employees be successful. If you listen empathetically, your employees may provide you with information that can help your entire workforce. And that’s the key, listen for ideas that can be broadly applied and help the most people.

Listen to Retirement Radio Hosted by David Kopyc

President of the Retirement Planning Group, LLC

Talk! radio at 93.1 FM or 1450 AM WCKM 98.5 FM or WDKM 92.5 FM

(LIVE Thursdays 1 - 2PM) (Sundays 8 - 9AM)

(518) 580-1919 238 Bay Road, Queensbury NY 12804 Securities offered through Securities Service Network, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Fee based advisory services offered through SSNAI, a registered investment advisor.

10 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL

SPECIAL SECTION

Construction

Developer Plans 20-Unit Apartment Complex Area Builders Continue Projects After ‘Pause’ In Saratoga Springs Costing About $4 Million Order; Next Year’s Season Is In Question

This is a rendering of a $4 million, 29-unit apartment complex planned by developer Richard Askew on Station Lane in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy Richard Askew

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Developer Richard Askew is in the process of choosing a contractor for a $4 million, 29unit apartment complex on Station Lane in Saratoga Springs.

The complex will be built on an 8.43acre parcel of land that Askew purchased in 2017 for $165,000. It is located just west of a two-acre parcel that was purchased by local entrepreneur Russ Faden. Faden and real estate developer Scott Lansing are already seeking approval from the city to build a 50unit apartment and retail complex on the property.

“We are in the process of choosing a contractor, and that should happen within the next three months,” said Askew, who owns Rondack Building Inspections in Schenectady, .

The project has approval from the Planning Board and is awaiting final approval from the city Design Review Commission.

The apartment complex will consist of a trio of three-story buildings. Apartments

will measure approximately 900 square feet and have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Monthly rents are expected to range between $1,800-$2,000.

Askew said he is concerned about the longterm impact the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the rental market.

“We’re a little skeptical to a certain degree about unemployment,” he said. “But these are nice apartments, and having a location in the city of Saratoga does make a difference.”

Askew said Station Lane apartments will appeal to renters who want to be close to the city but prefer a quieter environment.

“It’s quieter than if you are right in the middle of the city, but you are still not far.

You’re close to downtown, SPAC, the hospital and the high school,” he said. The land behind the development is designated “forever wild.

It’s going to be very quiet back there.”

Construction on the Station Lane apartments is expected to begin in early spring of 2021. It is projected to take between nine and 12 months to complete, he said.

BY LISA BALSCHUNAT Elated about New York state’s relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions as it proceeds with reopening the economy in phases, Tom Albrecht, president of Hilltop Construction Co., said “I’m digging holes again and playing in the dirt.”

His company ran a bare-bones crew on a few jobs deemed essential businesses by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office during the state’s Pause. But Hilltop and other area builders are moving on with projects that came to a halt due to the pandemic.

“Hilltop had a few essential jobs, so we were able to continue working on some projects,” Albrecht said. “During the Pause we signed over $3 million worth of work. This year we are booked with contracts. Next year, I think the economic impact will be felt. I am an optimist, but also a realist. When the dust settles, our region will be affected. Some businesses won’t open long term or at all. The impact will be great.”

Based in Hudson Falls, Albrecht’s family owned business has been operating for 46 years and presently employs 30 people. The company builds residential and commercial structures with concentrations in Springs, Glens Falls, Lake George, Hudson Falls and Schroon Lake for establishments including Stewart’s Shops, Hudson Headwaters, Six Flags, Glens Falls National Bank and Community, Work and Independence, Inc. (CWI).

Albrecht said his team “helps fulfill peoples’ dreams” by building their future businesses.

In early March, MLB Construction Services, based in Ballston Spa, moved quickly to set up so employees could work from home.

“We got our teams set up remotely, but still had our executive vice president and accountant at the office,” said James Dawsey, president of the company. “My son and his family live and work in New York City, so he was [providing] me with information early on. We immediately put in place a COVID-19 team … We were ahead of the curve.”

Dawsey said MLB has a “wide spectrum of jobs—essential and non-essential—that kept the company in good shape.” However, he did have to furlough six of 75 employees. He was able to bring them back in stages.

“Luckily, we were able to use the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPP),” he said.

“We have complied with all of the CDC requirements and New York state guidelines,” he said. “We had eight projects going, but had to shutdown the Saratoga Springs City Hall and Capital Repertory Theatre site for two months.”

“We have to think a little differently to make it happen, but we’re doing it,” said Dawsey. In the coming weeks, MLB will be wrapping up three projects at Saratoga Performing Arts Center

MLB Construction has continued building a two-tired concession building at SPAC. (SPAC), including a new concession building and pavilion.

While MLB is in good shape for 2020, Dawsey said he is concerned about the financial prospects for 2021. He said hotels might alter their building plans and higher education campuses might offer more on-line classes, reducing the need for new or expanded buildings. If an autumn wave of COVID-19 surfaces he foresees a “financial trickle down, with an 18- to 24-month recovery.”

If there are silver linings to COVID-19, Dawsey said one is how people have “stepped up” to do what they could for others in the community that found themselves in dire straits. MLB employees helped at the Saratoga Food Pantry and raised funds for the Capital City Rescue Mission.

Jesse Boucher, president of Kodiak Construction in Wilton, had one person at job sites during the shutdown, as required, which “slowed projects down” by several days. But since Kodiak’s jobs are single-family residences, he was able to stagger his workers accordingly. He quickly put the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements into place for the safety of workers and clients. Most of his crew worked on and off during the Pause.

“We’ve had to push start dates back eight weeks, in some cases, and had to hold off on work at school sites ... We were fortunate,” Boucher said.

“Most of our projects were under roof. We could continue the jobs under the guidelines with one guy working on site.”

Kodiak recently completed a six-lot subdivision in Saratoga Springs and is working on a 20-lot subdivision in Greenfield. He said he anticipates a Continued On Page 15

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 11

West Mountain Set To Open July 4; Social Stewart’s Opens Shop In Distancing, Health Safety Rules Are In Place Glens Falls, Plans More

BY CHRISTINE GRAF In accordance with the state’s fourphase reopening plan, West Mountain in Queensbury will open for its summer season on July 4.

“The good news for us is that our activities are outdoor activities that have social distancing baked into them to begin with,” said West Mountain co-owner and on-site operator Spencer Montgomery. “We think there is just an enormous pent up demand to get outdoors.”

The mountain offers numerous outdoor activities including a high ropes course, mountain biking, hiking, scenic chairlift rides, and mountaintop picnicking.

When the mountain opens for business, all employees will follow social distancing and sanitary guidelines issued by the state as well as the CDC. “The exact guidance is changing daily, so I don’t know exactly what the end game will be,” said Montgomery. “I’m expecting that as we move forward in the summer that the guidance will be continually updated. I just know we will be able to open and that we will conform to anything that is required.

We’ve just been in a wait-and-see pattern and letting people know that we will be open on July 4. We will do whatever we have to do to be open.”

Although the mountain will be open for outdoor recreation, weddings will not be able to take place there until pandemic gathering restrictions had been lifted. Weddings are a new addition to West Mountain for the 2020 season, he said.

“Weddings are something that we are just embarking on and we expect it to be a big part of our business in the summer. You can take a chairlift ride to the top to have your ceremony and then come back down the chairlift and have your reception at the bottom,” said Montgomery. “We had our chairlift reengineered so that we could have downhill traffic on it. Most chairlifts are engineered for uphill traffic only.”

Weddings that were scheduled during the pandemic have been canceled or postponed, but Montgomery is hopeful that weddings will be able to take place in the late summer or early fall. Ceremonies are performed on a platform that sits on top of the mountain and overlooks the Hudson River.

He expects the High Ropes Adventure Park to be especially popular this year. The $1 million attraction opened last year and features six high ropes courses for climbers ages 7 and up. The course is accessed by the West Express Chairlift and is located under a canopy of trees.

For the first time, West Mountain will offer summer day camps beginning in July.

Because many venues have canceled their summer camps, these camps are expected to

A child last year goes through the High Ropes Adventure Park that premiered in 2019.

Courtesy West Mountain

be popular, said Montgomery.

Despite the pandemic, Montgomery said he was encouraged by the response to their winter season ski pass pre-sale that ended on May 31. Sales were up over 60 percent and set a new record.

“I think it was in part because people came last season and saw all of the new improvements,” he said. “We got a new cafeteria. We got a brand new chairlift at the northwest base. We renovated the northwest lodge. All of our capital projects are done now at the ski center. We’ve been at this for about seven years and have done about $15 million in improvements. There’s not much we haven’t replaced. It’s been a journey ... We are looking forward to growing our brand.”

According to Montgomery, management will now focus on operations and land development. They would like to build a ski-and-stay hotel resort on a large piece of property located at the northwest base area of the mountain, the former site of the Hudson Farm.

“Development would be the next phase for us,” he said. “A ski-and-stay component is why we have done all of this with the ski center. It would be difficult to justify putting all of this money into a small ski area just to hope to get a return from the actual ski area. That’s rarely how things work in this industry. The ski area is the engine that creates activity and pays your light bill so to speak. And then you put amenities on top of that once it’s built, and that’s where your profits come from.”

Many of West Mountain’s employees have already returned to work and are performing maintenance duties. Montgomery expects to reach full summer employment levels in July.

For more information on West Mountain, visit www.westmountain.com.

Stewart’s Shops has opened a new shop in on Ridge Street in Glens Falls, a project delayed by the coronavirus situation.

The company razed the former Time Warner building at that site and built a 3,850-square-foot store with a three-pump gasoline canopy, which has six fueling stations. People can also get diesel and non-ethanol gas for a boat or lawn mower.

Company officials said due to COVID-19, the project was put on a brief pause, but we are happy to report it is now open.

Although there is no inside seating allowed for the time being, when dining is permitted again, the new shop will feature 4.5 booths for lots of seating and two bathrooms with an expanded layout and additional parking and outside seating.

There is a beverage bar and a “beer cave” where people can enter cold storage and find a beer of their choice.

Like other shops, it features pizza, breakfast sandwiches, salads, and plenty of snacks and beverages. Through June 28, there’s $1 off all half-gallons of ice cream. There are other store specials through the month.

“Although our aggressive construction has been slowed down, we are happy to keep business going and we’re certainly keeping our contractors busy with plenty of new Stewart’s Shops and remodels throughout New York state,” the company said.

Stewart’s is also planning to go ahead with plans for an excavation of a 60,000-square-foot expansion of a warehouse, dairy, and bottling plant in Greenfield. The project is planned to begin in June, tripling the size of their commercial kitchen, with additional cooler and dry good storage space, according to the company.

Stewart’s Shops employs over 4,500 people and operates over 335 shops across New York and southern Vermont. Its rich, nearly 75-year history and success stems from its vertical integration, employee ownership and strong company values.

12 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

Joyce Locks Of Hatsational Consolidates Her SPAC Cancels Classical And Ballet Concerts; Downtown Saratoga Springs Storefront Shops Loss Of Events Will Hit ‘Incredibly Hard’

Hatsational, a place where men and women can buy hats of all kinds, at 508 and 510 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs, in the Algonquin Building near the Saratoga City Center.

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER Joyce Locks has consolidated her three Hatsational storefronts into two. The remaining stores are located at 508 and 510 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs, in the Algonquin Building near the Saratoga City Center.

The lease was up on the third store, but was not renewed to cut costs.

“It will put me in a stronger position to come out on the other side of this pandemic, if I scale down to two stores for now,” said Locks. “As my lease came due, I had this vision that we wouldn’t open anytime soon. Then when you consider there are no conventions, no weddings, no concerts, no racetrack,” she said. “My business is driven by all of those factors.”

“I intend to survive this, and this is the best way for me to come out strong. We can always open a third store another time,” said Locks.

As businesses return in the region, “I’m extremely excited to be opening,” said Locks.

“We’ve totally prepared the stores to be safe for us and our clients. There’s a lot of people who are old-fashioned and want to buy in a shop as opposed to online. I get a couple of calls a week from people anxious to shop in the store. They’re just ready and waiting. We’re not going to do the business we did before, right away, but it will slowly come back. And

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

hats are something you just have to try on.”

“You have to tighten your belt and be very careful financially. You have to be wise with your expenses and inventory. It’s going to be at least until spring of next year until we return to some kind of normal volume of business. As long as you plan on the worst case scenario, you should be in good shape,” said Locks.

Locks started Hatsational in 2007, first as a home-based business. She was inspired by her affinity for horses and headwear. She hosted hat salons in her home in Saratoga Springs, then branched out to pop-up events around town. Shortly after, Locks was selling hats at Saratoga Race Course on invitation from the New York Racing Association.

Locks opened her first storefront in 2013. A year later, she opened a second location across town and in 2016, opened up a third location directly next door to her original storefront.

The adjacent spaces are now separate men’s and women’s hat shops.

Hatsational carries its own line of hats, as well as designer headwear from Italy, France, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Equador, Russia, Canada and the U.S. Hatsational can be reached at 518-587-1022.

The website is www.hatsational.com. The store mantains active social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook.

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For the first time in its 53-year history, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) has canceled its 2020 classical music and ballet season.

This includes SPAC’s summer resident companies New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as “Not Our First Goat Rodeo” featuring Yo-Yo Ma, and “SPAC on Stage.”

SPAC, along with its board of directors, made the decision to suspend its programming this summer in recognition of the continued threat to health and safety caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials said that due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis, SPAC faces the loss of millions of dollars in ticket, rental and sponsorship income.

As a 501(c)3 charitable organization, SPAC depends on ticket sales and the generosity of individuals and corporate underwriters for 80 percent of its annual budget, which includes an education program that reaches 50,000 students throughout the Capital Region every year.

“For the past 53 years, SPAC has been a beacon of hope, light and refuge for the community and the support of the community has been critical to its life and longevity,” said Elizabeth Sobol, SPAC president and CEO. “The loss of ticket income, event sponsorships and key sources of revenue is going to hit SPAC incredibly hard. Continued community support through membership, ticket donations and philanthropic contributions will be critical to how SPAC emerges from the crisis.”

“So much thought, care, heart and soul go into crafting and preparing for our summer season that we truly think of it as a love letter to our community. To find it necessary to cancel what would have been one of the most ambitious and artistically inspiring seasons to date is just gut-wrenching and inconceivable,” she said. “But the indisputable truth is that even with our park setting and our 5,200 seats, it would be simply impossible to find a way to keep the artists and the community safe.”

She said any changes to the rock, pop and country concert schedule will be made directly by Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which programs and manages those shows in addition to their related ticketing policies. For more, visit www. livenationentertainment.com/ticketrefund/.

Sobol said while traditional season is unable to continue for 2020, “SPAC leadership is committed to continuing to provide the kind of inspiring and transformative experiences for which SPAC is known and loved. Our dedication to art, artists and community is undimmed. If anything, we feel more galvanized than ever to serve as a sanctuary and cultural convener for our community during this time of uncertainty and darkness.”

“SPAC has been New York City Ballet’s summer home since 1966 and this will be the first time in more than 50 years that the Company will not be performing in the capital region, which is devastating for all of us,” said NYCB Executive Director Katherine Brown. “However, the health and safety of our artists, staff, and audiences is

The coronavirus pandemic has caused SPAC to cancel its classical music and ballet season.

Courtesy Philadelphia Orchestra

our number one priority at this time, and we support SPAC’s decision to cancel this summer’s performances. All of us at New York City Ballet look forward to returning to SPAC next summer to perform for the wonderful and loyal fans who come to see us each summer in one of the country’s most beautiful performing arts venues.”

SPAC’s 2020 classical season was set to feature seven performances and four distinct programs by New York City Ballet including Swan Lake; twelve performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, highlighted by all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies in four consecutive days under the baton of music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and six programs by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, exploring Beethoven and his influences.

“Though we are heartbroken to not perform in Saratoga this summer, the health and safety of all is of utmost importance,” said Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky.

“Our residency at SPAC is always a highlight of our season. As we look to the future with hope and optimism, we eagerly anticipate our return to Saratoga Springs and to our many longtime friends at SPAC.” Meanwhile, in the hope that summer 2021 will have returned to some degree of normalcy, SPAC is holding dates for the return of New York City Ballet on July 13-17, 2021; The Philadelphia Orchestra on Aug. 4-21, 2021; and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in August 2021, exact dates TBA. For every ticketholder of the 2020 classical season who chooses to convert all or a minimum of $25 of their ticket purchase into a tax-deductible donation, SPAC will donate two 2021 tickets to first responders and local health care workers.

Visit SPAC.org for options to donate, receive a credit, or to request a refund for SPAC performances. Ticketholders will also be contacted directly via email with their ticketing options.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 13

BNI Networking Group Replaces Face-To- Metrix Online Learning Helps Businesses Face Meetings With Weekly Online Sessions And Those Seeking Jobs With Its Services

BY ANDREA HARWOOD PALMER Business Network International, known as BNI, has revamped its networking approach in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The group, which has chapters in Saratoga and Warren counties, refers to the transition as a “brand refresh.”

The international organization has more than 9,500 chapters worldwide. Eleven of these are in the Albany and surrounding region.

Attorney Kim Salerno, of Salerno Law, is the president of the Saratoga Winners Circle chapter in Saratoga Springs. It continues to meet weekly online via Zoom, to network and pass introductions and referrals to members. She has been part of the group for nine years.

“I was impressed with how quickly BNI put together an entire Zoom platform. They also put together a Power Point for our group to use. I’m not that tech savvy, so I was nervous at first because I was the one who would have to run the Zoom meeting for 34 people. But it’s been working out very well,” said Salerno.

“Business is still being passed. Especially in the beginning, it was really good for all us to be able to see each other. It’s a source of comfort to see everyone, and hear how their businesses are doing, and how each of us can help one another if we’re able to,” she said.

Michael Cruz, chapter director consultant for the Greater Glens Falls BNI chapter, said “there was a project already underway within BNI. We were figuring out how to turn live, face-to-face training, into online training. BNI had purchased 10 seats of Zoom to begin this training.

Ironically, at the time, they thought they overbought. Then the shutdown happened, and BNI decided to re-purpose the training platforms into meeting platforms. By the third week of March, we’d launched BNI Online,” said Cruz.

“Almost immediately, we were able to do meetings online,” he said. “We produced a slide deck that mimicked the in-person meeting presentation as close as we could.

For the most part, we kept the tenor of the meetings the same. Passing referrals, the one to ones that members do with each to build trust—all of this went to the Zoom platform. We tried to do everything we could to keep it flowing. And we were able to do it for all of our chapters.”

“The fresh new look will help give rise to more referrals by attracting people who are unfamiliar with BNI and all it has to offer,” said a news release from BNI founder Ivan Misner. “More members mean more referrals. It provides members with sustainable business growth and an optimistic future. The refreshed BNI brand will leverage all the features and benefits that BNI has to offer.”

“When you own your own business, you have a different approach to networking.

You’re more invested. And when you’re going through the ups and downs of your own

Family Vision Center Continued From Page 1

protective barriers between them and more space between seats. A second laboratory has been added.

Staff members are outfitted in personal protective equipment, there are masks available for clients, cleaning protocols were established. Employees with marketing and insurance functions still work from home.

Less obvious additions are four medicalgrade air purifiers and an ultra-violet light system to purify air for heating and air conditioning.

Monthly shows allowing manufacturers to display new frames are gone. Previously, “that was the only time you could see an entire collection,” Halstead said. Instead, a frame gallery has been added to the center’s website.

Customers are encouraged to choose online before coming in to try on frames, another way to “minimize the footprint.” It also reduces the amount of cleaning. Once a frame is tried on,

BNI has revamped its networking approach in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

business, you tend to be more compassionate towards other business owners. You want to help them,” said Salerno.

“We have a very dynamic group,” she said. “We pass a lot of business, over a million dollars. A lot of the networking goes on before and after the actual meeting.

Nothing will be able to replace our in-person meetings. But Zoom is a good solution for the interim.

“Even though we’re meeting virtually, we’re still having visitors. If you’re home, it might be nice to see that there are still businesses out there, and that we’re here to support you.”

Said Cruz, “In April and May, our first two months of virtual BNI meetings, our members have passed over $1 billion worldwide.”

He said he would like the organization to go back to face-to-face meetings, but not anytime soon. Virtual meetings could continue for two or three months.

“We’re open. We’re doing business. Our members are continuing to build personal trust and personal brands,” said Cruz.

Brian Rollo, president of the Adirondack BNI Chapter in Glens Falls, said since going virtual, leadership has implemented weekly regional meetings. This gives members access to meetings with other members and businesses owners throughout the region, not just their own chapter.

Rollo is the founder of Brian Rollo Consulting Group, providing leadership development, executive coaching and career development coaching. He said for businesses like his that are not locationdependent, this has been a valuable resource.

The international networking group represents over 270,000 businesses worldwide.

Amidst transitioning to COVID-19 virtual meetings, the organization has also redesigned their logo, website and social media. Branding materials have been updated as well. it has to be sanitized before anyone else can try it.

Customers can have their glasses delivered to them in their cars or shipped to them at home. “Obviously, we prefer to fit them,” Halstead said.

Another innovation is the addition of lower-cost eyeglass frames. “We are trying to prepare for what our community is facing economically,” she said. Some frames are offered at a deep discount. Others are repriced so that insurance will cover the entire cost.

“I don’t even want to go there,” Halstead said about the cost of the changes. “It was a leap of faith on my part. I want staff to feel safe being here and we want customers to feel safe.”

Halstead is a board-certified licensed optician. The practice also includes on optometrist (who can perform eye exams and prescribe glasses), and an apprentice optician, whose plans to take her board exams were canceled by the shutdown.

The Family Vision Care Center website is familyvisioncenter.com. The telephone number is 518 584-6111.

BY CHRISTINE GRAF Metrix Online Learning is being offered free of charge to residents and businesses in Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties.

The online learning platform was developed by Albany-based NY Wired for Education. It features more than 5,000 different courses in everything from Microsoft Office to disease prevention.

The majority fall under the categories of information technology, basic business, retail service, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Classes are available online and can be accessed any time of day, any day of the week.

Subscription costs for Metrix Online Learning are paid for by the three-county consortium of one-stop career centers in Warren, Saratoga, and Washington counties. These centers are located in Glens Falls, Ballston Spa, and Fort Edward and are funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The WIOA was designed to strengthen and improve the country’s workforce.

According to Liza Ochsendorf, director of Warren County Employment & Training Administration, the consortium pays for unlimited licenses for the Metrix Online Learning program. As a result, their clients and business partners and are able to access the platform free of charge.

Registering for Metrix Online Learning is typically done in person at one of the three county career centers. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, users are now able to register virtually. Registration is not limited to career center clients. Anyone who resides in one of the three counties is eligible to use the platform free of charge.

After registering, users will receive unlimited access to all course offerings for

a period of six months. After that, they will need to visit one of the career centers to renew their free membership.

The list of courses is extensive. The website is metrixlearning.com. Jobs in healthcare fields and clerical skills are highly featured.

“This is an opportunity for people who are unemployed or unemployed to increase their skill sets. Or, if they are looking for a career change, they can use it to assess where there strengths are in these different fields,” said Ochsendorf. “It also provides an opportunity for businesses to up-skill their employees. We have hotels that are currently using Metrix, and they are using this downtime to up-skill some of their employees on hospitality courses.”

According to Ochsendorf, the consortium has been offering free usage of Metrix for several years. They are working to make more individuals and businesses aware of its availability.

“We want to continue to expand the use of Metrix. We could even use it for recruiting,” she said. “For example, an employer could say they only wanted to interview people who scored over 80 percent on certain hospitality courses.”

She said it also possible for businesses to customize courses offerings. The opportunity for course customization is included as part of the consortium’s contract with Metrix.

“Historically, Metrix has been used for individuals,” said Ochsendorf. “Now we are pushing it out where it can be used more for organizations and businesses to upskill their employees. The goal ultimately is that we get more businesses to use it as a pre-screening took, and we can help them with that.”

For more information, visit www. thejoblink.org.

14 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

Personnel Briefs

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

Closing Price 5/15/2020

Closing Price 5/22/2020

Closing Price 5/29/2020

Closing Price 6/5/2020

Continued From Page 5

Closing Price 6/12/2019

49.78 25.58 28.31 62.23

55.41 27.44 29.88 64.51

60.30 29.25 30.86 71.26

71.35 30.97 32.77 73.93

57.59 27.94 30.49 68.33

46.00 21.44 78.61 19.92 18.01 5.49 68.54 239.33 31.05 9.72 113.78 168.07 89.12 173.81 55.74 27.54 4.08 2.65 74.16 47.62 120.94

46.00 22.66 76.92 21.28 19.00 6.41 78.39 241.88 32.13 10.74 122.25 179.69 98.03 184.41 54.01 29.86 4.11 2.92 77.62 51.75 117.49

46.00 24.12 78.09 24.10 18.76 6.57 79.31 248.48 34.05 11.66 130.35 192.09 105.66 186.32 57.12 31.32 4.21 2.85 77.99 55.16 122.33

43.45 28.11 82.53 29.25 19.50 7.88 87.20 254.90 39.03 14.56 130.97 225.43 123.30 197.16 57.96 33.80 4.88 3.95 82.14 61.59 121.53

43.45 24.78 77.77 25.82 18.83 7.24 77.45 242.39 34.92 13.21 126.05 197.09 109.00 189.03 57.36 30.30 5.06 3.35 72.57 53.37 116.93

38.95 4.20 5.43 54.71 125.94

39.69 4.66 6.01 54.10 124.33

42.80 4.73 6.30 57.38 124.06

48.37 5.17 7.01 57.74 121.56

45.90 5.85 6.22 56.51 117.68

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

Dr. Mallory Otto has joined Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Geriatric Care. The practice takes a holistic, age-friendly approach to caring for older patients.

Dr. Otto sees patients during their stay at Saratoga Hospital. She also consults with primary care and other providers on how to best meet the needs of their geriatric patients.

She has nearly a decade of experience, most recently at University of Florida Health Shands Hospital, where she specialized in aging and geriatric medicine. She also served as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine, teaching courses in geriatric medicine, palliative care and rehabilitation medicine.

A graduate of Cornell University, Otto earned her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. After an internship and residency in internal medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, she completed fellowship training in geriatric medicine at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital. She is board certified in internal medicine with subspecialty certification in geriatrics.

* * * Harris-Pero & Botelho PLLC announced the hiring of Casey Baxter as a paralegal.

Baxter joined the firm in May. She has experience as an estate settlement and Medicaid paralegal in law firms throughout the Capital District. She graduated from Roger Williams University in 1998 with a B.A. in social science. She also attained her J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law in 2001.

* * * The Ballston Spa Central School District has selected Sarah Johnson as its new Malta Avenue Elementary School principal. Johnson’s appointment is effective July 1. She was the assistant principal for K-8 schools at Schuylerville Central School District.

In Schuylerville, her responsibilities include planning, coordinating, and facilitating curriculum development and curriculum mapping for all grade levels and departments, K-8. She co-planned and cofacilitated the school’s Curriculum Review Committee. She also planned, coordinated, and facilitated professional development for all staff members, K-8, on Next Generation Learning Standards.

Johnson was previously a special education aca-

demic administrator at the Shenendehowa Central School District. Prior to becoming an administrator, she was a ninth grade special education teacher, spent time as an intervention and data coordinator and served as a learning specialist at a high-achieving public middle school in California.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in human development from Cornell University, a Master of Education/Special Education degree from Sonoma State University and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from the College of Saint Rose.

* * * The Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP law firm, announced a new of counsel, Susan M. DiDonato.

DiDonato provides advice to school districts with respect to a broad range of issues including policy development, labor and employment, including contract negotiations, school investigations, employee training, student and teacher privacy and records access, as well as Medicaid compliance matters.

In her over 30 years of practicing law, she has regularly advised boards and superintendents on complex school and governance matters.

Prior to joining Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, DiDonato was in house counsel with Questar III BOCES for 17 years and served on the executive team. She served as counsel to the state Department of State, advising the many different divisions on regulatory and compliance matters from a state perspective.

While in that role, she served on Gov. Cuomo’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on local government consolidation which resulted in a unique approach to efficiency and cost saving strategies across New York’s various local governmental units.

DiDonato earned her juris doctor degree, from Union University, Albany Law School and earned her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from SUNY Oneonta. She is admitted to the bar in New York and the United States District Court for the Northern District.

* * * Laurie Guyon, WSWHE BOCES assistant coordinator for model schools, was among five educators chosen nationwide by CoSN and EdScoop for the 2020 NextGen: Emerging EdTech Leaders Program.

Selection was based on their personal essays and the diversity of the populations they serve, among other criteria. CoSN said the designation goes to leaders with the hands-on experience and vision needed to ensure that technology makes a profound difference in education.

The 2020 NextGen Leaders were honored virtually during the CoSN Annual Conference.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 15

Darling Doughnuts Shop Prepares To Open On Broadway When State Regulations Allow

Natascha Pearl-Mansman is planning to open Darling Doughnuts at 441 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. She hopes the business can open this month.

BY ANDREA PALMER HARWOOD Work continues on a new Darling Doughnuts shop at 441 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs.

“Progress has been slower than we had originally hoped, but we’ve reached the last couple weeks of the construction phase of our project. Things are finally starting to come together.” said owner Natascha PearlMansman.

“It’s been amazing to see the space transform,” she said. “Originally it was just an open rectangle with dark brown walls.

Now we’ve brightened it up and added our commercial kitchen space and front end. My business partner, Glenn Severance, has been at the shop nearly every day throughout the pandemic, keeping things going as best as he could with all the limitations. Now that things are slowly opening back up, we’re working at full speed to complete what has turned into a six-plus month project.”

Pearl-Mansman is pregnant and asthmatic, putting her in the higher risk category for the coronavirus. A building that housed her previous commercial kitchen closed down, and her husband was furloughed indefinitely from his job.

“We were suddenly faced with a situation where we had no income and no timeline of when things might get better. Honestly, when everything first shut down I lost a bit of steam. I almost felt like my dreams of opening a store were slipping away. But once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I got motivated and kept moving forward,” she said.

©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com

Darling Doughnuts had just gotten construction going and were in the process of hiring employees when state-ordered shutdown occurred.

“We had planned on opening the store in April, but as the shutdowns extended further into April and May, we hit delay after delay. Rather than having teams of people working together, we were limited to having a single worker in the space at a time to keep things moving forward,” said Pearl-Mansman.

She said Severance “really rose to the occasion and took on a lot of the work himself. There were times I thought we’d never see the end of construction, but now everything is finally coming together.”

Darling Doughnuts hopes to open in June.

“I never anticipated opening a storefront during a pandemic, let alone while nearly 9 months pregnant, but here we are,” she said.

“I plan on featuring French macarons from Alchemy Bagel Cafe, and cookies from the Muffin Top Baker. I’ve done popup events with both businesses in the past, and I am excited to carry their products when we open. I’m also developing a vegan recipe,” she said.

“I’m so thankful to all our family and friends who have supported us throughout this whole process,” said Pearl-Mansman.

“To the people who donated to our GoFundMe campaign, and those that donated their time and skills to keep us moving forward.”

Quad Graphics Expansion Continued From Page 1

selected as being the site for the presses, because of the downturn of the print economy, there was a possibility there would be a downsizing in the Quad plant in Saratoga in terms of jobs and the availability of programs Quad has been offering over the years,” said Sutton. “In order for Saratoga to remain competitive and maintain the job base, they thought that their plant would be ideal for this new press. They came to the IDA to seek a pilot program.”

Sutton said the IDA felt comfortable offering Quad a 10-year pilot program to help preserve its existing job base. The company employs 668 workers at its Saratoga Springs plant and has an annual payroll of over $37 million. With the new presses, the company will add an additional 74 jobs over the next several years. Forty-two are expected to be created in 2021.

With assistance from Saratoga Economic Development Corp., Quad was able to secure $6 million in incentives from the Empire State Development and $2 million in incentives from National Grid. According to Quad Graphics plant manager Chad McKissick, the Saratoga Springs plant was chosen for the new presses in part because of the package of incentives.

“It was because of the state of New York being a good partner along with the local IDA. They helped us to look at what incentives were available to us as a company,” he said. “The press could have very easily gone in at another location, but I don’t want to say it was a competition. At Quad, we all work together really well.”

The installation of the new presses will allow the plant to become more efficient and reduce waste. The first press is expected to be operation in early 2021 and the second in 2023.

The presses will have an “auto transfer” feature that will automatically change over from one client’s job to the next in approximately 30

seconds. The ability to transfer from one job to the next automatically is a key—the first of its kind in Quad’s vast U.S. manufacturing network, the company said.

“We will be able to go from one job to the next in a matter of 20 to 30 seconds. Normally, it takes us anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half on a job changeover,” said McKissick. “Along with that, we will be reducing paper waste. It’s just a much more efficient platform, and Quad is always investing in our future. Print is always going to be around.”

Munter Enterprises of Middle Grove was chosen as the contractor for the project.

Construction is expected to begin in June. One of the plant’s existing buildings will be renovated and its roof height will be modified.

“This is a five-year plan,” said McKissick. “We entered this pre-COVID-19, and obviously that’s been a disruption in the world, let alone in print.

All eyes are on it, and we are making sure we are making the right decisions. It’s definitely hit us on the volume side. That’s been true throughout the industry.”

Because they print news publications, Quad Graphics is considered an essential business and has remained operational throughout the pandemic. The company also prints retail inserts for other essential businesses.

“A lot of people get their information from print,” he said.

Despite the current economic uncertainty, McKissick said the new presses will have a significant positive impact on the Saratoga Springs plant.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for Quad Saratoga to continue our partnership with the local community and ensure that Quad is here for years to come and has a presence in Saratoga Springs.”

Builders Continue Projects Continued From Page 10

busy summer, but if a second wave of COVID-19 strikes in the fall, he expects a slowdown.

He added, “March to November is the construction industry’s time to work. We’ve lost two months, but we’ll figure it out and keep moving forward.” Now in its 16th year, Kodiak recently shifted from a mix of commercial and residential projects, to specifically residential. The company recently purchased its own subdivision in Greenfield, with a model home underway.

Eric and Eric Construction’s experience with COVID-19 became an employment challenge.

“Originally, a few guys had to leave work to care for family members who were at risk,” said Eric Isachsen, company president. “Some aren’t returning yet” because they get significant unemployment and stimulus incentives. The company was looking to hire full-time, year-

round workers to fill slots.

“We have 40 projects on the docket,” Isachsen said. “We’ve scheduled one person on the job site, as required. We’re working with our clients now to push out some projects, but should round out the year alright.”

He said he is optimistic about 2021 and has several projects already on the books.

At one time Eric and Eric employed 30 people, but downsized over the past decade, and retooled its business plan to specializes in remodeling.

He lost several employees over the years due to attrition and currently employs seven.

Large or small, construction company owners are in agreement that COVID-19 has made it uniquely difficult to predict short- or long-term trends in the industry for the remainder of this year and next, but are cautiously optimistic.

16 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

Saratoga Hospital Expands Palliative Care Long Before COVID-19, Saratoga Hospital Services; Dr. Pezzulo Will Lead The Program Had Program For Behavioral Health Services Saratoga Hospital now provides pulmonology care in Queensbury through a partnership with Hudson Headwaters Health Network.

The collaboration makes it easier for patients with lung and breathing conditions to receive much-needed specialty care, hospital officials said.

Two Saratoga Hospital pulmonologists— Dr. Hung Dinh Nguyen, director of pulmonology and sleep medicine at Saratoga Hospital, and Dr. Numan Rashid—started seeing patients at Saratoga Hospital Medical Group - Pulmonology at Queensbury earlier this spring.

In July, a third pulmonologist, Dr. Carlos Ares, will also have office hours at the Queensbury location. The practice is conveniently located on the lower level of HHHN’s West Mountain Health Services Building 2.

“Without easy access, many patients with lung disease forgo the pulmonology care that can improve their physical and mental health and quality of life,” said Dr. Richard Falivena, vice president and chief medical and physician integration officer at Saratoga Hospital. “We know, from HHHN, that many of their patients have advanced respiratory conditions and will benefit enormously from this partnership.”

It is the second collaboration between Saratoga Hospital and HHHN. The two organizations have partnered since 2018 to bring diabetes care to the Glens Falls region.

Saratoga Hospital Medical Group Pulmonology at Queensbury is located at 161 Carey Road, Building 2, in Queensbury.

For an appointment, call 518-932-0242.

Saratoga Hospital is a leading healthcare provider and the only acute-care facility

Dr. John Pezzulo will lead Saratoga Hospital’s community-based palliative care program.

Courtesy Saratoga Hospital

in Saratoga County. The hospital’s multispecialty practice, Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, provides care at more than 20 locations, ensuring easy access to programs and services that can have the greatest impact on individual and community health.

Saratoga Hospital has maintained Magnet designation for nursing excellence since 2004. Through its affiliation with Albany Med and Columbia Memorial Health, Saratoga Hospital is part of the largest locally governed health system in the region.

For more information: www. saratogahospital.org or www.facebook. com/SaratogaHospital.

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Last year, long before COVID-19, Saratoga Hospital launched a pilot “collaborative care” program to help primary care physicians connect patients to behavioral health services. Today, hospital officials say behavioral health services are integrated into all eight Saratoga Hospital Medical Group primary care practices—a model that is proving invaluable in helping patients cope with the stress of the pandemic.

“Our world is changing irrevocably, and that’s bound to have a significant impact on mental health,” said Janice Prichett, executive director of behavioral health at Saratoga Hospital. “People are worried about their health, their loved ones and their jobs. Many are feeling sad, anxious, or isolated.

“Even those with the best coping skills are likely to need some support. This integrated, collaborative model makes it easier for them to get help.”

She said the model works, in part, because it recognizes the importance of patients’ trusted relationships with their primary care provider. Patients share their concerns with their primary care provider and, within 24 hours, are contacted by a licensed behavioral health professional.

Behavioral health services are provided remotely by Saratoga Hospital’s program partner, Concert Health, a

national organization that helps practices deliver this integrated care. Services include mental health assessments, symptom management—with psychiatric consultation for medication, if appropriate—help with coping skills and other behavioral support services.

Because care is integrated with the primary care practice, behavioral health services are part of the patient’s electronic health record, according to Prichett. As a result, primary care providers can easily monitor patients’ progress. Saratoga Hospital and Concert Health providers can also consult on treatment and medication.

“Saratoga Hospital led the way in integrating behavioral health services in all of its primary care practices, and the Saratoga region is reaping the benefits of that foresight and commitment,” said Virna Little, chief operating officer of Concert Health. “When the pandemic hit, Saratoga Hospital already had the systems in place to ramp up services and provide care promptly despite a significant increase in demand.”

“During an unprecedented time, our primary care practices are in a unique position to identify and provide care for patients whose behavioral health needs might otherwise go unmet,” Prichett said. “That will make a difference for our patients, our providers and our community as a whole.”

Saratoga And Glens Falls Hospitals Get Aid As Part Of the Federal CARES ACT The federal government in May distributed more than $100.7 million to health care providers in the Capital Region as part of aid prompted by the pandemic.

Hospitals lead the regional list of recipients, with Albany Med’s $20.3 million at the top. But funds also went to providers such as physician groups and nursing homes. The non-hospital group that received the largest payment was New York Oncology Hematology, which received $3.5 million.

Saratoga Hospital received $7 million.

Glens Falls Hospital received $4.9 million Inpatient and outpatient skilled nursing groups received some of the largest payments, including Wesley Health Care Center with $733,715.

The U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services is allocating $50 billion to providers as part of the CARES Act. Congress approved the funds to help health care providers offset lost revenue and increased expenses because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Health systems and physician groups have said state-ordered restrictions on elective procedures prompted by the pandemic have been a significant hit to their finances. The state has been relaxing those restrictions in recent weeks. There are now 47 counties in the state where elective procedures are once again allowed, including Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie and Warren.

In order to receive funds, organizations had to apply and submit revenue information the federal government.

SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 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 cleareyed 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 perspective-taking.

• 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

•

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

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 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.

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.

COVID-19 Pandemic Grounds Adirondack Balloon Festival For September 2020 The board of directors of the Adirondack Balloon Festival has announced the cancelation of this year’s event due to restrictions involving the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board “is disappointed” to lose the popular festival that was slated for Sept. 1720, it said in a new release.

“The most important part in planning in an event of this magnitude is safety. Safety is not only for our balloon pilots, but also includes our spectators, law enforcement, public works, fire and rescue staff, vendors, volunteers, musical acts, and our landowners in the region,” said Mark Donahue, board president.

“This is an unprecedented decision for us and one we did not take lightly. Our decision process included discussions with state officials and the Federal Aviation Administration officials as well,” he said.

“This event is for the community by the community. We have a responsibility to make certain social distancing occurs and we do not feel we could make that happen with the tens of thousands of people who attend our event.”

It takes at least six months to plan the balloon festival, and organizers were already three months behind in planning because of the pandemic, Donahue said.

In addition, the board felt it was inappropriate to ask local businesses for support “when they are struggling to reopen or survive. Putting the event on pause for a year will help us to come back in 2021 and have guidelines established by New York state in place for events of our magnitude to provide a safe, enjoyable event for all to enjoy,” said Donahue.

The state requires a mass gathering permit from the Department of Health for the event. The organizers don’t have enough information from the state to hold the event,

The popular Adirondack Balloon Festival based in Queensbury is canceled for 2020.

Courtesy Adirondack Balloon Festival

he said. The necessities—ordering tents and getting balloonists to commit—cannot be done in short order.

The balloon festival draws day trippers and overnight visitors who stay in area hotels and motels. Business is brisk for local establishments “The loss of the festival will be felt not only in the economic impact it brings our region, but in the sense of community that it fosters,” The board is already looking ahead to 2021, he noted.

“With funding being a serious concern for the future, the festival hopes to embark on some fundraising activities this fall to help support 2021.”

The dates for the 2021 Adirondack Balloon Festival are Sept. 23-26.

18 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

•

Business Briefs

Unified Beerworks, a craft brewery on Old Stonebreak Road in Malta, won a gold award for one of its products at the annual New York State Craft Beer Competition for 2020.

The brewery won gold in the Hazy Pale Ale category for “Right Time and Right Place.”

This year’s contest was sponsored by the New York State Brewers Association. The judging was held in Rochester in March.

Some 467 breweries in the state entered a total of 989 beers in the competition. There were 29 medal-winning breweries and 35 total medals awarded. There were 30 judges from across the state. Unified Beerworks was opened in October 2018 by the husband-and-wife team of Jeff Mannion and Erika Anderson.

* * * Saratoga Hospital Volunteer Guild awarded $1,500 scholarships to five Saratoga County high school seniors: Kathryn Cronier, Evan Klotz, Gracie-Lynne Ruzzo, Baihe Sun and Skylar Wright.

All have impressive track records of community service and plan to pursue careers in healthcare. Four participated in “SSOAR: Students Sharing Opportunities and Responsibilities,” a volunteer opportunity unique to Saratoga Hospital.

Cronier, of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, intends to study radiology and diagnostics at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. She participated in the Saratoga Hospital SSOAR program for two years and volunteered at Camp Invention and Ellis Medicine.

Klotz, of Saratoga Springs High School, will study physics/pre-med at Providence College in Rhode Island. He volunteered with SSOAR for two years, serving in Saratoga Hospital’s Orthopedic Center and Alfred Z. Solomon Emergency Center. He also created a website to address hunger and support Shelters of Saratoga.

Ruzzo, of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, plans to major in medical research at Union College in Schenectady. The 2019 SSOAR participant volunteered as a science tutor at a local elementary school and brought canine companions to nursing homes to comfort residents there.

Sun, of Shenendehowa High School, will attend Brown University in Rhode Island to study biology/pre-med. She volunteered with Shen Shining Stars, CAPteens and at St. Peter’s Hospital. She also established a teen mental health awareness and advocacy initiative at her high school.

Wright, of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, will attend Quinnipiac University in Connecticut with the goal of becoming a physician assistant. A SSOAR participant, she also volunteered at the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame Camp Invention.

Saratoga Hospital Volunteer Guild has awarded scholarships since 1990 to help high school seniors in the region pursue careers in healthcare.

* * * The official induction ceremony this year at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of

City Can Rebound from Crises Continued From Page 1

•

Fame on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ceremony at the museum was scheduled for Aug. 7.

New members voted into the Hall of Fame are trainer Mark Casse, two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, jockey Darrel McHargue and racehorse Tom Bowling, Alice Headley Chandler, J. Keene Daingerfield, Jr., and George D. Widener Jr. Those who were supposed to be inducted this year will be part of the 2021 ceremony, officials said.

The annual museum ball has also been canceled.

* * *

As businesses open again, the process of reinstating workforces and hiring new employees will commence. To assist with this process in a way that is aligned with social distancing, Alliance Risk Group Inc. in Clifton Park is offering complimentary accredited webinars for business owners and HR professionals on the topics hiring best practices, risk mitigation, background investigations, HR compliance and more.

Alliance Risk Group is recognized by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) to Certified Professionals (CP) and Senior Certified Professionals (SCP).

The next webinar, featuring workplace investigations, is scheduled for July 28 at 11 a.m. and will be co-presented by a law firm. Additional details on this and future webinars will be posted at allianceriskgroup.com/speakingengagements/

* * * In an effort to bring the Saratoga community together in support of local nonprofits, Network Saratoga LLC presented Saratoga One For All, a Facebook Live Event on May 14 on Facebook and YouTube channels.

Event collaborators included Coverbandtv. com, Real Estate Digital Designs, and Social Radiant. Saratoga One for All was supported by the Adirondack Trust Co. and Star Radio. The show was hosted by Star Radio’s Walt Adams.

Saratoga One for All included a list of popular musical solo artists who were each paired with a local nonprofit organization. They sang some tunes whose titles or lyrics were specifically selected for the event. They then segued into a video highlighting the work of the nonprofit.

Participating artists included Rick Bolton, Jeff Brisbin, Justin Joyner, Matt McCabe, Garland Nelson, Rich Ortiz, Tim Wechgelaer and Jay Yager. Each musician performed from their home.

The nonprofits highlighted through the event were some of that were suddenly met with increased needs for services. Organizations whose work was showcased throughout the evening included AIM Services Inc., Franklin Community Center, Saratoga Center for the Family, Shelters of Saratoga, the Prevention Council, the Saratoga Senior Center, Wellspring and the Wesley Community.

media posts so clients will know what to expect.”

When the quarantine hit in March, West was forced to close her businesses. She reported a 94 percent drop in sales for the month of April, and a drop of approximately 84 percent for May. Though she initially could not continue to pay all of her workers, she was able to hire all 20 back after securing PPP funding. As soon as she was able, she offered local delivery, curbside pickup, free shipping and selling through social media.

That has been holding her over for the time being.

While she is concerned about the predicted lack of tourism over the summer, West is still hopeful that the Saratoga area will rise to the challenge.

“Call me optimistic, but the new way of working and being may continue to keep us safe.

Between social distancing, wearing of masks and continuous sanitizing, it is my hope that we will not need to Pause New York again. The data gleaned from the first wave should provide information on how to deal with it in the future.

That being said, I am investing in the eCommerce portion of my business, changing up my product mix and buying less than I normally would for the fall season.”

“Saratoga is a very special city,” said Nancy Bambara, vice president and COO of DZ Restaurants, which owns which owns Chianti Il Ristorante, Forno Bistro, and Boca Bistro, all in Saratoga Springs. “I think that once we receive reopening plans, we will see that Saratoga residents want to support our local community.

While it will be difficult not having NYRA and our arts centers like SPAC open, I believe that together we will be strong and will rebound from this pandemic.”

Prior to COVID-19, DZ Restaurants employed upward of 200 staff. When all three restaurants were shut down, they were forced to lay off 95 percent of the staff. In April, they were able to reopen Forno Bistro to offer a takeout menu inspired by all three restaurant’s chefs under one roof.

“While take out allows our business, from a marketing standpoint, to stay relevant in our community, it is very difficult to adapt to this situation we all find ourselves faced with,” said Bambara.

DZ Restaurants has a plan for reopening that they hope will allow them to bring in business while also keeping employees and diners safe.

“We are looking to increase outdoor seating capacity, which includes social distancing. We are also looking at a reopen plan with 50 percent capacity,” Bambara said. New procedures put in place will be similar to how the company will operates in the future. She anticipates rehiring all the employees as opening protocols allow.

“Entrepreneurs are built for challenges,” said West. “It’s what pushes us to think outside of the box, to make quick, creative, and sometimes difficult decisions. We generally have a high threshold for risk taking, so I’m fascinated to see what changes will come from the hardships we’ve all endured.

“There is always a silver lining, even if it’s hard to see initially. I’m not sure what the future of retail or small business will look like, but I do know it has changed in significant ways due to COVID-19. The businesses left standing will be the ones that are able to pivot and embrace those changes.”

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SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020 • 19

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20 • SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 2020

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