AWARD WINNING EDITORIAL
INCLUDING THE HUDSON VALLEY JANUARY 17, 2022 VOL. 58, No. 3
westfaironline.com
New survey finds SMBs remain optimistic despite ongoing challenges
Lionsgate identification on Wells Avenue frontage. Photo by Peter Katz.
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BY JUSTIN MCGOWN jmcgown@westfairinc.com
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COMING ATTRACTION IN YONKERS: SECOND MOVIE/TV STUDIO CAMPUS BY PETER KATZ Pkatz@westfairinc.com
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reat Point Studios LLC, the builder and manager of the Lionsgate Studio campus on Wells Avenue in downtown Yonkers, is planning to build a second studio campus in the city, the Business Journal learned during a studio visit and interview with Great Point's CEO Robert Halmi. The Business Journal reported last March that Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano was expecting that at least one and possibly two additional movie studios would be developed in the city. The Business Journal met with Halmi and toured the three new soundstages now ready for
filming to begin at Lionsgate. Two of the stages are 20,0000 square feet, while the third is 10,000 square feet. The stages are built with thick concrete walls, wood floors, no internal columns and gridwork to support lights and sets. Each is supplied with 4,800 amps of electrical service, enough to power 24 typical Westchester single-family homes. Great Point has already announced that it is expanding the Wells Avenue Lionsgate campus at National Resources’ iPark Hudson by adding seven additional 20,000-square-foot soundstages and one additional 10,000-square-foot stage. Additional production facilities and office space also will be created. Approximtely 10 acres of adja-
cent land have been acquired for the expansion. The second location would be at the Rising Ground campus, formerly Leake & Watts at 463 Hawthorne Ave. overlooking the Hudson River. It would have an additional 10 or 12 soundstages and support facilities, according to Halmi. “This will be .. really the mini-Hollywood of the Northeast, Yonkers, right here. We're going to build this first campus with 11 soundstages, we're going to add a campus down the street ... and we'll have the largest film and television facility in the Northeast,” Halmi said. “We've had no problem leasing our stages. We're 92% leased in phase one.” Halmi said that he could
not immediately accommodate five feature films that wanted to begin shooting at Lionsgate and hopes to have additional soundstages available sooner rather than later. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration that had been planned to take place on Lionsgate’s opening day of Jan. 11 in 20,000-square-foot Stage A was canceled due to the surge in Covid cases. However, Lionsgate's first production at the new campus, the second season of the TV comedy series “Run the World,” was set to begin its move-in as planned on opening day. The studio has protocols in place to deal with the threat from Covid and allow production activity to take place. » LIONSGATE
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espite the ongoing pandemic, rising inflation, supply chain issues and labor shortages, a new survey finds small and midsize businesses (SMBs) across the country are predicting a bright future. JP Morgan Chase’s 2022 Business Leaders Outlook Survey, released Jan. 5, found 83% of midsize and 71% of small businesses said they were anticipating a good year ahead. Among midsize businesses, 81% anticipated revenue and sales growth in 2022, and 63% of small businesses felt the same. Four out of 10 surveyed SMBs expected an increase in their credit needs in the year ahead, the highest level of anticipation for this change in five years. “As an economist I’m not surprised,” Jim Glassman, head economist for JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking said of this apparent optimism. “We have been tracking these folks every six months, so we’ve been seeing the story emerging throughout the pandemic. “Some of your readers may be surprised there’s so much optimism in the business community when we’re still struggling with this virus,” Glassman added. “The thing to understand is that for most of these folks their business activity is at or higher than where it was prior to the pandemic.” According to Glassman, this stems from improved vaccination rates and the adaptability that most successful entrepreneurs need to succeed even under normal business conditions. » NEW SURVEY
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