The SUNY Empire State College Foundation has announced 14 recipients of the 2019 Adirondack Trust Co. Scholarship, totaling $24,900 in awards.
The scholarships aim to expand educational opportunities for students in the greater Capital Region.
This year’s recipients include a disaster recovery specialist, a graphic designer, an aspiring mental health professional, an aspiring counselor, two teachers and one aspiring teacher, a human resource specialist, a restaurant manager, an aspiring photographer and an aspiring museum curator.
Adirondack Trust established the scholarship to provide need-based aid to undergraduate or graduate students who reside in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Montgomery, Saratoga, Washington, Fulton, Schoharie, Greene or Columbia counties. The endowment is currently valued at more than $530,000.
“Thanks to the generosity of The Adirondack Trust Company, so many SUNY Empire State College students have been able to complete their degrees and, in turn, realize their dreams and achieve their personal, professional and academic goals,” said SUNY Empire President Jim Malatras. “The Adirondack Trust scholarship is just one of so many ways the bank supports the community and I am very grateful for the bank’s long-standing and generous support of our students.”
Advisors: Hold The Course With Retirement Plans, Even If Investment Markets Are Shaky
Courtesy Ameriprise Financial Services
By Susan E. Campbell
Whether the forecast for the economy and the investment markets is good, bad, or middle-of-the-road, retirement professionals agree that staying the course is the best course.
“The number one thing for 2020 is, in a word, uncertainty,” said Don Tenne, a financial planner with Ameriprise Financial Services and based in Glens Falls.
“Tariffs, elections, China and other international uncertainties are things that tend to slow down the market even though the economy is doing very well,” said Tenne.
Markets are driven by not only by fundamentals but also by investor psychology, which can be impacted by alarmist media, he said.
“The media says a recession is coming, but we don’t know when,” he said. “Many experts say recession may be one to six years ahead. So we see the stories, and then they go away.”
Business Report: Beware Of Retirement Sprawl
By David L. Cumming
As we move through our career, we often accumulate a number of different retirement accounts: A traditional IRA here, a rollover IRA there, and two or three scattered 401(k) accounts left in the plans of former employers.
As the accounts add up, it can become difficult to get a clear picture of your overall retirement preparedness.
Consolidating your retirement accounts into one central account can help you make sure your retirement assets are invested appropriately for your overall goals, better track the performance of your holdings and, in some cases, discover more investment choices and potentially incur lower fees.
However, consolidating retirement accounts into one account may not be right for everyone. Before taking any action, you should carefully compare your potential options in order to reach an informed decision about what makes the most sense for you.
AARP: Cost Of Drugs Is Rising Dramatically
Retail prices for 267 brand-name drugs commonly used by older adults surged by an average of 5.8 percent in 2018, more than twice the general inflation rate of 2.4 percent, according to new AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) data released in November.
The annual average cost of therapy for one brand-name drug ballooned to more than $7,200 in 2018, up from nearly $1,900 in 2006, the study said.
“There seems to be no end to these relentless brand-name drug price increases,” said Debra Whitman, executive vice president and chief public policy officer at AARP. “To put this into perspective: If gasoline prices had grown at the same rate as these widely-used brand-name drugs over the past 12 years, gas would cost $8.34 per gallon at the pump today. Imagine how outraged Americans would be if they were forced to pay those kinds of prices.”
Organization Formed To Help Businesses Align With Charities Compatible To Their Mission
©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Susan E. Campbell
A new internet-based service will soon bring together Capital District businesses with nonprofits whose missions align with a company’s goals for charitable giving.
Called Knitt LLC, founder Lisa Munter believes her organization will provide “a mindful and time efficient way to connect” donors and donor organizations. Its success, and future compensation, will depend on the “knitted” relationships among businesses and nonprofit organizations who did not have a prior relationship, Munter said.
Munter is an avid volunteer and wife of a businessman whose company, Munter Enterprises, is “inundated with requests for donations.”
“Companies may have a passion for certain causes but also may be open to others,” she said. “Knitt is a platform for not only connecting leads but also tracking giving.”
World Awareness Children’s Museum Teaches Kids About Things ‘Beyond Their Bubble’
By Christine Graf
The World Awareness Children’s Museum in Glens Falls seeks to inspire curiosity and foster understanding and appreciation of worldwide cultural diversity. It was founded by Dr. Jacquiline Touba and received its charter from New York State in 1995. Touba, an artist and former college professor, retired from the museum in 2013 but remains active as a volunteer.
Bethanie Lawrence was named executive director of the museum in 2018. A former teacher, Lawrence relocated to the area two years ago to be closer to family.
“I think we do a lot of good work here teaching people about different cultures, different people, and different places in the world,” she said. “I feel like we are truly making a difference in people’s lives, especially in the North Country/Adirondack region where there really isn’t much exposure to things that might be vastly different from what we are used to. So, we do a lot to teach people what is beyond their bubble.”
Business Report: Putting Your Cause Into Action
Courtesy Bond Schoeneck & King
By Matthew Young
We are fortunate to live in a community that is so charitable and philanthropic. We have all seen or experienced how our community steps up whenever a neighbor is in need. Often, helping one neighbor in need inspires a desire to help more. But to help more, more is generally needed—more time, more resources, more money.
Establishing a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization can help with the “more,” as doing so will show the community that your cause is sincere, which should help when it comes to asking the community for more, whether it is time, resources or money. However, establishing a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization is not quite as simple as we would like it to be.
Here are the key components to doing so:
1. Certificate of Incorporation.
This is the organization’s primary governing document. The Certificate of Incorporation identifies, among other things, the organization’s name, location, initial board members and purposes.
Open Door Mission Expands Its Food Pantry Thanks To $30,000 Donation From Hannaford
Hannaford Supermarkets made a $30,000 donation to the Open Door Mission, which will enable the nonprofit organization to widely expand its food pantry and triple the number of families it serves in the greater Glens Falls area.
As a result of the grant, the Open Door Mission will relocate the food pantry to its headquarters at 226 Warren St. in downtown Glens Falls.
The pantry, which previously existed as only a single 12-foot shelf, is expected to serve up to 300 families each month when it begins operations later this month.
Business Report: Passwords Are A Necessary Evil
BY VICKI A. MARKING
Here’s a quick test. What do these seemingly random alphanumerical groupings have in common?
1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. 12345678
5. 12345
6. 111111
7. 1234567
8. sunshine
9. qwerty
10. iloveyou
Adirondack Trust App Allows Customers To Get Discounts At Various Local Businesses
©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Christine Graf
Adirondack Trust Co. has launched a free smartphone app that provides consumers with the opportunity to receive discounts and other perks at participating local businesses.
The app, called Beyond Savings, uses customized software developed by a third party provider.
According to Adirondack Trust Executive Vice President Charles Wait, it was Robert Ward who first came to him with the idea for the app. Ward is vice president-marketing manager at the bank.
“I knew we needed a rewards program, and Rob came to me with the idea,” said Wait. “It was very easy to say ‘yes’ to. It uses technology to provide local shopping rewards. If I go to one of the vendors on our list—Forno Bistro for example—and I have the app on my phone, I can get a discount. So that benefits not only the user but also the merchants who are our customers. It’s a nice partnership.”