Month: February 2022

Hotel & Lodging Association Predicts Move To Recovery Will Be Uneven, Volatile

February 22, 2022

The hotel industry will continue moving toward recovery in 2022, but the path will be uneven and potentially volatile, and full recovery is still several years away, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA)’s 2022 State of the Hotel Industry report.

The report, which reveals shifts in consumer and business sentiment, was created in collaboration with AHLA Silver Partner Accenture and is based on data and forecasts from Oxford Economics and AHLA Platinum Partner STR.

The top findings of the report include:

• Hotel occupancy rates and room revenue are projected to approach 2019 levels in 2022.

• The outlook for ancillary revenue, which includes food & beverage and meeting space, is less optimistic.

• Hotels lost a collective $111.8 billion in room revenue alone during 2020 and 2021.

• Leisure travelers will continue to drive recovery: in 2019, business travelers made up 52.5 percent of industry room revenue; in 2022, it is projected to represent just 43.6 percent.

• Business travel is expected to remain down more than 20 percent for much of the year, while just 58 percent of meetings and events are expected to return. The full effects of Omicron are not yet known.

Work Ongoing For Car Dealership’s New, Larger Facility As Business In Region Grows

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022

Work is progressing on a new 21,000 square foot home for Krystal Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Warrensburg. The dealership plans to move in early this summer.
Paul Post

By Paul Post

A Warrensburg car dealership is planning an early summer move into a spacious new facility, nearly triple the size of its current home.

Krystal Chrysler Jeep Dodge is relocating from a less than 8,000-square-foot site at 4488 Route 9, to a 21,000-square-foot building 2.5 miles closer to the village, adjacent to Oscar’s Smokehouse, one of the North Country’s most popular retail stores.

Owner Steve Lofrgren said the move is necessitated by business growth spurred by the popularity of the Ram and Jeep brands, and the need for larger service capacity.

There are several other Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealerships in the region including Nemer, in Queensbury, but Lofgren said the new Warrensburg site will have unique features such as a Jeep-only showroom.

“We would be the only one north of Albany with this type of facility,” he said.

When facing the building, the Jeep showroom will take center stage in the middle. A separate showroom for Chrysler and Dodge vehicles will be on the left, with service to the right on the south end of the structure.

Krystal, which now employs 42 workers, plans to add about five jobs including technicians, sales staff and office help.

Stewart’s Shops Plans Construction Of Many New Stores, Plus Renovated Shops, in 2022

February 22, 2022

Stewart’s Shops is pursuing capital projects at 20 retail shop sites in 2022 including this new store, being built directly behind an older facility on Broad Street in Glens Falls.

By Paul Post

Stewart’s Shops is pursuing another year of aggressive capital projects by putting stores in seven new markets, and replacing older facilities with large new buildings at 13 other sites including one on Broad Street in Glens Falls.

This comes on the heels of $50 million the Saratoga Springs-based company spent last year for construction on 18 shops, of which 12 were replacements, the company said.

The other six previously belonged to the Central New York-based Blueox Neighborhood Market convenience store chain, which Stewart’s purchased and rebranded as its own.

But retail shop upgrades are only one part of the company’s capital program. “We are continuing to invest in our manufacturing facility in Greenfield,” spokesperson Erica Komoroske said. “We recently completed a 54,000-square-foot dry warehouse expansion project and we are currently expanding our deli cooler to address our ever growing customer demand for expanded food-to-go options.”

Founded in 1945, Stewart’s is among the Top 25 convenience store chains in America with 354 shops across 32 counties in New York and Vermont. Its territory stretches from Canton near the Canadian border, west to Oswego County, south to Orange County in the lower Hudson Valley, and east to Rutland, Vt.

The firm employs about 5,000 people, 4,400 in shops and 600 between its manufacturing and administrative departments, according to the company.

Dun & Bradstreet Business Directory says Stewart’s has gross sales of about $1.67 billion per year.

Construction Employment Numbers Show Companies Still Struggling To Get Workers

February 22, 2022

Construction employment in December remained below levels reached just before the start of the pandemic in more than half the states as firms struggled to find enough workers to hire, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America.

But the Biden Administration’s decision today to withdraw its emergency vaccine mandate for firms that employ 100 or more people will help firms avoid losing workers unwilling to comply with the new measure, officials said.

The decision by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to withdraw its emergency temporary standard requiring workers at firms that employ 100 or more people to be vaccinated or tested weekly comes after the Supreme Court signaled its strong support for legal challenges filed by the Associated General Contractors of America and other entities against the measure.

The association challenged the rule late last year noting that the measure was unlawful and would do little to boost vaccination rates among construction workers, citing the fact that 64 percent of the construction industry works for firms that employ 99 or fewer people. With nearly 90 percent of construction firms having a hard time finding workers to hire, the rule would simply have encouraged vaccine-hesitant workers to move to smaller firms.

“The Biden administration is right to abandon its misguided vaccine emergency rule and we encourage them to do the same with a similar measure affecting federal contractors that we are also challenging in court,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “At the same time, we will continue to work with the administration to ensure its planned permanent vaccine rule applies only to workers in industries like healthcare that OSHA deems at high risk from the coronavirus.”

Employees Working At Home Creates Issues For Businesses, Including Cybersecurity

February 22, 2022

Martin A. Miranda, senior counsel at Tully Rinckey PLLC.
Courtesy Tully Rinckey PLLC

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Part of owning a small business is having a good understanding of the laws that effect it over time. In recent years, understanding codes and protocols is more important than ever.

Law firms and human resource consulting agencies can be important resources to help small business owners. They can even ultimately protect their livelihood.

Martin A. Miranda, senior counsel at Tully Rinckey PLLC, said his firm has seen an increase in cybersecurity concerns, as well as pandemic-related issues faced by small businesses.

“Due to the pandemic small businesses have relied more on their online business platforms. As more employees work from home, there has also been a significant increase in cyber attacks aimed at small businesses,” he said.

“Hackers may find small businesses particularly vulnerable for lacking adequate technology infrastructure and data security expertise.”

Miranda said to compound problems, networks outside of the workplace may not possess sufficient security measures to prevent cyber attacks, which have become increasingly more sophisticated and targeted.

Common methods of cyber attacks include phishing schemes, social engineering, malware, ransomware and password hacking, said Miranda.

He has also seen an increase in small businesses reaching out on how to best follow COVID protocols, a completely new area for small business owners to have to navigate.

“I receive many questions regarding how small businesses can maintain a safe work environment for their employees as COVID protocols evolve in response to the multiple variants. Implementing these protocols can be burdensome for a small business and enforcing the protocols can often lead to differences of opinion among employees,” said Miranda.

Business Report: Dealing With Cryptocurrency In A Divorce

February 22, 2022

Ryan J. McCall, associate at Tully Rinckey PLLC.

BY RYAN MCCALL ESQ.

Cryptocurrency has become one of the newest and most prevalent investments of the last two years. As a result, the courts are now faced with the prospect of having to evaluate and distribute cryptocurrency as a marital asset during a divorce proceeding.

What makes this new and innovative technology so complex is figuring out how much each cryptocurrency is worth.

Assuming a spouse is using a U.S.-based exchange, determining the value of an individual cryptocurrency is relatively simple. All that is needed is a subpoena duces tecum to that institution to obtain the necessary documents. Under these pretenses, the subpoenaing attorney would receive statements detailing how many funds were listed with that exchange and the assets could be easily valued as of any given date just as if dealing with stocks and investment assets.

However, what has become increasingly difficult is the rise of popular international cryptocurrency exchanges. Many of these exchanges are unregulated and will not comply with United States federal regulations. Courts should not be deterred by this in establishing a value for cryptocurrency as a marital asset.

In theory, certain cryptocurrencies—with the most popular one being Bitcoin—utilize blockchain technology, with each individual Bitcoin having a different identification number than the next. Blockchain technology has a continuous ledger of ongoing transactions that are performed and tracked.

With that being said, there are numerous ways savvy investors can attempt to hide their funds. The most popular way for someone to do this is through a “tumbler” which can issue a separate Bitcoin or fraction of a Bitcoin from the one currently in your possession. This creates a very difficult scenario for lawyers who would be faced with the task of attempting to track down these funds.

What is beginning to take place in the court system is identifying the value of a cryptocurrency based on funds that were withdrawn from an account.

Business Report: A Successful Succession Plan

February 22, 2022

David Kubikian is a principal with Herzog Law Firm.

By David A. Kubikian, Esq.

The word “succession” has become a larger part of our lexicon because HBO a few years back created an immensely watchable show about the cut-throat world of a family owned media company where hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake depending on who gets to take over when Dad leaves (or dies).

Entertaining? Yes. Realistic? Maybe. A learning moment? Definitely.

Succession is defined as being “the action or process of inheriting a title, position, property, etc.” Every business, regardless of size, will deal with a succession event if it is in business long enough. While family in-fighting on private jets may be reserved for the Roy family on TV Sunday evenings, the planning as to the who, when, and how your business transitions from one generation to the next (or not at all) is something that should take shape long before an actual transition happens.

To illustrate this point, consider a few common issues that come up:

1. The Estate Planning Angle. An all too typical scenario, the business, started by one generation has a younger generation heavily involved. One child seems to have the chops to continue to run the business once “Dad” hands over the reins (that is IF he ever hands over the reins). Another child is involved but not as much.

A third child has no interest in the business and in fact lives out of town. Dad’s estate plan is to treat all of his kids the same. That is, his last will and testament or his living trust state that all assets held by the trust or governed by the will pass evenly to his “issue.”

Regional Provider Of Bookkeeping Services Launches Professional Development Division

February 22, 2022

Sabrina Houser is the owner of Capital CFO.

Capital CFO, LLC, a regional provider of bookkeeping, consulting and CFO services to businesses and nonprofit companies, has launched its Professional Development division.

With an eye toward providing increasingly comprehensive business management solutions, Capital CFO Professional Development Division launched in January with online courses, workshops and webinars for business and nonprofit professionals. The complete curriculum will roll out over the course of 2022.

Sabrina Houser, Capital CFO president, saw the need for a cost-effective way for small businesses and nonprofits to invest in their employees.

“Providing employees with professional development opportunities is a smart investment that increases retention, builds confidence and credibility, and improves succession planning. Ongoing professional development can also re-energize staff and improve efficiency. It’s a win-win,” she said.

The addition of Professional Development extends the breadth of Capital CFO business management solutions to include webinars, workshops and online courses addressing topics that include strategic planning, finance, and nonprofit management.

“The most successful people (and companies) are always learning and growing by keeping up to date on their industry and area of expertise with an eye toward continuous improvement,” says Liz Chipman, M.Ed., director of education and employment. “We want to be able to help forward thinking companies and professionals do that in a way that is both cost effective and efficient.”

Business Report: The Are No Shortcuts

February 22, 2022

Michael Cruz is president of Lighthouse Advisors LLC in Queensbury.

By Michael Cruz

We’re all aware of the current labor shortage. It makes it hard to fill your backlog or get your work done in a timely basis. It might make you feel justified in taking risks on marginal candidates for your jobs.

Don’t. Quick hires are all too often bad hires. And bad hires cost you lots of money both in hard dollars and your reputation. There is the cost of advertising and recruiter fees. These are direct hiring costs. When you must replace someone, you need to do this all over again, and the original costs are never recovered.

Then there is the issue of what you paid that person while they were in your employ. The actual salary or hourly rate, plus the 20-30 percent benefit load, plus any expenses they incurred that were reimbursed. Add in what you paid to have their computer and cell phone set up, and costs for other tools.

Add in what you spent for outside training courses. Add in any severance expenses. Severance can be minimal if they were not there long. However, when you linger in your decision, you are “running up the meter.”

Indirect costs are harder to quantify. Yet, they are far greater. You will need to take time to coach these people. And to listen to complaints about them. That negative energy drags us all down. Not only is the actual time spent wasted, but it also makes us less productive at the work we like to do.

Marshall Associates CPAs in Queensbury Is In Its Fifth Decade Serving Small Businesses

February 22, 2022

Lynn A. Wadleigh, CPA, is the owner of Marshall Associates, CPAs, in Queensbury.
Courtesy Marshall Associates

By Susan Elise Campbell

Around the time Lynn A. Wadleigh, CPA was thinking of leaving the corporate world and into a career where she could be her own boss, her father, E. Peter Marshall, had decided to sell the CPA practice he had built over the past 40 years.

“I enjoyed doing financial statements for a senior management team,” said Wadleigh, whose accounting career spans more than 30 years. “But as my father was preparing to retire, I was thinking it was time to do my own business.”

Buying his firm, Marshall Associates CPAs, kept the business in the family and serving the community Wadleigh grew up in.

This was 2018 and Marshall was in his late 70s. His practice had grown along with his family and Wadleigh, her siblings, and their mother all worked there at different times over the decades.

“We all remember how busy the five of us were during tax season,” she said. “Raised in the CPA world,” Wadleigh graduated from Queensbury High School and SUNY Albany and got an accounting internship at Ernst & Young in Albany. She earned her CPA designation, started a career in public accounting, and planned to stay in it.

“I had an opportunity to take a position with KADANT, part of Albany International, the paper manufacturer,” she said. “By the time my father had his CPA and his own business.”