Month: June 2022

Business Report: Pros And Cons Of Alternate Investments

June 17, 2022

David Cumming, financial advisor in Saratoga Springs at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.

By David Cumming, CFP, RICP, CRPS

In today’s dynamic market environment, some investors may be looking beyond stocks and bonds for other options for investing their money. This search for other options may lead to alternative investments.

Alternative investments are investments outside the stock and bond markets, and may include real estate, private equity, hedge funds, digital assets, and may include investments offering to these financial instruments such as cryptocurrencies, commodities, precious metals and art or collectibles.

These types of investments tend not to be correlated to the performance of stocks and bonds, and may offer the potential for higher returns, but typically with higher risk.

Here is an overview of what you need to know before investing.

Potential upsides of alternative investments:

• Potential reduction in overall volatility. Since their performance are historically low to moderate correlation with market indices, alternative investments may help to reduce overall volatility within a portfolio of traditional investments.

• Diversification. Alternative investments typically help provide diversification across different markets, strategies, managers and investment styles.

• Potential for increased performance. Like any investment, the rate of return for alternative investments is not guaranteed. However, according to a study called “The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870-2015,” which looked at performance across 16 advanced economies over a period of 145 years, residential real estate provided the best returns.

Business Report: Bear Markets Signal Leadership Changes

June 17, 2022

Stephen Kyne, CFP, partner at Sterling Manor Financial in Saratoga Springs.

By Stephen Kyne, CFP

During times of economic uncertainly and market volatility, we are often reminded that fear is generally a greater motivating factor than greed. It is during these times that prognosticators of doom gain traction, and individual investors make unwise choices out of fear of losing it all.

While nobody can be certain of what the future holds, we can look to the past for clues and, in doing so, temper our reaction.

Downturns, like the one we are experiencing, generally signal a change in market leadership supported by structural changes in our lives.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we saw a decline in stock indices of about 30 percent as the economy shut down, and investors had to survey the landscape for opportunities. It quickly became apparent that the pandemic was going to last longer than most expected, and that meant the closure of brick-and-mortar shops, restaurants, and offices. The only way the situation would be tenable would be to shift huge parts of our lives online.

For months, you could buy a bicycle from Amazon, but not from Joe’s Bike Shop. The huge and almost instantaneous structural shift favored large national retailers with a strong online presence, and sufficient ordering and distribution channels.

It favored companies that allowed us to remain productive in our occupations from anywhere. It favored restaurants that already had online ordering, and forced others to catch up or perish. An entire generation that largely feared technology was forced to adopt it in order to check in with their doctors. We were fed endless options for streaming entertainment.

Last year, as the pandemic began to wane, we saw some semblance of normalcy. People were going out to dinner again, neighborhood stores were reopening, workers were returning to the office, Pelotons became coat racks, and we walked away from our televisions to picnic and see friends. Structurally, our lives and the economy were correcting, and we’re seeing that reflected today.

Hudson Headwaters Begins Implementing A New ‘Team Care’ Patient Care Model In Area

June 17, 2022

At Hudson Headwaters’ West Mountain Campus in Queensbury, shown here, the organization launched a new model of patient care.
Courtesy Hudson Headwaters

Hudson Headwaters Health Network has launched a new model of patient care at the West Mountain Campus in Queensbury and at its Moreau Family Health.

Known as team care, the cutting-edge approach is designed to deliver more personalized care for patients and improve work-life balance for health center staff.

Officials said in the team care model, each patient continues to have their primary care provider, but in addition, they are also assigned to a team of providers, nurses and administrative staff. The entire team gets to know the patient so even if their primary care provider is unavailable, the patient can count on consistent, personalized care during their visit.

The phone system, check-in and other processes have also been updated to provide a more efficient and streamlined experience. Core teams are supported by behavioral health providers, care managers, clinical pharmacists and other specially trained staff. The model is designed to put the patient back at the center of their health care, according to Hudson Headwaters

‘Well Child’ Seeks To Promote Mental And Emotional Well Being For Area Children

June 17, 2022

Melissa Seale, PMHNP/BC, aims to promote mental and emotional wellness in children.
Courtesy Well Child Pediatric Psychiatric Services

By Susan Elise Campbell

By educating and supporting children, their families, and teachers, Melissa Seale, PMHNP/BC aims to promote mental and emotional wellness for the entire community system around Glens Falls.

According to Seale, the need for pediatric psychiatry is even greater in the North Country than the nation in general, and she is facing the challenge through her new private practice, Well Child Pediatric Psychiatric Services.

Seale is a board-certified nurse practitioner who said she is “very vested in the mental wellness of the Glens Falls community. I live here, raise my family here, and want to give back.”

The practice is less than two months old and appointments have filled quickly, she said. Many patients followed her from Glens Falls Pediatrics, which she joined after starting her career at the Center for Children and Families, also based in Glens Falls. Well Child is Seale’s first independent practice.

Seale said she knew of one behavioral center in the area with a wait list of 500.

“Pediatric psychiatry is gaining more focus as a discipline,” she said. “The pandemic has been a huge stressor in adults and the effects have trickled down to kids in the form of anxiety and depression.”

Practices are facing a growing litany of issues ranging from toddler tantrums to school shootings, she said.

“Because of social media and all the news outlets, I see kids inundated with negative information,” said Seale. “Bullying has long existed. But children used to be able to go home and escape it. Not today.”

“Social media disconnects young people from the face-to-face interaction that human beings need,” she said. “Even parents are on the phone more, disconnected from their children.”

Essity Study: Post-Pandemic, Workers Expect More Eco-Friendly Office Work Environment

June 17, 2022

U.S. employees have high expectations for green office spaces and expect more eco-friendly practices from their employers, according to new research released by hygiene and health company, Essity, which has nearly 350 workers at its paper mill in South Glens Falls, its converting facility in Greenwich and its distribution center in Saratoga.

The company recently conducted a survey of employees who have returned to the office at least part-time since COVID-19 and found that the majority of employees (75 percent) say they want a more environmentally-friendly office.

The research also found that those surveyed have become markedly “greener” than before the pandemic began. Just over half of employees working from an office (51 percent) say they became more eco-conscious while working from home during lockdown periods.

Another 46 percent say they feel more aware of how ‘green’ their workplace is then when they worked in the pre-pandemic office. In fact, more than half (58 percent) feel their office is ‘shamefully eco-unfriendly’, with one-third (34 percent) believing the introduction of eco-friendly practices within their workplace is usually an afterthought.

“Working from home and in their personal spaces during the pandemic increased employees’ attention on what it takes to create environmentally friendly workplaces and employers should take note – especially those looking to retain and attract talent in this market,” said Don Lewis, president of Essity’s professional hygiene business. “Our research shows that as many as four in ten employees prioritize companies based on their sustainability reputation and actions when looking for a new job. Increasing eco-friendly priorities in the workplace and empowering employees can create a greener office while helping drive employee engagement.”

Agency To Provide Nursing Staffing To Area Hospitals To Help With Shortage Issues

June 17, 2022

A new staffing agency will provide contract nursing staff to the hospitals and facilities of the Albany Med Health System, including Saratoga Hospital and Glens Falls Hospital.

The Albany Med Health System (AMHS) Staffing Alliance was formed in April of 2021 as an affiliate of the VNA of Albany and became fully operational in October of 2021. Its mission is to provide a strategic source of contract nurses exclusively for the Albany Med health system’s facilities to fill temporary staffing gaps, and to provide flexible, temporary work schedules that meet individual and system needs.

“The AMHS Staffing Alliance is an appealing option for nurses who are interested in an Albany Med Health System hospital or facility but due to their current situations, prefer temporary nursing assignments instead of a permanent position,” said Susan Larman, RN, CEO of VNA of Albany. “Interested candidates can work with a dedicated team to help find flexible work schedules with their choice of these four highly reputable hospitals that make up the Albany Med Health System. It is a mutually beneficial opportunity for the candidates and the System facilities.”

The AMHS Staffing Alliance differs from private staffing agencies in that it is not focused on supporting multiple customers in several markets.

Scarlotta’s Returns In Granville With Ownership That Stays In The Original Family Stewardship

June 17, 2022

This is Scarlotta’s Car-Hop in Granville in 1985. The business is seeing loyal customers once again enjoying some of the home style recipes that go back 40 years.
Courtesy Scarlotta’s

By Susan Elise Campbell

With the name restored and the business in the hands of the original owner’s granddaughter, Lauren Barlow, Scarlotta’s Car-Hop in Granville is seeing loyal customers once again enjoying some of the home style recipes that go back 40 years.

Over the 10 years that the diner was under different management, Lauren and her husband Wes of Barlow Electric had opportunities to purchase the establishment but the timing wasn’t right, according to Barlow.

“My husband has a business and we were raising our children,” said Barlow. “I had always said to the previous owners, please call us first, and when they came to us we were ready.”

She remembers not only working at the car hop as a young woman, but also waiting on her future husband.

“It was June 13th 25 years ago but I still remember what he ordered,” she said. “Beef and cheddar, fries and lemonade.”

Once again Scarlotta’s is a family business with the Barlow’s daughter and son working there, Lauren’s sister on staff, and her brother helping cook, she said. The Barlows were able to purchase the restaurant with a loan from the Washington County Local Development Corporation.

Two Area Solar Energy And Storage Projects Get Funding From New York State Budget

June 17, 2022

New York state has awarded funds for 22 large-scale solar and energy storage projects it says will deliver enough clean, affordable energy to power over 620,000 New York homes for at least 20 years.

Of five awards in the Capital Region, two were local, including:

• Fort Edward Solar Farm, where Fort Edward Solar LLC, a Boralex affiliate, will build a 100-megawatt solar facility in the towns of Fort Edward and Argyle, Washington County.

• Easton Solar Farm, where Easton Solar LLC, a Boralex affiliate, will build a 20-megawatt solar facility in the town of Easton, Washington County.

As the state’s largest land-based renewable energy procurement to date, these projects will spur over $2.7 billion in private investment and create over 3,000 short- and long-term jobs across the state, officials said. The awards accelerate progress to exceed New York’s goal to obtain 70 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030 on the path to a zero-emission grid by 2040 as required by Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.