Month: February 2023

Business Briefs: February 2023

February 17, 2023

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold its Lunch with Legislators event on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Queensbury Hotel, Adirondack Room, 88 Ridge St., Glens Falls.

Registration will start at 11:30 a.m. and the event will run until 1:15 p.m.

It will feature remarks from state and federal legislators that represent the area. The conversation will be moderated by ARCC President Tricia Rogers.

Featured will be state Sen. Dan Stec, District 45; state Sen. Jake Ashby, District 43; U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, District 21; state Assemblyman Matt Simpson, District 114; and state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, District 113.

Cost is $60 for ARCC members and $80 for non-members.

For more information, contact Carol Ann Conover, ARCC member services and events manager, at 518-798-1761 ext. 220 or by email at caconover@adirondackchamber.org.

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Hudson Mohawk Area Health Education Center (Hudson Mohawk AHEC) will be awarding 10 scholarships of $500 dollars each to individuals who will be entering an approved healthcare related certificate or degree program at a local community college, university or training entity within New York state.

Applicants must reside within the Hudson Mohawk AHEC 10-county service region, which includes: Albany, Essex, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties.

Interested applicants can learn more about the scholarship opportunity by visiting the Hudson Mohawk AHEC website www.hmahec.org or emailing admin@hmahec.org

Applications are due no later than Monday, March 17. Awards will be made in May.

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Garvey Hyundai Dealership In Queensbury Gets Major Upgrade As Business Soars

February 17, 2023

Drive Garvey’s Hyundai dealership on Dix Avenue in Queensbury is undergoing a $4 million expansion being done by Hilltop Construction.
Paul Post

By Paul Post

This winter’s mild weather has been a hindrance for those who enjoy outdoor activities such as ice fishing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. But it’s been a big help to contractors such as Hilltop Construction, which is handling a $4 million expansion and makeover of Drive Garvey’s Hyundai dealership on Dix Avenue in Queensbury.

The business, which includes selling Hyundai’s high-end Genesis vehicles, is nearly doubling in size. Also, the current facilities—from service bays to bathroom tiles—are getting completely redone.

“We’re even replacing furniture, lighting fixtures and switches, and everything is going to be as environmentally kind as possible,” said Mark Garvey, who owns the business with his daughters, Shannon Bruhns and Kyle Garvey. “We really had no choice, but to do it. Hyundai has grown by leaps and bounds the past few years. Our sales are up about 18 percent from 2021. Our best sellers are SUVs.”

“We’re revamping 98 percent of the store inside and out,” he said. “Everything is going to be brand new. We’re adding a second floor to the existing building that will have five huge offices for sales, management and our e-commerce business.”

The Parts Department is getting a second floor, too.

In December, industry sources reported that South Korea-based Hyundai surpassed General Motors as the world’s third-largest automaker by volume (3.3 million), surpassed only by Toyota (5.1 million) and Volkswagen (4 million).

Town Of Bolton Awarded Nearly $1.8M For Revitalization Of Lake Waterfront Areas

February 17, 2023

The town of Bolton was awarded nearly $1.8 million in two state grants for revitalization of its Lake George waterfront area.

Bolton will receive $1.725 million from the state’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), and $50,000 from the state’s Smart Growth Planning and Zoning grant program.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Dec. 29 announced over $22 million in grant funding was awarded to 76 communities across the state through Round XII of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative to promote smart, sustainable and equitable community growth.

The funding will help communities revitalize their waterfronts, clean up and redevelop abandoned industrial sites and create neighborhoods that are environmentally sustainable through three state programs including the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and the Smart Growth Planning and Zoning grant program.

The $1.725 million is for Veterans Memorial Park improvements. Bolton will advance its Local Waterfront Revitalization Program by designing and constructing the second phase of the Veterans Memorial Park Master Plan.

Improvements include a new multi-use waterfront recreation building which will house visitor information services and accommodate special events throughout the year, pedestrian access connections into the park, and stormwater management improvements for continued water quality protection of Lake George.

‘Industrial And Performance Machining’ Is Name Of BOCES Program With A New Aim

February 17, 2023

The WSWHE BOCES has changed the direction for its career and technical education machine tool technology program. Its new title is Industrial and Performance Machining.

The Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services (WSWHE BOCES) announced a new name and direction for its Career and Technical Education (CTE) machine tool technology program.

The new title—Industrial and Performance Machining—reflects the industry today and better positions the program to prospective students, officials said.

Officials said the program places a heavy emphasis on high-tech equipment and precision in the machining of component parts for automobiles, performance vehicles, industrial machines, and more. This consists of fabricating component parts to specification for these applications using milling, drilling, grinding, and boring machines.

While “Machine Tool Technology” is often used by technical colleges, WSWHE BOCES administration and educators said that students did not immediately identify the program in line with career goals.

In an effort to continuously offer programs and curricula that best support our students and the current job market, the transition from Machine Tool Technology to Industrial and Performance Machining reflects a growing need to reach high school students interested in machining careers.

Report: Construction Firms Added Workers In December, Unemployment Rate Dropped

February 17, 2023

Construction firms added 28,000 employees in December and continued to raise wages for hourly workers more than other sectors as the industry’s unemployment rate fell to a record low for the month, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government data.

Association officials said the data align with their newly released survey, which found the majority of contractors are optimistic about demand for most construction types, despite reporting difficulty filling positions.

“There are more people working in construction today than ever before, and those figures are likely to continue to increase,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But as optimistic as contractors are about 2023, they remain worried about their ability to find enough workers amid record-low unemployment.”

Construction employment totaled a record 7,777,000, seasonally adjusted, in December, an increase of 231,000 or 3.1 percent from a year earlier. Nonresidential firms—comprising nonresidential building and specialty trade contractors along with heavy and civil engineering construction firms—added 17,900 employees in December. Residential building and specialty trade contractors together added 9,500 employees.

Placentric Digital Marketing Offers Strategic Planning As Well As Website, Promotions

February 17, 2023

Ann Donnelly is the founder of Placentric Digital Marketing in Glens Falls.
Courtesy Placentric Digital Marketing

By R.J. DeLuke

A woman who’s career has taken her to London and Ireland is now entrenched in the North Country, operating Placentric Digital Marketing in Glens Falls.

Ann Donnelly has years of marketing experience dealing with a great many companies overseas and in the U.S. She’s concentrating on the Queensbury, Lake George, Glens Falls region, though she can take on clients from virtually anywhere.

Her office is on the third floor at 33 Park St., Glens Falls.

“It’s going well,” she said, noting she belongs to three different chambers of commerce “and they’ve been super supportive of me … The chambers have been a great resource for me and getting to know the area, but also getting to meet the right people.”

Donnelly is from Fulton County in New York state, but circumstances found her moving to Ireland, where she began digital marketing. A job she held at the time was high pressure, allowing little free time. It was time to find something else.

“This was 1998-99. People were starting to use the internet for business and stuff. But I first started doing it just to keep in touch with my family.” With her husband at the time, thy started an accountancy firm. She made a website for the business, “then in a couple of months, we were starting to get inquiries from all over the world.”

Lake George Regional Convention Bureau Launches A New, Group-Focused Website

February 17, 2023

The Lake George Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau website provides a focus on meeting spaces and ballrooms, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, wedding venues and services.
Courtesy Lake George Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau

The Lake George Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, an extension of Warren County Tourism, recently launched a refreshed, group-focused website that provides a regional/seasonal focus on meeting spaces and ballrooms, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, wedding venues and services.

The site—meetlakegeorge.com—has information on group-friendly lodging, activities and dining options, officials said. It features venues that can accommodate festivals, smaller reunions and retreats, and unique gatherings with guests who wish to meet and lodge separately.

“Meetlakegeorge.com was designed to be an extension of visitlakegeorge.com with content that would speak to meeting and event organizers that have group business with the potential to bring their business to all of Warren County,” said Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce & CVB Executive Director Gina Mintzer.

Park Theater Foundation Unveils Educational Initiatives, Eyes Strong Attendance This Year

February 17, 2023

By Susan Elise Campbell

The Park Theater Foundation has rolled out some educational initiatives and a free outdoor summer concert series.

According to Chris Ristau, executive director of the nonprofit group, “This is what we are all about, bringing quality entertainment to the community and education programs to our schools.”

Before COVID, performances were held only within the four walls of the historic theater. The first summer series concerts, in July of 2021, produced at the Crandall Park band shell was “for us like an introduction to the community as a nonprofit,” Ristau said.

The application as a 501(c)3 organization had been approved and the paperwork received in mid-February of 2020, just weeks before the pandemic shuttered public venues like the Park Theater. When invitations to performances and educational programs were halted and the schools closed down, Ristau found new ways to collaborate. The outdoor concerts highlight regional music of the same genres that had been performed indoors at the theater.

One of the missions of the foundation is “providing opportunities for members of the community in the performing arts to grow and develop their skills and self-confidence,” he said.

The series thus enabled them to fulfill their mission “when the weather got he said, players could come to the band shell “who were too big or too loud to perform in our indoor venue.”

AARP Survey Finds Seniors Are No Longer Settling For Jobs With Stressful Conditions

February 17, 2023

Many older workers are no longer settling for stressful working conditions or fully in-person jobs, finds a new AARP survey of adults age 40 and older.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a shift in attitudes about work, with more people prioritizing work-life balance and making workplace flexibility as a job prerequisite, the report said.

“Understanding a Changing Older Workforce: An Examination of Workers Ages 40-Plus” shows that flexible work hours are now a job requirement for 79 percent of older workers, while 66 percent say they would only accept a new job if they are able to work remotely at least some of the time. Most older workers (90 percent) also say they require a job that provides meaningful work.

“During the pandemic, many people took time to reexamine their personal goals and how their job fits into their life,” said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP. “Given the high level of burnout that so many older workers experienced during the pandemic, especially those who are caregivers, it should come as no surprise that work-life balance has emerged as not just a priority but a requirement.”

Over half (53 percent) of those ages 40-49 and 36 percent of all workers age 40 and older are caregivers for an adult, typically a partner/spouse or parent, and report having to work remotely, change work hours, reduce hours, use paid caregiving leave or quit their job altogether to provide care in the last five years, the report said.

Given the need for more flexibility among caregivers and the emphasis on it among older workers in general, gig and independent work has become increasingly common. More than a quarter (27 percent) of older workers are doing freelance or gig work and the number is higher (32 percent) for those ages 40-49. While 89 percent of gig workers say making extra money is their primary motivation, flexible work hours are a close second at 87 percent.

WaldronWorks Opens New EOS Office At Union Square Broad St. Glens Falls

February 17, 2023

By Paul Post

Gerald Davis wants to open a second location for his successful heating and cooling business, and document its growth with a long-range goal of having employees partner up with him as franchise owners.

JoAnna Schwartz felt the need for more structure and better processes at Name Bubbles, an e-commerce company that makes personalized waterproof name labels and decals, to ensure the firm’s future prosperity.

These are just two of many area business leaders that have turned to Wendy Waldron to teach, facilitate, coach, lead and direct them through critical phases of their respective operations.

She owns Glens Falls-based WaldronWorks, and is a Professional EOS Implementer for the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), whose principles have helped clients around the world overcome business problems as well as identify and take advantage of new opportunities.