Month: September 2026

By Paul Post

This year’s strong summer tourist season reinforces a new report showing growth in Warren County’s hospitality industry.

The state Division of Tourism says visitor spending rose 3.1% to $956.6 million in 2025 and that tourism, which accounts for 23.5% of all county employment, generated $60.1 million in local tax revenue (up 3.4%) and $57.1 million in state tax revenue (up 4.7%)

Likewise, lodging remained the county’s largest visitor spending category, increasing more than $14 million from $467 million in 2024 to $481.6 million in 2025.

The findings are included in the state’s annual Economic Impact of Visitors to New York study.

“I was encouraged, but not surprised that those numbers were as strong as they were,” said Jim Siplon, Warren County Economic Development Corporation president. “The strength of the Lake George market and its draw is historic. It indicates the strength of the area’s identity and all the players in it.”

But Siplon said year-round tourism promotion must continue throughout the county, not just in Lake George.

By Paul Post

WCKM-FM Morning Club co-hosts Dan Miner and Pete Cloutier have been named to the New York State Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters and Al Roker.

Induction ceremonies are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Rainbow Room, 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

“I still can’t put my head around it,” Miner said. “I don’t think it’s going to hit me until we’re up on stage. It’s just really blowing my mind right now, when you look at the people who are going in.”

“And the people who already are,” Cloutier said.

“The thing I’m really proud of is that we’re representing small-market radio,” Miner said. “Big stations have a huge impact, but do they have the same impact that we do in a small market? I don’t think so. It’s about taking care of people on a one-one-one level. That’s what we do.”

Miner, 61, a Whitehall High School alum, and the 81-year-old Cloutier, of Glens Falls, have worked together on the air for 29 years. Both had extensive broadcast backgrounds before joining forces.

By Paul Post

Section H, Row 10, Seat 2.

That’s where Tadd Sipowicz was sitting with teenage buddies the last time an Adirondack pro hockey team, the Red Wings, won a league championship.

“It’s been a long time, we’re due,” the 49-year-old Hudson Falls High School graduate said. “The expectation is to win. That’s the goal.”

He’s doing everything possible to help players, coaches and front-office staff make such dreams become reality as Adirondack Thunder team president and Harding Mazzotti Arena president and general manager.

Sipowicz took over on an interim basis following the surprise departure of Jeff Mead from those positions, only weeks before training camp opens on Oct. 3.

Sipowicz, who’s been with the team 11 years, also will continue in his role as chief revenue officer.

He said he anticipates continued strong fan and business community support, despite Mead’s somewhat puzzling exodus.

The Adirondack Civic Center Coalition, which manages the city-owned arena, issued a brief statement saying Mead “is no longer employed,” without further explanation. He was named ECHL Executive of the Year in 2024 and in November was named chairman of the league’s Board of Governors.

By Paul Post

Romeo Auto Group is undertaking a more than $7 million investment on Quaker Road in Queensbury, which includes upgrading its Auto Outlet to a Toyota-certified pre-owned vehicle dealership and acquiring the adjacent Garden Time property.

“Our first order of business is to build a reconditioning facility on the back of the Garden Time property,” co-owner Mike Romeo said. “When a vehicle comes in on trade and we have to service it, clean it and take pictures of it to get ready for the front line.”

Romeo’s market presence has greatly expanded in recent years with the December 2024 acquisition of Whiteman Chevrolet on Dix Avenue in Glens Falls, in addition to Ford and Subaru dealerships in Saratoga Springs in March 2025.

It also owns a full-fledged Toyota dealership on Broad Street in Glens Falls and Carriage Traders in South Glens Falls, where Romeo’s father, Len, and his partner, Jim Zappone, started the business in 1982.

By Carol Ann Conover

Retail on Lake George has always run on a clock set by the tourist season: busy in July and August, quiet the rest of the year. Basecamp, the Adirondack lifestyle store that opened last month on Main Street, is betting it can outlast that rhythm.

“We’re pushing for year-round,” said John LaSalandra, who co-founded the store with longtime friend Joe Russell. “We’re following the Sagamore’s schedule — it’s important for their guests to have a place to go to eat and shop. Not everyone’s open, and really having a sense of life on the streets and Main Street is important. We’re going to work really hard at that.”

That bet aligns with where the region’s tourism numbers are heading. Warren County visitor spending reached nearly $957 million in 2025, up 3.1% from the previous year, according to the New York State Division of Tourism’s annual economic impact report. The Lake George Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau reported that 45% of that spending last year came during the shoulder season rather than the traditional summer peak, with low-season short-term rental revenue up nearly 18% and hotel occupancy climbing to roughly 54%. The bureau has said it intends to keep pushing for more year-round visitation — precisely the traffic Basecamp is positioning itself to capture.

Botelho Law, PLLC announced that Jessica R. Botelho has been named a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation.

Fellows are nominated by peers and recognized for distinguished achievement, dedication to the legal profession, commitment to the organized bar and service to the public. “Being a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation is an honor,” said Chair of the Fellows, James R. Barnes. “Fellows represent one percent of the New York State Bar Association membership. Being nominated and elected is a notable achievement.”

“I am honored to be elected a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation,” Botelho said. “My practice has always been centered on helping individuals and families plan for the future and navigate some of life’s most difficult transitions. I also believe strongly that attorneys have an important role to play in serving both the legal profession and the communities in which we practice, so this recognition is especially meaningful to me.”

By Ann Donnelly

Saratoga Federal Credit Union is accelerating its expansion beyond Saratoga County, following up on the soft opening of its Gloversville branch with plans for further regional growth.

CEO Don Denofio said the credit union, which in 2025 expanded into Fulton, Montgomery, Warren and Washington counties, is taking a targeted approach to physical branches and other growth strategies.

The credit union quietly opened its Gloversville branch a few weeks ago, with a formal grand opening set for Sept. 24. For Denofio, selecting Gloversville in Fulton County over wealthier markets came down to serving an underserved community.

“We took a look at the four counties we added and took a look at things like housing values, demographics, the income levels, the potential for mortgage activity,” Denofio said. “And the philosophy of being able to help people in a banking desert, so to speak. When it came down to it, I think maybe the board sat back and said, ‘Why would we go there instead of here?’ Because look at Warren County and it’s thriving. And that’s one of the reasons I decided not to go there first”.