A capacity crowd turned out on July 2 at Six Flags Great Escape Lodge in Queensbury for the EDC Warren County annual luncheon that featured a keynote speech by Dr. John E. Kelly III, IBM senior vice president

A new generation of “smart” quantum computers that think for themselves is about to replace classical computers, which could eventually make programming obsolete.

In an address dubbed “The Era of Cognitive Computing and Artificial Intelligence,” Kelly said technology is advancing at such a rate that its impact around the globe will be more profound.

New York is now home to 1,005 craft beverage manufacturers operating in 60 counties across the state. 

Since the first Beer, Wine Spirits and Cider Summit in 2012, the number of businesses producing craft beverages has more than doubled, while the number of farm-based manufacturers has increased by over 150 percent, state officials said. 

New York now ranks in the top five states in the U.S. for its number of craft beverage producers in every category. The state ranks first in U.S. for the number of hard cider producers, second in craft distillers, third in breweries, and fourth in the country for the total number of wineries officials said.

The Hyde Museum and the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce has formed a joint networking and team-building event .

Officials said at a recent ARCC NextGen Committee meeting, the group tried to think of events to engage members.

They decided to participate in the museum’s  Art Battle, slated for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at the 161 Warren St. museum. This year they will challenge teams to an evening of creativity, and resourcefulness, as each is tasked with creating a work of art out of recyclable products from JUST Water.

EDC Warren County President Ed Bartholomew announced that two qualifying census tracts within Warren County were nominated by the governor’s office to be included within the tax program known as Federal Opportunity Zones (FOZ) which was part of the US Tax Reform Act of 2017. 

EDC prepared materials required for nomination on behalf of the city of Glens Falls and the town of Johnsburg. 

The purpose of the FOZ program is to provide an added mechanism to encourage private investment into economically distressed areas through the use of tax incentives, he said. 

Bartholomew said one of the key advantages of the FOZ opportunity zones program is the ability of investors who make investments within these respective zones to have capital gain taxes eliminated if the investment is maintained for a minimum ten years. If the investment is maintained less than 10 years the capital gain is prorated.

By Maureen Werther

Workers at West Mountain are busy replacing a chairlift dating back to 1968 with a new “quad” chair that will service the face of the mountain. 

According to the mountain’s co-owner and onsite operator, Spencer Montgomery, crews are in the process of dismantling the old chair, which he said will take approximately two weeks to complete. Once that phase of the work is over, the new chairlift will be installed and operational in time for the upcoming 2018-2019 skiing and snowboarding season.

The new chairlift will be located in closer proximity to the existing chairlift that services the summit. By re-positioning it, skiers and riders will all be able to feed into one set of corrals, have their tickets checked and decide which of the two lifts they want to take, he said.

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) was joined by over 150 guests to honor the nominees and winners of the 28th annual ARCC Business of the Year Award breakfast on Thursday, June 7, at the Hiland Park Country Club in Queensbury.

The winners in each category were honored with a framed certificate, specially made by Bev Saunders at Saunders Gallery of Fine Art and a parting gift from Larry Gonyea of Adirondack Etching. The winners were as follows:

Professional Business of the Year: Cool Insuring Agency. Rookie Business of the Year: Sidekick Creative. Small Business of the Year: King Pin’s Alley Family Fun Center. Large Business of the Year: Irving Consumer Products. Nonprofit Business of the Year: The Moreau Community Center.

Dr. John E. Kelly III, senior vice president, cognitive solutions and IBM research will deliver the keynote address at the EDC Warren County annual luncheon on Monday, July 2, at Six Flags Great Escape Lodge in Queensbury.

In addition to the keynote address, the program will also include an update on EDC initiatives and recognition of other activities in Warren County and  the region.

Registration and networking will be held from 11:30 a.m. to noon. The luncheon and program will run from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Advance paid reservations required.