Jake Van Ness, Author at Glens Falls Business Journal

Jake Van Ness

2231 Articles

Business Report: Loyalty Hurts You!

August 10, 2017

Michael Cruz, president of Lighthouse Advisors LLC in Queensbury.
Courtesy Lighthouse Advisors LLC

I once hired a project leader who was a mis-hire. She was technically very competent. She had come highly recommended by another member of our senior leadership team. Her recommender had worked with her at a previous company, in the same role we were hiring for. We were all very excited and had high hopes that this department was going to be competently led.

But she irritated her staff and her clients. I spent a year coaching my bad hire. Finally, I had to let her go. She had just lost a new client of ours. They did not like working with her. They worried that she embodied the attitudes of the rest of the company. When I challenged her about what was going on with the client, she declared that the client was stupid. Our company had built its reputation on customer delight. Yet, though she knew how to manage a project, she did not know how to delight our customers.

After letting her go, I went to inform her staff. I clearly remember a conversation with one staff member. His reaction was “Well, I always figured you were pretty smart. I hoped that you would figure it out eventually.” Ouch! Her staff figured out she was a bad hire long before I did!

Developer Plans New 92-Room Home2 Suites Hotel Off Of Exit 19, Next To Aviation Mall

August 10, 2017

By Jennifer Farnsworth

After more than two years of perseverance and patience, developer Bhavik Jariwala of Aviation Hospitality LLC has secured 2.5 acres off Northway Exit 19, near the Aviation Mall, to build a high-end hotel.

The Queensbury location will be home to Home2 Suites, part of the by Hilton National chain. Jariwala is hopeful that the 92-room, all-suite hotel will draw in many patrons with its long list of amenities.

It has been process with unplanned delays for Jariwala. He said he just recently was able to finalize details and get to this stage of the project.

The town Planning Board recently gave Jariwala approval to begin the project, and he hopes to begin construction as soon as possible.

The board previously granted approved for a hotel that Jariwala planned to build off Exit 18, but that plan fell through after Jariwala could not come to an agreement over a connector road with Pyramid Co. Jariwala said negotiations first started with Pyramid Co. to buy the property in 2014, but Pyramid insisted he pay to construct the connector road.

“In the end it worked out. We are very happy and excited about the Exit 19 location. It is slightly closer to Lake George and is at a corridor that is perfect for commercial development,” said Jariwala.

New Truck Stop Coming To Queensbury; Will Offer Coffee / Dining; Opens Later This Year

August 10, 2017

By Jennifer Farnsworth

The owner of the popular Warrensburg Gulf Tire House and Gas Station will be overseeing construction of a truck stop and gas station in the Queensbury area.

Appropriately named the Queensbury Truck Stop, owner Tabassum “Toby” Sheikh said the full-service station will also offer Dunkin’ Donuts, and a small restaurant service.

The location of the truck stop and gas station will be on the corner of Route 149 and Ridge Road.

Sheikh said the spot, which he previously operated, was a Getty Gas Station that did well, receiving a lot of traffic. He made the decision to tear it down last fall in order to build the new 6,500-square-foot space.

“We are working on details now, but planning for a November opening,” said Sheikh.

Hudson Headwaters Agency Hires Chief Administrative Officer, Fills Two Other Posts

August 10, 2017

Dominick Bizzaro takes over as president and chief administrative officer on Aug. 1.
Courtesy Hudson Headwaters

Hudson Headwaters Health Network, based in Queensbury, has hired Dominick Bizzaro as president and chief administrative officer.

One of his initial duties will be developing a new “population health division,” which will use data analysis to guide case management and track overall quality of care, officials said.

He will begin Aug. 1.

Bizzaro will work in collaboration with Dr. Tucker Slingerland, a current Hudson Headwaters executive who takes over as chief executive officer on July 1.

Founder and longtime CEO Dr. John Rugge begins a new role on July 1 as executive chairman, as part of the transition to his eventual retirement.

Bizzaro has more than 35 years of experience in health care, currently as executive vice president for business development and informatics at MVP Health Care, a Schenectady-based health insurance company.

The group also announced that Dr. John Sawyer was named chief medical officer and Chris Tournier was named executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer. These appointments are in concert with the Network’s recent strategic planning initiatives.

Fat Kid Foods Expands Its Food Delivery Service Area, Now Working In Saratoga Springs

August 10, 2017

Daren Potter opened his Fat Kid Foods business earlier this year, serving the Glens Falls/Lake George area. It now offers restaurant food service delivery in Saratoga Springs.

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Daren Potter opened his Fat Kid Foods business earlier this year in Glens Falls and is already expanding the service.

Potter has expended to Saratoga Springs and is hoping to be able to tap into the Spa City’s college student population, as well the rest of its demographic.

His food-delivery service brings dishes from participating area restaurant’s to a customer’s front door,.

“Between Glens Falls, Lake George, and Saratoga, we are really hoping to tap into the tourist economy, “ said Potter.

Potter said it has been a slow start since he opened his first location, but he is building a solid customer base of people who love the convenience of the service.

Potter works with restaurants that do not have delivery service. His customers are able to go online and follow a four-step process that allows them to choose a meal from a variety of participating restaurants. In Saratoga, Potter is working with places like Smashburger, Peabody’s, the Parting Glass and the Barrelhouse.

Business Report: Recovery From Ransomware

August 10, 2017

Gerry Freedman is a senior sales representative at the Colden Co.
Courtesy Colden Co.

By Gerry Freedman

As many of you know, in May of this year, the WannaCry ransomware cyber attack was a global event.

This malware strain infected over 200,000 computers in 150 countries.

While this particular attack targeted out of date, unpatched, or unsupported operating systems, it reinforced the need to keep your operating systems current. Additionally, it brought into sharp focus the choice you have if your system is infected: bitcoin or backup.

Ransomware works by encrypting the data it can access with extremely difficult to break encryption, rendering the data unreadable without the decryption key.

The “ransom” part of the equation comes from the hackers demanding payment in the form of untraceable cyber currency. Payments started at $300.00 in the case of the WannaCry virus. Law enforcement officials discourage paying the ransom, as it emboldens the hackers, and gives them a huge source of revenue to create new attacks.

It is estimated that ransomware attacks are now a $1 billion business.

The best way to recover your data is from a good backup.

A backup that uses its own encryption, provided necessary retention and is shielded from ransomware attacks are the top recommendation of business continuity experts. In addition, a good business continuity system for critical data, which goes beyond mere backup, would allow you to continue working during the event, save money, reduce risk and allow your business to recover its data in minutes or hours, not days.

Business Report: Protect Your Business From Data Breaches

August 10, 2017

Rob Shauger is director of sales and development at ConfiData.
Courtesy CondiData

By Rob Shauger

If your business handles personally identifiable information, it is important to keep the information secure in order to protect your clients.

This includes patient records, employment records, loan applications, tax forms, medical forms, credit card applications, and more. Security breaches are a real and large threat to businesses of all sizes and across all industries.

The average total cost for companies who suffered a data breach of more than 50,000 records cost an average of $10.3 million. Think your company is too small to have a data breach really effect you? Think again. According to an IBM study, data breaches involving small businesses can cost a staggering $4.5 million.

Data breaches small or large also tarnish your company’s hard-earned trustworthy reputation, making it harder to gain new clients even years down the road.

While many people associate data breaches to cyber terrorists and online hackers, the truth is often times data breaches occur from improper handling or disposing of personal documents. Thieves target paper documents and use the information to open fraudulent accounts.

Information can also be recovered from computer hard drives that have been improperly disposed of. Simply throwing away hard drives without proper destruction could leave your business (and clients) at considerable risk. If the thief has access and the knowledge, they can wreak havoc on a business.

Do you rip up credit card offers when they come in the mail? If your answer is no because you shred credit card offers, good for you. If you just toss them straight into the recycling, you might want to rethink your policy. Just like seemingly innocuous junk mail can be a threat to your personal identity, a lot of papers floating around your office might be a threat to your client or patient confidentiality.

People Hoping To Start A Business Should Create Solid, Well-Thought-Out Strategies

August 10, 2017

Leslie Kendall calls the employment environment a ‘candidate’s market.’

By Maureen Werther

Many businesses are continuing to cope with on-the-job issues such as stagnant wages, lack of advancement opportunities, or general dissatisfaction with the direction of their career.

Recent online articles in Small Business Trends and Forbes cited statistics about new and existing small businesses. According to those websites, 51 percent of existing small businesses are owned by baby boomers. Millennials are starting new businesses at a much younger age than their older entrepreneurial counterparts.

While other generations typically went into business on their own around the age of 35, millennials are starting at around age 27.

However, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, over 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first four years. The leading reasons for those failures are incompetence, lack of managerial experience and an inadequate understanding of the business venture and its value in the marketplace.

Leslie Kendall, MA, MS and owner of Kendall & Associates Organizational Development in Queensbury, calls the current employment environment a “candidate’s market.”

Kendall works with organizations to maximize their performance to achieve mission success, and she provides organizational development consulting and training for businesses, nonprofit groups, schools and government agencies.

HR Professionals Say Strengthening ‘Teams’ Of Employees Helps Businesses Run Better

August 10, 2017

By MAureen Werther

Human resource professionals say finding and retaining good employees has been a challenge as the unemployment rate drops and the demand for qualified workers continues to grow.

Michael Cruz, owner and principal of Lighthouse Advisors LLC in Queensbury, works with CEOs to help build their teams and figure out if they’ve got the right people. He helps clients identify issues and examine the root causes of problems in the workplace.

A key role of Lighthouse Advisors, he said, is to help CEOs “build a framework” for evaluating the people on a client’s team and the roles for which they will be best suited to achieve the company’s mission and objectives.

It’s not just upper management that is Cruz’s focus. He noted an example of a company that was experiencing ongoing problems in its shipping department. The wrong items were being sent to customers and cross-shipping was occurring. The answer was not that the company had the wrong people in the shipping department, he said. They had the wrong process. The people in the shipping department were crucial in both identifying where the process was going wrong and helping find a solution.

“When you have the right people working for you, they will help you solve the problem,” said Cruz. “I encourage my clients to really think through what they are looking for in a new hire. Do they need a critical thinker? Or someone with great technical skills?” he said.

Regarding the issue of hiring across generations, Cruz said he encourages clients to focus on the right skill sets and not on the age of a candidate.

He also said many companies may have people already in their organizations who they simply haven’t developed. Perhaps rather than looking externally, it might be better to mentor and move existing employees along. Cruz noted that companies are often looking for a “fast fix” and the latter option is a “longer term fix.”

He cautioned that when companies are too hasty in their hiring, they often end up bringing on the wrong person.

Magazine Names Apex Solar Power One Of The Top Solar Installing Companies In The U.S.

August 10, 2017

This is one of the solar roof installations done by Apex Solar Power. The company employs 100 workers and says it installed 7,879,000 watts of solar power in 2016.
Courtesy Apex Solar Power

Local solar installer Apex Solar Power was named one of the top solar contractors in the U.S. by Solar Power World magazine.

Apex was 136 out of 500 solar companies ranked by the magazine.

The Top Solar Contractors list is developed by Solar Power World to recognize the work completed by solar contractors across the country. Produced annually, the list celebrates the achievements of U.S. solar developers, subcontractors and installers within the utility, commercial and residential markets.

The list was released on July 25.

“The 2017 Top Solar Contractors list features 500 of the best solar contractors in the United States,” said Kelly Pickerel, managing editor of Solar Power World. “From solar hotbeds on the coasts to the up-and-coming Midwest solar market, every installer adding even the smallest solar array to the grid is making a positive impact on our communities. We’re proud to recognize these companies and their efforts to bring solar power to U.S. homes and businesses.”

The U.S. solar market installed more than 14,700 MW of solar in 2016, nearly doubling the capacity installed in 2015, according to the magazine. For the first time ever, solar was ranked as the No. 1 source of new electric generating capacity additions brought online throughout the year.