Category Archives: Business News

By Maureen Werther

Samantha’s Café and catering company is about to welcome Elizabeth “Bea” Morin as its new owner. 

Samantha’s is one of the area’s longest-running catering companies and prides itself on offering “innovative foods made from scratch.” 

Morin is taking over the reins from Samantha’s previous owners, Jennifer Kraft and Elizabeth Wilcox, who have worked for the last seven years to expand the business. 

 “They decided they wanted to sell. They have other endeavors in mind and were ready to pass along the torch,” said Morin. “After working with me for the last few years, they decided I was definitely the one.” 

The Outlets at Lake George, the 102,000-square-foot outlet shopping center serving the region, announced the arrival of two new businesses.

Vera Bradley Outlet opened March 30.

The store will offer a wide array of fabrications, including classic quilted cotton, luxurious full-grain leather and water-repellent poly twill.  

The 3,024-square-foot space is located next to Levi’s Outlet Store.

The Outlets at Lake George also said Michael Kors, a luxury and ready-to-wear designer brand, opened in a 4,300-square foot-store located in the center’s east side, will open in time for the summer season.

It features an array of women’s ready-to-wear fashions, footwear and accessories along with watches, eyewear and fragrances for both men and women.

The Landmark Motor Inn, 1418 Saratoga Road in South Glens Falls, has sold for $3.67 million, according to the Muroff Daigle Hospitality Group, which brokered the transaction with Vanguard-Fine.

The seller was John Naja of Landmark Motor Lodge Corp. and the buyer was Nadeem Lodging Corp., which previously owned the Red Roof Inn in Albany.

A new fan experience area will debut in July at Saratoga Race Course.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) said its improvement project in the grandstand is “designed to create an enhanced hospitality area for racing fans and revitalize the section of the grandstand near the Top of the Stretch.”

The new area is called The Stretch and marks the first significant enhancement to the structure since the mid-1960s.

The Glens Falls Collaborative will hold the fourth annual Wing Fest on Saturday, April 28, from noon to 3 p.m. in downtown Glens Falls. The event is a competition among restaurants to decide who has the best wings.

An awards ceremony at the bandstand in City Park at 3:30 p.m. will close out the event.

Restaurants are invited to participate by applying online at www.glensfallscollaborative.com. The fee is $75 for those who are not yet members of the Glens Falls Collaborative, and free for 2018 Collaborative members in good standing.

Membership costs $240 annually, and members enjoy free participation in all Collaborative events.

By Maureen Werther

Kate Baker has been at her new job for two months. As director of SUNY Adirondack’s new Business Central—a program devoted to fostering entrepreneurship and developing relationships between students, community members and regional businesses in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties—her job is to facilitate the growth of the region through entrepreneurship, collaboration and innovation.

Baker is no stranger to entrepreneurial endeavors and helping people start new businesses. She came to SUNY Adirondack with 11 years of experience under her belt from her tenure with the SUNY Albany’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), where she helped more than 1100 new businesses in the Capital Region.

Business Central officially opened its doors on Jan. 8 in the newly built Adirondack Hall’s North wing. Baker described it as a “one-stop shop,” open to both students and members of the surrounding region to receive support and assistance as they contemplate starting up a new business or are looking to expand an existing business. It is also a place for students to come who are looking for internships or full-time employment opportunities.

Business Central is part of the 13,250-square-foot building addition and it offers a 4,100-square-foot conference space – the Northwest Bay Conference Center. Baker said it can accommodate up to 300 people.

By Jill Nagy

The Fran Cove Motel on Route 9 in Lake George, a recently modernized facility about half a mile from the lake, was recently purchased by Mudassar (Manny) and Ahmad Ghuman, for $1.1 million.

The acquisition is the ninth motel in the area owned by members of their family, but the first venture for the Ghuman brothers.

It is the second recent motel sale on the lake. Mitchell B. Muroff, Esq., principal with MD/Muroff Daigle Hospitality Group said the EconoLodge-Lake George sold in February to Amber Hospitality Group.

Regarding the Fran Cove Motel, the Ghumans said they plan no major changes to the facility and expect to reopen it on Memorial Day weekend. One of the new owners, Manny Ghuman, seemed unfazed by the fact that this will be a new venture for him and his brother.

“The family will help,” he said.

They can also expect advice from the sellers, Linda and Tim Kissane, said Gloria Caldaroni Ford, the real estate agent who brokered the deal. She is also a cousin of the previous owners,.

The board of trustees of the Queensbury Senior Center (QSC) has hired former Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Peter Aust as its interim executive director.

“With recent changes at QSC and our board’s commitment to ensuring the growing organization continues to move positively forward meeting the needs of our membership, we were fortunate to have Peter agree to join us on an interim basis. We’re confident that his knowledge and expertise in leading organizations to new heights will serve our QSC well over the next few months,” said Rev. Monty Robinson, president of the board of trustees.

Aust has extensive experience and certifications in nonprofit leadership. He was ARCC president and CEO for over 16 years. He has also served on numerous local, state and national volunteer boards, including most recently the Tri-County United Way, the Warren/Washington/Saratoga Workforce Investment Board and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Board of Regents.

After more than four years as chief executive officer of GlobalFoundries, Sanjay Jha will hand over the company’s top position to Dr. Thomas Caulfield, who has been the senior vice president and general manager of the Malta Fab 8 plant since 2014.

Caulfield, who lives in Saratoga Springs, joined the company in 2014 following a career spanning engineering, management, operational leadership and global executive experience with leading technology companies including 17 years at IBM in a variety of senior leadership roles.

Ron Sampson will take over as senior vice president and general manager of Fab 8. Sampson leads the operations and technology development at the Malta factory.

During his tenure at GlobalFoundries, Caufield successfully built and ramped the company’s 14nm production facility in Malta,

According to the company, the Malta plant is the most advanced foundry facility and one of the largest public-private partnerships in the United States.

AJA Architecture in Glens Falls has moved a few doors down from their previous location. The architecture firm, headed by Andrew Allison, is now located at 9 Broad St.

Allison said the original location was a startup building. In the past three years, the firm has grown to a staff of seven people.

The new location has 1,400 square feet of space which will meet staff needs. The warehouse-type building offers plenty of natural light.

“The thing about Glens Falls is there are so many great places where businesses like ours can grow,” he said.

Allison  graduated from Pennsylvania State University with dual degrees in architecture and structural engineering. Allison worked for architectural firms both local and throughout the United States for over 13 years before starting AJA Architecture.