Category Archives: Business News

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s fiscal year 2019 budget includes a proposal to create a license for farm meaderies, a new license similar to those already available to farm wineries, breweries, distilleries and cideries.

Mead, commonly referred to as “honey wine” is an alcoholic beverage that is created by fermenting honey with water, which can be infused with fruits, spices, herbs and flowers.

“New York is the number one producer of honey in the Northeast, and by increasing opportunities for farms to produce mead, our thriving craft beverage manufacturing sector will continue to grow,” Cuomo said. “The creation of the farm meadery license will help strengthen these two great New York industries, and further add to our tourism economy, fueling growth in every corner of this great state.”

The farm meadery license will authorize the establishment and licensure of farm meaderies for the manufacture and sale of mead made from New York state produced honey. The provision also allows farm meaderies to produce “braggot,” a malt beverage made from honey, in addition to malt, hops, fruits, spices, herbs and other agricultural products.

In order to obtain a farm meadery license, the mead or braggot must be made exclusively from honey produced in New York state and no more than 250,000 gallons may be produced annually. Farm meaderies will be allowed to sell by the glass, offer tastings of, and sell to go not only mead and braggot, but also any state farm-produced beer, wine, cider and spirits.

Freedom Boat Club has signed an alliance agreement with  Jeanneau, a French boatmaking group,  to cooperatively develop Freedom Boat Club franchises among its European  dealer network.

According to Freedom Boat Club President and CEO John Giglio, the FBC franchise model is now being offered to Jeanneau retailers in Europe who have the opportunity to develop FBC locations in their local market using Jeanneau outboard-powered boats.

Local Freedom Boat Club Lake George members will now have the opportunity to enjoy  boating on multiple continents, something club owners Matt and Rebecca O’Hara are excited to offer area residents.

The Adirondack Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, announced the full season ticket plan and new jerseys for the 2018-19 season.

Officials said all seats at Cool Insuring Arena will continue to be priced the same, at $13 per game for season ticket holders. Season tickets in all sections will cost $540 per seat ($468, plus sales tax and a Cool Insuring Arena facility fee).

Twelve-month payment plans are now available, costing less than $50 per seat, per month if signed up by March 31, the team said. Youth season tickets will also remain untouched at $385 for the season package.

All 2017-18 full- and partial-season ticket holders can renew their seats by calling 518-480-3355, ext. 1, or by visiting the Thunder offices during regular business hours.

Fans can also renew their seats at any remaining Thunder home game by visiting the season ticket table in the main lobby. Any prospective new season ticket holders can also sign up for next season with seating locations available on a first-come/first-served basis.

New York state has launched RetrofitNY, a program intended to create standardized, scalable energy-efficient retrofit solutions that can be replicated throughout the entire housing industry.

State officials said it is  a first-of-its-kind program in the U.S.

The program will further the state’s greenhouse gas emission reductions and climate goals by renovating multifamily affordable housing properties to dramatically improve their energy performance, officials said.

RetrofitNY will help support Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has issued a Request for Proposals seeking experienced design/construction teams to develop high-performance retrofit solutions for up to six multifamily affordable housing buildings across the state. Design solutions will be required to exclude the use of fossil fuels onsite, demonstrate they are cost-effective, be standardized, scalable and aesthetically pleasing.

Sen. Betty Little of Queensbury, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, ssaid energy costs “are a significant share of a family’s household budget and have a direct impact on housing affordability. RetrofitNY will make multi-family rental housing more efficient, which will in turn reduce that cost burden, particularly for low-income households. This program advances our state’s clean energy goals, but equally as important ensures greater housing affordability.”

Some $7.9 million in economic and community development funding was awarded to projects in Warren and Washington counties through Round VII of the New York state’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative.

The funds include money going to the village of Lake George and Warren County for projects that will ultimately help protect the lake’s water quality.

The village gets $2.5 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant to better treat its effluent. The project will improve the quality of the discharged effluent, preventing the release of nutrients and bacteria into the lake. Another $200,000 will help initiate a regional winter de-icing program among several municipalities using road brine as an alternative to traditional rock salt. This project will lessen the stress on the local environment including wetlands, local streams and Lake George.

Warren County will get $600,000 to advance efforts to eradicate aquatic invasive species in the Lake George basin. The project will implement a three-year strategy to assess and remove all dense beds of Eurasian watermilfoil from Lake George utilizing benthic matting, hand harvesting, or other accepted method of removal. In addition, the project will support the staffing of five boat inspection/decontamination stations to ensure that vessels entering Lake George do not contain aquatic invasive species.

Other funded projects include $400,000 to West Mountain Ski Area to invest in infrastructure improvements, new snowmaking equipment and facility enhancements to expand winter sports, year-round activities and amenities.

By Jennifer Farnsworth

ABC Equipment and Restaurant Supplies has moved to South Glens Falls. Owner Fred Alexy said while they loved their time in downtown Glens Falls, on Elm Street, the growth of the business warranted the relocation.

The business supplies kitchens with specialized items such as commercial ovens and coolers and deep fryers. Over the past several years the wholesale side of the business experienced growth. While they still have a retail side, Alexy said it came to a point where they were running out of space to accommodate  inventory. The new location in Midtown Plaza spot gives the business two additional loading docks, and other additional space.

The address is 25 Fairview St., South Glens Falls.

“We were basically outgrowing the space, with the business 90 percent wholesale and 10 percent retail. With the efficiencies in the new building, we decided to make the move. It is at least three times more energy efficient. I hated to leave downtown Glens Falls, but we had to make the move,” said Alexy.