Category Archives: Business News

MLB Construction, established in 1947 in Albany, under the name McManus, Longe, Brockwehl Inc., is celebrating 75 years in business.

Operations  started  from  the  attic  of  the  Longe  household. Throughout  the  years the  company expanded, changing its name to MLB Industries in the mid-1970s, and later to MLB Construction Services LLC.

As it celebrates its landmark anniversary, James M. Dawsey, MLB president, said the company is “in the process of our next leadership/succession transition. This should take care of MLB Construction for the next 20-30 years. Based on what this next team has learned, it will make it easy for them to do their transition after this one.”

He said the company “will continue to do what we do well—higher education, K-12, medical, resorts and historic renovations. We are also licensed up and down the east coast and will continue to build in these markets.

“We also plan to push into the housing market, both affordable and market rate. We want to continue to grow our design-build side in all the above markets.”

By Jill Nagy

The new owner of Queensbury Wine and Spirits, Brian Miller, freshened up the premises and brought in new wines and spirits, including 15 or 20 wines he said no one else in the county offers. 

The shop now stocks more than 200 wines, 50 spirits, and a selection of canned cocktails, Miller said.

The store is located at 340 Aviation Road in Queensbury, a residential neighborhood with no other liquor stores nearby. 

“So, we have to carry a little of everything,” he said. “We are trying to pump some new life and some fresh energy” into the business.

Miller bought the wine and spirits outlet in early August. He did some remodeling and reopened the first week of September. 

During the holiday season the store will offer tastings on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. They will also make up gift baskets that can be picked up at the store or shipped.  

By Christine Graf

Premier Plus Travel and Premier Plus Travel and Tours are now operating out a new location at 154 Warren St. in Glens Falls. 

The property was purchased by Dawn Biddiscombe and her son, Matthew Colucci, for $375,000 in September of last year. Biddiscombe is the owner of Premier Plus Travel, and she and Colucci co-own Premier Plus Travel and Tours. 

A former paralegal, Biddiscombe opened her travel agency in 2014 while still working full-time in the legal profession. The following year, she and her son established Premier Plus Travel and Tours. 

The company provides airport and special event transportation. Their fleet of Mercedes Benz vehicles includes a limousine, executive coach, and shuttle. They also own the Hoppy Tour Brew Bus, a 14-passenger bus that offers tours of breweries, wineries, and distilleries in the North Country, Capital District, and Vermont.

 “You could consider us a mini Yankee Trails,” said Biddiscombe.

In 2016, Biddiscombe left the legal profession in order to dedicate herself full-time to both businesses. For the next three years, her companies operated out of a leased building in Glens Falls. As their fleet of vehicles continued to grow, they moved to a new location that had a parking lot large enough to accommodate their growing fleet of vehicles. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery is making its first major expansion since bringing bottles of its flagship vodka to market in 2015. 

According to co-owner Matt Colucci, moving all operations to a five-acre parcel on Route 149, adjacent to the current location at 133 Clements Road in Queensbury, will enable the business to increase production, visibility and space for tastings and events. 

David and Connie Bannon, two of Springbrook’s five co-owners, have owned and raised their family on the Clements Road property. The distillery began in their antique barn that once stabled horses.

When all the equipment is transported to the new location, “the Bannons will get their barn back,” Colucci said. 

The process of moving has been two years in the making, he said. When the acreage came up for sale, the partners did not hesitate to bid on it. 

By Jill Nagy

A 5,520-square-foot lumberyard, building supply, and design center has been added to Saratoga Quality Hardware at 110 Excelsior Ave. in Saratoga Springs.

The new addition was partially opened in July and now is fully expanded.

“We had some kinks we wanted to work out,” said Louise Eddy, who owns Saratoga Quality Hardware and its sister store in Hudson Falls, Burgoyne Quality Hardware.

“This lumberyard has been on the drawing board for a long time,” Eddy said. “We are excited to expand our selection for our Saratoga area customers and bring them the same premium lumber and high quality building materials we have been selling in our Hudson Falls lumberyard.”

The Hudson Falls store added a drive-through lumberyard—consisting of two flatbed trucks with forklifts—in 2002. The Saratoga yard is a conventional store, not a drive-through. In addition to lumber, it sells roofing materials, siding, and other building materials.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Adirondack Diamond Point Lodge in Lake George is expanding with the acquisition of Forest Hill Lodge & Cabins, two adjacent acres that will help meet the demand of vacationers who seek the rustic, off-lake experience the Lodge provides, according to owner Todd Drake.

The Drake family purchased the Lodge at 3629 Lake Shore Drive in April 2021 and added Cramer’s Point Motel at 3382 Lake Shore Drive  to their holdings in February, he said. 

The latest purchase adds “a mix of apartments and short-term rentals” to their offerings. The deal closed at $990,000.

“We overpaid for it, but didn’t want it sold to someone else,” said Drake. “Some people who had rented at Forest Hills already thought it was ours and showed up on our doorstep. It made sense to buy it.”

Drake’s construction company, CornerStone Building Corp. in Watervliet, has begun “interior upgrades and redecorations” and “the FF&E is up to speed” on the rustic Adirondack style décor and finishes. 

SUNY Adirondack now has unveiled its newly upgraded dining hall that includes traditional and bar-height seating, study pods and spaces for groups and individuals to work in privacy. 

“Working with a local vendor, we were able to provide a modern, welcoming environment,” said Tom Kent, executive director of SUNY Adirondack’s Faculty-Student Association. “We have already received many compliments from students and staff.” 

The project was spearheaded by interior designer Amanda Blaise of Girvin Office in Greenfield Center, whose designs were distributed by Charlie’s Office Furniture, a Queensbury-based company. 

Blaise’s designs coming to fruition is the culmination of a long process delayed by the pandemic. According to Kent, the college’s partnership with Chartwells was renewed in 2019. Part of that continued relationship included a renovation to the serving area. Then COVID-19 hit and delayed the rest of the plans, which included upgrades to Einstein’s Bagel Cafe in Scoville Hall, as well as the food court area. 

By R.J. DeLuke

Plans for the building at South and Elm streets in Glens Falls that will be home to the Farmers’ Market and other community events have changed over time.

So have the costs that started a few years ago at about $2.8 million and are now upward of $4 million.

But plans are moving forward toward a building that its designers say will be a unique, cherished downtown center. Devon Telberg of Envision Architects and Peter Loyola, principal of CLA Site Landscape Architecture, Engineering & Planning outlined the latest plan to the City Planning Board on Oct. 4.

“We tried to listen to all the stakeholders,” said Telberg. “We want this to be something unique an special for your community.”

The building is at the center of the downtown redevelopment plan that earned a $10 million state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant in 2016 for the land on South Street, west of the intersection with Elm Street where the former OTB building stood at 51-57 South St.