Category Archives: Business News

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce announced that the 33rd Annual J. Walter Juckett Community Service Award will be presented to Carl T. Baker, Esq., founding shareholder of FitzGerald Morris Baker Firth PC. 

Baker will be presented with the award at the ARCC annual dinner on April 1 at The Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing.

“Carl exemplifies all that defines the J. Walter Juckett Community Service Award. He has given much of himself to our region as a volunteer in so many ways. Carl has done so much for others, yet he is so humble never expecting anything in return except the satisfaction of helping those around him. Congratulations Carl on a well-deserved award given to you by your peers in the business community,” said ARCC President and CEO Michael Bittel. 

Baker’s contributions to our community include service on multiple boards, councils, and committees including: Kiwanis Club of Glens Falls; Glens Falls Kiwanis Foundation; board of governors of Glens Falls Hospital; Planned Giving Council of Glens Falls Hospital; Glens Falls Hospital Foundation; Widowed Persons Service of Greater Glens Falls Area; Compre-Care Inc; Glens Falls YMCA Legacy Club Committee; WAMC Gift Planning Advisory Committee.

Born in Gloversville, Baker went on to pursue a career practicing law, achieving a B.A. from Cornell University in 1973, then his J.D. from Albany Law School in 1978. He was admitted to the bar in 1979. Baker is married to Sandra Stoffolano and has two children, Christopher and Jessica. He is a founding shareholder of FitzGerald Morris Baker Firth PC, and former managing partner and current head of the firm’s Trusts and Estates practice group.

By Christine Graf

Northern Living and Lake George Design have relocated offices to 1849 Route 9 in Lake George. The vacation rental, property management and interior design businesses are owned by Katelyn Moskos and her husband, John.

In 2016, the couple depleted their savings in order to purchase and renovate their first short-term rental property on Lake George. At the time, Moskos was working in hospitality management, and her husband was a medical sales rep.

“Because I had been working in hospitality management for quite some time, I saw the potential and demand for vacation rentals,” said CEO Moskos. “It was risky. Very risky. This was before Airbnb’s and VRBO’s became what they are today. I jumped in head first and it was sink or swim. I had no choice but to swim.”

Today, they own seven lakefront rental properties and manages 36 additional properties.  Northern Living offers high-end rentals and markets its property management services to people who own second homes in the Lake George region.

Moskos started out with one employee and worked out of her Queensbury home. Today, she has a staff of more than 25 year-round employees. That number exceeds 50 during the busy summer months. Her husband joined the company full time in 2018 and serves as head of maintenance. 

In addition to Northern Living, the rental and property management arm of the business, Moskos also owns Lake George Design, an interior design company. She works with customers who want to purchase second homes in the area to use as short-term rental properties. 

After canceling last year’s event due to the ongoing pandemic, the Glens Falls Collaborative returns to hosting its annual Wing Fest in downtown Glens Fallls on April 30.

Courtesy Glens Falls CollaborativeThe event is a competition between restaurants for the best wings. There will be an awards ceremony at the bandstand in City Park at 3:30 p.m. to close out the event, with multiple categories of winners. 

There will also be live music in Downtown Glens Falls.

This year’s event is dedicated to Michael DuBray, also known as DeeJay DuBray, who helped found the event and served as its chair and champion for many years. He passed away in January  and will be honored during Wing Fest.

Restaurants are invited to participate by applying online at www.glensfallscollaborative.com.

Tasting tickets are $1 each, and the number of tickets to taste varies by restaurant.

Participating Downtown restaurants will serve from their storefronts, and restaurants from outside the city will serve from locations along Glen, Ridge, Bay and Maple Streets and in City Park. 

Voting will take place online at www.glensfallscollaborative.com. QR codes for voting will be displayed around town and votes must be cast by 3 p.m.

Hudson Headwaters Mobile Health is now delivering primary care services at SUNY Adirondack. The mobile health center will be on campus twice a month to serve students, faculty and staff.

This is the first time medical services will be offered on the SUNY Adirondack campus, which does not have a student health center. Access to health care became a priority when the campus added a residence hall in 2013.

The mobile center is staffed by a family nurse practitioner, Christine Calistri, a registered nurse and a medical assistant. Hudson Headwaters Mobile Health Program Lead Kristin Waller, who also serves as the onsite medical assistant, recently attended SUNY Adirondack’s winter student orientation day.

“We brought the unit onsite so students and other campus community members could tour through and get to know us,” said Waller. “The mobile team is thrilled to offer services to SUNY Adirondack and hope our flexible options, such as online appointment scheduling and same-day sick appointments, appeal to busy students and campus staff.”

“SUNY Adirondack is excited by the opportunity to advance our relationship with Hudson Headwaters Health Network and bring affordable, top-notch health care to campus for our students and their dependents,” said Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D., president of SUNY Adirondack. “Hudson Headwaters’ Mobile Health Center offers SUNY Adirondack students convenient, safe care to help our students make their health a priority.”    

SUNY Adirondack is the fourth site served by the mobile health center. Other locations include Salem, Lake Luzerne and Whitehall.

The life and works of influential Black artist and master printer Robert Blackburn (1920-2003), whose innovation and expertise with the medium helped define the overall aesthetic of the American graphics “boom,” is highlighted in the new Smithsonian exhibition at The Hyde Collection.  

The exhibit runs through April 24.

“Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking,” is curated by Deborah Cullen and organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in cooperation with the Trust for Robert Blackburn and The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts’ Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program. 

Blackburn was a key artist in developing printmaking in the United States. He became known as an influential teacher and master printer, engaging with avant-garde artistic ideas while promoting a new collaborative approach to a traditional medium. The exhibition traces Blackburn’s artistic evolution alongside the original prints of other iconic 20th-century American artists with whom he collaborated.  

“For more than five decades, Robert Blackburn ran a workshop open to everyone. His printmaking knowledge and skill were legendary, and his generosity opened printmaking to generations of artists from around the world,” said Jonathan Canning, The Hyde’s director of curatorial affairs and programming. “At the same time, he was deeply connected to Black artistic circles including the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.”

Blackburn was born to Jamaican immigrants on December 10, 1920, and raised in Harlem, New York, during the Harlem Renaissance, an unparalleled flourishing of the arts, centered in New York City’s creative black community. The arts were considered crucial to society’s well-being and a fertile medium for activism, and these values resonated with Blackburn throughout his life and work. 

West Mountain kicked off its 2021-22 season, opening Christmas weekend for skiing, riding and tubing.

 “The progress continues at West Mountain,” said Sara Montgomery, general manager of West Mountain. “Our snow sports school continues to grow, and this year we have expanded our learning center to accommodate more skiers and riders. We are excited to welcome newcomers who will be making their first winter sports memories at West. It’s going to be a fun-filled season.”

West Mountain offers beginner through advanced terrain and will be open for day and nighttime skiing, riding, and tubing. There are some additions to the mountain, as well as a continuation of West Mountain’s  lesson programs.

That includes a newly expanded learning terrain/bunny hill and more snow tubing lanes added to the Tubing Park. Being continued are the individual and after school program, the Academy and Club Race Team membership offerings for athletes ages 6-19, and continuation of events like Fire on the Mountain, Slush Cup and more. 

Officials said during non-holiday periods, West Mountain will offer ticket promotions such as Monday and Tuesday $35 for a four-hour ticket specials and breakfast or lunch plus lift ticket specials. 

West Mountain’s Bar and Eatery will be open at full capacity with daily specials such as Burgers, Beers and Bands Wednesdays, Fiddlehead and Fettuccine Fridays and Bloody Mary Sundays.

After nine years of a complete ski area infrastructure rebuild, West Mountain officials aid they have completed its Stage 1: Ski Area Infrastructure. West will now embark on Stage 2: A Luxury Ski/Stay Resort Development at the north side of the mountain.

The completed Stage 1 includes new chairlifts, 40,000 feet of new snowmaking pipeline, a new snowmaking pump house, a new cafeteria, a new rental ski and snowboard fleet, new LED trail lighting, 100 percent snowmaking and night skiing, a new tubing conveyor lift, an expanded Bunny Hill and a remodeled Northwest Lodge.

While Fort William Henry Hotel’s charms have been cultivated over more than 166 years of history, it never ceases to evolve and remain relevant to today’s guests. 

The next iteration of Fort William Henry’s continued evolution began in December with the unveiling of a new brand and the start of the first phase of a complete renovation. Phase one includes 36 annex guest rooms, a new kitchen, and the creation of an expanded outdoor three-season porch overlooking the magnificent view at the southernmost point of Lake George.

Officials said much of the first phase of the project will be completed over the winter months and first half of 2022. 

A three-year plan includes renovations of the conference center, the standard 64 units, and the Grand Hotel. The guest rooms renovations will be finished in three stages to ensure only a limited impact on the guest’s stay. 

The hotel’s lobby and room corridors now have a warm and luxurious atmosphere. A timeless palette of soft creams and pewters offers a seamless transition in mood from day to night, welcoming guests into a social space that is a destination in and of itself within the hotel. All of it has a nod to Fort William Henry’s historic past and deep connection with the outdoors. 

“For over a century, The Fort William Henry has stood as a storied landmark in our area,” says Sam Luciano, president of Fort William Henry. “We will draw inspiration from its origins to incorporate into the design of the interior spaces of this grand hotel, while linking it to the draw of the beautiful Adirondack Mountains and crystal-clear waters of Lake George. It is important to us that The Fort William Henry Hotel serve the needs of today’s guest, but also that its original charm is felt at every turn.”

The improvements will continue outside as well, none more evident than the three-season wrap-around porch, officials said. For decades, Fort William Henry’s guests have retreated to the sweeping views circling the hotel property, soaking in the sights and sounds and the pine-scented air that make the Adirondacks of New York so unique. Steps off the veranda and adjacent to the hotel is the village of Lake George and  Lake George itself. 

By Paul Post

The Adirondack Thunder, the ECHL’s smallest-market hockey team, is outperforming many of its biggest rivals both on and off the ice this year.

The Thunder, bolstered by a solid New Year’s Eve crowd (4,111), averaged 3,448 fans through their first 11 home dates, ranked 11th in the 27-team league. And by winning seven of 10 games (7-2-1) through Jan. 2, the team had moved to within six points of first-place Newfoundland in the tightly-packed North Division standings.

“It’s been a very strong start,” team president Jeff Mead said. “Season tickets, group numbers and walk-up sales are all up and corporate support is in the league’s top 10. Obviously we had a year off last year because of COVID, so there’s a lot of pent up demand. But the community is really embracing the Thunder and quality of play.”

It’s hoped that two major upgrades currently under way at Cool Insuring Arena will be completed before the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs begin in April, perhaps even in time for the state high school boys basketball tournament in March.

Rozell Industries is hard at work constructing five new luxury suites, extending out from the press box, on the north side of the building.

“Just like the rest of the world, they’ve been dealing with supply chain issues,” Mead said. “We can’t wait to see it finished. All arenas have private seating areas now. It’s a big investment, but we think the return will be great for us long term.”

The suites are expected to generate considerable extra revenue, the same as other recent improvements such as the large video scoreboard that has created new advertising potential. The suites project is being funded by the Adirondack Coalition, which is in the second year of a five-year lease to operate the building with its owner, the City of Glens Falls. Mead, who is also the arena’s general manager, declined to cite the job’s price tag.