LaBella Associates of Rochester has purchased The Chazen Companies, a multidisciplinary consulting firm that has an office in Glens Falls.
Its headquarters is in Poughkeepsie. The acquisition takes effect Jan. 1, according to LaBella Associates.
The deal furthers LaBella’s growing presence in the Capital Region and extends its reach north to Glens Falls and the Adirondack region, and south to the Hudson Valley and New York City metro regions. Additionally, Chazen’s established offices in Nashville and Chattanooga, Tenn., will complement LaBella’s teams in the Southeast, officials said.
Officials said existing clientele of both Chazen and LaBella will benefit from enhanced serviceability and an expanded depth of resources. All of Chazen’s current employees—across offices in Poughkeepsie, Glens Falls, Troy, White Plains, Nashville, Chattanooga and Portland—are expected to remain with the company, which will operate as Chazen, a LaBella company, through 2021.
A Portland, Ore., office will mark LaBella’s first West Coast presence.
Grants, Donations Help Fund $1.8 Million Transformation Of Park In Hudson Falls
Courtesy Courtesy Chazen Companies
The old basketball nets have come down at Derby Park — the first sign of the once immensely-popular park’s $1.8 million transformation into a newly revitalized community athletic complex and festival space.
When the next ball swishes through the net, it will be part of the grand opening ceremony for the new Moran Derby Park, renamed in recognition of the $500,000 donation from longtime local businessmen and philanthropists, brothers Brien and Mike Moran, which kicked off project fundraising in June 2019.
All that’s needed now is to raise the final $400,000 — a task the Derby Park Revitalization Committee is tackling in earnest this holiday season with a goal of opening the new facility in the fall of 2021.
“This park will belong to the families of our community,” said Mike Moran, “and Brien and I are sure we’re going to see a lot of old friends step up to help — people with lifelong ties to Derby, as well as many of our customers from over the years. We are looking forward to seeing their names join ours in being a part of this project.”
Rosetti Properties To Build Mixed-Use Project With 142 Apartments Near SUNY Adirondack
Courtesy BBL Construction
By R.J. DeLuke
Rosetti Properties, an Albany-based residential and commercial property company, is planning to build a mixed-use project at Bay and Blind Rock Road in Queensbury.
It will consist of mostly apartments in a series of buildings, the largest of which will also have a pair of commercial spaces. It is across the road from the SUNY Adirondack campus.
Through a real estate holding company Bay Road Development LLC, Rosetti paid $2.15 million to purchase property.
Jacqueline Rosetti-Falvey, Rosetti Properties president, said the company is developing 142 apartments. The project will be called Fowler Square.
COVID-19 Causes Adirondack Thunder Team To Opt Out Of The ECHL Season
The Adirondack Thunder hockey team, the ECHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils that plays its games at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, is opting out of the 2020-21 season.
The Thunder joined the rest of the North Division in the decision to not play.
The Adirondack Hockey Coalition LLC and Adirondack Civic Center Coalition said in a statement that the Adirondack Thunder will not be able to participate in the 2020-21 ECHL season “due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s guidelines on permitting no fans inside the arena.
“We were hopeful that government restrictions would ease up as we approached the time we needed to declare our formal intentions for the season. Unfortunately, we are unable to have any fans in attendance for the foreseeable future and cannot sustain a season without fans,” officials said.
The North Division of the ECHL is comprised of six teams including Adirondack, Worcester, Maine, Reading, Brampton, and Newfoundland.
“We knew this season would be a challenge regardless of any state restrictions on fans in the arena,” officials said. “We had worked on numerous contingency plans to socially distance fans and to ensure a clean, safe environment, and to fully abide by all state-imposed guidelines. We were ready to play at a 50 percent capacity, knowing it would be difficult to operate at that capacity.
As COVID And Online Shopping Hurt Stores, Malls Shift Strategies To Attract Business
By Christine Graf
As more retail stores are forced to close due to the rise of online shopping, malls are being forced to reinvent themselves in order to survive. They are adding attractions and businesses that traditionally wouldn’t be located in malls.
Pyramid Management Group’s Aviation Mall in Queensbury is evolving to meet the changing landscape of the retail marketplace. In June, they were granted a zoning change that allows the company to build an apartment complex connected to the mall by two short paths. The project has been temporarily halted due to COVID-19.
Aviation Mall general manager James Griffith said COVID-19 has also impacted other negotiations that were in the works. Retailers are hesitant to make any decisions until the pandemic has ended.
“We were working on quite a few things, then COVID happened. COVID definitely slowed down some of the momentum we had with some of these national tenants. We’re in a holding pattern,” said Griffith.
He noted the mall isn’t just going after retail tenants anymore. The mall is open to uses that typically wouldn’t be in a traditional shopping center.
“One use that has been great this year that is an entertainment use is Adirondack Zombie Hunters,” he said. They were in downtown Lake George and came here about a year ago. They are just knocking it out of the park.”
Adirondack Zombie Hunters occupies a 3,000-square-foot space. In addition to selling survival and military surplus merchandise, the store features two laser-based shooting range simulators.
New Publication Assists People Looking To Open A Business In The Lake George Area
The Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce has produced a new publication, available in print and digital form, to assist people looking to move to or open a business in the region.
The 2020-21 Community and Business Directory, is available in print by request and digitally on lakegeorgechamber.com.
It includes information about key industries, business resources, county facts, towns and villages, the Adirondacks Welcome Center, education, services and utilities, hiking, biking, public parks and environmental organizations, agriculture. It also includes a Chamber membership directory.
This marks the first year the Chamber has produced this type of guide. It has been producing a Four-Seasons Travel Guide aimed at tourists for decades. That guide is printed annually in January and has a 70,000 print circulation plus thousands of digital views. It is distributed strategically at key points to help reach the traveling public throughout the Northeast.
Flight Market & Deli, Glens Falls, Is A New Spot For Sandwiches, Coffee, Meats, Cheeses
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Fresh ADK in Downtown Glens Falls has rebranded and reopened as two new ventures. Flight Market & Deli and Flight Wine Bar & Restaurant at 11 South St., Glens Falls.
Melissa Brennan co-owns both venues with business partner John Homkey. Homkey is a residential mortgage originator at Homestead Funding.
Flight Market & Deli held its grand opening and ribbon cutting on Dec. 4. Flight Wine Bar & Restaurant is expected to open in 2021.
Larissa Ovitt, Brennan’s daughter, is the marketing and brand curator for the company.
“My younger brother is an animation and motion graphics designer in Manhattan. He came home during all of this, so we have a really sweet logo designed. The three of us have joined forces and brought on a really great team,” said Ovitt.
Dagget Lake And Campgrounds Sells For $2.8 Million, New Owners To Keep Existing Use
Courtesy Dagget Lake Campsites
by Andrea Harwood Palmer
Dagget Lake Campsites and Cottages in the town of Thurman has been sold.
Mitch Muroff of Muroff Hospitality Group said owners Tom Near and Pamela Finnegan sold the property at 660 Glen Athol Road in Thurman for $2.8 million.
“They owned it for 25 years. Tom wanted to spend more time in Florida, and he ran the campsite day-to-day. It was time,” said Muroff.
Terry Crikelair of Adirondack Preserve LLC purchased the property. The sale closed on Nov. 18. Muroff represented the buyer and secured the seller.
Muroff said the owners wanted to sell the property to the Adirondack Preserve so it would continue as a campground. “There were other offers (from) people who wanted to close the campground and keep the property as a private residential estate or family compound,” he said.
“It’s a very safe, friendly, well-run property with very little turnover. Many of the people who stay there have been doing so for 20 or 25 years. It has that family environment feel to it. Tom was especially concerned with wanting that to continue. Those people were like family to him,” said Muroff.
The roughly 75 campsites will open in the spring when camping season begins.
New Book By Brian Rollo Aims To Help People Accept And Acclimate To Leadership Roles
Courtesy Brian Rollo
Andrea Harwood Palmer
Brian Rollo, a leadership coach and cultural business strategist, has published a new book, “The 10 Habits of Influential Leaders”.
“I wrote this as an actionable handbook for someone who is a people-manager struggling to get results,” said Rollo, who operates his consulting company out of Queensbury. “I highlight the top 10 things that help people-managers get better. Things people can do to get results from their team, and to make leading a team a little less miserable.”
“I tell the story of how I first became a manager, and really struggled in the beginning,” he said. “And I did a lot of research, reading over 50 white papers. I tried to be the channel to distill everything I learned throughout my career, and through extensive research.”
Rollo said the predominant struggle is that some people struggle to step into an authority role. “They may have the title, but they’re afraid to do anything because they don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,.”
Others grasp authority too hard. “They need everyone to know they’re the boss,” he said.
“Both approaches are a road to trouble,” said Rollo. “I address this in the book. It usually plays out in how people deal with conflict.”
“It’s easy to be the boss when everyone just says, ‘I agree, I’ll do whatever you say’. But most of the time it is not like that. In real life, there is frequently conflict. When you’re a team member, you can try to stay in your own world. When you’re a leader, you cannot just ignore it when your team is in conflict. You must be the one to step up and deal with it. If you’re uncomfortable with that, the conflict grows,” said Rollo.
With Business Growing At North Country Paws For Obedience, Owners Plan Expansion
Courtesy North Country Paws for Obedience
By Susan Elise Campbell
Lora Bacharach and Brianna Rabine started North Country Paws for Obedience only three years ago and are already expanding into a second location.
The partners purchased a 31.8-acre parcel on Route 4 in Hudson Falls. At the new site, they will be able to train more pets in a wider variety of skills while giving them better opportunities for socialization and healthy play, Bacharach said.
What started as a small obedience school moved seven months later across the street to a space four times larger at 1638 Route 9 in South Glens Falls.
Since then, “we were looking for a space to buy before the pandemic hit because we wanted to get farther away from the road,” Bacharach said. “The current location limits the size of our classes as well as the services we can offer, such as off-leash training. Our long-term goal is always to accommodate our clients and the needs of the dogs.”
Bacharach said puppy preschool and training will continue at the Route 9 location for the foreseeable future. But the new space will be a “K-9 enrichment center promoting healthy adventures and relationships” between people and their pets, she said.
There will be more room for boarding, training and rehabilitation. There is a pond nearby for introducing dogs to the water and plenty of space for agility training. There are also miles of hiking trails.