Category Archives: Business News

By Christine Graf

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2020 is on record as the worst year ever for global tourism. Worldwide travel revenues decreased by $1.3 trillion and are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023.

This applies to older people seeking getaways from work or retirees with time on their hands.

At Heber Travel in Queensbury, owner Stacie Baxter said bookings are strong. She has spent much of her time in recent months booking and rebooking trips that were canceled because of the pandemic. 

“My age group which is 65 and above is saying, ‘If we can go, let’s go. We’re not going to have another chance,’” she said. “If you’re 70 years old, you might not have another five years to travel. But the bothersome point is that other people are not respecting other people at airports.”

Baxter is referring to the uptick in aggressive behavior that is taking place at airports throughout the country, and she is especially concerned about how it could impact her older clients. The Federal Aviation Authority is investigating more than 2,500 cases of violence, the majority related to disputes over mask mandates.

“I’ve been in business for 47 years, and this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ed Plog, president of  Playbill Travel in Saratoga Springs. “I’ve been through airline defaults, fare wars, 9/11, and the Great Recession, and I’ve never experienced anything as bad as this for the industry.”

Plog said he is “ecstatic” that business is beginning to rebound and that his company’s specialty cruises are once again in high demand.

The Adirondack Thunder announced that all 2021-22 home games at Cool Insuring Arena will be played at full capacity with no restrictions.

The move followed the state’s lifting of COVID restrictions, as numbers of those with coronavirus steadily dropped.

“We are thrilled that we can welcome our great fans back into our building this season,” Adirondack Thunder President and Cool Insuring Arena General Manager Jeff Mead said. “This is a long time coming for not only our organization but for our fantastic community who came together to help everyone get through this devastating time. We look forward to seeing a sold-out Cool Insuring Arena on October 23.”

The Adirondack Thunder’s home opener on Saturday, Oct. 23, will mark 593 days since the last game (March 10, 2020, vs. Worcester). The Thunder host the Newfoundland Growlers at Cool Insuring Arena to kick off the 2021-22 season.

The organization also announced a multi-year partnership with SeatGeek, the ticketing platform, to become its primary ticketing partner.

“We are excited to work with SeatGeek to help revolutionize the way that our fans access and buy tickets,” Mead said. “SeatGeek’s technology is state-of-the-art and I think our fans will enjoy using it tremendously.”

Starting this fall, fans attending Thunder games or any other Cool Insuring Arena event will use SeatGeek’s  technology for a streamlined user experience to  buy, transfer and scan their tickets and use mobile tickets to stay contactless upon entering the building. Fans are also encouraged to download the SeatGeek app on their personal devices for an easier way to access, transfer and pay for tickets.

“As hockey and other events return to full capacity, we can’t wait to kick off a new season with the Thunder and Cool Insuring Arena as partners,” Jeff Ianello, executive vice president of Client Partnerships at SeatGeek. “We’re excited to work with the team and venue to give fans a best-in-class ticketing experience.”

Muroff Hospitality Group announced the sale of The Lake George Suites, 3678 Lake Shore Drive in  Lake George.

The owner of a Long Island air conditioner and pump manufacturing company has purchased the resorts, a six-bedroom home and 20 boat slips for $3.2 million.

R.E. Hansen Industries Inc. of St. James is the new owner.

Mitch Muroff of Muroff Hospitality Group represented the Seller and secured the buyer in a confidential listing presented only to qualified buyers.

The transaction closed on Tuesday, June 15, Muroff said.

The manager who previously oversaw the property will continue in the same position under the new ownership, he said.

Lake George Suites is located a quarter mile from the 2.8-acre Adirondack Diamond Point Lodge, which was acquired by Todd Drake of CornerStone Building Corp. in Watervliet for $900,000 on April 15.

By Christine Graf

The Glen at Hiland Meadow has received approval for a $11.9 million expansion of its Queensbury senior living facility.

The project also includes the construction of a 4,700 square-foot wellness center with a pool and a $8.8 million 30-unit memory care facility. It  is a joint venture between The Conkling Center and The Eddy.

There are approximately 110 residents living in The Glen, which has 74 independent living apartments and 18 independent living two-bedroom cottages. It is full-service retirement community with a dining room, grill room, lounge, library, and multi-purpose room. Transportation, maintenance, and housekeeping are provided to residents and an on-site social worker is available to connect them with outside services.

“We typically do have a waiting list to get in, and we’ve been planning this expansion for some time. This was part of the original plan of development to bring us to 120 apartments and cottages,” said Andrea Hebert, executive director at the Glen and vice president of Eddy Senior Living. “We will be adding 28 apartments on the north side of the building with a view of West Mountain. We are also adding 30 units of memory care which will be a separate building.”

Construction of the independent living apartments is expected to begin in the coming weeks. The building permit for the memory care facility will most likely be issued within the next several weeks. Sano-Rubin Construction Services of Albany is the developer for the project. Richard E. Jones Associates of Queensbury is the architect for the independent living and wellness center expansions, and Architecture+ of Troy is the architect for the new memory care building.

“I expect see construction equipment on site any time now,” said Hebert. “The independent living and wellness center have about a 12-month construction time. The memory care is about 14 months construction time. In and around next spring/summer we will start opening.”

West Mountain opened an array of outdoor activities on June 5, including the new Aerial Treetop Adventure Park.

Adventure Center highlights at the ski center include biking, hiking, aerial treetop tours, mountaintop picnics, scenic chairlift rides, and more.

West has more than 20 cross-country and downhill mountain biking and hiking trails, as well as multiple mountaintop locations to enjoy our popular picnic packages. The Aerial Treetop Adventure Park, located at the top of West, offers a high ropes adventure experience that includes a scenic chairlift ride.

“We are looking forward to welcoming guests back to West Mountain and celebrating the beginning of summer,” said Sara Montgomery, general manager of West Mountain. “After an incredible winter season, we look forward to keeping the momentum going with our outdoor Adventure Center activities, exercise, camps and family fun. West Mountain will continue to follow its ‘best clean environment’ practices this summer to ensure everyone stays healthy.”

Tickets are available to buy online at www.WestMountain.com. Certain activities such as Aerial Treetop Adventure and the Mountaintop Picnic Package require purchasing online up to 24 hours in advance of a visit.

West Mountain is located at 59 West Mountain Road, just three miles off Exit 18 of the Northway in Queensbury

For the summer season, West Mountain is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends in June and seven days a week beginning July 4 through Labor Day weekend through Oct. 17.

Arrow Financial Corp., parent company of Glens Falls National Bank and Saratoga National Bank, has plans for a major renovation of its longtime headquarters at 250 Glen St. in downtown Glens Falls.

The project will begin in stages in the coming months and involves exterior and interior improvements, replacement of aging building equipment with new, energy-efficient systems, creation of a new lobby for customer transactions and development of additional space for lending and corporate offices, company officials said.

“As we prepare for anticipated growth in customer transactions, the proposed renovations to our headquarters will provide more efficient and flexible working space that can be adapted to the needs of our Arrow team, our customers and our business and will help us streamline processes and consolidate technology,’’ said Thomas J. Murphy, president and CEO of Arrow Financial Corp.

The project is expected to be completed in early 2023.

MLB Construction Services of Malta is the general contractor for the project and the architect is JMZ Architects & Planners PC in Glens Falls.

“We also propose to update obsolete heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment with new energy-saving systems, while creating an attractive new lobby for the main branch of our subsidiary Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. that blends modern lighting and comfort with popular historic features.’’

The main campus of the Arrow Family of Companies occupies a prominent downtown corner in Glens Falls and includes the main office of Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. as well as back office and operational support for not only Glens Falls National, but also Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. and Upstate Agency LLC.

Glens Falls National Bank was founded in 1851 in Glens Falls. While it has had a few homes since then, its current location on the corner of Glen and South streets is a well-known community landmark. As Arrow’s banking and insurance subsidiaries have grown over the last 20 years, the company has built out its workforce using the main campus and additional offices elsewhere.

By Christine Graf

Hunt Real Estate, a company with more than 1,300 sales professionals and 40-plus offices throughout western and upstate New York, recently expanded its Glens Falls office by acquiring All American Properties.

Hunt Real Estate also has offices in Massachusetts and Arizona.

All American Properties was the largest locally-owned real estate company in Glens Falls. Owner Ted Wilson operated the company for 20 years. He and his 20 affiliated agents have transferred to the Hunt Real Estate office at 333 Glen St. Hunt will also take over All American’s Chestertown office and those agents will remain in the current location on Main Street.

The acquisition of All American Properties occurred just one year after Hunt’s acquisition of Century 21 Potvin Realty, a Glens Falls real estate company owned by Charlotte Potvin. In May, she and her 19 agents joined Hunt Real Estate in the Glens Falls office.

According to Dave Chambers, the branch director of Hunt Real Estate’s Glens Falls and Bolton Landing offices, “We’ve done two acquisitions in the past year, and we went from 22 agents to 70 agents. We brought them all into our Glens Falls office in the Travelers building. We’re now remodeling and expanding the office and taking over some more space.”

The larger office is needed as agents transition back to working in the office after being forced to work from home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some people are still working from home, but the traffic in the office has definitely picked up in the last month or so,” said Chambers. “We think it’s a huge positive to have a big, nice office for everyone to come into.”

Hunt Real Estate had more than $3 billion in sales in 2020, but Chambers said they are still relatively new to the area. In order to grow their local presence, the company is interested in making additional acquisitions in the region. They recently opened an office in Saratoga.

“We’ve tried to aggressively grow over the last year—or couple of years—and are still looking to do so. It’s about finding the right deal at the right time. Both Charlotte’s and Ted’s deals worked out to be that way, and it’s worked out well for everybody. They wanted to make sure their people were taken care of,” he said. “We’re definitely  looking for more deals—more acquisitions.

By Christine Graf

Capital Region plastic surgeon, Dr. Edwin Williams III, is the new owner of F.R. Smith and Sons Marina at 36 Sagamore Road in Bolton Landing.

He bought the marina from Robin Smith for $3.5 million on May 27. The Smith family had owned the marina since 1921.

Williams has been vacationing in Lake George since he was in high school. Five years ago, he and his wife purchased a second home—the former Smith family home–in Bolton Landing. It is located adjacent to the marina.

“We knew the marina, and it’s been for sale for about four or five years. I started talking to them about three years ago because I wanted to make sure the marina was preserved,” said Williams. “There’s a lot of development on the lake, and I hear rumors that people think I’m going to knock it down and put condos in. That’s not going to happen.”

After purchasing the marina, Williams met with its employees and assured them their jobs were safe. F.R. Smith employs approximately 20 workers during the summer, and there are a few staff members who are full time and work year round. Two of those employees certified Mercury master mechanics. Scott Olson, former manager at Dockside Landing Marina, will be taking over general manager responsibilities from Scott Anderson

“I couldn’t have done this transaction without his (Anderson’s) help. It was very complicated. I have a great relationship with him and tried to get him to stay, but he put 39 years into that marina,” said Williams. “So we brought on Scott Olson who did a spectacular job running Dockside Marina for 10 years. He’s a real people person and has a ton of experience.”

F.R. Smith is a full service marina and sells both new and used boats as well as Old Town canoes. They are an authorized dealer for popular brands including Avalon, Bryant, and Rinker. Last fall, the marina became an authorized Sea Ray dealer.

“That’s huge. Sea Ray is the number one searched boat on the internet. I think Scott Anderson was working on that for about five years before they finally landed it,” said Williams.

Upstate Agency, a subsidiary of Arrow Family of Companies, is celebrating 40 years of service to residents and businesses in Schroon Lake.

Upstate Agency specializes in personal, commercial and group health benefits insurance with offices in Warren, Washington, Clinton, Essex and Saratoga counties.

The Schroon Lake agency, established in 1981, originally in the Freidman Real Estate office, moved to its present location at 1072 Route 9 in 1983. Upstate staff recently celebrated with a Coffee Takeover at Stewart’s that included free coffee and giveaways. Another Coffee Takeover will be scheduled for the fall, compamy oficials said.

“Our commitment to Schroon Lake and the surrounding area is strong, and we look forward to many more years helping friends, neighbors and business owners with insurance products and services that help them protect what matters the most to them,” said Kevin O’Brien, senior vice president.

A large furniture donation to the Schroon Lake Community Church, which suffered a devastating fire in January 2019, is another way Upstate Agency supports the Schroon Lake community. A desk used by many company CEOs over the decades will serve as the church’s new altar and the conference table will be the center of the new meeting room, according to the company.