Category Archives: Business News

After a full year closed to the public, The Great Escape & Hurricane Harbor is set to reopen this spring for the 2021 season.

The Lake George theme park, which was not given government approval to open in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to return this year promising a safe environment, officials said.

The Great Escape will be open weekends and select dates starting May 1, with daily operation beginning June 24. In February, the state announced outdoor amusement parks can open—with a third of their normal capacity—by April 9.

Additionally, the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark will be back to full operation beginning March 26.

“We are ready to welcome our guests back to The Great Escape,” Six Flags Great Escape Resort park president Rebecca Wood said in a press release. “The health and safety of our guests, team members, and community remains our top priority and we are implementing extensive sanitization and safety measures to deliver a safe and entertaining experience for our guests.”

Opening weekend will mark the debut of a new  ride called Adirondack Outlaw, which was originally scheduled to open last year.

Once open, The Great Escape will be operating under state and local guidelines for crowd capacity limits.

The park has established attendance caps that will be well below the park’s theoretical capacity in order to allow for proper social distancing.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

Bennington Furniture & Mattress, which has a Queensbury location, has acquired Old Brick Furniture + Mattress Co., expanding its footprint in the Capital Region.

Michael Fiacco, owner and president of Bennington Furniture, purchased the property from former owner Henry Turk. Fiacco and Turk had known each other for many years, and had talked casually of a buyout when Turk was ready to retire, he said. Turk reached out to Fiacco in January of 2019.

“I’m from the Capital Region. My businesses are in Vermont, Western Mass and Queensbury. I always wanted to get down to the Capital Region as well,” sad Fiacco.

“We’re super excited for this opportunity,” said Fiacco. “Old Brick Furniture has a great name in the Capital Region. Bennington Furniture has a great name in Vermont. We are like-minded businesses. Bringing them together is exciting.”

Bennington Furniture was started by Fiacco’s mother. The flagship store is located in Bennington. The Old Brick Furniture Co. began in 1960s as a furniture wholesaler under the name C. and D. Distributors.

Bennington Furniture is transitioning its branding to Old Brick Furniture + Mattress Co., a process that is complete for all stores except  Manchester and Vermont. The branding transition for those stores will be complete by the end of March, Fiacco said.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) will open the 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course on July 15.

NYRA said the meet will feature 76 stakes races, worth $21.5 million in total purses. The summer meet will conclude on Monday, Sept. 6.

In February, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that live sports and entertainment venues with a minimum reserved seating capacity of 10,000 will be permitted to re-open to a limited number of spectators beginning on Feb. 23, with approval from the state Department of Health.

All attendees must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event and adhere to health and safety requirements, including mandatory facial coverings and social distancing.

NYRA will continue to closely monitor state-issued regulations to determine how they impact Saratoga Race Course, officials said. Additional details on fan attendance and tickets for the 2021 summer meet will be provided as it becomes available.

The 2021 summer meet, which will offer at least one stakes race every live racing day, will be highlighted by the 152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 28 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on Aug. 7, as the anchors of two of the most prestigious racing days in North America.

The Saratoga meet will also include the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl, both previously run during the fall meet at Belmont Park.

Paula and Michael Freed of Grand Rapids, Mich., have committed to donating major funds toward the creation of the Granville Community Foundation fund (GCF) at the Glens Falls Foundation.

The Freeds, both of whom are originally from Granville, made a $250,000 donation in December to create the foundation. They have announced a challenge for 2021, whereby they will match 50 percent of every donation made during the year, up to an additional $250,000.   

“We know it will be a stretch, but we hope to reach a goal of $1 million for the GCF by the end of 2021. While we’re making sure that anyone who wants to donate can make a donation, we’re particularly hopeful that the GCF will provide a vehicle for those of us who have a special connection to Granville, but no longer live there, to help in some way. We may not be able to donate our time or talent, but we can at least donate money,” said Michael Freed. 

The goal of the foundation is to evaluate local needs and opportunities and to fund projects that address broad areas of community development, education, art and culture, environment, health or social needs. 

The GCF, which will be a donor-advised sub fund of the Glens Falls Foundation, will have an advisory board of seven members, whose primary responsibilities will be to raise money  and to recommend grants to the Glens Falls for approval. 

Organizers of Americade say they are optimistic that the 38th annual motorcycle rally will be held in the Lake George area on Sept. 21-25.

Americade last year was schedule for June, then postponed until July because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ultimately, it was  canceled, compelling organizers to carefully consider all safety measures put in place by state and federal health agencies while still offering attendees a true Americade experience.

Those precautions are still at the forefront of planning for 2021, Dutcher said.

The annual rally will be held between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25 over concerns that an event of such magnitude would not be allowed to take place in June as the state’s vaccine rollout continues to progress slowly and limits on large gatherings remain in place.

“We want to make 100 percent sure that a 2021 Americade will happen, but we’re not confident an event of this size will be permissible in June,” Dutcher, said. “But, moving it to September gives us a very high likelihood of it happening.”

Americade typically attracts upward of 50,000 motorcyclists, packing local hotels and restaurants in the region.

By Susan Elise Campbell

When Neal Sandin conducts research, he says he is seeking to interpret “the voice of the consumer” who will inform the next steps of a client company’s marketing.

Sandin’s company, 643 Research, is a qualitative research firm he started in 2014 and moved to Malta in November 2019 when he and his wife relocated from New Jersey.

Sandin said he “fell into” focus group research when the moderator of the firm he worked for double booked and was unavailable for one of the clients, who at the time was en route from out of town to observe his company’s session.

“After about 30 minutes of training I jumped in, conducted the group and was good at it,” said Sandin. “The client continued to use me as a moderator.”

He launched his own firm seven years later.

His clients come from various industries and have a range of goals and challenges. Sandin  develops the techniques to reach conclusions and recommendations for advancing a client’s brand and improving customer loyalty. In his toolbox are such qualitative methodologies as ethnography, home visits and focus groups, among others.

By Jill NAgy

A new Glens Falls branch of Adirondack Trust Co. is nearing completion at the corner of Main and Pine Streets.

The branch will be a two-story building with a drive-through window and plenty of parking, according to Charles Wait Jr., the bank’s president and CEO.

The building will replace the current branch on Maple Street. That branch will remain open until the new building is ready, probably in mid-April, Wait said.

The present location does not allow for a drive-through and there is limited parking.

The added space at Main and Pine will allow Adirondack Trust  to provide additional services. For example, Wait said, loan or mortgage officers can be posted there.

A ribbon cutting is planned, along with grand opening promotions in partnership with other businesses.

The building was designed by architects Balzar & Tuck.