Category Archives: Business News

People planning to go to the Great Escape this summer will have to make reservations. But the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge will re-open with new guidelines on Friday, June 26, and the Johnny Rockets restaurant will also re-open, Six Flags said in a June 4 news release.
The 200-suite lodge, located across Route 9 from the Great Escape theme park, is now taking reservations.
The lodge will initially open with limited capacity. The theme park and indoor water park will remain closed until allowed to re-open by state and regional officials.
“The hotel will offer a clean and safe getaway for families coming to the beautiful Lake George area to enjoy hiking routes in the Adirondacks, exciting bike trails and stunning mountain summit reviews with outdoor adventures,” Six Flags said in new release.
High-touch items like coffee makers, pens and paper and in-house guides have been removed. Cleaning protocols have been elevated and room rentals are rotated so rooms can be thoroughly cleaned after guests have departed.

By Michael Cruz
As we re-open our local economy, we can’t quickly go back to normal. It is important to re-examine all aspects of your business. What you were doing before COVID is not necessarily what you should do next. Examine your business plan. I often say that a plan is like a road map.
The only time you don’t need a map is when you are going where you have already been. Or, when you don’t care where you are going.
Things are not going to be the same for quite a while. You need to figure out how to rekindle sales. You need to make sure your product pipeline is solid.
Your customers are having the same challenges you are. Everyone will be a little more cautious as to where they spend their money. Each of us needs to reassess our priorities. We need to figure out which expenditures are required. And, which purchases we can delay until we are sure of the recovery.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

Business Network International, known as BNI, has revamped its networking approach in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The group, which has chapters in Saratoga and Warren counties, refers to the transition as a “brand refresh.”
The international organization has more than 9,500 chapters worldwide. Eleven of these are in the Albany and surrounding region.
Michael Cruz, chapter director consultant for the Greater Glens Falls BNI chapter, said “there was a project already underway within BNI. We were figuring out how to turn live, face-to-face training, into online training. BNI had purchased 10 seats of Zoom to begin this training. Ironically, at the time, they thought they overbought. Then the shutdown happened, and BNI decided to re-purpose the training platforms into meeting platforms. By the third week of March, we’d launched BNI Online,” said Cruz.
“Almost immediately, we were able to do meetings online,” he said. “We produced a slide deck that mimicked the in-person meeting presentation as close as we could. For the most part, we kept the tenor of the meetings the same. Passing referrals, the one to ones that members do with each to build trust—all of this went to the Zoom platform. We tried to do everything we could to keep it flowing. And we were able to do it for all of our chapters.”

Americade, a popular tourist attraction in the Lake George region for nearly 40 years, has been postponed during the COVID-19 crisis, but will be held in 2020.

The event is  traditionally held the first full week of June, but will be pushed back until the week of July 21-25, said Americade organizer Christian Dutcher.

“The health of our community and our guests is paramount, but it is our sincere hope that by late July, it will be possible to bring Americade back to Lake George as long as there are no federal, state or local regulations that would preclude it,” Dutcher said. “We will be very sensitive to public health concerns. We will conduct Americade 2020 in a manner that is respectful of the terrible ordeal this pandemic has caused.’’

The 2020 “touchless’’ Americade will emphasize current public safety protocols including social distancing and hand washing and scenic tours rather than large group gatherings. Organizers will comply scrupulously with health and safety guidance and work closely with Warren County Public Health Services.

By Christine Graf

Although it is too soon to know what impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the local summer tourism season, the local business community is trying to remain optimistic.

In Lake George, it will be difficult for  hotels to weather any lengthy closure. Dunham’s Bay Resort on the east shore just outside the village, is typically open year-round but has closed its 40-room hotel. It’s restaurant remains open for take out only.

According to general manager Matt Taormino, the hotel furloughed about 10 percent of it staff. He credits the hotel’s New York City owner for making this possible.

“They made a commitment to us when this first started to make sure everybody would have a job that needed a job,” he said. “We’re fortunate that our owners take care of us. They really care about us and take care of the property.”