By Paul Post

Garvey Kia is scheduled to move into its new state-of-the-art dealership on Wednesday, May 20 followed by a grand opening celebration with area dignitaries in June.

The 25,000-square-foot, two-story building is adjacent to the firm’s former site at 483 Quaker Road, which continues as a Volkswagen dealership with future remodeling plans.

Kia generates approximately 65 percent of the company’s revenue.

“It was really a business need,” owner and President J.P. Garvey said. “We were selling so many cars next door that we had to expand. It’s the biggest, best and most technologically modern dealership in the North Country. Kia had a really big role in the design process, but a lot of the details were up to us. Every day there were a hundred decisions that had to be made.”

Garvey is the only Kia dealership between Albany and Plattsburgh, and its market includes most of central Vermont, too.

The new building has a variety of unique features, from environmentally sustainable elements and a spacious customer lounge to a top-of-the-line network computer system and employee amenities such as a shower, secure locker room and full-service break room and kitchen area.

Garvey declined to cite the building’s cost, but a rooftop solar panel system alone cost nearly $1 million.

Some auto dealers burn waste oil to heat their shops in winter.

“We have a waste oil boiler that converts waste oil into radiant heat to heat the shop, service drive and balcony area, too,” he said.

One of the building’s most innovative elements is a fully automated loading dock and freight elevator, somewhat unusual for a car dealer, designed specifically for the company’s e-commerce division.

In addition to auto sales, Garvey is also the largest dealer of Kia accessories in the U.S., offering factory-authorized products such as floor mats, roof rails and tow hitches. It developed this line of business more than 10 years ago.

“We sell direct to consumer for people who want to enhance their vehicle,” Garvey said. “They can go to their dealer, but it’s easier to go online and buy from us.

The loading dock “is one of the biggest investments in the building,” Garvey said. It’s modeled after the kind used by rail cars, which have different heights, to serve the different types of trucks that make deliveries to the dealership, from FedEx vehicles to 18-wheel tractor-trailers.

A large storage area for e-commerce business was also part of the building’s design.

Garvey said the Kia expansion will create seven new jobs, primarily service technicians, with many more to follow. “We’re doubling our service capacity so we’re hoping to add quite a few technicians to better serve customers,” he said. “There’s more room for e-commerce staff and salespeople so we’re looking to add more of those people, too.”

A touch screen in the sales area allows customers to “build” a new car by viewing and choosing specific options such as color.

Kia, a Korean automaker, began selling cars in the U.S. in 1993-94 with corporate U.S. headquarters in Irvine, California. Garvey has been a Kia dealer since 1998.

Primarily targeting a middle-class market, vehicles range in price from $25,000 for the K4 compact sedan to more than $65,000 for the EV9, a three-row SUV, and include traditional internal combustion engine, hybrid and fully electric vehicles.

“We’re a big believer that the market has to meet customers where they are,” Garvey said. “Kia is looking at all the power train options, which gives consumers the most choice. With the uptick in fuel prices, the biggest growth the last few months has been in hybrids.”

Congressional termination of federal tax credits for new, $7,500, and used, $4,500, electric vehicles has hurt those sales, he said.

But the new dealership property has a dozen Level 2 EV chargers and four high-speed DC Level 3 fast chargers.

All technicians are fully trained to handle every type of vehicle.

Customers can drop cars off inside in an enclosed environment. A fully functional service drive has two drive-through vehicle quick checks.

There’s also a delivery module for customers to pick up new vehicles.

Much of the building’s concept is from Kia’s retail architect, ChangeUp, with an emphasis on creating an open, welcoming atmosphere. But Garvey spared no expense on wide-ranging details, from noise-reducing acoustic tiles to mounted chrome fire extinguishers.

Garvey worked closely with Ethan Hall of Glens Falls-based Rucinski Hall Architecture. V&H Construction of Fort Edward completed the 18-month construction job.

“I can’t tell you how much time we spent on this,” Garvey said. “There are 15 global design firsts in this building meaning we’re the first Kia dealership in the world to put them in.”

The post Garvey Kia Opens State Of The Art Dealership On Quaker Road In Queensbury appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

By Paul Post

From a new planning and zoning department to downtown parking initiatives, Glens Falls is pursuing steps large and small to attract business and promote economic development.

Mayor Diana Palmer outlined those steps during a recent wide-ranging speech covering her first 100 days in office at Heritage Hall in Harding Mazzotti Arena.

“Being mayor of a small city is about solving problems,” she said. “At any given time, there will be new problems that need careful thought and solutions. The beginning of my administration was no exception. In January, we confronted a number of ongoing problems, and I am proud of the progress my administration has made on all of them.”

One of the most significant items she discussed was a proposed transfer of operations and sale of the city’s Fire Road ice rink, near the YMCA, to the Adirondack Youth Hockey Association. The facility was temporarily closed last year because glycol leaked from its cooling system.

The situation was managed, but the city is still seeking a long-term solution.

Palmer said AYHA will assume responsibility for the remediation, removing the risk of such costs — possibly millions of dollars — from the city. The move would also save the city budget about $250,000.

Three high school teams call the rink home, and it hosts numerous youth hockey events, often with teams from outside the area, benefiting local hotels, restaurants and many small businesses.

AYHA President Royce Lawrence said, “Our program alone brings in tens of thousands of people to the community every winter.”

AYHA has used the facility for 40 years. AYHA and city attorneys are negotiating an agreement that may or may not involve AYHA ownership, but the organization will do whatever it takes to keep the rink open, including buying it, Lawrence said.

“We’re trying to be the best community member possible and make sure that facility stays open, not just for us, but the entire community,” he said.

Palmer, who previously chaired the city Recreation Commission, said, “We are looking at ways to grow our recreational offerings and expand sports tourism, including youth sports.”

On a related note, she said the city is pursuing new ways, in cooperation with the county Tourism Department, to promote special events downtown. “We will be sharing the county’s application portal for occupancy tax funding for special events,” she said. “This is going to create a more fair and consistent process for the community groups that organize events in our city.”

One of Palmer’s first steps as mayor was creating a new planning and zoning department, separate from building and codes, which she said makes it easier for people to get the information and approvals needed to invest in Glens Falls.

“We want to make the city as user-friendly as possible for people who want to do business here,” she said. “And that starts with setting clear expectations and having clear processes from the beginning.”

One resident asked what steps are being taken to fill vacant storefronts on Glen Street. The new planning and zoning department will help people bring proposals to the Planning Board for review, the mayor said.

In addition to South Street’s transformation, considerable investment is occurring outside downtown. “KRU Coffee’s new cold-brew production facility in Tech Meadows (West Glens Falls) is now under construction and will add jobs and diversity to our local economy,” Palmer said.

In addition, the Warren County Economic Development Corp. has presented the city with a new strategy, based on smart-growth principles, for bringing more business to Tech Meadows.

“Manufacturing is growing too,” Palmer said. “Adirondack Mechanical Services is preparing to move into a long-vacant warehouse at 7 Pruyn’s Island Drive, bringing a minimum of 50 jobs into our community. Even the Glens Falls office sector is expanding, reversing an office downsizing trend that continues around the country.”

For example, four new tenants are expected to move into the high-rise at 333 Glen St. soon, bringing more than 70 office and professional jobs downtown. The building’s occupancy dropped significantly following the pandemic as large tenants shifted to hybrid work models. “New tenant deals are smaller, but more diverse, and that diversification is creating a more stable office market moving forward,” the mayor said.

Parking, vitally important to business, continues to be a major challenge downtown, especially with dozens of new apartment and condo units opening soon. “Historically, Glens Falls has grown quickly without always planning carefully for how that growth affects parking,” Palmer said.

Several steps are designed to improve the situation while eliminating the need for a multimillion-dollar new parking garage. First, the two-hour time limit is being extended to three hours, giving people more time to attend meetings and do business without getting a ticket.

“Second, we have removed time limits outside the downtown core,” Palmer said. “That means if you need to be here all day, you can park a couple blocks away and walk in.”

Third, the city is working with businesses and other parking lot owners to make lots available to the public at night and on weekends, when special events are held. “Fourth, we are taking a hard look at the permit system,” she said. “Right now, we are not charging market rate and as a result, some people are holding more spaces than they actually need. Those spaces often sit unused, but because they are assigned, no one else can use them. We are moving toward a more flexible system that includes daytime permits, night and weekend permits, and full-time permits for those who truly need them.”

“By matching permits to how people actually use parking, and by adjusting the pricing, we can free up spaces that are currently sitting empty and make them available to more people,” the mayor said.

The city is also considering reducing the size of parking spaces from a maximum of 26 feet to 20 feet on corners and 22 feet elsewhere, which would create more spaces. “And finally, we are working with the Business Improvement District on wayfinding and updated GIS mapping so people can easily find where to park and understand the rules,” Palmer said. “Because part of the challenge is not just availability, it is making sure people know where the parking is and how to use it.”

The post Glens Falls Pursues Parking Reforms And Development Initiatives Downtown appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

Nearly 1 in 5 respondents, 19%, said they do not know whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Two-thirds of New Yorkers, 67%, said they use AI chatbots, while 32% said they have never used an AI chatbot. Forty-four percent said they use AI at least weekly, including 21% who said they use it daily.

Compared with last year, 48% said they are using AI tools more, 39% said their use is about the same and 8% said their use has decreased.

Among those who use AI chatbots, 41% said they use them mostly for personal reasons, 24% mostly for professional reasons and 32% equally for both. More than half of users, 56%, said they double-check AI results always or most of the time. Twenty percent said they pay for an AI chatbot subscription.

Among New Yorkers who use AI chatbots at least weekly, 28% said they pay for a premium subscription, compared with 5% of those who use chatbots infrequently. Across users, ChatGPT was the tool used most often, followed by Gemini and Copilot.

Nearly 9 in 10 residents, 92%, said they have seen content in the last 30 days that appeared to be generated by AI. Thirty-five percent said they trust results from a traditional search engine more than information provided by an AI chatbot, while 8% said they trust AI results more. Twenty-eight percent said they trust both equally and 23% said they trust neither.

“Four years after ChatGPT was released to the public, AI is creeping into everyday life, whether you use a dedicated chatbot app or website, or use AI features embedded in other spaces. Almost every New Yorker, regardless of background, encounters AI-generated content,” Associate Director of Data Management Travis Brodbeck said. “Like various forms of emerging technology, we see gaps in behaviors and attitudes between the youngest and oldest New Yorkers. These age-related differences risk creating a new element to the ‘digital divide’ where the ability to discern AI content and use AI tools is a new skill required in the digital age.”

The Siena University Poll was conducted March 3-14, 2026, among 810 New York state residents. It has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. Survey cross-tabs are available at sri.siena.edu.

Provided by Siena Research Institute (SRI); edited for style and length.

The post Siena Poll Shows Two-Thirds Of New Yorkers Use AI Chatbots, Use Rising Yearly appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

Editor’s Note: This article was published May 14. Scratch Kitchen announced its new 21 Ridge St. location would open May 18.

By Carol Ann Conover

After two years building a loyal following out of a compact cafe on Warren Street, Scratch Kitchen owner and executive chef Denver Semon is trading her 12-seat dining room for a 70-seat space at 21 Ridge St., putting her squarely in the middle of what she calls a growing restaurant hub in downtown Glens Falls.

The move, approved by the Glens Falls Planning Board earlier this year, marks a significant step for a chef who has spent more than two decades at the stoves of some of the region’s most recognized kitchens, including The Sagamore, the Aviator Restaurant in Queensbury and Flight Wine Bar & Restaurant in Glens Falls, before striking out on her own in the spring of 2024.

“I’ve wanted to open my own place for a long time, but it, you know, financially it wasn’t feasible or, you know, many reasons,” Semon said. “It’s scary to get into the restaurant business. It’s a lot, a lot of overhead and not a lot of rewards sometimes. But I’m just like, if I’m gonna work that hard, I think I’m going to do it for myself.”

The Warren Street location, while beloved, imposed hard limits. With seating for roughly a dozen and a kitchen built for one, Semon couldn’t accommodate the volume her growing customer base demanded.

“I have such a small kitchen. It was really only, only me. So it made it difficult. We couldn’t do the business that we wanted to do,” she said. “So, I knew after two years we were going to have to find something larger, which is an awesome, awesome problem.”

The new Ridge Street location had served as a restaurant for most of its history. Previous tenants include Fiddleheads, Black Watch and most recently Birch Bark Eatery, the vegan restaurant whose owner relocated to Albany, before the space was used as an event venue for about two years. The existing hood and infrastructure meant Semon’s build-out focused on outfitting the kitchen with new commercial equipment and refreshing the dining room and bathrooms, rather than undertaking structural work.

The interior aesthetic, Semon said, drew inspiration from the existing light fixtures. “Nicki, who’s the manager at my other little shop, she’s come along with me,” she said, referring to manager Nicki Loiselle, with whom she is also discussing a future partnership. “She looks up at the lights that were here and they have like a copper undertone and we’re like, we really like that copper, like kind of turquoise look.” The team settled on a wallpaper that anchored a palette pulled from Scratch Kitchen’s existing logo. Semon described the evening atmosphere as dark and moody. “Accessible elegance,” she called it, borrowing a phrase that came up during the interview. “Nobody’s going to feel like they can’t be here, but it’s going to be a nice space.”

The restaurant will open first for breakfast and lunch, maintaining the menu of house-made breads, sandwiches, salads, pastries and specialty coffee that built Scratch Kitchen’s reputation on Warren Street. Semon plans to phase in dinner service, tentatively beginning in June, with a small-plates concept drawing on Spanish, Asian and American regional culinary traditions.

“I would like to do like a tapas style menu, but with a few signatures,” Semon said. “Smaller plates, lots of sharing kinds of foods — we’re probably going to change that menu constantly, like weekly, with seasonal food. I love the farm-to-table kind of thing.”

Semon credits chef David Britton — a mentor she met during her years at The Sagamore and later worked with at Springwater Bistro and Saratoga Polo — with shaping her affinity for Spanish cuisine and its ingredients. That influence, along with her time at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, where she graduated in 1998 with an associate degree in culinary arts, underpins a cooking philosophy that resists being boxed in.

“I love the whole international — I love Spanish food,” she said. “With dinner service, I think that’s really going to be able to come out to play.”

The Ridge Street space also features a small bar, and Semon has begun the application process for a liquor license, with the intention of offering beer, wine and a specialty cocktail menu on dinner nights. In the interim, she plans to develop a mocktail program. Saturday brunch — which she piloted at the Warren Street location — will be expanded, and she is considering adding live acoustic music on a rotating weekly or biweekly basis during the warmer months.

Semon also plans to sell artisan breads through a front-window display, building on the sourdough and house-made roll program she established at Warren Street. Online ordering for breakfast and lunch, along with DoorDash delivery, is in development for the website at scratchgardenskitchen.com.

The expansion comes at a propitious moment for the city. Downtown Glens Falls has undergone a sustained revitalization, anchored in part by the completion of the South Street Market Center — a project that leveraged a $9.7 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant from New York state into more than $48 million in total investment, according to the governor’s office. SUNY Adirondack’s culinary campus on Hudson Street has added another dimension to the city’s culinary identity, and a growing roster of independent restaurants has positioned the downtown as a regional dining destination in its own right.

“I feel like Glens Falls is kind of getting like… it’s becoming… we’re coming into our, you know, a place people go to on purpose,” Semon said. “I love that I get to be part of that, like to bring that kind of momentum to the area.”

Semon’s husband, Martin Semon, a former culinary professional who now works as a carpenter at Great Escape, has contributed labor and custom built-ins to the Ridge Street build-out. In addition to Nicki, Semon said the front-of-house team is largely staffed by people who have worked with her previously, and she continues to accept applications.

As of the interview, Scratch Kitchen was awaiting a building and codes inspection and a health inspection before receiving its certificate of occupancy and setting an official opening date. Semon said the restaurant is otherwise ready to open.

“We’re ready, we’re ready to go,” she said. “We just need those two things.”

Scratch Kitchen’s new location at 21 Ridge St. will share the block with Farmacy and Radici Kitchen and Bar. For updates, visit scratchgardenskitchen.com or follow the restaurant on Facebook.

The post Scratch Kitchen Moves to Ridge Street, Plans Dinner Service and Liquor License appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

Chaney joined the team in January and has obtained her NYS Insurance License. She and her husband live in Hudson Falls with their three children and pets.

“We’re excited to welcome Chrystina to the team,” said Melissa Kokofsky, manager of the Personal Insurance Division. “She brings years of face-to-face experience working with people from all walks of life, along with a strong commitment to providing exceptional service. We’re thrilled to have her on board.”

Northern Insuring Agency, Inc., founded in 1930, provides auto, home, business, life and health insurance, and employee benefits services.

Provided by Northern Insuring Agency, Inc.; edited for style and length.

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Arrow Bank National Association has hired Cara Schroeder as Assistant Vice President, Business Banking Relationship Manager.

In her new role, Schroeder will support small businesses by developing new relationships and strengthening existing ones with customized financial solutions. She will manage a portfolio of business customers, collaborate with internal partners to drive business growth and support retail teams across small business and business banking.

Schroeder has more than 20 years of banking experience. She began her career with TD Bank in 2004 and held roles including Teller, Head Teller, Customer Service Representative, Small Business Specialist and, most recently, SBA Business Development Associate.

A native of Averill Park, New York, Schroeder will support businesses throughout the region.

Arrow Bank National Association, part of the Arrow Family of Companies, is a commercial bank headquartered in Glens Falls, New York, serving eight counties in northeastern New York. It operates 38 banking offices and provides banking, wealth management and insurance services.

Provided by Arrow Bank National Association; edited for style and length.

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Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP announced that Emma E. Marshall and Matthew D. Mosdell have joined the firm as associates.

Marshall joins the firm’s Environmental and Land Use & Development Practice Groups. She has advised clients on regulatory, environmental and energy matters, including proceedings before the New York State Department of Public Service under Articles 10, VII and VIII and guidance through the State Environmental Quality Review Act process. Her work has included due diligence, hazardous waste compliance and telecommunications regulatory matters. She earned a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Albany Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Binghamton University.

Mosdell joins the firm’s Litigation and Appeals Practice Group. Before joining the firm, he served as an Appellate Court Attorney with New York’s Appellate Division, Third Department, preparing reports and draft decisions for Justices. His background includes general litigation involving commercial disputes, personal injury, medical malpractice and estate matters. He earned a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Albany Law School and holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Utah and a B.S. from Utah State University.

Provided by Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP; edited for style and length.

The post Personnel Briefs: May 2026 appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

By Ann Donnelly

The Park Theater Foundation’s board of directors recently announced John Snyder as its new executive director, ushering in a new chapter for the downtown arts hub. Snyder, who relocated from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, officially took the reins March 2, bringing more than a decade of nonprofit and arts leadership to the organization.

Snyder comes to upstate New York from the Calumet Theatre, a historic venue in a remote Michigan village of 700 residents. Operating since 1900, the theater relied heavily on community support to attract talent to an area Snyder called “the end of the road.” He hopes to bring a similar community-centric approach to Glens Falls, drawing on a background that includes nearly two decades of performing in bands before he transitioned to nonprofit management.

“I come from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a region shaped by resilience and a strong sense of community, where the concepts of quiet determination, grit, and perseverance are a way of life,” Snyder said.

Arriving in Glens Falls, Snyder was immediately struck by the robust local arts scene, noting the impressive presence of the Glens Falls Symphony and the Hyde Collection. He has spent his first few months conducting door-to-door networking, visiting downtown business owners to introduce himself, discuss sponsorships and break through the modern clutter of digital communication.

“It’s hard to ignore somebody when they show up, and they don’t have an appointment, and that’s kind of the way I like to do things,” Snyder said.

The Park Theater Foundation, which manages all performances on the historic stage, currently operates with a lean staff of 2.5 employees. Program Director Chris Ristau continues to handle the venue’s bookings, consistently curating high-level talent ranging from touring artists such as California-based Chris Pierce to regional acts such as Saratoga Springs’ Reese Fulmer and the Carriage House Band. To support the small staff, the foundation relies on a dedicated roster of dozens of volunteers who manage the box office and check-in duties on show nights.

Under Snyder’s leadership, the foundation is expanding its reach with several new community-driven initiatives. A major priority is fostering collaboration within the local nonprofit sector. The theater recently launched a “Nonprofit of the Month” program, selecting the Moreau Community Center as its inaugural partner for May. Through a dedicated promotional code on the theater’s website, patrons receive a 10% discount on tickets, and the foundation donates 10% of those sales directly to the partner organization. Snyder noted that the theater is actively accepting online nominations for future nonprofit partners.

“We all raise each other up,” Snyder said. “We all have to work as a team in the nonprofit world. If you’re not helping people, what are you doing?”

The theater’s summer programming also is rapidly expanding. The foundation will launch “Comedy Underground” on June 3 in the building’s basement space, formerly Doc’s Restaurant. Designed with a speakeasy vibe, the comedy showcases are scheduled for alternating Wednesdays to attract crowds winding down from downtown’s “Take a Bite” events.

In addition, the foundation is stepping outside its own venue. On July 25, it will host “Bands and Brews” at Dancing Grain Farm Brewery. The event will run from 4 to 9 p.m. and will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks. This event joins the foundation’s traditional summer series, which features free Friday night concerts with regional bands at Crandall Park. The theater will also continue its popular Third Thursday Jazz series and “Rewind” tribute shows.

Snyder noted that while the Park Theater boasts an incredible listening room where patrons can “hear a pin drop between songs,” he is eager to see audiences let loose. Though the crowds are respectful, Snyder admitted he is sometimes the person moving the most in the room during upbeat performances.

“I can’t wait to see someone dance in this room,” Snyder said. “I’ve been waiting patiently.”

As he looks to the future, Snyder is focused on expanding the theater’s audience, reaching both lifelong Glens Falls residents and those in surrounding communities. The venue also remains available for private rentals and events, with the option to include catering services from Park Street Hospitality.

“I look forward to building upon The Park Theater Foundation’s mission, expanding programming, and collaborating with local partners, artists, and supporters to ensure it continues to serve as a vibrant cultural hub for the region,” Snyder said.

For those looking to get involved or learn more, the box office is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit www.parktheatergf.com.

Photo of John Snyder, supplied by The Park Foundation:https://drive.google.com/file/d/11uGEiGmKhJlsgmIBNiJSs_ZBvMpKDUH5/view?usp=sharing

The post Park Theater Names New Executive Director To Lead Community-Focused Growth appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

By Paul Post

Jake Dorsey goes where the problems are, which, depending on the time of year, can be anything from bats, squirrels and mice to ticks, bees and carpenter ants.

His Hudson Falls-based Eco Haven Pest Control business, founded just over a year ago, already has clients from Kingston to Lake Placid and from western Vermont to the Mohawk Valley.

Eco Haven uses pesticides and chemicals to battle bugs and critters only when absolutely necessary, as opposed to area-wide applications.

“If there’s no target, why are you shooting?” said Dorsey, a 27-year-old entrepreneur.

The goal is to provide permanent solutions instead of repeat annual treatments.

To exclude insects and tiny rodents, for example, Eco Haven installs small metal barriers the same color as a home’s siding to keep them from getting inside.

For bat control, the company allows bats to exit safely and prevents re-entry without trapping them inside. Once out, all access points are sealed, and guano removal is recommended, if present, to prevent health concerns.

He previously worked for other firms in the industry before launching on his own. Dorsey emphasizes eco-friendly solutions because he understands the public’s growing concern about environmental safety.

“Nobody wants a guy to show up and use chemicals that can be harsh to them or their pet,” he said. “The main reason I got into pest control is it allows me to help people. Anything from bats, mice and squirrels to bed bugs or carpenter ants in a house adds a great deal of emotional stress.”

He has two full-time employees, both fully trained and licensed technicians.

Most of Eco Haven’s work is residential, although it also has a number of commercial clients.

“We’ve done everything from getting bats out of local historic buildings to getting squirrels out of log cabins built on stilts with no foundation on Lake George, and modern homes in Clifton Park,” Dorsey said.

“Pest control as an industry is kind of cyclical,” he said. “You roll into spring and you get the early bat calls, carpenter ants, and you start to see termite swarms coming up now. By the middle of summer, it’s almost entirely stinging insects, bees and wasp nests; they’re all over the place.”

“When it gets colder, you get your fall invaders — Asian lady beetles, box elders and stink bugs. There’s also an influx of squirrels and mice getting into people’s houses because it’s cold out and warm inside. You’re almost doing something different every month. When one goes away, another comes after it.”

“Business has expanded a lot faster than I thought it would by just being honest, doing exactly what I said I’m going to do and getting the job done right,” he said. “We figure out what’s going on with your house and we fix it. There’s a solution to every problem if you know what you’re looking at.”

The post Eco Haven Pest Control Builds Regional Growth With Eco Friendly Pest Solutions appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

WSWHE BOCES, working with SUNY Adirondack, has been named a “Champion of Change” by the New York State School Boards Association for its annual Manufacturing and STEAM Day.

The recognition, part of NYSSBA’s Champions of Change program, cites the event as an example of an innovative partnership that connects students to postsecondary options and careers in advanced manufacturing.

“We are honored to receive this recognition for a program that reflects the meaningful opportunities we strive to create for students,” said WSWHE BOCES District Superintendent Turina Parker. “Our partnership with SUNY Adirondack is a powerful example of how collaboration can open doors. Manufacturing and STEAM Day helps students see what’s possible and envision themselves in careers that are critical to our regional economy.”

The Oct. 17 event included a panel of P-TECH graduates who earned Mechatronics degrees from SUNY Adirondack and discussed the transition from school to the workforce. Students also visited regional employers including Adirondack Studios, Creatacor, Fort Miller Group and GlobalFoundries and met with industry professionals and faculty.

Two former SUNY Adirondack P-TECH graduates also represented their employer, Praxis Technology, during the career fair.

“The strength of this program lies in its ability to connect education and industry in meaningful ways,” said President of SUNY Adirondack Anastasia Urtz. “Through our partnership with WSWHE BOCES, students engage with industry leaders and discover exciting, in-demand careers. Together, we are illuminating pathways from classroom to career and supporting students to build a great future in our region.”

The event is coordinated by the WSWHE BOCES Innovative Programs Team led by Michelle Maddalla and SUNY Adirondack’s Continuing Education Office, led by Susan Wynkoop.

NYSSBA representatives presented the recognition and a commemorative banner at the WSWHE BOCES Board of Education meeting April 15.

Provided by WSWHE BOCES; edited for style and length.

The post WSWHE BOCES Partnership Wins State Honor For Career Education Program appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

By Ann Donnelly

Small business owners often find themselves drowning in daily tasks, from answering repetitive phone calls to managing social media and organizing emails. Christopher Crowd, founder of the Glens Falls-based startup Severus AI, believes artificial intelligence is the key to escaping this cycle of burnout and regaining control.

Severus AI is a project two years in the making, designed to address the specific pain points of entrepreneurs. Using a proprietary platform called Ada, the company creates customized artificial intelligence agents that handle email, social media, incoming calls, website leads and complex workflow automation.

“As a business owner, your job is to scale,” Crowd says, “If you don’t, eventually you’re going to burn out. Rather than getting up in the morning and running to your desk, going through 100 emails and trying to respond to everybody, these tools allow you to get up very calmly and have a cup of coffee. It’s all fun for you.”

For many solopreneurs, hiring a full staff is financially out of reach. Crowd envisions the Severus AI workflow automation tools as acting like a micro-employee. This fractional assistant can read private and business emails, summarize them, manage calendars and send daily reports to staff.

Voice integration takes this concept a step further. Crowd detailed a scenario in which a client can simply speak to their phone during a morning commute to receive an email recap or to command the system to fix a presentation before they arrive at the office.

Customer service is another major focus for Severus AI. The company offers advanced voice agents capable of handling calls, booking appointments and quoting prices. Unlike standard automated phone trees, these agents converse naturally and capture vital lead information immediately.

“The most basic example would be our voice agent answers the telephone for you, and the first step already has their number saved, then it has their email address, their full name, done,” Crowd said. “So that’s now an asset.”

New voice web agents feature voice-to-voice technology without transcription delays. Crowd noted that this allows the software to detect emotional tones and adjust responses appropriately. If a customer needs human assistance, the system performs a warm transfer to a staff member, ensuring context is passed along so the caller does not have to repeat their issue from scratch.

Any industry can use Severus AI, but Crowd noted that the company has had particular success with the real estate industry, where it can transform property listings by editing photos to create “night and day” scenes, removing rain, cleaning up pools and driveways, and even generating animations to swap out furniture in a room. He also noted that the platform is useful for industries where managing appointments and the services associated with them are important, such as salons, HVAC, lawyers, dentists and doctors.

Beyond communication, Severus AI tackles marketing struggles. The platform manages social media by generating unique graphics, drawing on a company’s own imagery and ensuring posts align with the brand’s fonts and colors. According to Crowd, “AI can take a single video sent by a client and turn it into ‘infinite content’ such as reels and still images.” The system also tracks engagement analytics to determine the best times to post based on industry trends.

The team at Severus AI designs and develops automated workflows to undertake any task more quickly, efficiently and effectively. One client used Severus AI to generate a 100-slide PowerPoint for a trivia night, customized for the specific bar that hired them to present the event, saving them hours of work.

A common hesitation surrounding artificial intelligence is the fear of generic or inaccurate outputs. Crowd addressed this by explaining that Severus AI builds distinct, personalized microsystems for each client instead of relying on public models.

“It’s a business-centric system,” Crowd said. “So when you’re talking to it, it’s not looking at other people, other things. It’s just your business.”

Security remains a priority. Rather than sharing server space, each client receives a private cloud environment. This ensures that a business’s data remains insulated and strictly private.

Crowd said this dedicated technology levels the playing field for small operations. “Basically, a solopreneur has the same power as an IBM, an Apple, Google,” Crowd said. “It’s the first time in history we’ve been on a level playing field.”

Despite the heavy reliance on automation, Severus AI maintains strict human oversight. The company employs account managers who review daily reports and monitor interactions to ensure quality. Crowd described this approach as semi-autonomous, serving as a chaperone for the technology.

“I think that we’re not ready for fully autonomous systems yet,” Crowd said. “Humans need to be involved, not replaced.”

Looking ahead, Crowd warned that business owners who ignore artificial intelligence will soon be unable to keep pace with their competitors. As artificial intelligence advances, tools capable of doing the work of several employees will become the standard.

However, Crowd views this technological shift as an overwhelmingly positive development for tired entrepreneurs. By offloading repetitive duties, business owners can reclaim their valuable time.

According to Crowd, “AI is a gift because you can get back to being creative as a human, and have the space to remember why you even started your business in the first place.”

For more information on Severus AI, visit www.severusai.com.

The post From 40 Tasks to Just One: Severus AI Wants to Give Business Owners Their Mornings Back appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.

The Warren Washington Industrial Development Agency has approved a study to inventory and quantify the economic impact of the creative economy across Warren and Washington counties, a sector that includes more than 85 identified arts, culture and creative economy organizations and that local leaders say has long operated without the data to demonstrate its full value.

The WWIDA board approved up to $200,000 for the project, to be conducted by an outside consulting firm selected through a formal request for proposals process. Proposals are due May 14, with a consultant expected to be recommended to the full WWIDA board by mid-June. Chuck Barton, WWIDA chief executive officer, said the study will inventory the region’s creative assets and produce an economic impact analysis to inform future planning and strengthen grant applications.

“We’re looking for a group to bubble up who will take the results of the study and run with it,” Barton said.

The initiative grew out of a coalition called MOSAIC, formed through conversations among Glens Falls arts organizations and the Warren County Economic Development Corp. The WWIDA joined those discussions and agreed to fund the study, seeing alignment with its broader mission of promoting economic development and job creation across both counties.

The study’s scope will extend well beyond Glens Falls. Barton said the consultant will be expected to capture the full inventory across Warren and Washington counties, including festivals, historical societies, libraries, museums, theaters and small-scale artist enterprises, many of which operate year-round despite the region’s seasonal tourism patterns. Barton expects the actual inventory to significantly exceed the initial 85-venue scan.

“We’re looking for this to be very broadly defined,” he said. “All inclusive and all-encompassing.”

Phil Casabona, executive director of the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council, is among those named to the advisory committee. LARAC’s June Arts Festival is widely recognized as the largest single economic driver in the city of Glens Falls, drawing regional visitors each summer and generating spending across local hospitality, retail and service businesses.

Casabona said the WWIDA’s financial commitment gives the MOSAIC coalition a foundation it had lacked. “Chuck Barton, Juan Gonzales, and the Warren Washington County IDA’s instant interest and backing of MOSAIC, in my opinion, has not only helped us orient some goals that will become the foundation of MOSAIC, but their financial commitment to this study will have a great and broader impact regionally,” he said. “This study and subsequent actions will bolster the reach of our arts organizations, the organizations in both counties, and will be the driver for proper and guided growth across multiple platforms.”

Casabona added that he believes the work will carry long-term significance for younger residents. “I also firmly believe that over the coming years this study will help our governance actively create more opportunities for our younger populations to sustain living and working here in this wonderful region,” he said.

Erin Harrington, executive director of the Hubbard Hall Center for the Arts and Education in Cambridge, is also serving on the advisory committee. Hubbard Hall operates out of a historic opera house, offering theater, dance, visual arts and an artist residency program with partners including the Drama League of New York City. Harrington said the study carries particular weight for rural organizations operating with limited data and limited resources.

“We’re really excited for some of the potential ways to really grow the arts and culture organizations within the two counties through this effort, as we are such a big part of the economy for both counties,” Harrington said. “Hubbard Hall is a major driver for the community of Cambridge. And this is just going to make not only us, but all of our community stronger.”

The WWIDA pointed to Ulster County as a comparable model. That county, home to Woodstock, Kingston, New Paltz and the Catskill Mountains, conducted a similar analysis and found its arts and culture sector generates $814 million annually in direct, indirect and induced economic activity, a figure the WWIDA hopes to replicate for the two-county region, which has a combined population of approximately 120,000.

The timing of the initiative coincides with a period of significant financial pressure on the nonprofit arts sector. Federal funding for cultural institutions has faced reductions and uncertainty, with consequences felt at the local level.

Among the most direct impacts has been the curtailment of programs administered through the Institute of Museum and Library Services. IMLS supports rural library services nationally, including books-by-mail programs that serve homebound patrons and veterans in communities with limited in-person library access. Reductions to that funding have forced local institutions to redirect dollars from other budget lines to cover the gap.

Those redirected funds often come at the expense of arts and cultural programming that libraries host for the broader community. The ripple effect is visible in organizations like the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls, which presents folk arts programming and free public concerts at Crandall and at the Historic Salem Courthouse in Salem, drawing on dedicated budget lines that pay performing artists directly. When federal support for library operations contracts, institutions must make difficult choices about which programs to sustain. For the artists who rely on those engagements, and for the community members who attend at no cost, the impact is immediate and local, even when its origin is a policy decision made in Washington.

At the state level, arts organizations have reported that funding from the New York State Council on the Arts has become slower to arrive and in some cases reduced. The lag between application, award notification and disbursement can stretch to nine months or longer, a timeline that strains small organizations with limited cash reserves. Those pressures have pushed some local arts groups to rethink their financial models and explore strategies for attracting private investment alongside traditional grant support.

Barton said a credible economic impact study would help on that front as well, giving organizations stronger evidence to support applications at every level of funding.

“Having this information about economic impact helps boost the merits behind applications for grants,” he said.

Barton was also direct about what he hopes does not happen once the study is complete. “We don’t want this to sit on a shelf and collect dust,” he said. “We want meaningful action items that are actionable, with the right leadership to drive this.”

The WWIDA expects to announce the selected consultant following its June 15 board meeting. The study duration will be determined by the selected firm, with WWIDA anticipating a timeline of six to 12 months to account for the region’s seasonal creative calendar.

For more information about the WWIDA and its programs, visit warren-washingtonida.com.

The post WWIDA Launches Study To Measure Arts Economy Across Two Counties appeared first on Glens Falls Business Journal.