Glens Falls Business Journal

Great Escape To Change Its Entryway For 2022

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022

Great Escape is looking to change the entrance to the park before the summer season kicks off.

Great Escape Theme Park LLC, along with CT Male Associates, received a positive recommendation from the town Planning Board to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Park engineer Frank Palumbo told board members the project would increase the green space of the area by 34.8 percent.

The plan involves tearing down the current ticketing booth at the entrance of the amusement park and constructing a building that would house metal detectors for guests to pass through before gaining entry.

Palumbo said the previous entrance worked at a time when attendees did not have to be checked by park security before entering.

“This is the time we live in and most people are used to this level of security,” he said.

The new building would also include two bathrooms, which Palumbo said guests who had been traveling would appreciate.

Kim Cook Stepping Down As CEO Of Open Door Mission; Dean Brown To Replace Her

March 21, 2022

Kim A. Cook led the effort to expand the Open Door Mission’s work to serve the homeless.
Courtesy Open Door Mission

Kim A. Cook, who with the support of the board of directors, staff, volunteers and contributors led the effort to expand the Open Door Mission’s work to serve the homeless and hungry at its at 226 Warren St. community center in Glens Falls, is stepping down.

Cook has served as president and chief executive officer of the organization for the past nine years and previously had served as chair of its board of directors.

Dean C. Brown, chief integration officer of the Open Door, will take over the position.

The Open Door Mission serves people at their point of need while encouraging personal growth and community sustainability. It operates an emergency Code Blue Shelter, a food pantry, a clothing closet, providing people in need with connections to community resources, counseling, case management, and training in budgeting, life skills and substance abuse recovery.

Its emergency food pantry serves more than 25,000 meals annually. In just the first weeks of 2022, the Open Door provided 1,289 bed nights. Its Code Blue shelter has been open 89 days this winter season, officials said

“Open Door has been my life for so many years. It has been an exhilarating challenge and success beyond what anyone could have imagined. It has been humbling to see God’s love and provision for the most vulnerable in our community,” said Cook. “I am so grateful to have been on this journey with such an extraordinary team of professionals and volunteers and so supportive a community. Together, we have been blessed by the opportunity to save lives, serve and comfort people in need, and to see real-life transformation, truly a reward beyond measure. I am looking forward to taking some time to rest, spend time with my family and decide what our next adventure might be.”

Steve Perkins’ New Law Practice Specializes In Real Estate, Trusts And Estate Planning

March 21, 2022

Attorney Steve Perkins left McPhillips, Fitzgerald & Cullum in Glens Falls to start his own law firm. He specializes in real estate, trust and estates, and estate planning.
©2022 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Christine Graf

Attorney Steve Perkins, who worked for five years at he worked for McPhillips, Fitzgerald & Cullum in Glens Falls, has started his own firm, Perkins Law PLLC in Saratoga Springs.

He started in the real estate department before moving into trusts and estates.

The Siena College and Albany Law School graduate handles cases in Saratoga, Albany, Warren, and Washington counties.

Perkins, a native of Saratoga Springs, works from home in order to keep overhead costs low. He meets with clients at 524 Maple Ave., Suite 2, a space he leases from attorney Rita Young.

During law school, Perkins interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, litigation firm Wilson Elser, and Ayco, a Goldman Sachs Company. After graduating in 2016, he worked for McPhillips, Fitzgerald & Cullum in Glens Falls. He started in the real estate department before moving into trusts and estates.

Five years later, in the fall of 2021, Perkins made the decision to open his own firm.

ANCA’s Adirondack Buyer Days B2B Trade Show Set For March 29-30 In Saratoga

March 21, 2022

The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) will hold its Adirondack Buyer Days, an annual business-to-business trade show that features the work of artisan makers from across the Northeast, in an in-person format later this month in Saratoga Springs.

As the COVID pandemic loosens its hold on New York state, businesses and communities, regional retailers are invited to connect directly with local makers and purchase handcrafted gift products for their shops, organizers said.

The annual show, which was canceled in 2020 and held virtually in 2021 due to the pandemic, will return to its longtime home at the Saratoga Springs City Center on March 29 and 30.

Adirondack Buyer Days is a nonprofit, juried trade show featuring makers of handmade gifts from northern New York and northern New England. Product categories include housewares, personal care, value-added foods, garden and outdoors, apparel, jewelry, stationery and more.

The show is for wholesale sales only and is not open to the public.

SUNY Empire State Begins Bachelor Of Business Administration Program This Fall

March 21, 2022

SUNY Empire State College’s School of Business was approved by the State Education Department to offer a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, which can optionally be completed online.
Courtesy SUNY Empire State

SUNY Empire State College’s School of Business has been approved by the State Education Department to offer a new Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree.

The program will launch in the fall term, with the option for students to be enrolled fully online.

Officials said the BBA is a comprehensive business degree designed to serve adult learners working in business-related fields who want to advance their career by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business or prepare for a MBA.

The BBA program will require fewer liberal arts credits, making the new degree program an attractive option for students who want a strong knowledge base in all facets of business and community college graduates with an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, officials said.

SUNY Empire State College Officer-in-Charge Nathan Gonyea, Ph.D., said the launch of the new BBA degree program “reflects SUNY Empire’s ongoing commitment to helping students fulfill their academic dreams and professional ambitions, while also addressing the employment needs of the economy. The BBA will fit around the busy lives of adult learners and enable them to shift their careers in exciting new directions.”

Lake George Regional Chamber’s Travel Guide, Celebrating 70 Years, Is Available

March 21, 2022

The Lake George Chamber’s Four-Seasons Travel Guide celebrates the organization’s 70th anniversary and introduces a special logo for the year to commemorate the milestone.
Courtesy Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce

The Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce announced its 2022 Four-Seasons Travel Guide is available, celebrating the organization’s 70th anniversary and introducing a special logo for the year to commemorate the milestone.

The Chamber produces the Travel Guide in house and prints 70,000 copies annually. They are strategically distributed around the state, at AAA offices, and across the U.S. and Canada through direct mail by request.

“With new data from where our visitors were coming from, we were able to readjust our distribution plan in 2021 to place the guides where they’d be most likely to be picked up. In 2022, we made similar changes to our distribution plan to match current intel,” said Executive Director Gina Mintzer, CMP, MHA.

This year’s cover features a photo of Paradise Bay by F. Cavone Productions as well as a photo strip showcasing different seasons and activities. The cover design was chosen with the help of the Chamber’s social media audience, who voted on two different designs.

Northern Insuring Agency Experiences Growth, Moves Into New Bay Street Offices

March 21, 2022

Northern Insuring Agency Inc. expanded its presence in Glens Falls by moving offices to 21 Bay St., more than doubling the space it previously occupied.

Northern Insuring Agency Inc. recently expanded their Glens Falls office, moving from 136 Glen St. to 21 Bay St.

The 1,200-square-foot office was previously occupied by Equitas Realty.

The insurance agency had been located in Whitehall since the 1970s, but moved into Glens Falls in January 2019.

Northern Insuring has been in business since 1930 and has two other offices in Plattsburgh and Potsdam.

Glens Falls Native Is Named Director Of Development For Lake George Association

March 21, 2022

Tyra (Lundgren) MacGuffie is the director of development for the Lake George Association.
Courtesy Lake George Association

Glens Falls native Tyra (Lundgren) MacGuffie has returned home to become the new director of development for the Lake George Association.

MacGuffie, a 1985 graduate of Glens Falls Senior High School, joins the LGA after four years as director of advancement for Green Mountain Valley School, a premier ski academy in Waitsfield, Vt., that counts 26 Olympians among its alumni. In that role, she oversaw a $7 million capital campaign for the development of a world-class training and race venue.

MacGuffie said Lake George has never been far from her thoughts. She grew up spending summers on the Lake at a Route 9L camp that dates back to 1845 and was purchased by her grandparents, the late Thor and Donna Lundgren, in 1950. MacGuffie now co-owns the camp with other family members and visited regularly while living away.

“I am thrilled to join the LGA at a time when it is poised for tremendous growth and a significant acceleration of its Lake-protection capabilities,” MacGuffie said. “I am excited to be a part of an organization that has a mission I am passionate about, in a community that I respect and care for deeply, and where I feel a can make a significant contribution.”

MacGuffie’s accomplished development career in the nonprofit sector also includes 12 years in the state of Idaho as director of development for the independent Community School and for Higher Ground Sun Valley, an organization providing therapeutic recreation to individuals and veterans with physical and cognitive disabilities.

Prior to entering the development field, she served as soft-goods buyer and manager for a major outdoor recreation gear and apparel retailer with four locations in and around Sun Valley, Idaho. Her responsibilities included management of retail staff, communications and marketing, and special events planning.

Paula Traina Started With State Farm In Corporate Job, Now Runs Two Local Offices

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022

Prior to becoming an independent agent, Paula Traina held a corporate leadership position.

By Christine Graf

Less than four years after establishing her first State Farm insurance office In Queensbury, agent Paula Traina is preparing to open a second office at 80 Warren St. in Glens Falls.

Prior to becoming an independent agent, she held a corporate leadership position at State Farm. During her 14-year career with the company, she earned an M.B.A. as well as numerous professional certifications.

When the company consolidated operations and closed its corporate location in Malta, many Capital Region-based employees relocated to State Farm hubs in Atlanta, Dallas, or Phoenix. Traina was managing corporate training at the time, and instead of relocating, she decided the time was right to open her own independent State Farm office.

“I always knew I was going to go in this direction but didn’t want to do it until I felt professionally ready to do it,” she said. “I wanted to go through the leadership program at State Farm and get experience on that side before I wanted to risk my own finances. I’m now self-employed, so it was more of a financial undertaking to go from being a corporate employee to being independently owned and operated.”

State Farm was aware that Traina was interested and approached her when there was an opportunity in Queensbury.

Business Report: Caregiving And Planning For Care

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022

Sherry Finkel is a private wealth advisor with The Atrium Financial Group. Courtesy Atrium Financial Group

Sherry Finkel Murphy, CFP, ChFC, RICP

Often, my work as a certified financial planner practitioner is also personal. Traditionally, we spend a lot of time discussing marriage, educating children, the cost of retirement, etc. But we need to discuss ‘caregiving’ and planning for personal care as near-universal life phases of this age.

That’s especially timely now, when the pandemic has made these planning challenges more acute. Caregiving is largely gendered—75 percent of caregivers are women, according to Institute on Aging. During the pandemic, 6 in 10 caregivers took on new or expanded caregiving responsibilities.

That is likely to continue as longevity increases. There’s a 50 percent chance a 65-year-old man will live beyond the age of 88. And there’s a 50 percent chance that a 65-year-old woman will live beyond the age of 90.

My 94-year-old mom is sharp as a tack. She’s happy in her independent living facility, but growing frail as even healthy bodies do. She uses one of three rollators—each with different features—and a cane if she needs extra mobility and has my arm to steady her. Her shower has no step up. Her bed drops down to meet her. Her hearing aids are controlled by her iPhone (I am the chief iPhone troubleshooter).

When she has a doctor’s appointment, I’m the chauffer; and my work schedule is blocked out, accordingly. When she needs something in a hurry, I’m the go-to phone call. She’s the only person permitted to interrupt me in a client meeting. Although she’ll say, ‘If I’m dead, there’s no rush; so call me back.’ We’ve already managed the multi-year decline and passing of Dad, in his 90’s, a few years ago: late-stage Alzheimer’s diagnosis, home health aide, memory care, hospice.