Rachel Hunsinger Patten Executive Director Of The SUNY Adirondack Foundation

Posted on
Rachael Hunsinger Patten is the executive director of the SUNY Adirondack Foundation.
©2022 Saratoga Photographer.com

SUNY Adirondack announced the appointment of Rachael Hunsinger Patten as the college’s chief advancement officer and executive director of the SUNY Adirondack Foundation.

Patten has nearly 30 years of experience in fundraising and higher education, including having served as executive director of Development, Alumni Relations and SUNY Adirondack Foundation from 2012 to 2018. 

“Rachael is a longtime regional resident with deep roots in the community and an inspiring history with SUNY Adirondack,” said Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D., president of the college. “We’re excited for Rachael and her team to help us further develop relationships with area businesses, organizations, investors and alumni that will advance our strong network of donors in support of college needs.” 

As CAO, Patten is the college’s chief fundraising officer, developing long-range strategic leadership and daily administration of the Foundation, Development and Alumni Relations. She is responsible for fostering relationships to support college programs and initiatives.

“When I first started working here, it clicked,” Patten said. “It felt like home.”

A graduate of Ithaca College, Patten has dedicated her career to higher education and nonprofit organizations, including work at Skidmore College, Albany Law School and Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (LARAC). At the latter, she said she fell in love with fundraising. 

Read More

EDC Warren County Touts Building ‘The Economy Of Now’ As COVID Eases Up

Posted on
Jim Siplon was selected as the interim president of EDC Warren County.
Courtesy EDC Warren County

By Jim Siplon

It is certainly not news to say that the last two years of COVID have reshaped our area economy and the work we do to support it. 

One of the often acknowledged aspects of the COVID era is the observation that the pandemic often exposed and accelerated shifts that were already underway but perhaps not yet fully understood. Our economy and its dynamic elements , things like an aging workforce and a lack of new housing, are perhaps the greatest example of this. Constructing the framework that will underpin the post-COVID economy requires us all to lean into this together-to understand and retool around the “Economy of Now.”

EDC Warren County has long been focused on the strategic work required to attracting, growing and retaining business for our community. Classically, this was a process built around enticing new business to locate here and utilize our workforce to run them. Our programs, incentives and resources were deployed primarily in ways designed to capture transitory or relocating business ventures. 

While that work continues, it is transitioning before our eyes to a model that flips the traditional approach on its head. We are now in a competition for workforce, and those areas that have it will attract and grow the most successful business and economic entities while those that do not will struggle to build a sustainable economy. 

This need for workforce is not new, in fact it has been building slowly in the demographics for years. Baby boomers are aging out, birth rates have declined and flight of our young has been going on for some time. But today this problem is not limited to the North Country or other less populated areas but is now almost universal. 

Read More

SEDC: Building An Economic Future For Saratoga County For Some 43 Years

Posted on
Dennis Brobston, president, Saratoga Economic Development Corp.
Courtesy Saratoga Economic Development Corp.

By Dennis Brobston

One of our beloved presidents, Abraham Lincoln, once said “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” That is our belief at Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC). 

Creating Saratoga County’s economic development future has been our mission for over 43 years of existence. Working with SEDC to create our economic future are many partners: Saratoga County and local governments, Saratoga County businesses large and small, our Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs), universities and colleges and our K-12 school districts, to name a few. Over the last decade, SEDC and our stakeholders helped to create over 1,700 new jobs with over $170 million in payroll while retaining over 2,050 existing jobs at Saratoga County companies.

The year 2021 was another strange year as we all continued to adapt thru the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Like 2020, we were thrust into uncharted waters for supporting our existing businesses in Saratoga County while marketing our region for new and exciting companies looking for fertile ground to grow their businesses. And like 2020, this past year of 2021 proved to be another banner year delivering over $110 million in new investment while creating 182 new jobs and over $11.5 million in payroll. 

Over the last two years, we have supported $232 million of investment creating over 629 jobs with over $38 million in new payroll while retaining 730 existing jobs. The years 2020 and 2021 are the first back-to-back years with more than $100 million investment in our 43-year history. We are thankful for all of the projects that allowed us to excel during this pandemic.

Promoting Saratoga County’s sites and buildings to site selectors across the country and throughout Europe will continue in 2022. Our efforts to create more product (pre-zoned sites and buildings) continue as we work with our municipalities eyeing this type of growth. “On spec” flex space is being built regularly in Saratoga County and the support of the Saratoga County IDA and the Town of Clifton Park IDA is vital to that continuing. 

Read More

City Of Glens Falls Creates Indoor Farm On The Third Floor Of Building At 22 Ridge St.

Posted on
Jeff Flagg, city of Glens Falls economic development director, shows the box-n-a box system—in this case 20×24 feet—that will be a growing space within the city’s indoor farm on Ridge Street.

By Christine Graf

The city of Glens Falls will embark on the creation of a vertical farm—an indoor farm designed to grow vegetables and herbs. 

The city received a $97,600 grant in 2020 to develop it. Glens Falls was one of 10 municipalities in the state to receive a share of the $1 million in grant money made available by the Empire State Development Smart Cities Innovation Partnership. The partnership is a pilot program to facilitate the development and integration of emerging technologies into public services.

According to city Economic Development Director Jeff Flagg, the idea of creating some type of urban/vertical farm is one that officials have discussed for several years. Not long after applying for the grant, the COVID pandemic led to business shutdowns and supply chain issues. Then the idea made even more sense.

“We knew we might be faced with empty spaces in downtown areas that needed to be repurposed, whether temporarily or permanently,” said Flagg. “We wanted to come up with a model where we could—relatively quickly and relatively easily and with minimal alterations to an interior space—create what I call a box-in-a-box. You build a cube within a room and that becomes your farm. It fits the contour of the room that you are building it in.”

The box-in-a-box design is one that can be replicated in any building with sufficient access to water and energy. It can also be easily packed up and transferred to a new location.

Read More

Officials: War In The Ukaraine Has Adverse Effect On Area Employment, Supply Chain

Posted on

By Paul Post

Some restaurants aren’t serving lunch, Gore Mountain can’t keep all of its lift lines running, and one area paper company is so desperate for help that it’s put up small roadside signs, hoping to attract new workers.

An already serious labor shortage could grow worse, creating serious problems for the Lake George-Saratoga Region economy if the Ukrainian crisis keeps young Eastern Europeans from filling hundreds of hospitality and tourism industry jobs this summer, local officials say.

“Such a heartbreaking situation,” said Amanda Metzger, Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce marketing director. “This could affect a larger region than only the Ukraine. We are prepared to market the available jobs as we had to last year, but it is with such a heavy heart that we prepare for this potential workforce shortage, thinking of what the people of Ukraine are facing.”

In a Facebook posting, the Lake George restaurant 10 McGillis Public House said, “All over the Capital Region and especially here in Lake George, we rely on the international students and J1 Student work program to staff our local businesses and boost our economy. With the exception of the pandemic in recent years, hundreds of students come to our area to work each summer. Most of them work two or even three jobs at a time and they are an integral part of some business’s success for the tourist season.”

Many student come from Poland, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

Read More

James Morris IV Becomes New Berkshire Bank Regional President For New York State

Posted on
James J. Morris IV will be regional president for Berkshire Bank in New York state.
Courtesy Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank, which has branches in Queensbury and Whitehall, announced that  James J. Morris IV will become the regional president for New York state. 

Berkshire’s New York state region includes the Capital Region, the Mohawk Valley, and Central New York markets.

 Under his expanded role, Morris will support Berkshire’s lines of business in the region including commercial and consumer lending, business and branch banking, and wealth management. Bank officials said his leadership will be critical to driving high customer satisfaction, serving clients, and expanding Berkshire’s brand throughout New York state. 

In addition, he will provide oversight to Berkshire’s two community advisory councils in the Capital and Central New York markets. 

“Berkshire’s commitment to the New York region has never been stronger and we will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen our service offerings and enhance our community impact and presence under Jim’s leadership. His expanded responsibilities will help us achieve synergies in the market and unlock opportunities for meaningful impact in support of our Berkshire’s Exciting Strategic Transformation (BEST) and BEST Community Comeback plans,” stated Sean Gray, president and COO of Berkshire Bank.

 Morris is a seasoned banking professional who has served as regional president for the Capital Region market since January 2020, in addition to leading the commercial real estate team throughout the state. 

Read More

Official: Community Bank NA Branch Shows ‘Commitment To Saratoga-Glens Falls’

Posted on
Paul T. Wersten is the vice president, commercial banking officer, at Community Bank NA branch in Saratoga Springs. The office will serve commercial customers in Saratoga and Warren counties.
©2022 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Jill Nagy

Community Bank NA has opened an office in Saratoga Springs, fillinga gap between its outposts in Latham and Whitehall and providing a more convenient location for commercial banking customers in Saratoga and Warren Counties. Jeffrey M. Levy, Community Bank president of commercial banking, who heads the new office, said that it “demonstrates our commitment to the Saratoga-Glens Falls community.”

The office is located on the second floor of The Washington building, 422 Broadway, upstairs from Northshire Bookstore and Kilwins.  At least initially, the office will serve commercial clients with lending, insurance and wealth management services. It will not accept deposits and there are no tellers’ cages. Its four employees are “just the start,” according to Levy. Two of them will concentrate on making loans and one each will provide insurance and wealth management services. 

Community Bank has 11 branches in the Capital Region, including Albany, Latham, Whitehall, and Lake Placid.  Their southernmost office is in Albany’s Corporate Woods. Their community focus places them in non-metropolitan areas, i.e., not in large cities. In addition to the Capital Region, the bank has offices in Northeast Pennsylvania, Vermont, Western Massachusetts, and every county in Upstate New York, Levy said.  

There are no immediate plans for further expansion, Levy said, but noted that Gens Falls “fits in with our whole model.”

Read More

Business Report: Staying The Course In Uncertain Times

Posted on

by Kenneth J. Entenmann

Kenneth J. Entenmann, senior vice president at NBT Wealth Management.
Courtesy ARCC

As the world watches the events unfold in Ukraine, it goes without saying that what we are witnessing is tragic and the human toll is something that cannot be understated. Military action always brings uncertainty, and it is difficult to assess the full extent of the situation while it is unfolding. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is no exception, and it has resulted in stunning market volatility.

However, strictly from an investment and economic perspective, geopolitical events rarely cause major bear markets or recessions. The markets tend to view them like natural disasters. That is, they are highly regionalized, they cause significant loss of property and life, but tend to be short-lived. 

Historically, dating back to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990, there have been nine global military “interventions.” The time period from the onset of the event and the market bottom ranges from 0 days to 70 days. For example, the market bottomed out 10 days after the 9/11 attack in 2001. The average decline in the S&P 500 is -6.9 percent. Importantly, the markets tend to recover quickly. 

The average one-month return after the bottom is 2.2 percent, the three-month return is 5.4 percent and the one-year return is 13.5 percent. Like all geopolitical events, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is impossible to predict. That said, it is likely to follow history’s pattern for a few reasons.

Read More

Business Report: Women May Need Financial ‘Catch-Up’

Posted on
John Gable is a financial advisor with Edward Jones Financial in Warrensburg.

By John Gable

It’s unfortunate but true: If you’re a woman, you face more obstacles than men in achieving financial security. And that means you may well need to put in some extra effort.

Just how serious is your challenge? For one thing, women still face a gender pay gap – based on median incomes, women earn about 82 cents for every dollar a man makes, according to the Census Bureau. 

This pay gap amounts to a nearly $470,000 difference in lifetime earnings, according to an Edward Jones/Age Wave study. Furthermore, when factoring in the career disruptions women face because of caring for children and elderly parents, that $470,000 becomes a $1.1 million lifetime earnings gap, according to the study. Finally, women tend to live longer than men, meaning their lifetime earnings must last longer.

Everyone’s situation is different, but these figures at least point to the challenges many women encounter. To help yourself, consider these moves:

• Pay yourself first. You always have to pay your bills – but, at the same time, pay yourself by moving money automatically from your checking account each month into a low-risk, liquid vehicle, such as a money market account or some type of cash management account connected with your investment portfolio. This move can help give you a “bucket” of money to use for any reason, such as the need to step away from your job to care for children or aging parents.

Read More