Glens Falls Business Journal

Personnel Briefs: October 2021

October 18, 2021

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Warren County announced the hiring of two new employees, Kali DeMarco and Rebecca Devaney.

DeMarco, a graduate from Green Mountain College, is the farm-to-school coordinator. Her focus will be to strengthening partnerships between local food producers and area public schools in Warren and Washington counties. The objective of this program is to connect locally grown, fresh, healthy foods to schools and to teach students the importance of healthy eating in an educational setting.

DeMarco will also work to create and implement the Harvest of the Month program, which highlights a different local product each month.

After graduating from Green Mountain College, DeMarco earned a B.S in natural resource management and a B.A. in animal care and conservation, focusing on law and policy. Before her time at CCE, DeMarco worked at The Wild Center, a natural history museum in the Adirondacks.

Devaney, a graduate of Siena College and currently perusing her M.S. in Agriculture and Plant Health Management from Washington State University, is the new community horticulture coordinator.

She will oversee Warren County’s master gardener volunteer program, and assists with related programs for CCE Saratoga. She will also deliver educational programs and resources on diverse community-based horticulture topics.

Devaney is originally from Long Island, spent her undergraduate years studying environmental science at Siena College. She went on to spend five years working as an educator at the Queens and Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, where she received a certificate in horticulture.

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40 Oak Classic American Grille In Queensbury Introduces Its Fall Menu

October 18, 2021

Jim Campione is the owner and operator of 40 Oak Classic American Grille in Queensbury. The restaurant is open six days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.,and is closed Tuesdays.
Courtesy 40 Oak Classic

By Lisa Balschunat

40 Oak Classic American Grille restaurant opened in the spring at 925 Route 9 in Queensbury and for the past few months has been building its staff and fine tuning its schedule.

In October it introduced a new fall menu. It also recently expanded its hours to include breakfast six days a week, and the bar now features five local beers on tap.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Jim Campione owner and operator. “We’re keeping it fresh and keeping it local. We are a family run business. We are not a chain and we look forward to serving visitors and locals here for years to come. We want people to come in, have a seat, have a drink and a great meal.”

The restaurant is currently open six days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., but is closed Tuesdays.

“We have a sign on the front door asking for people’s patience,” Campione said. “Like many other businesses, we are understaffed right now, but are doing our absolute best to serve our customers in a timely fashion.”

The restaurant presently has 20 people on staff and is looking to hire 20 more.

The breakfast menu includes omelet and Egg Benedict variations, pancakes, French toast, Belgian waffles, homemade sausage over biscuits, and classic breakfast sandwiches, wraps and quesadillas.

Area Training And Events Sports Complex Adds Outdoor Lighted Basketball Courts

October 18, 2021

Golden Goal Sports Park is a 196-acre sports complex designed in the style of an Olympic Village, used by local teams and athletes. It recently installed two lighted outdoor basketball courts.
Courtesy Golden Goal Sports Park

By Lisa Balschunat

Golden Goal Sports Park recently installed two lighted outdoor basketball courts to its complex in Fort Ann, with pickleball courts next on the facility’s installation agenda.

In operation for 15 years, Golden Goal is a 196-acre sports complex designed in the style of an Olympic Village. The property at 495 Goodman Road touts eight outdoor fields for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and flag football, training, games and tournaments. Four fields are natural grass. Four are artificial turf.

According to Emmie Doin, facility director, the complex—promoted as the Northeast Premier Residential Sports Venue—offers practice times, sports retreats, tournaments, a college internship program, and has 25 cabins that can sleep up to 400 people. Field rentals are available for professional organizations, clubs, colleges, academies, high schools and travel teams.

“Golden Goal gives young athletes a place to fine-tune their skills, compete in games and tournaments, and train outdoors,” she said.

Players, team staff and chaperones can participate in 2-day to 7-day programs that include meals and all of the amenities in the Athlete’s Village and staff lounge.

“The Athlete’s Village includes outdoor activities like spike ball, can jam and cornhole and indoor activities include ping pong, air hockey, televisions, Xboxes and PlayStations,” she said. “We also have a challenge course for athletes to work on their team building skills while having fun.” The course includes a 10-foot vertical wall and tire flips.

GTM Payroll Services Acquires Area HR Company Pinnacle Human Resources LLC

October 18, 2021October 18, 2021

GTM Payroll Services, a leader in the Capital Region for payroll and human resource information systems (HRIS), will now be able to offer businesses a full suite of human resources support solutions with the acquisition of Pinnacle Human Resources LLC, a leader in outsourced human resources consulting, HR project-based solutions, and leave-of-absence administration services.

GTM Payroll Services and Pinnacle Human Resources will combine best-of-breed payroll solutions with best-in-class HR consulting services to offer an unparalleled spectrum of payroll and human resources solutions for businesses, company officials said.

According to GTM, many companies are reporting how outsourcing all or part of the HR function to subject matter experts is an increasingly attractive and time-saving option as businesses struggle to manage the complexities of an ever-changing legal compliance landscape, managing and retaining local and remote talent, and implementing HR best practices that keep employees aligned with business goals.

Companies also report how they improve infrastructure through the implementation of better payroll technology and the best practices in HR processes, freeing up valuable time and resources. By utilizing HR consultants, companies were able to effect changes more quickly. Pinnacle HR consultants have the expertise to implement systems and make improvements to the entire HR delivery system.

“For 30 years, GTM has been at the forefront of payroll and HRIS technology providing our clients with the best solutions available for their needs,” said GTM Payroll Services founder and CEO Guy Maddalone. “By adding an experienced team of human resources consultants and the customized HR support services offered by Pinnacle Human Resources, we will bring even more value to our clients to help them lower costs and streamline their workflow processes.”

“Human resources best practices and today’s payroll solutions are attached at the hip,” said Rose Miller, president of Pinnacle. “By joining the GTM team, it is a tremendous opportunity to accelerate our growth. I have admired GTM’s ability to respond to businesses’ changing needs. We are delighted to join GTM, with a similar culture dedicated to achieving ecstatic clients by providing them with a robust menu of payroll and HR support solutions.”

Adirondack Regional Chamber Announces Annual Business Awards In Seven Categories

October 18, 2021

Michael Howard’s Erbessd Instruments won the award in the Professional Business category. The company is an industrial equipment monitoring sensor business in Glens Falls.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) announced the winners of its 2021 Business of the Year Awards.

This annual awards honor deserving chamber members who are nominated by their peers and interviewed by the Business Awards Nomination Committee to determine the winners.

“It was a blessing to honor and celebrate these businesses who give so much to our greater community. These past 18 months were challenging for businesses, but we came together as one people. It really is about community, and the people in it, making a difference every single day,” said Michael Bittel, ARCC president and CEO.

The winners were announced at an awards breakfast, on Oct. 7 at Dunham’s Bay Resort on Lake George. The winners, in their respective categories, are:

Large Business category winner, Ideal Dairy Farms. Nominees for this category included Morcon Tissue.

Small Business category winner, FISH307.com. Nominees for this category included Better Than New Painting, J. Reid Menswear, Lakota’s Farm Weddings & Events, Massie’s Restaurant, Putorti’s Broadway Market, Saratoga Quality Hardware, Inc./Burgoyne Quality Hardware, and Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery

Large Nonprofit Organization category winner, Hudson Headwaters Health Network.

‘Lids’ Features Custom Embroidered Hats, Sports Caps At Outlets Of Lake George

October 18, 2021

Lisds is a chain store that sells professional sport hats and caps in a wide variety of styles. An outlet recently opened at The Outlets of Lake George, 1415 Route 9, Queensbury.

By Lisa Balschunat

Lids, a store featuring officially licensed Major League Baseball, National Football League and National Basketball Association hats and caps in a wide variety of styles, is stocked up for the fall and winter season at The Outlets of Lake George, 1415 Route 9, Queensbury.

Hats of most MLB, NFL and NBA teams can be found on the shelves of the 1,000 square foot store. The new store also carries a limited selection of college and hockey hats.

Customers can also walk into the store, order a custom designed embroidered hat and walk out of the store with it in less than 30 minutes.

“With our in-store embroidery machine, we can customize any hat, and with most orders, embroider it right on the spot,” said Joe Refici, district manager. “If you want a team logo on the front and the signature of your favorite athlete on the side, we can do that,” he said. “If you want a local Little League team logo and your kid’s signature on the side, we can to that, too.”

Depending on the design, it takes from 5 to 25 minutes to embroider. “If the needle can go through it, we can do it,” Refici said. Customers can choose from New Era, Mitchell & Ness and other brand-name caps to have embroidered.

Additionally, the store has a graphic collection with over 1,000 designs that have been created specifically for embroidering.

Lids also embroiders local logos on hats for local teams or businesses when provided with custom design in a digital format. Refici said JPEG, PNG and PDF files work best.

For orders of 12 or more hats, the turnaround is two to three days.

Town Fair Tire Centers Of New York Has Plans For A New Tire Store In Queensbury

October 18, 2021

This is the Town Fair Tire Centers store in Rutland, Vt. The company purchased property on Route 9 in Queensbury where the chain plans to build its second New York tire repair center.

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Queensbury will soon be home to a 7,269 square-foot tire repair and sales center.

Town Fair Tire Centers of New York LLC has purchased a former Pizza Hut restaurant property on Route 9 in Queensbury where the chain plans to build its second New York tire repair center.

Town Fair Tires purchased the property at 863 Route 9 from Orest Boychuk and the Omall Family Partnership. According to Mike Barbaro, senior vice president of the company, the projected timeline for the completion of the project is some time in the summer of 2022.

Barbaro said they chose Queensbury as their second New York location because of the success they have had with the first one.

Business Report: Don’t Let Year-End Sneak Up On You

October 18, 2021

Mark Shaw, president and CEO of Stored Technology Solutions Inc. (StoredTech).

By Mark Shaw

Although it’s the end of 2021, it seems like 2020 all over again, right? Well, this year will have some new challenges.

Don’t let the last quarter of the year leave your business unprepared for growth and support. There are things you can do now to ensure that in the world of technology you are not left out in the cold come December.

During this time of the year, budgets are being built and the last of the year spends are getting planned out. In a perfect world, companies would finalize those purchases in late November or early December, just in time to get the hardware, software, or service in play and being used before Jan. 1. Every business I know, StoredTech included, finds those final hour purchases to help with business financials.

In 2021, with the supply chain tightened and stretched in some areas, a wait-and-see approach cannot be taken.

Right now, chip shortages with car makers are the most visible to the public. The dealership lots are filled with many empty spaces. Go to your local grocery store, or even Walmart, these gaps in the shelves and lack of variety is now commonplace. Years ago, shelf space was at a premium and brands would pay extra to be at eye level. Now retailers are just trying to fill the shelves.

Although, it may seem normal to pick up alternative items when grocery shopping for your family, there are more consequential results when it comes to your business and how it can be impacted. The lack of materials visible in supermarkets, are visible in business technology as well.

Tech hardware is back ordered, slow to arrive, and ship dates keep being missed. The more ‘unique’ the hardware, the harder it is to find.

Business Has Been Good For Companies That Rent Out Office Space For Professionals

October 18, 2021October 18, 2021

Christy Alexander the owner of WorkSmart on Glen Street in Glens Falls.
Courtesy WorkSmart

By Jennifer Farnsworth

The business of providing professionals with a functioning workspace outside of their home or office is a gowing one.

In Glens Falls, the work away from home and office workspace has found its way into a business owned by Christy Alexander.

Alexander is the owner of WorkSmart, now located inside the former First National Bank in downtown Glens Falls. Alexander was also an entrepreneur ahead of the game, opening her business in 2018. She describes it as a co-working and meeting space designed to provide small businesses and remote workers with a sense of community.

“People need to be around other people, to feel connected, especially when they share common goals,” said Alexander.

While it may be something more and more people are seeking in the wake of COVID-19 and the unanticipated work from the home era, places like Saratoga CoWorks have actually been around for years.

Co-owner Dorothy Rogers-Bullis said her business first began in 2014, and has been thriving ever since.

“We have always been busy. The pandemic didn’t really seem to change that, however we do know that people don’t generally like to work from home. In business, it’s always better to be around others, other professionals, and that is what our business is known for, a place for professionals,” said Rogers-Bullis.

NY State Of Health Will Open Enrollment Period For Health Marketplace On Nov. 16

October 18, 2021

NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, have announced the affordable health insurance options available to New Yorkers in 2022.

Open enrollment for coverage in a 2022 Qualified Health Plan starts Nov. 16 for new and returning consumers and ends on Jan.31.

“Marketplace enrollment has topped 6.3 million people this year as more New Yorkers choose to protect themselves and their families with affordable, quality coverage during the COVID-19 public health emergency,” said Acting NY State of Health Executive Director Danielle Holahan. “Consumers can begin previewing their 2022 plan options and premiums today through NY State of Health’s plan shopping tool.”

Significantly, officials said, expanded federal tax credits remain available to New Yorkers who enroll in Qualified Health Plans (QHP.) This enhanced American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) financial assistance is available now, including to higher-income individuals for the first time. Consumers who receive premium tax credits, more than 60 percent of QHP enrollees, will see no change in their premium costs for 2022, or in some cases a small decrease in the cost of coverage compared to 2021.

According to the Health Department, one in three New Yorkers are enrolled in health coverage through the Marketplace. Enrollment has increased across all marketplace programs since April 2021, when the state began implementing ARPA tax credit and Essential Plan (EP) enhancements.

All 12 insurers that offered Qualified Health Plans last year will offer them again in 2022. Consumers who enroll in a QHP between Nov. 16 and Dec. 15 will have coverage starting Jan. 1.