By Jill Nagy
Get your life in order, think about possible tax changes and, above all, don’t panic. That is the advice of area financial advisors for surviving in the age of COVID-19.
“It’s never been more important to attend to your estate plan,” said Jeff Vahanian of Vahanian & Associates in Saratoga Springs. “We are very aggressive about this. People have had to adjust their behavior in many ways. I hope they refocus on things that matter.”
End Of The Year Provides Opportunity To Review, Optimize Estate And Financial Plans
By Raymond C. Radigan
Year-end is always a special time. A time for resolutions and reflection—especially in a year as volatile and unprecedented as 2020.
The end of the year also provides a final opportunity to review and potentially optimize your estate and financial plans to ensure you are in the best possible position going into 2021. With the uncertainty and potential changes in tax policy, it is even more important to speak with your estate planning and/or tax adviser to get a head start. Consider the following issues when contemplating year-end planning:
Business Report: Focus On What You Can Control
BY Mickey Orta
The top two questions that financial professionals have been hearing from customers are: “What’s going to happen to my investments and financial plans depending on the results of the presidential election?” and “When will things get back to normal post-COVID?”
While these questions can’t be answered directly, that doesn’t mean we have to sit tight without taking any action.
It’s probably safe to say that 2020 has not unfolded in a way that any of us could have predicted.
ADKtechs Drives Economic Mobility Through Its Apprentice And Internship Programs
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Adirondack Technical Solutions (ADKtechs) has partnered with SUNY Adirondack and BOCES to provide internship and apprentice opportunities to area students.
The Argyle-based IT company is placing value on experiential education that leaves students with marketable job skills, as well as college credits.
“As a kid, I was really interested in programing and gaming,” said Jared Humiston, ADKtechs president. “My mother paid $2,800 for one of the first Windows computers in 1992. It got shipped to the house and before she got home I had the whole thing torn apart to see how it worked. I was 12 years old.”
Humiston started his company in 2005 and went full-time in 2010.
“Before I knew it, I had 40 clients, all from referrals. I’d been working for a $100 million tech company in Albany, and finally I said, ‘I should just be doing this for myself,’”said Humiston.
Remediation Of Wetlands Completed On Lake George Escape Campground Acreage
Courtesy Lake George Escape
Lake George Escape, a popular campground destination, is celebrating its completion of a $1 million wetland remediation project, restoring and enhancing wetlands throughout the approximately 175-acre campground.
The restoration is part of a large stream and wetland complex in and around Lake George Escape on the shores of the beautiful Schroon River.
Campground officials said the restoration project includes an overhaul of natural habitats, the replacement of bridges, a significant number of plantings around the shoreline and a back-to-nature experience around the Schroon River.
The grounds are located at 175 East Schroon River Road, Diamond Point. The owner-operator is Lifestyle Equity Properties.
The parkwide wetland restoration and remediation project will also provide kayaking and fishing opportunities to outdoor nature enthusiasts.
Wetlands around a campground had been filled in and had their water source curtailed 50 or so years ago.
Work By Painter George Bellows Bequeathed To The Hyde By Former Museum Trustee
Courtesy The Hyde
The Hyde museum in Glens Falls acquired a second work by American realist George Bellows, entitled “Freeman Young’s Place” (Matinicus Island, Me.), by virtue of a bequest by former trustee and longtime Hyde Collection supporter Evelyn “Evie” Muller, who died in March.
The colorful landscape has not been seen publicly since 1923, shortly before the artist’s untimely death in January 1925 at the age of 42.
The painting is one in a series that Bellows completed during a 1916 trip to Maine, where he painted a small holding of an island fisherman named Freeman Young on Matinicus Island.
Report: Some Parts Of Region’s Job Sector Slowly Rebounding Despite COVID-19
Since COVID-19-related job losses peaked in April, the education services, retail trade and other sectors in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan statistical area (MSA) have slowly bounced back, according to a report from the Center for Economic Growth.
However, as of July, hard-hit sectors such as leisure and hospitality, and healthcare and social assistance have been slow to reduce their year-over-year losses or even seen them widen, the report said.
Data from the state Department of Labor shows signs of economic recovery in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA that includes Saratoga County. The metro had 421,700 nonfarm employed workers as of last July. While that represented a 46,800 job, or 10 percent, loss from a year earlier, it was narrower than the 15.3 percent loss the metro had sustained in April.
However, the economic recovery was slower in the Glens Falls MSA (Warren-Washington), the report said, where the year-over year nonfarm jobs loss only narrowed from 18.7 percent in April to 16.8 percent in July.
By July, most Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA sectors were still seeing year-over-year employment losses, CEG said. Transportation and warehousing was an exception, with flat job growth. Leisure and hospitality had led the region in year-over-year job losses in April, totaling 72,300.
Glens Falls Business Improvement District Helps Spruce Up Downtown Properties
Courtesy Glens Falls Bid
Andrea Harwood Palmer
The Glens Falls Business Improvement District organization has been around for awhile, but its membership feels it has been under the radar.
A rebranding is taking place to improve that.
“It became apparent over our last few months of strategic planning that we needed to make people more aware of the BID—what we’re doing, what our purpose is. We’ve been around for 15 years, and we’ve done a lot of projects, and we’ve been very quiet about it,” said Dan Burke, BID president.
Burch Bottle & Packaging Purchases Web Graphics Building In Queensbury
By Christine Graf
Waterford-based Burch Bottle & Packaging, Inc. has purchased the former Web Graphics building in Queensbury.
The 12-acre property was purchased for $2.5 million and includes a 76,000-square-foot warehouse with five loading docks. It is located at 428 Corinth Road, approximately one mile west of Northway Exit 18 .
According to Burch Bottle vice president George Ide IV, it was the property’s proximity to the Northway that was one of its major selling points.
“We had been looking for a new location for about two years,” said Ide. “We were looking for more space. It’s not an easy thing to find an existing space, and we didn’t want to build. This is a great area—a growing area—with a good shipping lane.”
Tourism Officials in Lake George Region Launch Effort To Bring More People To Area
Courtesy Lake George Chamber of Commerce
In the Lake George region, officials have undertaken an effort to make it easier for people to have custom-made fall fun and discover less crowded places.
Leading hospitality organizations in the region have teamed up to provide rich travel and outdoor experiences for visitors and help local people discover what’s in their backyard while staying safe.
“A demanding daylong hike on trails less traveled in the Adirondacks? Biking in rugged terrain? Or antiquing followed by a gourmet dinner? It’s all available in the Lake George region this fall,” said a release from Warren County Tourism, LakeGeorge.com, Look Media and Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce announcing the initiative.
The groups are working together to produce customized weekend itineraries to help visitors make the most of “summer’s second act,” the release said. The itineraries will be distributed via email blasts from the different organizations and promoted through social media on a weekly basis this fall.