Glens Falls Business Journal

For Banks, Customer Service Means Keeping Up With The Latest Advances In Technology

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Marc Monahan, Glens Falls market executive with NBT Bank.
Courtesy NBT Bank

By Jill Nagy
Customer service is important to any business, including banks. So keeping up with the latest in technology is important, as banks compete to retain and draw customers.
Online apps that allow customers to make deposits, move money to other people’s accounts, as well as check their own accounts; ATM’s that accept cash deposits and return a photographic record of a check deposit; and branches smaller and more streamlined that offer a range of financial services, including insurance and investment services, are all services banks now offer.

After Doing It For Years As A Sideline, Woman Creates Her Own Events Organizing Business

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Stacy Bissell is in business for herself as Anastacia’s Events LLC out of Queensbury.
Courtesy Stacy Bissell

By Jill Nagy
After more than 20 years of organizing events, often as a sideline to a sales position, Stacy Bissell is in business for herself as Anastacia’s Events LLC out of Queensbury.
She specializes in setting up trade shows and sales conventions, but has done everything from family parties to weddings to corporate team-building events.
“What I do is my passion,” she said, “I am following my passion as my career.” She said that she has “a ton of contacts” from previous work and, although in business for less than six months, “I am very busy.”

New Business Helps Students Find The Right College For Their Career Goalss

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Maria Nissi operates a business as an independent college admissions consultant.
Courtesy Maria Nissi

By Susan E. Campbell
Maria Nissi is an independent college admissions consultant who has started a new business to help high school students find the best fit for their college careers. With 4,000 institutions to choose from and sticker prices that can mean decades of debt, more and more parents are finding guidance like Nissi’s to be invaluable.
“Some people think this is a service only for the rich,” said Nissi. “But it’s a lot less expensive than transferring because the student was not in the right place.”

Brown Teaches Quickbooks, But Also Offers Coaching, Training For Small Businesses

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Linda Brown of Spire Business Inc. trains and educates small business owners.
©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Christine Graf
Linda Brown of Spire Business, Inc. never set out to start her own business. She had a successful career in money management and financial planning when she took a maternity leave in 2002.
While on leave, a CPA asked her if she could help some of his clients with QuickBooks.
“I never went back to corporate America,” she said. “As a financial planner, you work 70 hours a week and I really didn’t want to do that.”

Business Briefs – March 2019

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

The Adirondack Thunder hockey team, ECHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils playing at Cool Insuring Arena, has donated $17,950 to Special Olympics.
The donation came from the post-game jersey auction after a Law Enforcement Appreciation night at Cool Insuring Arena. This amount is the largest donation in Adirondack Thunder history. The specialty jerseys were purchased and donated by the Sheriff’s Offices of Washington, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.
Conor Riley’s Law Enforcement Appreciation jersey sold for a team-high $1,500 in the auction, while captain James Henry’s and goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos’ jerseys also topped the four-digit plateau.

Washington County LDC Has Surpassed $18 Million In Loans To Development Projects

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Deanna Derway, Washington County LDC president and executive director.

By Susan E. Campbell
Washington County is on a trajectory for continued low unemployment and healthy economic growth in 2019. The Washington County Local Development Corp. will cross the $18 million mark in loans since the public entity began in 1985, officials said.
“Things are going well for us,” said Deanna Derway, WCLDC president and executive director. Since 2015, we’ve approved over $750,000 in loan funding each year and we continue to see an increase in loan applications presented to us annually.”

EDC Warren County Busy Helping Groups Get Ready For State Development Grant Program

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Ed Bartholomew is the president and CEO of EDC Warren County.

By R.J. DeLuke
EDC Warren County is the key driver of economic development efforts in the Glens Falls area and as such, its staff is always busy.
Toward the top of the tasks this time of year is giving businesses and municipalities in the county assistance with application process for the annual Capital Region Economic Development Council grant awards. The state doles out millions statewide through its Consolidated Funding by New York State program. The funding helps many economic development projects in the area—for businesses and municipalities. The applications are competitive, so interested parties must submit compelling information. In the first eight rounds of the state money competition, New York has given out $6.1 billion to 10 regions. The Capital Region, that includes Warren and Washington counties, has received $588.9 million for 813 projects over the past eight years. Last year, the counties raked in about $9.8 million.

CEG Official: Area Counties Seeing Good Economic Growth Compared To Other Areas

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Andrew Kennedy, president and CEO of the Center for Economic Growth.
Courtesy CEG

By Greg Hitchcock
Warren and Washington counties are benefiting from the economic growth in the region spearheaded by Saratoga County. The growth is continuing in 2019, according to the Center for Economic Growth.
According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, 17 counties in New York state had employment gains from June 2017 to June 2018 with Saratoga County having the largest gain up 2.7 percent.
“All three counties have grown their private sector over the last five years with GlobalFoundries kicking off this growth,” said Andrew Kennedy, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Economic Growth, an economic and business development agency serving as a primary point of contact for businesses interested in growing in or moving to the Capital Region.

Albany Med Biomedical Research Arm Will Get Boost From $250K National Grid Grant

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

A regional economic initiative to bring biomedical innovations to market was awarded a $250,000 economic development grant from National Grid.
The Biomedical Acceleration and Commercialization Center (BACC) at Albany Medical College received a grant from National Grid to provide direct financial assistance to BACC biomedical start-up companies for commercialization needs and access to experts. It will also help support the BACC’s entrepreneurs in the arenas of clinical trials, prototype development, marketing and hiring consultants for regulatory needs, officials said.

Digital Marketing Passion Leads Woman To Create A Company Helping Other Businesses

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Amberly Bucci helps companies with their digital marketing strategies.
©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Susan E. Campbell
Amberly Bucci is a businesswoman who wants others to know that they, too, can turn their life’s passion into profit.
“For myself, I combined my passion for travel, digital marketing and teaching, and fused them together to create a career that I love: digital marketing with a focus on the hospitality industry,” Bucci said.
Last fall she officially formed Amberly Bucci LLC, a move she said was “long overdue.” After only a few months, the feedback she is getting utilizing digital marketing expertise is “exciting.”