The Washington County Local Development Corp. (WCLDC) and the Adirondack Regional Chambers of Commerce (ARCC) are currently accepting nominations for the annual Washington County Business Awards.
Nominations are being accepted through Wednesday, Sept. 5.
The award recipients and nominees will be honored at a luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 25, at the Whitehall Athletic Club, 62 Poultney St., Whitehall.
By Rob Shauger
When it comes to hard drive destruction there are a lot of questions and misinformation out there. This misinformation leaves a lot of personal data vulnerable.
In fact, a recent data recovery study showed that even after attempts to wipe drives, data could still be recovered. The study purchased 200 used hard drives on eBay and Craigslist and found that 67 percent of those drives still held personally identifiable information. Even more frightening, 11 percent of those drives contained sensitive corporate data such as company emails, sales projection spreadsheets, product inventories, and CRM records.
In order to protect yourself and your business, you need to have the right information. For this reason, we have decided to debunk four of the most popular hard drive destruction myths:
Myth 1: You can destroy a hard drive by putting it in water.
MD/Muroff Daigle Hospitality Group announced the sale of the Wingate by Wyndham – Lake George, 4054 Route 9L, Lake George, for $7.4 million.
The seller was Adirondack Lodging LLC and the Buyer was HELI IP LLC, according to Mitch Muroff of Muroff Daigle Hospitality Group.
The Wingate Lake George is a modern limited-service hotel that opened in 2007 and is located near the lake and the center of the village of Lake George.
It has 96 updated guest rooms and suites, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a fitness facility, meeting rooms, a two-story atrium lobby and a complimentary breakfast area. There is free WiFi, plentiful parking and easy access to Northway Exit 21.
Pranav Parekh, principal owner of HELI IP LLC, resides in Massachusetts and has experience with franchise hotels in Florida, Muroff said.
By Jennifer Farnsworth
Boats By George is expanding, as ownership has purchased a second marina on Lake George—this one on the east shore of Lake George.
The company made the move earlier this summer in an effort to meet the needs of their customers, particularly those who are looking for a place to dock their boats, said George Pensel, owner of Boats By George.
Prior to the new purchase, Boats By George had a marina on the east side of Lake George at 291 Cleverdale Road in Cleverdale; A showroom at 18 Route 149, Lake George, and a service center at 10018 Route 149 in Fort Ann.
Pensel paid $2.39 million to buy Warner Bay Dockage at 39 Rockhurst Road in Queensbury from Marion DeMarco. The transaction closed June 15,
New York state has awarded a $343,000 grant to the town of Lake George to repair and upgrade wastewater collection infrastructure and to protect the water quality of Lake George.
The funding is provided through the $2.5 billion Clean Water Infrastructure Act and is part of the state’s ongoing efforts to improve water quality statewide.
“I enthusiastically supported the Clean Water Infrastructure Act to help small communities that lack sufficient financial resources fund important projects just like this one,” said Sen. Betty Little. “Investing in infrastructure that protects our lakes and rivers has so many benefits and will pay dividends for local residents and bolster our tourism-based economy for many years to come. So many visitors are attracted to our region for the beauty and quality of our waterways.”
By Maureen Werther
The Adirondack Civic Center Coalition made its final payment of $50,000 to the city of Glens Falls in June, completing the lease-purchase of Cool Insuring Arena.
While the monetary component of the agreement has been fulfilled, the arena is still under lease from the city until the end of 2019, at which time the coalition will exercise its option to purchase the arena for the sum of $1. The total cost of the agreement was $600,000.
Dan Burke, president of the coalition, said that the final payment was the result of “years of hard work by the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition board and a dedicated staff.”
By Jill Nagy
The last vestige of General Electric Co.’s manufacturing presence in Washington County will soon disappear when work is completed demolishing the last building of the manufacturing plant on Route 4 in Fort Edward.
The plant in Fort Edward was built in 1942 and used for manufacture of motors and, later on, industrial capacitors. It was also the source of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) used in the manufacture of the capacitors. General Electric recently spent several years and millions of dollars to dredge those PCBs from the Hudson River.
A nearby manufacturing site in Hudson Falls has also been stripped of its buildings. That operation was discontinued several years ago and the building was removed last year.
By Susan E. Campbell
Hunter Werner, owner of Adirondack Knockerball, has introduced a new recreational sport to the region.
Called Bubble Soccer, the equipment is a four-foot inflatable “knockerball” that the player straps himself inside of, encasing their body from the knee up. The sport is safe, fun, and even a novice can play, said Werner.
“You just need enough weight to hold up the ball,” said Werner,.
He said there is a smaller Knockerball for kids ages 8 through 12 and an extra large for above-average sized adults.
NBT Bank announced that retail market manager Ian Townsend has been promoted to vice president.
Townsend has over 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. After completing NBT’s management development program, he advanced to positions of increasing responsibility in the bank’s Albany and Saratoga County branches.
He was named assistant vice president in July 2015 and was promoted to retail market manager in June 2016.
Townsend is responsible for managing the teams at NBT’s 12 branches in Clinton, Essex, Saratoga and Warren counties.
By Susan E. Campbell
Craig Merrell is on a mission to make a contribution to the revitalization and economic growth of downtown Glens Falls.
He now has two eateries with “downtown” in their names. Downtown City Tavern at 21 Elm St. opened in 2013. His newest venture, Downtown Social, located at 190 Glen St., opened the doors to its bourbon room in early May, its main restaurant the first of June, and its deli in early July.
Merrell said he was looking to fill a gap among downtown restaurants with an establishment that offers deli take-out food and fine casual dining at the same time, along with live entertainment.