Glens Falls Business Journal

Spooky Season Returns To Six Flags Great Escape With Annual ‘Fright Fest’ Activities

October 17, 2023

Six Flags Great Escape is running its annual Fright Fest during the Halloween season.
Courtesy Six Flags Great Escape

Six Flags Great Escape has transformed into a chilling scream park for its annual Fright Fest during the Halloween season.

The park’s celebration is back for its 25th year and features new entertainment, enhanced scare zones and the brand-new Hell Block VI. The high energy event delivers an experience that will leave guests with goosebumps, officials said.

People can go to Thrills by Day at Boo Fest, with family-friendly activities on Saturdays and Sundays. At 5 p.m., there is Frights by Night.

The all-new Hell Block VI attraction, populated with terrifying prisoners, expands the Fright Fest experience with a fourth haunt location.

Guests at Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Water Park can enjoy the lodge Boo Fest with themed activities for the entire family on Fridays and Saturdays in October.

At Hell Block VI, “dangerous monsters have escaped their cells after a prisoner revolt. Daring guests traverse the terrifying prison to reengage the security system and keep deranged prisoners from the outside world,” said a company news release. There are increased fog, sinister lighting, “blood-chilling sounds and creepy props.”

Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance Extends Visitor Center Season Through October 29th

October 17, 2023

The acclaimed Visitor Center will be open Friday through Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. Free guided tours of the site are offered Saturdays at 11 am.
Courtesy Battlefield Park Alliance

The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is marching through its second season of operating the park’s highly acclaimed Visitor Center by extending its season through the end of October, while also encouraging the public to keep exploring the site’s natural beauty and unique place in American history.

“September and October are spectacular months to trek around our battlefield,” said Bruce M. Venter, Alliance trustee and author of “The Battle of Hubbardton” and other books on early American military conflicts. “A crisp autumn day is a good time to get out for a walk.”

People will be able to see the Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center’s new additions, including the 1758 Abercromby campaign diorama. Then they can hike through the battlefield and view the remains of Fort George and other remnants of the French & Indian War and the American Revolution.

Continuing through Oct. 29, the Battlefield Park Visitor Center, 75 Fort George Road, Lake George, will be open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Battlefield Park Alliance will continue to host free guided tours of the site each Saturday in September and October, beginning at 11 a.m.

Eddy’s Eats, A New Food Service At SUNY Adirondack, Offers Locally Sourced Food

October 17, 2023

Eddy’s Eats offers counter service from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at SUNY Adirondack, featuring a Smoothie Lab and bagels from Glens Falls Bagels.
Courtesy SUNY Adirondack

SUNY Adirondack has a new food service offering on campus, giving students and staff more meal options.

The grand opening of Eddy’s Eats was held Sept. 13 on the campus.

Eddy’s Eats offers counter service from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, featuring a Smoothie Lab and bagels from Glens Falls Bagels.

Eddy’s Eats also provides three on-campus vending options, Just Baked, Costa Coffee and Byte.

“Eddy’s Eats responds to evolving preferences of our diverse community, saying goodbye to the traditional and ushering in an era of innovation for the Scoville dining option,” said Carrie Black, director of auxiliary services for the Faculty-Student Association of SUNY Adirondack.

Just Baked holds frozen products including White Castle burgers, cinnamon buns, potstickers, bar buns, breakfast sandwiches and cakes that are heated in a microwave.

Costa Coffee has more than 200 barista-style drink combinations, using freshly ground coffee. Byte is a cooler with a selection of cold products from Jack & Olive, including specialty sandwiches, wraps, protein packs, parfaits and more.

“This important addition provides another resource for students, allowing them more food options,” said Jacob Carpenter, president of Student Senate.

Funds Available To Warren And Saratoga County Residents To Open Registered Home-Based Childcare

October 17, 2023

By Christine Graf

Residents of Warren and Saratoga County may be eligible to receive funding to help defray the costs of opening registered home-based childcare businesses. Funds have been made available through a $205,000 federal grant that was obtained by a bi-county task force comprised of representatives from Warren County Workforce Development, Saratoga County Workforce Development, the Southern Adirondack Child Care Network, and Brightside Up.

The grant focuses on in-home providers because home-based childcare businesses tend to be more successful in rural areas. Start-up costs for these businesses are also significantly lower than for child care centers.

“Our goal is to open 10 home-based childcare centers in Warren County and 10 in Saratoga County,” said Warren County Director of Workforce Development Liza Ochsendorf.

According to Ochsendorf, many Capital Region communities are so desperately in need of licensed child care providers that they are considered child care deserts.

“Glens Falls is one of the biggest deserts we have, but there are child care deserts all over the two counties and throughout the nation.”

The Center for American Progress defines a child care desert as “any census tract with more than 50 children under the age of 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots.” An estimated 51 percent of Americans live in child care deserts.

The child care industry was especially hard hit by the COVID pandemic, and approximately 1 in 5 centers went out of business as a result of the pandemic. Others were kept afloat only because the CARES economic stimulus package provided them with emergency funds.

The Century Foundation think tank estimates that over 70,000 daycare providers throughout the country will be in danger of closing when stimulus money dries up at the end of September. If this happens, it could leave more than 3 million children without child care.

CultureTalk Corporate Assessment Tools Take Difficult Subjects And Make Them Easy To Explain

October 17, 2023

Theresa Agresta is one of the leaders at CultureTalk in Saratoga.

By Christine Graf

When leaders of the Veterinary Services division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were tasked with improving the agency’s internal culture, they turned to CultureTalk for help.

CultureTalk, a Saratoga Springs-based company, was founded by sisters Theresa Agresta and Cynthia Forstmann. The USDA is among a long list of companies and agencies from around the world that have utilized the CultureTalk Platform to measure and define workplace culture.

Organizational culture refers to the values, beliefs, attitudes, systems, and rules that outline and influence employee behavior within an organization.

“It’s common for people to talk about culture, but a lot of people don’t fully understand it,” said Agresta. “It is more often found in the ‘unwritten rules’ than the things that have been spelled out. CultureTalk can take something that is difficult to define and make it easy to talk about.”

The sisters came up with the idea for CultureTalk while working together on their first joint venture, brand development company Allegory Studios.

“Cynthia and I developed a niche and expertise in brand development,” said Agresta. “Very early on, we discovered the impact that measuring culture had on the development of an authentic brand. When we were working with a business to differentiate and brand them, the culture was the piece that really stood out to us.”

“If you are selling services, a lot of what you offer is similar to your competitors. It’s your people and your culture that really differentiate you, and that can be why a prospective client might choose your business.”

Mobile Meditation Studio Partners With Crossroads Way, Brings Meditation To Schools And Businesses

October 17, 2023

The mobile center created by Kayla Kraft of Grounded on Glen is outfitted with lights, heat, generator power, and diffusers. It can accommodate up to six participants at a time.

By Christine Graf

Since launching The Mobile Meditation Studio in September 2022, owner Kayla Craft has been travelling to schools and businesses throughout the Capital Region in a school bus that she transformed into a meditation studio. She recently partnered with Crossroads Way, Inc., a non-profit with a mission of “Helping Kids Along the Way.” Tax-deductible donations made through the non-profit will be used offset the cost of bringing the bus to high schools in underserved communities.

According to Craft, the partnership with Crossroads Way materialized after Katie MacDougall established the Glens Falls non-profit earlier this year.

“We teamed up with them to be able to identify school districts that may not have the funds to have the bus come to them. We want to make the bus accessible to schools that don’t have the resources. This is a way for local businesses and the community to help more kids have access to these services.”

To date, The Mobile Meditation Studio has visited high schools in numerous school districts including Gloversville, Hudson Falls, and South Glens Falls. It has also been utilized by BOCES and SUNY Adirondack.

President of Hunt Companies Inc., Has Received Several Awards and Recognitions

October 17, 2023

Amie Gonzales is President of Hunt Companies, Inc. (HCI).
Courtesy HCI

In 1986, Dennis Hunt started Hunt Construction Services in Argyle, N.Y., locally constructing residential and light commercial projects. When Hunt’s daughter, Amie, was old enough to get her work permit, she started working in the office with her mother, Cindy Hunt. She also spent evenings working alongside her father, watching and asking questions, learning how to read plans and skills needed in the building industry. Now, Amie Gonzales is President of Hunt Companies, Inc. (HCI) and has received several awards and recognition for her work leading that company.

After high school, Gonzales received an Associate’s Degree in Photographic Technology from Herkimer Community College. She returned to the family business. managing more minor projects. She was approached by an Army recruiter. After some thought, she enlisted in the Navy, where her father had served. She wanted the challenge that the service would bring. “I understood that they need to break you to build you up. I had always wondered if I could do it,” she says.

As a Mass Communications Specialist, Gonzales managed teams in the daily production of multimedia news stories. Her final deployment involved documenting counter illicit trafficking operations with 25 news stories and over 900 photographs. Her work then being published in more than 12 media outlets within the Department of Defense and external media outlets. While excelling at her position, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree through Excelsior University.

Early in her Naval career, she met and married Juan Gonzales. The couple spent much time apart, with each deployed at different times. After eight years of service, having achieved the rank of First Class Petty Officer, she left to create more stability for her family, which now included a young son, Ethan. They lived in Tampa, Florida, where Juan was stationed. Amie worked remotely for the family business while using the GI Bill to get an MBA in Project Management from Strayer University.

Simons Heating & Cooling Relocates To New Headquarters, 121 Warren Street in Glens Falls

October 17, 2023October 24, 2023

President Dave Simons, left and Operations Manager Jason McCormack, right stand in front of the new Simons Heating and Cooling headquarters located at 121 Warren Street in Glens Falls.

By Paul Post

Simons Heating & Cooling Inc. in Glens Falls, which serves customers from Ticonderoga to Albany, recently moved into new headquarters with over three times more space to accommodate its rapidly growing business.

“We have 11,000 square feet compared to 3,000 at our old location,” said founder and co-owner Dave Simons. “Everything is under one roof now from sales staff to warehousing and we own this building, whereas we were renting before.”

The 28-employee firm recently moved from 47 Main St., Queensbury, to the former Glens Falls K9 building at the corner of Warren Street and Oakland Avenue in Glens Falls.

“It was real important to us to have great visibility from the road at a four-way intersection where people stop and see us,” said Jason McCormack, co-owner and director of operations. “Most HVAC companies don’t have walk-in traffic where people can go into a showroom and discuss with a salesperson about what’s new on the market and what’s trending, or just simply come in and schedule a service appointment.”

“We want to attract people to come to our building, not just be another warehouse they drive by,” he said. “We’ll have signage out front with special offers so people can notice it and come in.”

Hogwash Cleaning Solutions Specializes In Residential & Commercial Exterior Cleaning

October 17, 2023

Hogwash Cleaning Solutions, established in 2009 continues growth with the addition of sandblasting, which has brought a lot more work.

By Christine Graf

It was while working full-time as a financial service representative at a local bank that Sacha Lewis took a part-time weekend job at Hogwash Cleaning Solutions, a company she now owns. The Whitehall-based business, one that specializes in residential and commercial exterior cleaning, was established by Lewis’ husband, Andrew Lewis, in 2009.

Lewis enjoyed working at Hogwash so much that she purchased the company from Andrew in 2015. Andrew has remained with the company as an employee, and the couple married in 2021.

“After I took over, I revamped everything. We are now better than we ever were, and we became an LLC in 2018,” said Lewis.

Hogwash had approximately 500 regular customers when she took ownership of the business. Since that time, Lewis said they have expanded their client list to include 4,000 individuals and businesses.

Real Estate Professionals Say Strong Demand For Homes Outpaces The Existing Inventory

October 17, 2023

Real estate professionals in the region say it is a tough market for buyers.

By Paul Post

Area realtors say the fourth quarter heading into 2024 continues to be a strong seller’s market as demand far outpaces inventory for prospective homebuyers.

Tim Combs, of HUNT Real Estate in Glens Falls, said, “Everybody is getting more money for their houses. People looking to sell are getting a lot more money if everything is maintained. If you want to get full value for your house, a lot of people are doing little projects before they sell to make them more attractive.”

“Smart buyers can find housing quicker in this market by using tools like getting pre-qualified, which means you’re ready to make a deal,” Combs said. “A lot of buyers go out there and just start looking at houses and they don’t even know how much they can purchase. Once they look at a house and fall in love with it, they have to wait until their financing is approved.”

“It seems that there’s been a decline in homes coming on the market during the past year because many people who are at lower interest rates are holding back, they don’t want to have to buy a house at a higher rate,” said Janet Besheer, of Equitas Realty in Saratoga Springs. “They’re just backing off. So there are fewer sales. We have a lot of disappointed people.”

The good news for sellers is that prices remain high.

“$500,000 is the new 300,000,” she said. “Homes in general are selling at 3.3 percent over list price. That’s huge. The actual median sale price in the Capital Region has climbed to more than $300,000. We’ve always been in the low- to mid-$200,000s. So it’s going up. There’s been a real up-tick in home prices in Saratoga County and Warren County around the lakes.”