Saratoga Hospital recently invested about $2 million to make highly sophisticated imaging of the brain, spine and prostate easily accessible to patients in the Saratoga region.
The hospital’s Wilton campus is now home to a 3 Tesla (3T) MRI to better serve patients with certain prostate, neurological and joint conditions, officials said. The new MRI is twice as powerful as the 1.5T MRI that is the standard of care for most imaging procedures.
By Rachel Phillips
While Saratoga Springs has many tattoo studios, an experienced local tattoo artist Bridget Punsalang felt that Clifton Park offered a market waiting to be served.
Because it was close her home and where her children attended school, she felt Clifton Park was the place to stake her claim. She opened Bittersweet Blackbird in Parkwood Plaza at 1758 Route 9 in Clifton Park, after running the numbers and determining it was time to launch her own studio.
by Andrea Palmer
A new beauty salon has opened at 125 Main St. in South Glens Falls.
Danielle Kresge began taking clients at Elle Salon in August and had a soft opening on Sept. 7. A grand opening will be held Nov. 2 from noon to 6 p.m.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life, since I was a kid,” said Kresge. “My aunt had a salon and I grew up around that environment. I always had a fascination with hair. I went to beauty school right after high school, and have been doing it ever since.”
Kresge has been in the industry for nine years, most recently working at a salon in Saratoga Springs.
“I knew I wanted to do my own thing and create my own environment, where clients could feel relaxed. I wanted to create a space where I could give each client individual attention and care,” said Kresge. “I want a calm and relaxing atmosphere.”
Kresge moved to the area in 2018 from Florida, to be close to family. She is originally from Scranton, Pa., and currently lives in Glens Falls.
By Susan E. Campbell
A new center in Clifton Park is helping young people learn teamwork, math, problem solving and logic while preparing them for careers in STEM.
“Code Ninjas is my pride and passion,” said Neelima Kanakamedala, co-owner of the franchise with Latha Jakkani and Uday Sree Kothamachu. The three celebrated the grand opening of the business on Sept. 7.
The concept of learning coding is game-based and uses the black belt system of Tae Kwon Do to learn the basics, advance to new levels, and be rewarded along the way with a belt ceremony, said Kanakamedala. The classroom is the dojo, the instructor is the sensei, and the 7-to-14 year-old students are the ninjas.
by Andrea Palmer
Technological progress continues to enhance business operations. With advances come new pitfalls and opportunities for growth, particularly for the small business owner.
“With the popularity of ‘the cloud’ over the past five years, it’s been an unprecedented time for cloud- or web-based software solutions designed specifically for small businesses to function and remain competitive,” said Carl LeGere, owner of EmpireTech in Queensbury. The company serves many small businesses, with some emphasis on construction and medical areas.
Security is another large issue. LeGere said damage related to cybercrime is projected to hit $6 trillion annually by the year 2021.
“With this trend, it is critical to have a layered approach to cybersecurity,” said LeGere. “This should include training employees in security principles and phishing prevention, using multiple layers to protect your network and cloud data from attack, having a handle on what private or critical information is on mobile devices, and having a way to wipe those devices if they’re lost or compromised.”
By Dorothy Rogers-Bullis
At some point along the way, the term “trendy” became pejorative—a design concept to be avoided—evoking images of orange shag carpet and Harvest Gold appliances.
When it comes to office design, however, the latest trends aren’t just about flash-in-the-pan materials or color palettes. More often than not, today’s innovations in workplace technology and space planning allow for increased productivity, better ergonomics, and higher employee satisfaction.
Is your workspace keeping up with the times? Here are just a few of the many trends we are seeing in workplace design in 2019.
“Resimercial” style
Increasingly, office workers are seeking the comfortable furniture and settings they enjoy at home, but companies still desire the durability of traditional office products and materials.
Blending residential warmth and familiarity with pragmatic commercial design elements, the so-called “resimercial” trend sits at the intersection of the home and the office. This less formal, highly adaptable style appeals to younger workers, as well as to forward-thinking industries like technology and marketing. It can boost productivity, creativity, and even employee wellness.
By Jim Marco
In the 1920s and 1930s, Elton Mayo conducted a series of experiments at the Hawthorne Electric Plant near Chicago. The study was intended to find out how different aspects of the work environment, like lighting, the timing of breaks and the length of the workday affected worker productivity.
The hypothesis was to see if changes in these environmental factors could increase productivity. The researchers found that productivity increased, for a while, and returned to normal once the experiment was over. This became known as “The Hawthorne Effect.”
We read a lot today about the new workplace; flexible office space, fully stocked kitchens, ping pong tables, bean bag chairs, stand up desks, even bringing dogs to work. Employers are trying to copy the superficial trappings of really successful companies like Google and Apple. They hope that these trappings will create a “culture” that will allow them to achieve some terrific level of success.
It won’t, and these programs will be abandoned, because the companies will not get the desired productivity or engagement boost from their workforces. Like Hawthorne electric, the effect is only temporary.
by Richard Ruzzo
On July 26, the Shield Act was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to direct that better security measures and policies are put in place by all business that store, maintain or electronically handle non-public personal information (NPPI) to help protect against hackers obtaining an individual’s personal and private information.
The law is set to take effect March 21.
What determines a breach in a security system?
A breach occurs when one’s NPPI is exposed, made vulnerable or stolen from the host organization by unscrupulous data thieves. The information at risk and covered by the new statue is as follows:
Any data that is compromised and consisting of any combination of; name, Social Security number, driver’s license number or non-driver identification card, account number, credit card number, security access code, password or PIN to a financial account, username/email address with a security question/password and any biometric data information based on unique features that can be viewed digitally.
By Jill Nagy
Two attorneys with some 40 years of combined experience, much of it as solo practitioners, joined together to form DeAngelus Goralczyk PLLC, a law firm concentrating on real estate, business formation, and cybersecurity, and has expanded with an office in Saratoga Springs.
The firm opened the office at 18 Division St. in September. It also has offices in Schenectady and Clifton Park and several satellite locations for real estate closings.
By Christine Graf
Two $9 million physician-owned medical office buildings will be built on commercial property on Route 9 in Clifton Park.
Developer Rich Paulsen of Albany’s Paulsen Development will have a minority interest in both buildings, one at 1766 Route 9 and the other at 1785 Route 9.
They are being built by BBL Construction of Albany.
OrthNY will be the sole tenant of the two-story, 40,000-square-foot building at 1766 Route 9.
Construction is expected to begin this month, and the projected completion date for the project is September 2020.
Upon completion, OrthoNY will relocate their Clifton Park satellite office to the new facility. The satellite office is currently located in leased space in the Ellis Medicine building on Sitterly Road. OrthoNY also has a four-room ambulatory (outpatient) surgery center at 16 Maxwell Drive in Clifton Park. The $5.3 million physician-owned surgical center recently celebrated its grand opening.