Month: April 2023

Franklin Community Center Receives Grants From Five Groups To Support ‘Project Lift’

April 11, 2023

Franklin Community Center was recently awarded several grants in support of its Project Lift program.

The agency received $500 from the Town of Greenfield Lions Club, $3,000 from the Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs, $5,000 from the Stewart’s Holiday Match, $9,000 from The Christopher Dailey Foundation and $14,000 from The Hawley Foundation for Children.

Project Lift, created in 1984 as a free after school program, addresses the growing need for youth to have prevention-based conversations as well as the opportunity to enhance their social and emotional skills. The funding assistance will support the impactful program as well as provide for the ancillary services offered to the Project Lift students and their families.

Franklin Community Center is blessed to have these organizations as partners. Thanks to all of their long-standing grant support, the students who attend our after-school program are able to benefit from the Back to School Backpack program, Holiday Assistance, Food Assistance and Camp Assistance, said Colleen O’Connor Potter, Project Lift program director.

“Helping children develop social and emotional skills is the heart and soul of our program and we are pleased to have the commitment of these organizations in supporting our work,” she said. “Being able to rely on this generous funding helps Franklin Community Center meet our goals in providing fun and impactful experiences for each of our Lift students. We are so appreciative and look forward to many more years working together with these great community organizations.”

Race Track General Admission Allows Attendees To Visit Previously Restricted Areas

April 11, 2023

Alta Havana performs at the gazebo stage in the backyard at Saratoga Race Course last summer. Live music is part of the entertainment NYRA provides for fans at the track.

Saratoga Race Course will feature one admission price this season for all fans, thereby eliminating the traditional two-tiered structure of clubhouse and grandstand admission.

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) said a single admission rate will provide fans with access to both the Clubhouse and Grandstand. Admission will be $7 daily when purchased at least 24-hours in advance, a savings from last season’s clubhouse price of $10. Admission to Saratoga Race Course on the day of the event will be $10.

Admission does not include reserved seating. Since 2019, daily clubhouse admission has stood at $10 and grandstand admission at $7.

The elimination of the clubhouse and grandstand exchanges means that fans will now have universal access to amenities and attractions such as the Jim Dandy bar and the portion of the apron by the finish line that had previously been limited to those with clubhouse admission. The track restaurants, including the Turf Terrace and Porch, are also located within the clubhouse (admission plus seating charges apply).

“Our new single admission policy is designed to improve the overall experience for our fans by providing access to all areas of Saratoga Race Course,” said Kevin Quinn, NYRA vice president, sales and hospitality. “Not only does this change create a seamless, simplified experience, but it will provide all fans with access to previously unavailable amenities, like upper concourse bars and concession stands located in the clubhouse.”

Owner Of Warren Tire Continues To Grow Business, Will Build New Shop In Greenwich

April 11, 2023

Warren Tire Service Centers, which has stores in Saratoga Springs and Clifton Park, has plans for a new shop and will hire two additional service technicians.
Courtesy Warren Tires

By Paul Post

One of the Capital Region’s largest tire retailers is growing again with the $400,000 expansion of existing facilities in Greenwich, Washington County.

Warren Tire Service Centers, which has stores in Saratoga Springs and Clifton Park, has purchased a vacant former Cumberland Farms store, with plans to create three new service bays, add 14 parking spots and hire two additional service technicians.

“We’re expecting a 30 percent increase in business,” company President Robert Kellogg said. “It’s a growing area. Greenwich is a hub for a lot of surrounding towns such as Schuylerville, Salem and Argyle, plus the town of Greenwich itself is growing. It’s a little overwhelming with the amount of space we have currently. We need more space to accommodate all our customers.”

The Queensbury-based company, which has 16 stores in seven counties, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month. It was founded by Kellogg’s 80-year-old father, Wayne, 80, the chief executive officer who is still involved with daily operations, although he is no longer an owner.

AHLA: Hotel-Generated Tax Revenue Expected To Reach New Heights This Year

April 11, 2023

Hotel-generated state and local tax revenue will reach new heights nationally ($46.71 billion) and in states across the nation this year, according to state-by-state projections released in March by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and Oxford Economics.

Average U.S. hotel occupancy is projected to reach 63.8 percent in 2023—just shy of 2019’s level of 65.9 percent. Staffing is expected to remain a challenge for many U.S. hotels in 2023, as the industry continues to grow its workforce back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Hotels are making significant strides toward recovery, supporting millions of good-paying jobs and generating billions in state and local tax revenue in communities across the nation,” said AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers. “To continue growing, we need to hire more people. Fortunately, there’s never been a better time to be a hotel employee, with wages, benefits, flexibility and upward mobility better than ever before.”

Hotels across the country are on a hiring spree because they’re looking to fill many of the jobs lost during the pandemic, AHLA said. As of December 2022, national average hotel wages were at historic highs of over $23/hour and hotel benefits and flexibility are better than ever. Nearly 100,000 hotel jobs are currently open across the nation, according to Indeed.

To help hotels fill open jobs and raise awareness of the hotel industry’s 200-plus career pathways, the AHLA Foundation’s “A Place to Stay” multi-channel advertising campaign is now active in 14 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego, and Tampa.

EXIT Realty Continues To Expand, Now Has Three Real Estate Offices In The Region

April 11, 2023

Jennifer Vucetic is principal broker and owner of EXIT Realty.
Courtesy EXIT Realty Empire Associates

By Jill Nagy

EXIT Realty now has a Glens Falls office in addition to its Clifton Park and Hudson offices.

The real estate group held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Glens Falls office in February. But actually, the office had been open since June 2021. The event was delayed by the COVID pandemic.

The Glens Falls branch is part of the regional franchise, EXIT Realty Empire Associates. The group’s headquarters is in Clifton Par.

Jennifer Vucetic, principal broker and owner, said the company was doing so much business in the Lake George area, out of its Clifton Park office, they decided to open the new office at 1 Lawrence St.

Empire Associates celebrate its fifth anniversary this summer. Vucetic has been in the real estate business since 2005.

Currently, there are 12 agents in the Glens Falls office. The core of the group is a team of agents headed by Bill Moon, who is also director of the board of the local Big Brothers and Sisters organization. The office occupies the first floor of a former pediatrics office.

The connection with Big Brothers and Sisters reflects the community service participation that is part of the DNA of both the national EXIT Realty International organization and the local franchise. A portion of every transaction fee received by the parent company is applied to its charitable fund, $7 million, to date, according to the company.

Shannon McCarthy Team Uses Cloud-Based, Non-Traditional Model To Benefit Its Agents

April 11, 2023

Shannon McCarthy, on right, in the back, stands with some of her real estate team.
©2023 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Susan Elise Campbell

Shannon McCarthy may be ahead of the curve when it comes to rapidly changing trends in the local real estate industry.

The Shannon McCarthy Team of 14 real estate professionals, formerly part of Keller Williams, has moved en masse to eXp Realty, a cloud-based firm that trades on NASDAQ and claims to be the number-one independent real estate broker in the U.S. in terms of transactions and closed sales, according to the company’s website.

McCarthy is a Saratoga native who sold her first home in 2003. She has her flagship realty office in Saratoga and a second office in Lake George.

In the next month she plans to expand south into the Tri-Cities, where she said there is need for experienced real estate professionals.

“Once you have team members in an area and working it, you slowly grow market share,” said McCarthy. “It grows organically because you are attracting more agents.”

Whatever brick-and-mortar presence the team may build next, headquarters is now a cloud-based, non-traditional business model that McCarthy says benefits both agents and consumers.

Business Report: Immovable Object Vs. Unstoppable Force

April 11, 2023

Steven Luttman, broker/owner of SJ Lincoln Realty, host of The Expected Returns podcast.
Courtesy Steven Luttman

By Steven Luttman

April 2, 1989 marked a formative day in the childhood of many within a certain age demographic. Following the dissolution of their tag team, Hulk Hogan battled Randy Savage for the world title in what was billed as “The Mega-Powers Explode.”

Two icons of the sport engaged in battle, the former relying on brute strength and power while the latter found success with finesse and quickness. It was impossible to imagine either succumbing to the other. Three-plus decades later and this impasse parallels today’s conflict between buyers and affordability within the residential real estate market.

On one side of the housing equation, you have interest rates. Last March the Federal Reserve announced what would go on to be the first of several increases to their Fed Funds rate. Since then, the velocity in which the cost of borrowing money has risen hasn’t been seen since the early 1980s.

Many homeowners fortunately saw the writing on the wall, and locked in attractive mortgage payments before the escalation fully got underway. Goldman Sachs now estimates nearly three-quarters of all borrowers have interest rates below 4 percent, and 99 percent possess one below six.

While this was financially prudent, the corresponding friction it would go on to cause is significant. When considering moving up, downsizing or simply eyeing a change, one of the first factors a homeowner must come to terms with is the idea of trading in a 3 percent mortgage in exchange for the prevailing rates of today which are double that.

Consider a $250,000 loan amount. On a 30-year mortgage this change represents an additional $450 of monthly interest required when compared to a purchase made just twelve months ago. This puts sellers in an uncomfortable situation where they could conceivably be priced out of buying a house that is less expensive than the one in which they currently reside. Let that sink in for a moment.

Realtors Group Says Lack of Inventory A Factor In Low Number Of Closed Sales

April 11, 2023

With a continued lack of inventory and interest rates starting to rise once again, closed sales dropped to their lowest point in nearly a decade, according to the housing report released in late March by the New York State Association of Realtors.

Closed sales plummeted 34.3 percent, from 9,351 sales in February 2022 to only 6,147 units in February of 2023. This marks the lowest number of closed sales in month-over-month comparisons since February 2014 when there were just 5,700 units sold, according to the report.

New listings were down as well, from 11,760 listings in February 2022 to 9,905 in

February 2023 representing a 15.8 percent decline. Pending sales also fell 8.1 percent from 9,350 homes last year to 8,593 sales pending in February 2023.

In Saratoga Springs, data showed that new listings were down about 45 percent from January through March 22, but closed sales were up 4.5 percent. The median sales price os $557,500 was down about 22 percent. The inventory of homes for sale was up 2.3 percent.

In Saratoga County, Saratoga County, new listings during that period were down 28.6 percent and closed sales were down 35.3 percent. The median sales price of $320,500 was up m18.1 percent. The inventory of homes for sale was up about 10 percent.

According to Freddie Mac, interest rates escalated every week during the month of February. The monthly rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage started the month at 6.09 percent but ended February at 6.50 percent.

Mothers Get Help And Important Info On Feeding Their Babies At ‘Breastfeeding Savvy’

April 11, 2023

In her business Breastfeeding Savvy, owner Jenelle Nemeth and staff aims to ease the frustration and isolation felt by many new mothers trying to breastfeed their babies.
©2023 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Jill Nagy

Jenelle Nemeth’s new business, Breastfeeding Savvy, aims to ease the frustration and isolation felt by many new mothers trying to breastfeed their babies.

Nemeth and her colleagues offer individual consultations both before and after a baby’s birth and host weekly meetings of a lactating mothers’ support group.

The business, also called The Lactation Lounge, is located at 58 Clifton Country Road, Suite 106 in Clifton Park.

Nemeth said that she dreamed for a decade of providing a lactation support service but was motivated to actually do it when the hospital she worked at discontinued outpatient services during COVID and still is very limited by shortages of staff in what it can offer.

As a hospital nurse, Nemeth did home visits for a couple of years and, during that time, she saw a lot of new mothers self-isolating, cut off from outpatient services and support groups.

“My heart could not see another isolated mom and that was the real drive behind launching: to gather these moms together to see that they were not alone in transitioning into parenthood,” she said.

Sean Finnegan Saves Customers Time And Money Choosing Medicare Supplement Plan

April 11, 2023

Sean Finnegan once researched stocks and bonds for clients, but now his business helps find the best Medicare Advantage plans for people’s needs as an independent Medicare broker.
©2023 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Susan Elise Campbell

Sean Finnegan once researched stocks and bonds for his clients, but now he is finding the best Medicare Advantage plans for their specific needs as an independent Medicare broker.

Over the decade he was a financial advisor his clients often asked him questions about Medicare. He decided to look into how health insurance supplements worked.

“I literally thought: I can make a living helping people make this decision,” he said. For three years he worked as an independent Medicare Advantage broker on the side of his financial advisory role. Then he gave up his securities licenses and founded Saratoga Medicare Group, LLC at 125 High Rock Ave. in Saratoga.

Then COVID happened.

“It was hard for me at first to help clients over the phone because I’m a hands-on kind of guy,” Finnegan said. “That is how I build my client’s trust and how they know I am looking out for their best interests.”