Category Archives: Business News

By Christine Graf  

MRK Real Property, a Clifton Park-based real estate development company, plans to invest between $4 million and $5 million to build apartments at Crescent Commons. Located at 1471 Route 9, the retail and office plaza is currently home to several businesses.  

According to MRK’s Michael Klimkewicz,  “the units will be built on top of the existing plaza’s footprint. All of the existing tenants will remain, and there will be a new roadway going out to Plank Road which will be done this fall.”

The current tenants occupy the first floor of the two-story building, and the second floor is currently vacant. The second floor will be converted into apartments, and a third floor will be added to the building. The residential component of the building will have access to Plank Road while the retail component will face Route 9.

MRK owns several office buildings in the area, and Klimkewicz said it was the decline in demand for office space that was the impetus for the company’s decision to build apartments. At one time, the second floor of Crescent Plaza was occupied by office tenants. 

“The medical market is very strong, but the demand for general office space has been in decline for the past four to five years, and we found that it was becoming more difficult to keep those spaces occupied long term. So, we looked at alternatives, and one of them was to convert that space into apartments. It just made sense,” he said. 

The company received Planned Development District approval from the town of Halfmoon to construct 60 apartments, 40 garages, two new means of access to the plaza, expansion of the Fred the Butcher business, expansion of Emma Jayne’s Restaurant, and a new commercial building on Route 236. Emma Janye’s has already added a 1,400-square-foot deck to the restaurant.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County has broken ground on a new Community STEM and Agricultural Educational Center at the 4-H Training Center on Middleline Road in Ballston Spa. 

The 3,650-square-foot facility will encompass three state-of-the-art classrooms and will increase opportunities for the Saratoga County 4-H program as well as outside youth organizations, officials said. The project has been on the table for over eight years. 

“The Program Committee and I saw a need for increased classroom space. We had outgrown the meeting space that we currently have, which is utilized by our 4-H clubs, as well as many other organizations from across the county,” said Greg Stevens, 4-H program leader. 

The program looked at many options and landed on expansion via a totally new educational center. The CCE/Saratoga County board of directors gave their approval for the project, and the committee quickly got to work and began to design.

When the pandemic hit, the capital campaign to raise funds for building was put on hold. 

By Paul Post

A husband-and-wife business couple has a whole new revenue stream created by simply  responding to customers who can’t find the product they need elsewhere.

Halfmoon Sunoco introduced the new line of race fuels in April that power everything from classic vintage automobiles to snowmobiles, ATVs and motocross bikes.

“This was one of those amazing opportunities to show our customers, ‘Hey, we hear you. Let’s figure out if we can do this and how’,” said Marilyn Lupo-Sehgal. “We’re really close with a lot of our customers so whenever there’s a void for some type of service they come to us. Being that we’re Sunoco, we try our best to see how we can utilize our connections and provide what they want.”

She and her husband, Ankit, purchased the store, across from Halfmoon Diner at the corner of Route 9 and Grooms Road, in 2015.

Previously, Sunoco race fuels were sold at a station in Malta. But when Stewart’s Shops took the site over, it stopped offering this type of fuel, creating a void between Queensbury and Albany.

The U.S. Department of Defense, through the Defense Microelectronics Activity, Trusted Access Program Office, has accredited GlobalFoundries’ advanced manufacturing facility in Malta as a Category 1A Trusted Supplier with the ability to manufacture secure semiconductors for a range of critical aerospace and defense applications.

The latest milestone in the longstanding partnership between the government and GlobalFoundries, the accreditation was enabled by GlobalFoundries’ ability to meet requirements for having stringent security processes, equipment, and oversight in place to accept and protect sensitive information and manufacture trusted chips in a way that ensures they are secure and uncompromised. 

These securely manufactured chips include those manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ most advanced 12nm FinFET technologies, and will be used in DoD systems on land, air, sea, and in space, officials said.

“The secure manufacturing of semiconductors is critical to safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and reliability of the technology that powers our modern world, and nowhere is this more important than aerospace, defense, and critical infrastructure systems,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries. “We are proud to deepen our relationship with the Defense Department, and to receive DMEA accreditation at our New York manufacturing facility. GlobalFoundries differentiated chip technologies provide optimized performance for critical DoD systems, and we are uniquely positioned by our ability to provide secure semiconductor manufacturing at scale.”

By Susan Elise Campbell

A new eatery downtown Ballston Spa is inventing fresh ways to satisfy the palates of a variety of customers, whether their tastes are more traditional or more adventurous. 

It’s called 42 Fusion, and owners Alicia Halse and Tino Lopez soft-launched their concept restaurant at 42 Front St. in May.

“When people hear the word ‘fusion’ they usually think about Asian cuisine,” said Halse. “But we are blending the flavors and spices of Mexico with classic Italian ingredients.”

Halse and Lopez became family friends in recent years. The first time Lopez’s daughter told Halse about her father’s Mexican lasagna, she thought, “No way, I love my ricotta,” she said.

But the oaxaca cheese with chorizo sausage —along with traditional meat and mozzarella —formed a flavor profile that Halse said was better than any lasagna she had tasted before. 

Southern Adirondack Realtors announced the appointment of Sarah Wisdorf as the interim association executive/CEO. 

With experience in senior management positions and leadership skills, Wisdorf is well-suited to guide SAR during this transition period, the organization said. 

As interim CEO, Wisdorf will oversee the daily operations of SAR, focusing on financial and legal oversight, public relations, and compliance. She will be responsible for executing the organization’s strategic plan, ensuring the smooth functioning of the association, and fostering growth and development within the real estate industry in the Southern Adirondack region.

 SAR President-Elect Jessica Sherry, who also served as the chair of the Search Committee, said Wisdorf “brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to SAR. Her strategic thinking, strong leadership skills, and dedication to our industry make her an ideal fit for the interim CEO role. We are confident that under Sarah’s guidance, SAR will continue to thrive and provide exceptional support to our members.”

 “We are thrilled to welcome Sarah to our team,” said SAR President Eden Whitaker. “Her track record of success and her commitment to excellence make her an outstanding choice for this critical role. We believe her leadership will drive SAR forward and help us achieve our goals of serving our members and promoting the real estate profession.”

By Christine Graf

Saratoga Springs Water Co. recently signed a multi-year lease to occupy 75 percent of the space in Arnoff Global Logistics’ new 120,000-square-foot warehouse in Malta. 

Known for its distinctive blue bottles, the 150-year-old water company was acquired by Blue Triton Brands in 2021. Earlier this year, Saratoga Water became one of the sponsors for the television show “Top Chef: World All Stars.”

“We leased space in our warehouse to Saratoga Water for them to be able to maintain inventory of both raw materials and finished product,” said Arnoff Global Logistics President Mike Arnoff.

The warehouse is located at the company’s sprawling 40-acre headquarters on Stonebreak Road. Since purchasing the property from Racemark International in 2016, Arnoff Global Logistics has expanded the campus to include office space, multiple warehouses, and a truck garage. The newest warehouse had a price tag of $15 million.

 “Encompassing our campus, we have office space for companies. We have warehouse space to rent, we have Arnoff-managed warehouse space to operate in, and we provide a multitude of different services for our clients in a campus setting,” said Arnoff. “We provide services inside of our buildings so that manufacturers can focus on manufacturing. They can let us do the warehousing, trucking, freight forwarding, and all of the services that go along with logistical performance in the supply chain.”

GlobalFoundries Inc. has completed the purchase of approximately 800 acres of additional land adjacent to its Malta manufacturing facility. 

With the purchase, which has been in process since early 2022, GlobalFoundries now owns the entirety of the approximately 1,110-acre park, formerly known as the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

With this additional land, GlobalFoundries has the flexibility to add manufacturing capacity and expand its footprint in New York state in alignment with customer demand, and provide space for further development with its ecosystem partners, the company said. 

The rate and pace of GlobalFoundries’s expansion in Malta will be aligned with market conditions, customer commitments, and U.S. federal funding from the CHIPS and Science Act, officials said.

“Semiconductors are essential to daily life, and are at the heart of the U.S. economy, domestic supply chains, and national defense. GlobalFoundries stands ready to play a key role in the implementation of the CHIPS Act, which will boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing by creating a globally competitive framework,” said Steven Grasso, managing director of global government relations at GlobalFoundries. 

“This land purchase gives us the space and flexibility we need in the near-term to service the growing market demand for secure, reliable U.S.-made chips. This purchase also represents GlobalFoundries’ long-term commitment to New York and growing the semiconductor ecosystem that supports both GlobalFoundries’ world-class manufacturing facility in Malta and the regional semiconductor cluster envisioned by the CHIPS Act,” he added.

By R.J. DeLuke

Construction season this year is seeing a variety of companies in the area involved in numerous projects, sizeable and otherwise, as business moves forward in spite of concerns about the economy.

Mike Munter of Munter Enterprises in Middle Grove said 2023 “had a little bit of a soft start” in the Saratoga area, but “it seems like customers are seeing the growth and needing to expand.”

“There are some supply issues” he said, and the labor pool is still a problem, as companies are trying to fill staffs to meet work loads. But Munter is encouraged by the workforce development initiatives in the area, by groups like BOCES, that are aimed at getting people interested again in the building trades careers.

Jim Dawsey, president of MLB Construction Services LLC, said work in the Saratoga area has slowed a bit, but is still robust in the Capital District in general and northward to the Plattsburgh area. 

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce will host its annual gala at the 1863 Club at Saratoga Race Course, where the Chamber will honor Dr. William (Bill) Long and Richard Ferguson.

Dr. Long is this year’s Joseph Dalton Community Service Award recipient and Ferguson as the 2023 Impact Sector Volunteer of the Year. 

This newly reimagined event, formerly the Chamber’s annual dinner, will take place on Thursday, May 11. A VIP reception will be held from 4:30-5:30 p.m., followed by general admission beginning at 5:15 p.m.

All are invited to join the Chamber at its premier annual event featuring networking, hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and more. 

Long is one of the original founders of CAPTAIN Community Human Services and a significant force in the creation of what is now The Prevention Council of Saratoga County. Throughout his career as a psychologist, he has focused his professional work and volunteerism on creating services to energize and connect the community with the goal of improving the lives of children and families. 

“Dr. Bill Long epitomizes what the Joseph Dalton Community Service Award is all about,” Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce president Todd Shimkus said. “He’s humble, quiet, and yet a powerhouse facilitating discussions that lead to action. When I called him to share that he was selected, he had no idea that he was nominated and he asked me if there was someone else that we could select in his place. This was in spite of the fact that he has made significant contributions to our entire county and its residents for 50 years.”

Ferguson, in addition to his professional role at Glens Falls National Bank & Trust Co. & Saratoga National Bank & Trust Co., has served with numerous local organizations over the past 30 years, exemplifying the spirit of the Impact Sector Volunteer of the Year award.