Category Archives: Business News

By Christine Graf

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down many offices throughout the country, landscapers who spruce up businesses and homes saw a dip in business.

According to Jessica Marquard, managing member of LARCH Landscape Architecture and Engineering in Saratoga Springs, her company experienced a ten percent decline in gross revenue.

She has clients throughout the state and is working on projects in the Capital Region as well as in Newburgh, Rome, and Syracuse. Her current clients include GE Global Research Center and Bonacio Construction.

According to Craig Monroe, owner of Craig’s Mowing and Landscaping in Ballston Lake, business in 2020 exceeded expectations, and 2021 is on track to be another strong year. Last year was marked by major supply chain issues that continue to plague the industry.

Glens Falls-based Plant Doctor lost half of its commercial clients.

“Most all of my business is commercial—a lot of law offices,” said owner Lanette Akerson. “The lawyers are, by and large, working from home and I lost half of them. Half of them still retain our services even though the offices are half-manned or not manned at all.”

The interior and exterior plant design service company has customers throughout the greater Capital Region and Lake George. But many of Plant Doctor’s previous corporate clients are re-enlisting her services as they transition their staff back into their offices.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

The Adirondack Trust Co. opened a new branch at 79 Main St. in Queensbury, near Northway Exit 18.

The branch opened for business on April 5.

The new branch has two drive-thru lanes, parking, a free WiFi hot spot, Saturday hours, a private conference room, and 24-hour ATM access with image capture capabilities.

Munter Enterprises of Middle Grove was the general contractor and Balzer & Tuck Architecture of Saratoga Springs designed the building.

Charles Wait Jr., CEO, said the bank has been seeking a convenient location with more building space for quite some time. The nearby Maple Street branch in Glens Falls did not have a drive-thru. The Maple Street branch is closed. The Bay Road branch will remain open.

“Our desire was to build a bigger and better location that was more convenient for our customers,” said Wait. “We’ll be able to service all of our customers from all of our major business lines, from one convenient location.”

by Andrea Harwood Palmer

J. Reid Menswear has moved from its Aviation Mall location to Downtown Glens Falls at 166 Glen Street.

The menswear store, formally known as Jonathan Reid, has rebranded with a new name along with its new location. The store will continue to provide menswear and tuxedo rentals, suits, jackets, shirts, ties, shoes and tailoring services. The store has ancillary items and accessories as well.

“I wanted to return J. Reid Menswear to its original location in Hometown USA,” said owner Jeffrey Ives. “With all the negatives that COVID-19  has brought, I have needed the support of everyone associated with the business community of downtown Glens Falls.”

J. Reid Menswear originally had an office on Glen Street, when former owner Jonathon Segan ran the company, until the mid 2000s. The store has been in operation for 53 years.

It will continue to provide menswear and tuxedo rentals, as it did at its Aviation Road location.

Circa ‘21 is proudly both a majority female and veteran owned business with over 100 years combined hospitality experience across the partnership.

“We think this team is the final ingredient needed to make McGregor Links a top shelf club again,” said owner Joe Kehn. “They are experts in the hospitality industry. Coupled with the addition of new head pro Mike Decker, I’m really looking forward to being able to focus my efforts on the golf course itself. We are so excited.”

The name Circa ‘21 was born from the history of the grand opening of McGregor Links Country Club in 1921.

Circa ‘21 not only honors the centennial anniversary of golf at McGregor Links, but also celebrates the opening of the restaurant by its owners in 2021.

“We are so honored to work with Joe, Bill, and their incredible team, especially when we found out this is the centennial for McGregor. We are truly excited to bring our experience and love for an amazing customer dining experience to the membership and general public.” said partner Wendy Lawrence, who heads their Circa ‘21s events.

After a full year closed to the public, The Great Escape & Hurricane Harbor is set to reopen this spring for the 2021 season.

The Lake George theme park, which was not given government approval to open in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to return this year promising a safe environment, officials said.

The Great Escape will be open weekends and select dates starting May 1, with daily operation beginning June 24. In February, the state announced outdoor amusement parks can open—with a third of their normal capacity—by April 9.

Additionally, the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark will be back to full operation beginning March 26.

“We are ready to welcome our guests back to The Great Escape,” Six Flags Great Escape Resort park president Rebecca Wood said in a press release. “The health and safety of our guests, team members, and community remains our top priority and we are implementing extensive sanitization and safety measures to deliver a safe and entertaining experience for our guests.”

Opening weekend will mark the debut of a new  ride called Adirondack Outlaw, which was originally scheduled to open last year.

Once open, The Great Escape will be operating under state and local guidelines for crowd capacity limits.

By R.J. DeLuke

GlobalFoundries is still moving forward with plans to expand at its plant in Malta.

The company said abut $1.4 billion will be invested in projects at three of its sites, the others being Singapore and Dresden, Germany.

Some media reports in March said the $1.4 billion will be split approximately in thirds as money goes to all three.

But Laurie Kelly, GlobalFoundries vice president, global communications, said “it’s not as precise as of right now” as to how much each project will get. “All of our sites will grow where it makes the most sense.”

Nonetheless, millions of dollars can be expected. She said there are still many things that have to be worked out, including the subsidies and incentives to be provided by the U.S. government and the state of New York as parts of the CHIPS for America Act passed last year. The funding has not yet been appropriated.

“The funds from the federal CHIPS bill will absolutely accelerate the plans to grow the site,”  Kelly said. “The beauty of the CHIPS bill is it has bipartisan support. So that’s a bonus in terms of appropriations. We have a new administration.  … Obviously we would love (the appropriation)  sooner rather than later. But I can’t venture to guess when it would happen.”

Growing demand for chips has made clear the need for faster than normal growth at GlobalFoundries, leading to the expansion plans.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) will open the 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course on July 15.

NYRA said the meet will feature 76 stakes races, worth $21.5 million in total purses. The summer meet will conclude on Monday, Sept. 6.

In February, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that live sports and entertainment venues with a minimum reserved seating capacity of 10,000 will be permitted to re-open to a limited number of spectators beginning on Feb. 23, with approval from the state Department of Health.

All attendees must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event and adhere to health and safety requirements, including mandatory facial coverings and social distancing.

NYRA will continue to closely monitor state-issued regulations to determine how they impact Saratoga Race Course, officials said. Additional details on fan attendance and tickets for the 2021 summer meet will be provided as it becomes available.

The 2021 summer meet, which will offer at least one stakes race every live racing day, will be highlighted by the 152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 28 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on Aug. 7, as the anchors of two of the most prestigious racing days in North America.

Saratoga Harness kicked off its 80th season of live harness racing on  March 1.

Races will run three days a week, every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with a first post at noon through the first four months of the season.

Track officials said the 2021 season will feature a full slate of New York Sire Stakes action, along with new betting options.

In addition to the Pick 5 with a guaranteed pool, Saratoga will be introducing two new bets geared toward building jackpot-type payoffs, the Jackpot Super High Five and the Pick Six Jackpot.

Due to state COVID-19 guidelines, no spectators are allowed at the track. However, fans can wager remotely on the races through Saratoga Casino Hotel’s online wagering platform, saratogabets.com, or on any other state-approved online wagering platform.