Category Archives: Business News

Your new employee is starting Monday. You think, “I hope they work out well.” The worst thing that can happen to you is that you have to start searching again. Or even worse – they do not work out – and stay on your payroll.
The big mistake we make is to focus on their skill. Can they perform the tasks well? Let’s modify the question to what you should be thinking? Can they perform their tasks, here? We often interview for skills. Why not, skills are often easier to measure. Yet the key question is whether they have the right soft skills to fit into your company’s culture.
Most people struggle to define ‘soft’ skills. Those traits have more to do with success than anything else. Does your company focus on getting results? Is it freewheeling or do you follow specific structure? Do you give specific direction? Or do you expect others to ‘figure it out’? Answering these questions helps you hire better. This allows us to change the way we get to know candidates. Take the time to figure this out.

Jessica E. Stover, Esq., a former partner of The Towne Law Firm, and Christine E. Taylor, a former associate, have both been named as principal partners of the firm.
Stover is in charge of the firm’s Saratoga Springs office location.
The firm said coupling Stover’s large real estate following with existing real estate matters necessitated an expansion of both real estate attorneys and paralegals in the Saratoga office, with more expansion planned.
Before moving to Saratoga Springs in 2007, Stover attended Union College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. She went on to Syracuse University School of Law, where she received her J.D. degree. She also obtained an L.L.M. in Real Property Development from the University of Miami School of Law.
Stover’s real estate law services include both residential and commercial purchase and sales, leases, bank representation, homeowners’ associations/condo associations; title examination and title insurance law, and estate planning.
Taylor joined the firm in 2018 and has refined her practice to focus primarily on the hospitality industry, serving clients across the entire northeast as well as nationally.
Taylor, originally planning to focus her career on entertainment law, attended UCLA School of Law where she received her J.D. degree.

The Grant Cottage state historic site, a 19th century residence where U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant completed his memoirs shortly before his death, was named a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.
Acquired by State Parks in 1957 as a State Historic Site, the 43-acre Saratoga County property includes a two-story residence where Grant, diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, went to complete his memoirs for six weeks immediately prior to his death in July 1885.
“This well-deserved federal designation brings more public awareness to the important role this place played in the life of one of our most famous national leaders,” said State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid. “State Parks is grateful for the years of work invested in obtaining this designation by our Regional Commissioners and the Friends of Ulysses S. Grant Cottage that operates and cares for this site.”

By Susan Elise Campbell
Franklin Community Center has purchased the former MASIE Center property at 95 Washington St. in Saratoga Springs.
The building will soon be known as The Michael & Stacie Arpey Family Community Center in tribute to the Saratoga Springs philanthropists who donated $1 million to help make the purchase a reality in 2020.
“We had raised the first million dollars when COVID struck,” said center Executive Director Kari Cushing.
Over the past five years the growth in demand for the types of services and outreach Franklin Community Center provides made it clear that more square footage was needed, she said. “This reality led the board of directors to commit to more space.”
The building will be the fourth facility Franklin Community Center manages in order to bring basic necessities and services to the public. Administrative offices, a community room and a food pantry are housed at 10 Franklin St. The distribution center is across the corner at 101 Washington St. There is also a 19-unit rental building at 95 Congress St.

By Sen. Jim Tedisco
Do you have a loved one or know someone who has moved out of New York state?
Many people do and the numbers show this is happening all too frequently as children graduate from school and then move elsewhere, or as long-time residents retire and pull up stakes from their communities for another state.
The high cost of living, taxes, and public safety concerns are just some of the reasons people cite for leaving New York state, particularly Upstate. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the exodus from our state.
However, there has not been any real coordinated effort by state government to closely look at why so many people are leaving New York, and to adjust its agenda, as it is hitting Upstate communities especially hard.
As we begin a new year and new legislative session, our top priority should be addressing the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic so we can stop the spread of the virus, save lives and safely improve and reopen our economy.
In order to reset New York state by safely restarting our economy, we need to address the elephant in the room that the leaders in our state government have not been talking about: the fact that for the third year in a row, New York leads the nation in out-migration of residents with 126,000 people leaving last year and over one million in the past decade.
New York state followed up its net loss of 1.7 million residents from 2000 to 2009 with a loss of 1.4 million residents this past decade. This loss leads the nation in largest overall population decline, according to Census data.
New York is also facing a skills gap where 42 percent (5.65 million) of New Yorkers have a high school diploma or less and are being left out of the technology and clean energy jobs that the state suggests it has made a push to attract.