By Christine Graf

After graduating  from University of Albany in 2005 with a degree in business administration, Waterford-native Jamie Wallace applied for a summer youth intern position at Grace Chapel in Jonesville.

“I thought it would be a fun way to spend my summer before I looked for a full-time career after college,” said Wallace.

He enjoyed the job so much that he applied for a permanent position as the church’s youth pastor. Despite his lack of experience in ministry, he was hired with the condition that he agree to be mentored. At the time, he was working on Saturday’s for Clifton Park Chimney Maintenance, a company owned by Andy and Jill Looker. Wallace took the job to earn extra money to supplement his youth pastor’s salary.

“I did not even know chimney sweeps existed, so it was very new to me. But I really enjoyed it,” he said.

A year later, with encouragement from the Looker’s, Wallace left his job and started his own chimney sweep business.

“I decided to take a big leap of faith,” said Wallace. “A lot of people said I was crazy, but I went out on my own. My goal was to use the biblical principles I had learned and apply them to the business. And I was right.”

By Christine Graf

Hunt Real Estate, a company with more than 1,300 sales professionals and 40-plus offices throughout western and upstate New York, recently expanded its Glens Falls office by acquiring All American Properties.

Hunt Real Estate also has offices in Massachusetts and Arizona.

All American Properties was the largest locally-owned real estate company in Glens Falls. Owner Ted Wilson operated the company for 20 years. He and his 20 affiliated agents have transferred to the Hunt Real Estate office at 333 Glen St. Hunt will also take over All American’s Chestertown office and those agents will remain in the current location on Main Street.

The acquisition of All American Properties occurred just one year after Hunt’s acquisition of Century 21 Potvin Realty, a Glens Falls real estate company owned by Charlotte Potvin. In May, she and her 19 agents joined Hunt Real Estate in the Glens Falls office.

According to Dave Chambers, the branch director of Hunt Real Estate’s Glens Falls and Bolton Landing offices, “We’ve done two acquisitions in the past year, and we went from 22 agents to 70 agents. We brought them all into our Glens Falls office in the Travelers building. We’re now remodeling and expanding the office and taking over some more space.”

The larger office is needed as agents transition back to working in the office after being forced to work from home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saratoga Race Course will re-open to fans at near full capacity when the 2021 summer meet commences on July 15.
In order to re-open Saratoga Race Course to fans at near full percent capacity, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) will designate most sections for vaccinated fans only, including the popular Saratoga backyard. Officials said the policy aligns with current state guidance for large outdoor sports and entertainment venues, which allows for fully vaccinated sections to operate at full capacity without social distancing measures in place.
Alternatively, NYRA will designate a small number of hospitality and seating areas for non-vaccinated fans. Fans in these sections will be required to observe social distancing guidelines and to wear a face covering at all times during their day at Saratoga Race Course.
NYRA said all fans who show proof of vaccination through Excelsior Pass–the state’s free, fast, and verifiable way to present digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination—on Opening Day, Thursday, July 15, will receive free grandstand general admission. Fans can also present alternate forms of proof of vaccination, including paper form such as their CDC COVID-19 vaccination record card, to redeem the free admission.

By Christine Graf

According to The Conference Board, a non-profit that conducts economic research, the current U.S. labor shortage could  develop into one of the worst labor shortages of the last 50 years. Companies that employ blue collar and manual service workers are expected to be especially hard hit.

This country-wide labor shortage is being felt locally especially as businesses in Saratoga County gear up for the busy summer tourism season. According to Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the labor shortage is impacting every sector of the local economy.

“It’s affecting every type of business and every type of employer—large and small, entry level and professional.”

Although employment shortages existed pre-COVID, they have worsened during the pandemic due in part to the increase in unemployment benefits offered by the federal government. Shimkus said there are other factors at play.

“There aren’t many more people unemployed in Saratoga County than there were before the pandemic. There are maybe 1,000 to 1,500 more. We might have been at around 4,500 people unemployed before, and we’re at about 6,000 now. That’s out of a population of 230,000 people.”

Although Shimkus acknowledged that some people are choosing not to work because they are earning more on unemployment, he said the situation is more complicated than that.

GlobalFoundries, a global competitor in the microchip manufacturing industry, has decided to move its headquarters to its facility in Malta.

The announcement was made in April at an onsite event in Malta with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

GlobalFoundries calls the Malta Fab 8 its  most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility. The change was made as the company positions itself for growth, strengthens partnerships with customers and recruits new talent, officials said.

GlobalFoundries has invested more than $15 billion in its Fab 8 facility over the last decade to support innovation and manufacturing capacity. In 2021, the company is doubling its planned investment to expand global capacity, with $500 million targeted for Malta alone.

The move from its previous headquarters to Malta is part of the company’s commitment to address the soaring global chip demand, with a focus on semiconductor manufacturing innovation. It will maintain a substantial presence in Santa Clara, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley, where many of its leading U.S. customers and ecosystem partners are based.

“Today, GF’s Fab 8 in New York is a $15 billion advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility and one that is playing a key role in the transformation of our industry to meet rapidly accelerating demand,” said GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield. “I am personally proud to be making upstate New York GF’s new headquarters. Our amazing 3,000-person workforce, in partnership with our local, state, and federal leaders, will together build on GF’s success, solidifying the Empire State’s place as one of a few world-class semiconductor manufacturing hubs at a time when our national and economic security depends more and more on what we can make here at home.”