Saratoga Business Journal

Applications Being Accepted For Capital Region Chamber’s Tech Valley Class Of 2022

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

The Capital Region Chamber is accepting applications for the Leadership Tech Valley (LTV) Class of 2022.

With a network of more than 1,300 graduates, LTV unites individuals from diverse fields and backgrounds to learn more about themselves as leaders and how to best serve their organizations and community.

The program starts with a retreat in September, which includes leadership training, personal development, and team-building activities.

Eight subsequent sessions are held each month from October through May, followed by a graduation ceremony. The monthly sessions are themed around various elements of our community to serve as a catalyst for expanding awareness in economic development, community service, leadership, diversity & inclusion, education, government, community health and arts & culture.

Each session offers a unique opportunity for participants to have an inside look at some of the area’s most innovative organizations; connect to top business, government and civic leaders; and enhance their professional networks.

Mandi Marra Operates A Successful Property Preservation Company in Ballston Spa

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

Mandi Marra operates M&K Preservation LLC in Ballston Spa.
Courtesy M&K Preservation LLC

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

Mandi Marra began her property preservation company out of Ballston Spa four years ago.

“It’s a complicated business. It’s an ever-evolving industry,” said Marra.

The company manages bank owned assets such as foreclosures. M&K Preservation acts as a third party to the bank that owns the foreclosed property, contracting with national mortgage field companies such as Mortgage Contracting Services LLC. They are the eyes and the ears for the company out in the field.

Marra began her career working in the back office of a friend who owned a similar company in a different region.

“I was really inspired by her and the work she did. She taught me how to navigate everything, and I decided to give it a shot for myself,” said Marra. Marra works within an hour radius of Ballston Spa, and works with different national mortgage field companies, to avoid any semblance of competition between the two businesses.

Over time, the company grew to include seven other employees and five company vehicles out on the road. Marra employs her own contractors full time. Each are supplied with a company work truck.

Teacher Takes Her Passion For Fitness And Turns It Into Business During The Pandemic

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

Shenendehowa middle school teacher and local spin instructor Brittaney Deitz started online streaming classes that include people from all over the country and the world.
Courtesy Brittaney Deitz

By Christine Graf

When the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shuttered fitness studios, Shenendehowa middle school teacher and local spin instructor Brittaney Deitz found herself with a lot of free time on her hands. Prior to the pandemic, she was teaching spin classes five to six days a week at a local studio.

“I enjoy motivating and inspiring people, and it brings me such joy to teach classes and share health and fitness with others,” said Deitz, a Clifton Park native. “So those first few weeks of the pandemic were really tough. I didn’t even have a bike at home because I was at the studio so often that I didn’t need one.”

After a friend gave Deitz a bike, she started doing workouts at home and posting details about them on social media. People began reaching out and encouraging her to teach virtual classes. She was skeptical at first and considered it unlikely that people would be willing to purchase spin bikes for their homes. The bikes are expensive and were difficult to find at the height of the pandemic.

Her husband, Justin, encouraged her to pursue the idea and surprised her by setting up a home spin studio in their living room. Three days later, Deitz taught her first sample class on Zoom with six students. The following day, she opened up her free classes to anyone who wanted to participate.

Sweet Caroline’s Pies Offers Array Of Sweet Products From Its New Storefront In Wilton

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

Carolyn Zinn built a following from running a pie stand on Ballard Road and has now opened a store at 20 Gordon Lane in Wilton where she sells her baked goods.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

By Susan Elise Campbell

Customers with a sweet tooth are visiting Sweet Caroline’s Pies at its new location at 20 Gordon Lane in Wilton, near Northway Exit 16.

Owner Carolyn Zinn said she had built a following from her pie stand on Ballard Road and took the risk to rent a retail shop months into the coronavirus pandemic.

Zinn is a Wilton native who had been away for 20 years when she returned with her husband and family to take care of her aging mother. She had a baked goods and catering business for 10 of those years in Wisconsin.

Customers there called her “Sweet Caroline” and when the time came to start the bakery she always dreamed of, she chose her nickname for her business.

Five years ago, Zinn was running a private lodge in the Catskills doing the cooking. Then she obtained the licenses to bake out of her home, focusing on fresh local produce from Saratoga Apple in Schuylerville and Ariel’s Farm in Gansevoort. She still bakes the apple pies and strawberry pies that are sold at those farms and also supplies Ariel’s with fresh biscuits to serve with the farm’s homemade jams.

U.S. Census: Millions Of Women Living With School-Aged Children Didn’t Work In January

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

From U.S. Census Bureau

Around 10 million U.S. mothers living with their own school-age children were not actively working in January—1.4 million more than during the same month last year, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.

The pandemic has had a devastating effect on employment overall but especially on mothers’ paid labor. The 10 million not working accounted for over one-third of all mothers living with school-age children in the United States, according to the Current Population Survey.

Last spring, between March and April, some 3.5 million mothers living with school-age children left active work — either shifting into paid or unpaid leave, losing their job, or exiting the labor market all together.

Some 45 percent of mothers of school-age children were not actively working last April.

The school year began in earnest months ago but deep into the academic year, school systems are still trying to figure out how and when to return to in-person classes.

Some have found ways to juggle work, child care and virtual schooling. By January 2021, more than 18.5 million mothers living with their own school-age children were actively working — still 1.6 million fewer than in January 2020.

MaltaWorks $20.21 Campaign Aims To Help Businesses Stay Open During Pandemic

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, a Saratoga County-based economic development organization, unveiled the MaltaWorks $20.21 Campaign, a promotion designed to help drive traffic to small businesses in Malta that have been fighting to stay open while battling the economic impacts of COVID-19.

The program is being done in partnership with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Economic Development Committee. The effort is assisted by a grant awarded to the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership by the GlobalFoundries and the Town of Malta Foundation.

Customers participating in the MaltaWorks $20.21 program can enter to win weekly giveaways by simply spending at least $20.21 at a small business in the Town of Malta, then emailing a copy of their receipt to info@saratoga.org.

Each week, MaltaWorks $20.21 will randomly choose the winners of a $100 and $50 gift certificates. At the end of nine weeks, all participants will be entered into a drawing to win the grand prize of a $500 gift certificate at a business of their choice in the Town of Malta.

The program runs through May 2.

Plug Power Plans To Build $125M Innovation Center In Rochester; Keep Its Local Presence

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

Plug Power Inc., which has a manufacturing plant in Clifton Park, will build $125 million Innovation Center in Rochester, creating 377 new jobs.

The center, located in the town of Henrietta, Monroe County, will be the first world’s first Gigafactory for Proton Exchange Membrane technology, according to the company.

The company will use this facility to manufacture hydrogen fuel cell stacks and electrolyzers. The fuel cell stacks are used in its ProGen hydrogen fuel cell engines, which are used to power a variety of electric vehicles including material handling equipment, on-road commercial fleet vehicles, and drones. The electrolyzers are utilized in the generation of green hydrogen from renewable electricity.

Renovation work on the facility will begin in the first quarter of 2021 with manufacturing expected to begin in mid-2021.The company’s decision to expand operations and continued investment and job creation in New York is supported by Empire State Development, which is providing $13 million in Excelsior Tax Credits for this major project. Monroe County, Rochester Gas and Electric and Greater Rochester Enterprise are also assisting with the project.

CARES Act Funds Are Still Available For Small Business Loans In Eight Counties

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

Beth Gilles, director of the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board, says there is plenty of money in a revolving loan fund for businesses dealing with COVID-19 issues.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

By Lisa Balschunat

In September 2020, to assist small businesses affected by coronavirus restrictions, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration invested $22.8 million through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding that created a revolving loan pool to help small businesses.

For the past six months, $2.94 million of those funds have been managed in the north country by the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board (LCLGRPB).

Planning Board Director Beth Gilles said there is plenty of money still available for small businesses in the eight-county area of Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren and Washington counties. Funds target working capital projects, equipment, and purchases related to COVID-19 issues, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and facility upgrades.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners who may be retooling their business models could benefit from the CARES dollars.

“A restaurant owner who expanded seating with outdoor dining in the parking lot last summer might now decide permanent outdoor seating would be good for business. This loan program could cover that,” Gilles said.

LayerEight, Formerly PrimeLink Managed Services, Grows IT, Cybersecurity Services

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

By Jennifer Farnsworth

It has been a little over a month since LayerEight, formerly PrimeLink Managed Services division, has reintroduced itself to the business community as a new subsidiary of the 118-year -old Champlain Telephone Co.

In keeping with the telephone company philosophy, LayerEight officials said it will focus on personalized customer service by specializing in IT, cybersecurity and construction services for telecommunications infrastructure.

The company is based out of Plattsburgh, however Vicki A. Marking, its sales and marketing director, said there are a number of well established clients as far reaching as Saratoga County, with the ability to serve satellite offices across New York State.

“The demographic in the Glens Falls and Saratoga area really match with what we have in the Plattsburgh area. We have a sweet spot for certain size businesses who are looking for personalized, local IT support,” said Marking.

Race Track Will Have New Childcare Center

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021

The Belmont Child Care Association says its new childcare center serving families and children of the backstretch community at Saratoga Race Course is scheduled to open this summer.

The 4,300-square-foot center will be located on the Oklahoma side of the Saratoga backstretch. Funded by Michael and Lee Dubb, the facility will be named Faith’s House in honor of Faith Dubb, mother of BCCA founder and board chairman Michael Dubb.

Faith’s House will provide child care and early education programs for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children. The center will be open seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. to accommodate the schedules of backstretch workers and horsemen.

“All working parents deserve to know that their children are being cared for in a safe, healthy and enriching environment during the workday,” said Dubb, who is a prominent thoroughbred owner in addition to his work with the BCCA. “We are thrilled to extend this important program to the hardworking families of the Saratoga backstretch community, who provide a vital service to the racing community.”