Saratoga Business Journal

Business Report: Strategies To Implement Diversity Hiring

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Renee Walrath, president, Walrath Recruiting Inc., Saratoga Springs.

By Renee Walrath
Diversity hiring is a practice being implemented and embraced by more and more companies. Diverse workplaces have an array of advantages including higher employee engagement, increased profitability, and higher levels of employee retainment. Workplaces saying that they value diversity is no longer enough, as actions speak louder than words.
By definition, diversity hiring is hiring based on merit with special care taken to ensure procedures are free from biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance.
However, so many other things fall under the umbrella of diversity hiring. Anything that makes one individual different from the next counts as diversity. This can be the way they think, the tools they utilize, the languages they speak, or simply anything that makes the workplace more unique!
For companies who have not always practiced diversity hiring, it can be difficult to implement, but far from impossible! These tips will help any company take the first step towards hiring more diverse candidates.

Groups Start Center For 50-Plus Entrepreneurs

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

AARP and Public Private Strategies launched the free Small Business Resource Center for the 50+ to provide resources to aspiring entrepreneurs and established business owners. Older entrepreneurs can find support, resources and practical guidance as they start, manage and grow their business.
“Small businesses are vital to our nation’s economy and many are started by Americans age 50 and up,” said Susan Weinstock, AARP vice president of financial resiliency programming. “The impact of the pandemic on small businesses cannot be overstated and it is crucial that business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs have practical guidance and information in this moment.”
A significant majority of small business are owned by entrepreneurs who started their businesses later in life. More than half (54 percent) of America’s small business owners are over 50 and in 2019 they employed almost half (47.3 percent) of the U.S. private workforce.

You Need More Than Skills

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Michael Cruz is president of Lighthouse Advisors LLC in Queensbury.

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.

Community Association Group Says Number Of Condos Will Increase By 4,500 This Year

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

The number of new condominium and homeowners associations is expected to increase by 4,500 this year, according to projections by the Foundation for Community Association Research, an affiliate organization of Community Associations Institute (CAI).
Representing nearly 25 percent of the housing stock in the U.S., community associations, also known as condominiums, housing cooperatives, and homeowners associations, are home to more than 73 million Americans, according to CAI. The 2021 projections reflect a 1.3 percent increase in new communities.
“Community associations, much like millions of businesses, continue to face difficult financial and operational challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the new research is a positive sign that the housing model remains strong,” says Dawn M. Bauman, CAE, executive director of the Foundation and CAI’s senior vice president of government and public affairs.
Since the 1970s, community associations have been a popular housing choice for people around the world—especially condominium buyers seeking close proximity to city centers, public transportation, and schools. Planned communities provide owners the benefit of shared amenities such as pools, walking trails, and other recreation facilities that may otherwise be unattainable.
According to the National and State Statistical Review for Community Association Data, published by the Foundation, planned communities give local municipalities the ability to transfer the obligation to provide services—trash and recycling removal, snow removal, streetscape beautification, sidewalk and street maintenance and lighting, stormwater management, and more—to homeowners.

Towne Law Elevates Two Of Its Attorneys To Positions As Principals In The Firm

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Jessica E. Stover, Esq. is a principal partner and is in charge of the Saratoga Springs office.
Courtesy Towne Law

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.

Mystic World, Long A Fixture In Lake George, Opens A New Shop In Saratoga Springs

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Violet Cannistraci, owner of Mystic World, poses in her new shop in Saratoga Springs. The business was long a fixture at the Wilton Mall and in downtown Lake George.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

By Jill Nagy
Whether nostalgic for tie-dye T-shirts or needing just the right crystal to help get through difficult times, Mystic World strives to fill the bill. The business, long a fixture at the Wilton Mall in Saratoga County and in downtown Lake George, recently opened a new store at 423 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs.
They are still trying to get settled in at the new location, owner Violet Cannistraci said, and December was a very busy month, sometimes too busy for store employees to answer the telephone.
She said people found the Saratoga location mainly by word of mouth but also through listings on Facebook and Google. “The support for local business is amazing,” she said.
Some shoppers patronized both the Wilton Mall and the Saratoga Springs outlets, searching for just the right crystal. Each crystal is unique, Cannistraci noted, hand picked by her at gem shows.
“My house is full of crystals and I always have crystals with me,” she said. They are the most popular item in her stores. People buy them for their possible healing properties, because they are beautiful to look at and as a way to connect with the earth, she said.

Dental Practice Opts To Help The Non-Insured

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Updated 2/19/21 corrected print edition firm name and address.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
Saratoga Springs Family Dentistry practice aims to put people at ease in regard to their dental health, even if they have lost their insurance.
Office Manager Bonnie Symon said all seven locations are taking part in a program that offers affordable dental care to those who may have lost their dental insurance or who never had it at all.
“We have had a great response to this, with a lot of people signing up. It’s a wonderful option for people and helps to give them some assurance that they can get the care they need without worrying about how to pay for it,” said Symon.
Symon said with COVID-19 pandemic, many patients found themselves losing their insurance and with that came the worry of how to find quality dental care that they can afford. She said they have reached out to local employers who have been vulnerable to the shaky economy, especially small businesses.
The plan offers member-only free exams, x-rays, and cleanings, plus 15 percent off all other dental services. There are three plan options for routine cleanings and exams, diagnostic X-Rays, and discounts on treatment.

Fingerpaint In Saratoga Springs Takes On Investment Partner As More Growth Planned

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

By Andrea Harwood Palmer
The Saratoga-based advertising agency Fingerpaint has secured an investment partner, Knox Lane, a private equity firm in San Francisco.
“Even with everything going on in 2020, it was a great year for us,” said Beth Beck, head of the company’s Saratoga Springs office. “It was a year of continued growth.”
She said company founder Ed Mitzen “made the decision to find an investment partner. Not someone to be part of the day-to-day operations, but someone to act as an investment partner,” said Beck. “Over the last part of 2020, Ed spoke with over 30 different investment groups. At the close of the year, he had decided to move forward with our partnership with Knox Lane.”
Mitzen was attracted to Knox Lane’s commitment to make sure there are women in leadership positions.
The investment from Knox Lane is strictly about helping Fingerpaint achieve continued growth, said Beck. Mitzen will maintain control of the company while Knox Lane will provide capital for continued growth capacity within the ad agency, as well as acquisitions.

‘Simply Food’ In Wilton Offers Breakfast, Lunches And Occasional Takeout Dinners

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Maura Pulver is the proprietor of Simply Food at 666 Route 9 in Wilton. She serves breakfast sandwiches, lunches and, on Tuesday nights, home cooked takeout dinners.

By Jill Nagy
During her nine years operating the Five Points Market and Deli in Saratoga Springs, Maura Pulver often wished she could do “just food” and not worry about the other obligations of operating a neighborhood market.
Now, she has a new operation called Simply Food at 666 Route 9 in Wilton. It’s not really a restaurant, she said, but rather “kind of like a family shop.”
She serves breakfast sandwiches, lunches and, on Tuesday nights, home cooked takeout dinners. The lunch business, she said, has been very good. There are many new stores and offices in the neighborhood and, so far, not many options for those people to buy lunch.
Her breakfast sandwiches are very popular, she said, and dinners sell out most Tuesdays. So much so, she is thinking of adding another takeout night.
Among her breakfast sandwiches selections is the Blueberry Bomb, on grilled and buttered blueberry bread, loaded with cheddar cheese, two eggs, sausage and maple syrup. Another selection, the “horseman breakfast,” consists of two eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, American cheese, and hash brown potatoes on a hard roll.

Grant Cottage, Where President Completed Memoirs, Made National Historic Landmark

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

This residence is where U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant went to complete his memoirs.
Courtesy NYS Parks and Recreation

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.”