As a small business owner, having the right tools and resources is crucial for stability, growth and continued success. The same is true with your company’s banking relationship. When you partner with a financial institution, you want as much value and support as possible — both financially and strategically. Finding a community banking partner that serves your complete small business needs is vital. Let’s examine what challenges exist for small business resources and what a small business owner like you can do to best access financial support, such as lending and business credit, provided by financial institutions.

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On Broadway

On Broadway: work continues at the former Saratoga Downtowner hotel, antisipated to reopen in early June as a Lark Hotel – which has properties in seven different U.S. states. The new venture is expected to keep the “Downtowner” name.

Less Football, More Twang

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Phila Street site that formerly housed Peabody’s Sports Bar is slated to be reopened prior to the summer season as Nashville of Saratoga. The venue promises a “Nashville style country bar” and live events. 

Job interviews will be held May 2 through May 4 and positions available include experienced cooks, bartenders, hosts and dish-washers. Go to: nashvilleofsaratoga.com. 

Strings Go Silent on Broadway 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Matt McCabe, who for decades owned and operated several Saratoga Guitar locations in and around the community, died in January at his home from complications of COVID-19.

Last week, the shop on Broadway located next to City Hall, posted the following message: 

After a great deal of consideration, we have decided to close Saratoga Guitar permanently. It pains us to do this, but after considering multiple avenues for its continuation we have come to a personal conclusion: Matt was the store. 

Even if the store continued to exist in some form, it wouldn’t really be Saratoga Guitar. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years. 

New Tailgate and Party Shop Opens on Phila

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The spot long-occupied by Four Seasons on Phila Street reopened on April 25 as the Tailgate and Party Shop. The shop relocated from its previous Caroline Street location and features entertainment for the entertainer – unique gift ideas, family and drinking games, hosting supplies, balloons, party goods and unique Saratoga items.

“You can honestly take an hour to just walk through here,” says owner Kirsten Lambert, who opened the initial store last June in a rented building on Caroline Street, and has since purchased the building where the new shop stands.  Open every day of the week. Go to: tailgateandparty.com.

Rockefeller Capital Management Grows into New Office Location in Saratoga Springs

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Rockefeller Capital Management this week announced the relocation of its Saratoga Springs location, the headquarters of its Family Office business. The new office will host all 40 employees in the Saratoga area. 

Led by Saratoga-based President of the Family Office Timothy O’Hara, the business serves ultra-high-net-worth families through an expanded offering of investment, tax and estate planning, strategic advisory, and trustee services, while creating access to strategic partnerships providing risk management and lifestyle-enhancing services. The business complements Rockefeller’s other practices, including Private Wealth Management, Rockefeller Asset Management and Strategic Advisory offerings. 

To support the growing Family Office business and the complex needs of its clients, Rockefeller has relocated to the 3rd floor of 321 Broadway, to accommodate its growing team of senior client advisors and multigenerational wealth planning experts. This space will enable socially distant and COVID-safe protocols and allow for an increase in collaboration among employees by consolidating from two small floors to one larger floor. 

Across the U.S., Rockefeller counts a total of 677 employees in 23 locations as of March 31, 2021. 

For more information, go to: rcm.rockco.com/saratogasprings 

Woman-Owned Tech Company Celebrates 25 Years In Business

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In 1996, Beth Weise Moeller, Ph.D., founded Interactive Media Consulting, LLC (IMC) as a website development company. Over the past 25 years, IMC has grown and evolved into a full-service digital marketing agency keeping pace with the ever-changing online world.

When Moeller established her woman-owned business, the digital profession was in its infancy, and tech-savvy women were a rarity.  At the time, there were less than 260,000 registered websites around the world. Today, twenty-five years later, there are over 1.6 BILLION websites registered internationally. Yet even as computers, the internet, and digital and social media have changed and grown at an astounding rate, women remain significantly underrepresented in the information and technology sector, accounting for approximately 25% of industry professionals.

Every year since its founding, IMC has given back to the community, supporting dozens of nonprofits and local organizations with digital marketing assistance. Over the years, IMC has worked with many youth or arts organizations, providing ongoing support to ensure continued growth and success. 

A passionate advocate for the arts and entrepreneurship, Moeller has long been committed to promoting artists and counseling small businesses. In 2015, Moeller introduced Arts Spark, a division of IMC established to “Help Artists With The Business of Being An Artist.” In 2019, Moeller launched The Innovation Center at Saratoga, Inc., a nonprofit collaborative makerspace where artists, entrepreneurs, and community members join together to learn, create, and innovate. Moeller’s vision includes programs where students can explore STEM in a
hands-on environment. 

IMC is a full-service website and digital marketing firm. Services include website design and programming, branding, content creation, print collateral materials, and hosting. Go to: www.imediaconsult.com. 

BALLSTON SPA — Saratoga’s Community Federal Credit Union and First New York Federal Credit Union recently collaborated on a state-of-the-art Interactive Teller Machine (ITM). This is the second collaboration for the two credit unions with the shared initiative of improving access to financial services in our local region. 

Under this collaboration, First New York FCU has launched an ITM in one of the drive-thru access lanes of Saratoga’s Community FCU’s newly opened Ballston Spa Branch. This provides members of both credit unions as well as members of all Shared Branch credit unions access to a full-service branch and ITM in the Ballston Spa community.  The ITM is staffed and maintained by First New York FCU and is available with extended weekday hours and Saturday hours.  The terminal also performs as an ATM with 24/7 access.

Under the new collaboration, members of the credit unions can complete all routine teller transactions with guidance from a live teller, and members of other credit unions within the CO-OP Shared Branch network can use the ITM terminal to complete common shared branching transactions. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Martin Nemer, founder of Nemer Motor Group, died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 53. Nearly five decades later, his family still thinks about what might have been.

Earlier this month, the Nemer family—and the company that bears their name—made a gift to Saratoga Hospital Foundation to help prevent others from suffering a similar loss. As a tribute to their father and grandfather, the Nemers are underwriting Saratoga Hospital’s subscription to the emergency Lifenet System.

Lifenet transmits electrocardiogram and other critical patient information to the Emergency Department while the ambulance is en route. Armed with this information, the hospital can prepare for the patient’s arrival and ensure the emergency interventional cardiology team is at the ready, if necessary.

“If Lifenet were available when my father had his heart attack, he might have lived,” said Robert Nemer, partner, Nemer Motor Group, in a statement. “If we can help save someone’s life by getting them treatment faster, that would be a fitting tribute to him.”

Nemer Motor Group owns four dealerships, including Nemer Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram of Saratoga. Several family members live in Saratoga Springs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Impressions of Saratoga hosts its fifth annual Breyer Fun Day, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 24.  The event will take place in front of Impressions of Saratoga and The Dark Horse Mercantile – at 368 and 445 Broadway – and allow for safe social distancing. Masks are required. 

Breyer Animal Creations was founded in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois, originally called Breyer Molding Company. They gained recognition when the company was commissioned by F.W. Woolworth to create a horse statue (now known as the # 57 Western Horse) to adorn a mantel clock. 

This event is free and features a Breyer Model Show, Paint your own Model Horse craft project, visits with the live miniature Dark Horse mascot UPSET, a scavenger hunt around downtown, raffles, prizes and more activities and events.

The 401(k) has become the de facto method of retirement savings for many Americans. Because it is more often than not the centerpiece of one’s finances, it is important to ensure its maximum efficiency. Mistakes can be costly, and they should be relatively easy to avoid given proper planning. We will look at the three biggest to provide an easy checklist for your situation.

Not Contributing Enough

Retirement is so far away and current needs always seem more pressing than putting dollars aside for later. As a result, there is a tendency to leave money on the table by not contributing enough to fully take advantage of an employer matching contribution. Each company is different, so it is prudent to check with human resources to see what the details are. It is important to be contributing at least enough to maximize that company match. To illustrate, imagine a situation where a 30-year-old making $60,000/year misses just 1% of company match for the next 35 years until retirement. At the end of those 35 years, he or she will have missed out on almost $120,000 in company contributions and associated growth. It adds up!

Contributing Too Much

After ensuring that you are maximizing your match, contributing too much can be equally damaging. The IRS restricts access to money in retirement plans until you reach retirement age and will assess penalties for early withdrawal. If you are overcontributing at the expense of not having enough readily accessible savings, you risk getting hit with penalties just to access your own money. According to the IRS, Americans recently paid a total of $5.7 billion in a single year for early withdrawal penalties – that does not even factor in interest paid on 401(k) loans. A sound financial plan should have ample balance between short- and long-term money.

Checking Your Balance Too Much

Saving for retirement is a process that takes time. Logging in to check your balance frequently would be like planting an oak tree and measuring its growth every day. Investment decisions should be made with the head rather than the heart and checking your 401(k) too frequently can cause action based on the emotions of seeing volatility in your account balance. Once you are comfortable with your investment allocation, check in no more than once or twice per year. 

It is said that a football game comes down to the fundamentals like blocking and tackling. Those teams that do them well, win. Nailing your retirement savings is the blocking and tackling of personal finance. To win the game it is essential to focus on what matters most and ensure you are doing everything correctly.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — An iconic Saratoga Springs market that has served community life for nearly a century has re-opened after extensive renovations with a new look, an upgraded menu and a new name.   

Located just east of Broadway where Park Place and Lincoln Avenue meet Clark Street and Jefferson Street on the city’s east side – the Little Market at Five Points has re-opened in a space formerly occupied by Five Points Market & Deli. 

“Going back to the 1920’s, it has always been a market of some sort,” says co-owner Jim Morris. “It’s nice to keep the tradition going.” 

Husband-and-wife team Jim and Kerry Morris, and co-partner Michele Morris – “We all have the same last name, but we are not all related” – he points out, opened in late March, following an extensive 7-monyh-long renovation that saw the installation of new floors and windows, a new awning at the entryway and a new name.    

Jim and Kerry Morris started the popular Scallions restaurant in the 1980s. Michele had worked at the restaurant, eventually purchased it and operated it for a generation, first on Broadway, and then on Lake Avenue, before selling it a few years ago. 

Jim and Kerry meanwhile in 2007 bought the building that houses the Little Market at Five Points, making what they call the natural move to operate the deli downstairs. 

“For us, we created a menu and basically started from scratch,” says Jim Morris. “We kind of upped the game on how we do things. We kept the beer, and we have the dairy.”   

 “We’re looking to catapult on what already was here – the breakfast sandwiches, the lunches – but adding to it,” says Michele. Those new offerings include cappuccinos and grab-n-go prepared dinner meals. “Some nice cuts of meat to take home and put on the grill and just a little more upscale than it was before,” she says. “There’s also a lot of vegetarian and vegan offerings which wasn’t something that was available before.” 

Menu to-go includes a bevy of signature sandwiches, make-your-own sub and sandwich choices, salads and other fare; morning nourishments comes via breakfast sandwiches and cappuccino. 

The Little Market at Five Points offers indoor and outdoor seating and is currently open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Those hours are seasonal, the owners say, and will increase moving forward into the warmer season. 

For more information, visit thelittlemarket5.com or call 518-450-7068. Little Market at Five Points is located at 42 Park Place in Saratoga Springs.

Jim Morris and Michele Morris (not related), inside the newly opened Little Market at Five Points on the city’s east side. Photo by SuperSource Media. 

On Thursday, April 8, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., I met up with Ryan McMahon, Darryl Leggieri, and Deann Devitt on the City Center’s surface parking lot. We were meeting with Peter and Cole Gailor, of Gailor Landscaping. They had generously agreed to help us move concrete blocks to support the local restaurants on Henry, Caroline and Phila Street.

One year ago, D.A. Collins had donated and installed these concrete blocks in the same places. Over the winter, the City Center had stored them so that they could be reused. With several new restaurants participating this year, D.A. Collins would again help us out. Standing there looking at the blocks before they were moved, the four of us reminisced a little bit. Not one of us ever thought we’d still be doing this a year later. But the virus had other ideas.

Last March, we formed a partnership with the Saratoga County Chamber, Discover Saratoga, the Downtown Business Association, the City Center and the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership. We had been meeting every week since. We had been talking, texting and collaborating nearly every day since. We had help as well from Samantha Bosshart, from the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, and Martin Mbugua, from Skidmore College. 

We said that if you called any one of us, we’d all come to help. We did this. We are still doing this. It was this Saratoga Crew that gathered information that all of us shared via email and social media to help local organizations to stay informed about EIDL and PPP loans; reopening protocols; special promotions and events. We coordinated on a range of advocacy efforts. We created and distributed hundreds of recovery kits filled with PPE to area employers as they reopened. We were the ones that drafted and then implemented the Saratoga County Economic Recovery Plan. We organized Saratoga County’s reopening ribbon cutting and the Save Our Locals campaign.

We’re all great friends now as well as colleagues. We were there to help everyone in our community as well as each of our organizations. This work was not without stress. We struggled too at times. We always knew we could count on each other. Sometimes we offered advice. Sometimes we offered a joke or a reason to laugh. We lived the mantra we had pushed out across our community. One year later, we know that WE are Stronger Together. 

I learned recently that while our groups were collaborating in an extraordinary fashion, so were others. The leaders of a group of local impact sector organizations have been collaborating to create and implement a comprehensive effort to help those who are homeless in our community. The leaders of a group of arts organizations and local venues have been collaborating to create an extraordinary series of events we’ll all be able to enjoy later this year. This gives me hope.

As we recover and reopen, I hope we find joy not just in gathering again but also in collaborating like never before. Let’s do our best to not just meet together but to take action together. Let’s not just collaborate together but celebrate together. We’ve been living, working, learning, and doing alone for too long. I’ve witnessed the power of collaboration at what might have been our darkest hour as a nation and a world. 

Our small businesses are not out of the woods yet. Our civic institutions continue to be challenged. We have people living in poverty whether that is defined by the absence of income, food, a place to live, a job, health, personal safety or someone to care for them. We’ve got more work to do. There are more people who will need our help. To really help them, we will need to always be Stronger Together.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Capital Bank, a division of Chemung Canal Trust Company, today announced the recent hiring of Billie M. Taft as its newest Commercial Loan Officer.  Taft brings strong commercial-banking experience to Capital Bank, having worked over 10 years in the field.

In 2010, Taft joined Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company, where she enhanced her commercial-credit experience. In 2013, Taft was promoted to Commercial Loan Officer, followed by a promotion to Vice President in 2016.

Taft graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business & Economics from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs  and now lives in Greenfield Center. 

Capital Bank is a division of Chemung Canal Trust Company, a full-service community bank with full trust powers. Established in 1833, Chemung Canal Trust Company is the oldest, active, independent bank headquartered in New York State.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco announced this week that the historic Canfield Casino has reopened for 2021 weddings and events. 

The venue closed in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and because of New York State health and safety mandates which limited social gatherings.

“Guests will still need to follow CDC and State guidelines to attend, but this is the first step towards normalcy,” Scirocco said, in a statement. 

The occupancy of the Canfield Casino will allow for events of up to 150 attendees in compliance with NYS guidelines. Additionally, as outlined by Gov. Cuomo, all attendees must have proof of a recent negative test result or proof of immunization prior to the event. Masks will be worn at all times except when eating or drinking, and socially distanced dancing is allowed in designated areas.

“An upgraded sound system was installed in the venue, and detailed restoration work of the decorative woodwork in the parlor and bar was completed, along with refinishing the bar and ballroom floors during the casino’s closure, Scirocco added. 

The casino was originally built in 1870 as a gambling establishment by John Morrisey, and upgraded by Richard Canfield in the early 20th century to include the ornate ballroom. Canfield closed the establishment in 1907 and it was sold to the then-Village of Saratoga Springs in 1911.

Interested parties should contact Mary in the Department of Public Works at 518-587-3550 ext. 2555 or mary.castanza@saratoga-springs.org to obtain a contract or for more information.