SARATOGA SPRINGS —Mary Martin Day Spa is the first in the Northeast region to utilize the XtraLight UV System to sterilize her spa as customers return for her Spa’s services.  The unit will allow for sterilization in between patients in her patient rooms. In addition with the XtraLight handheld unit her staff can easily sterilize the bathrooms, counter tops, waiting room area in just a few minutes.

“Treating spaces with Xtralight’s UVC disinfecting devices are an excellent way to assure people the spaces they enter are safe to visit.” stated XtraLight CEO Jerry Cation.

For more information on the XtraLight system, or to book an appointment, contact Mary Martin Day Spa at: 518-583-4222 or visit them on Facebook.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Lisa A. McTygue, ABR of Julie & Co Realty LLC was recently awarded the Graduate, REALTOR Institute (GRI) designation. 

McTygue earned the “Graduate, Realtor Institute” (GRI) Designation by attending a minimum of 90 hours of classroom instruction, covering a variety of real estate specialization subjects. The GRI designation sets the individuals who have attained it apart from other practitioners because it indicates to the public that the individual has an educational foundation on which to base the services they provide and that they are a member of the National Association of Realtors. 

Julie & Co. Realty, LLC is also pleased to announce that Monika Patrycja Cronin, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson from The Monika Cronin Team has been awarded the Seller Representative Specialist (SRS), Real Estate Negotiation Expert (RENE), and Certified Real Estate Team Specialist (C-RETS) designations.

SRS is the premier seller agency designation in the country. RENE certification is the premier negotiation credential in the country. C-RETS certification is the premier team credential in the country. 

Cronin was required to successfully complete comprehensive coursework in seller representation, demonstrate significant seller representation experience and expertise, negotiation, team development and management and continuing to subscribe to the Realtor Code of Ethics.

MALTA — This store’s new location has become the one-stop-shop for local home décor complete with a sweet treat: an ice cream parlor.

Finishing Touches Home Décor opened the doors to their new location this past Thursday. Exclusively a home décor store before moving to their new location, owner Shelly Walker said her husband has always wanted to open an ice cream store. When the new location offered the opportunity to open one, the couple knew they had to take advantage of it. 

“The ice cream parlor is called Cookies and Cream. It’s a full-blown ice cream shop. We offer hard ice cream, soft ice cream, shakes, banana splits and ice cream cookies to name a few. We’ve been really busy,” Walker said. 

The ice cream parlor was not the only addition to Finishing Touches. The decor store now features a baby and child section, pet section and displays several window treatment options. 

“We have a lot more windows in this building so I put sample designs in most of the windows. People can now see the different styles of stain of window shades on the windows rather than just look at a tiny sample or online,” Walker said. 

Since opening their doors at 450 East High Street in Malta, business has been busy. Walker said the store felt “tucked away” at its previous location at 217 Ballard Rd Wilton and was looking forward to the move.

“It’s been great. We’ve had steady traffic every day and it’s so much better than what we had in Wilton,” Walker said.  “The people here are so nice, friendly and are always saying ‘we love that you’re here.’ Everyone in Malta is excited that we are there.”

The store is located on the corner of Route 9 and East High Street. Walker said the new store is aimed to sell gifts for special occasions. They are trying to offer more items for weddings, anniversaries and birthdays. Finishing Touches also offers gift cards and gift bags sets.

“There’s nothing like that in Malta, really,” Walker said. 

The store aims to provide the “finishing touches” to anyone’s home. They not only offer artwork, mirrors, furniture, bedding and accessories, but also room re-styling as well. Walker focuses on items made in the United States as well. 

Walker previously hoped to open her doors this past spring, but the pandemic put her on pause. She and her husband have spent their effort in remodeling, placing patio furniture outside and designing the ice cream parlor. 

The new store location also brought new hours. Previously closed Sunday through Tuesday, Walker aims to stay open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days-a-week. The ice cream parlor will be open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Their website features services Walker offers and can be visited at www.finishingtouchesstore.com. Finishing Touches also displays their décor and more on their social media pages and can be reached at 518-584-1490 or info@finishingtoucheshd.com. The website is www.finishingtouchesstore.com

“We’re excited that we’re busy. Even though we are at a new location, we still offer interior design along with other services,” Walker said. 

Other services include: renovations, model home staging, artwork and accessories selection and placement and outdoor patios. Walker has over 20 years of experience in the design field after earning her degree at the Interior Design Institute in CA. She has participated in the Saratoga Builders Association Showcase of Homes and the Capital Region Builders and Remodelers Association Parade of Home. 

BALLSTON SPA — The Village of Ballston Spa is offering the community a unique dining experience where customers can eat on the street. 

Any restaurant located on Front Street can expand their outdoor dining area three nights a week during dining hours. The Village Board voted the new dining rules into effect this past month. 

Street dining began June 18 and restaurants located between Low and Bath have expanded their tables to the street. The outdoor dining will be offered from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Larry Woolbright, village mayor, said business has been great for street dining.

“The restaurants have been participating in outdoor dining and they have been doing really good business. It’s been a popular thing. I’ve been down here a few evenings and they have all been doing brisk business. It’s great to see people walking around,” Woolbright said. 

The effort is to boost business at local eateries including the Front Street Social Club, Henry’s Irish Tavern, Next Door Restaurant and Sunset Grill. Craig Favreau, manager at Front Street Delicatessen and Pizzeria, said he’s noticed a massive decrease in people dining out since restaurants were allowed to open at half occupancy. He did notice, however, that the community utilized the expanded outdoor seating when it was available. 

“We don’t really sell much nowadays with people dining in. People are still eating in, but not like they used to. But they are utilizing the outdoor tables weather permitting,” Favreau said. 

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Woolbright added: “The restaurants on Front Street are pretty small spaces. When they were allowed to open up with appropriate social distancing, it’s questionable whether some of them will have enough tables to cover their expenses. We felt that in order to help them, we had to give them the opportunity to expand the location of their tables.”

Being closed or exclusively offering takeout has taken a toll on eateries across the world, but Favreau is happy to have the opportunity to expand. Front Street Deli currently allows half of the occupancy of the store. When Front Street is shut down, Favreau takes the unused tables and places them on the street. 

“Right now, half of our tables inside are not in use. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday we get the ones that we are not using inside and put them outside,” Favreau said. “I think having this makes people more inclined to dine out.”

The community of Saratoga Springs is hoping for a similar dining opportunity on Broadway. However, expanding outdoor seating won’t be an option, as Broadway is also State Route 50 which is controlled by the state. Two weeks ago, the City Council approved a permit system that will allow the city’s restaurants to expand their outdoor dining. The permit will allow eateries to place their chairs and tables on sidewalks and streets. 

Front Street Deli is located at 39 Front Street. They can be reached at thefsdeli.com or 518-884-0456.

“It’s been tough on these small outfits to be closed for so long,” Woolbright said. “Unless something changes with indoor dining, we reserved the right to change the system anytime that it appears that it needs to be changed. My guess is until the restaurants are allowed to open back up at their full capacity we’ll probably continue to do this.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Hospital and Adirondack Trust Company are teaming up to help businesses resume operations safely now that the Capital Region is cleared for COVID-19
Phase 3 reopening.

With support from Adirondack Trust Company, Saratoga Hospital has launched the COVID-19 Business Safety Consultation Program to help area employers review their safety plans and fine-tune practices on screening, masking, social distancing, contactless interactions, disinfectant use and other measures that can help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

“We want to see our region reopen safely—to help keep our community healthy and get people and businesses back to work,” said Charles V. Wait Jr., president & CEO of Adirondack Trust Company. “This is uncharted territory, so most businesses could use some help. Saratoga Hospital has had great success managing these issues since the start of the pandemic. They’re the logical partner for this effort.”

The free consultation, provided by Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Occupational Medicine, includes:

• An on-site visit to assess issues, including work flow, staff-to-staff and customer-to -staff interactions, meeting space, distance between desks or stations, break rooms, rest rooms and other key spaces.
• Recommendations on employee and customer screenings for COVID-19 symptoms or exposure.
• Masking best practices.
• Cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
• Review of the New York Forward industry-specific guidelines for reopening.
• Help completing the state-required COVID-19 safety plan, which must be available on-site for state officials to review upon request.

Participating businesses receive a custom-designed social distancing tool to help mark off the recommended six-feet required for social distancing. At the conclusion of the site visit, businesses receive a “COVID-19 Safety Plan” certificate, which they can display to promote their commitment to safety.

“At Saratoga Hospital, it’s our job to set and maintain the health standards of one of the largest workforces in the county, to stay on top of the latest developments and government requirements—and to share what we’ve learned to benefit the entire community,” said Dr. Michael Holland, an international expert and the medical director of occupational medicine and employee health at Saratoga Hospital. “This program is a wonderful way for us to support local businesses and help keep our community safe and healthy.”

PALMERTOWN — The Open Space Institute (OSI) today announced the acquisition of a property in the Town of Greenfield that is critical to the creation of a 13-mile recreational green corridor in the southern portion of the Palmertown Range.

The newly protected 84-acre “Greentree Lake Addition” property features woodlands, wetlands, and an open pond, and has significant value for habitat protection. Adjacent to OSI’s previous “Greentree Lake” acquisition, the two properties will now establish 350 acres of protected land connected to Lincoln Mountain State Forest and have the potential to serve as a new, southern access point for the forest.

The Greentree Lake Addition property is a key linkage in the center of the Southern Palmertown Range recreational corridor, a proposed 13-mile trail that will ultimately connect Moreau Lake and Saratoga Spa State Parks. OSI’s acquisition presents one of the only opportunities to connect the recreation corridor through a developed area and will eventually provide community access to the Palmertown Range recreational corridor.

MALTA — GlobalFoundries has secured the right to purchase more land in Saratoga County near the chip manufacturer’s $13 billion Malta campus. The announcement comes as lawmakers are considering investing tens of billions of dollars in America’s semiconductor industry over the next five to 10 years to help the United States compete with China.

GlobalFoundries said on Monday that it secured a purchase option agreement for 66 acres of undeveloped land near the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

The land is located at the southeast end of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Saratoga Technology + Energy Park (STEP) campus, adjacent to Stonebreak Road Extension, between GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 chip factory and Hermes Road.

“With this agreement option, we now have additional flexibility to expand our footprint and position Fab 8 for future growth in Saratoga County and New York State, while strengthening U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing,” said Ron Sampson, GlobalFoundries’ senior vice president and general manager of U.S. fab operations, in a statement.

GlobalFoundries is the second-largest contract chip manufacturer in the world behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. which announced plans last month to build its first U.S. plant in Arizona.GlobalFoundries employs around 3,000 people at its Malta factory, and has floated the possibility of building a second facility for years.

The company previously had an option to purchase land in the Luther Forest Technology Campus, a deal that would have positioned the company to build a second manufacturing facility in the future. That contract expired.

It’s Friday, June 19, 2020, and we’re about to hold the largest ribbon cutting celebration Saratoga County has ever seen.

It will take place today at 11 a.m. We really have no idea how many people will participate. We’ve invited everyone!

BUT, this ribbon cutting will feature the same ribbon being cut in more than 2 dozen locations across Saratoga County simultaneously. That’s what makes it the biggest.

Normally when we do a ribbon cutting, it is for one business in recognition of an investment they’ve made in our community. It can be for a new business or an expansion or a relocation or a significant milestone anniversary.

Today’s ribbon cutting at multiple locations simultaneously is designed to celebrate the reopening of Saratoga County’s economy.

The Chamber and our partners at the Saratoga County Reopening Advisory Board as well as Discover Saratoga, Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, the Saratoga Springs DBA, the Saratoga Springs City Center and SEDC will all be involved in one place or another.

We’ll be in downtown Saratoga Springs as well as the Villages of Ballston Spa, Schuylerville and Mechanicville. We’ll be in the Town of Day and Edinburg to the North and Waterford, Halfmoon and Clifton Park to the South. 

We’re now in Phase 3 of Saratoga County’s reopening. And while there are still some sectors that remain closed, we simply cannot wait two more weeks to share the news that Saratoga County is open for business for those who are wondering what is open and what is not.

The ribbon we are using features the Stronger Together Saratoga County logo created a month or so ago to celebrate the many collaborations we’ve seen that have helped us get to this point.

We’re also providing every City, Town, Village and Hamlet with two Stronger Together signs personalized for their local community to use in the ribbon cutting photos.

We’ve created a Saratoga County Ribbon Cutting event on Facebook. There, everyone will be able to see all of the ribbon cutting photos and videos our staff, partners and volunteers shoot capturing this historic day.

This ribbon cutting celebrates the investment of time we’ve all made during New York’s PAUSE as we sheltered at home to put health first while placing our economy in jeopardy. Today is the day where we hopefully can feel the freedom and safely start to return to the businesses we know and love more regularly. 

We believe every ribbon cutting is the celebration of a dream come true. For us here in Saratoga County as I write this, we dreamed of a day when there was no one in Saratoga Hospital fighting for their life versus COVID-19.

That day came a week ago, on Thursday, June 11. That was the day when we decided to break out the ribbon on June 19. That was the dream come true. Now we cannot let down our guard. 

As Angelo Calbone, the President of Saratoga Hospital told a group of local leaders the other day, we still must be vigilant. We need to social distance. When we can’t, we need to wear a mask. We need to wash our hands. We need to disinfect surfaces. We need to take special care of our seniors and those with underlying conditions.

But if we continue to do this, this countywide ribbon cutting today will go down in history as the day we turned the corner. 

The day we celebrated the sacrifices so many have made to get here as well as the potential of what we can do together going forward to rebuild our economy.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A leader in the supply and servicing of uniform and work-wear programs gives back to small business community in support of economy reopening.

The UniFirst Corporation is partnering with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce to donate 10,000 protective facemasks to local businesses in need, as part of a company-wide initiative to support the small business community. 

UniFirst General Manager Keith Plummer partnered with Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus and Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Communications Richard Snyder.

As state shutdowns are lifted and the economy begins to reopen, many small business owners, the everyday heroes on the front lines of the recovery, are struggling to source and provide their staff with the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) required to meet government guidelines.

The donation is part of a company-wide initiative to support business revitalization in UniFirst markets around the country, prioritizing regions where resources are not as readily available.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — From diamonds to denim, tchotchkes to chic couture.  The Marylou Whitney Collection Auction – which went online for viewing June 17 – offers diverse items from the philanthropic icon who was known as the Queen of Saratoga.

 The auction benefits the new building that will be the future home of the backstretch medical clinic operated at Saratoga Race Course by Saratoga Hospital and the Backstretch Employee Service Team.

Special items include a diamond choker necklace that was a birthday gift to Whitney from her husband John Hendrickson, and her pristine 1985 red Jaguar XJ6.  Other featured items include designer evening gowns; couture ensembles and cocktail dresses by Bill Blass, Arnold Scassi, and Chanel; evening purses by Judith Lieber Couture and Chanel; fur coats; hats; vintage dresses; and designer scarves by Hermès and Tiffany. Many very affordable and practical items, such as costume jewelry, casual attire, hats, coats, scarves, memorabilia, and furniture, are also offered.

Hendrickson developed the concept of sharing Whitney’s worldly possessions with others, while helping two charitable entities. He donated approximately 1500 pieces that have been photographed and categorized for the auction.

“As I began the difficult task of going through Marylou’s personal items at each of our homes, she seemed to speak to me,” Hendrickson said in a statement. “No one shared her blessings and good fortune more than Marylou. No one was more dedicated to helping charities than Marylou…and so the idea was born. Her spirit of giving will live on—Marylou’s personal items are going for a greater good.”

The website, www.MarylouWhitneyCollection.com, debuted Wednesday, June 17 for preview only, via a link to the auction site.  The auction action begins Monday, July 27, at midnight, and continues through Saturday, August 1, at 11.59 p.m. – Whitney Day at Saratoga Race Course. Bidding and “Buy It Now” options will be available.