MECHANICVILLE — In its 75th year in business, family run local beverage distributor DeCrescente Distributing Company (DDC) has won the Molson Coors President’s Award for the second consecutive year and 10th time overall.

Only 32 beverage distributors nationwide earn this prestigious award each year. Winning the award twice in two years is uncommon and a testament to the hard work and creativity of the DDC team, said DeCrescente Distributing Company President C.J. DeCrescente.

“We set a high bar here,” DeCrescente said. “Each year, we create a strategic plan for each of our suppliers to help take their products to new heights. Winning this award proves that our entire team brought their A-Game to help us achieve our ambitious goals for the Molson Coors family of brands in 2022.”

In addition to winning the President’s Award, DDC is one of seven Molson Coors Founders Award finalists. This award recognizes the nation’s top Molson Coors distributor for exemplary sales and distribution performance over the last year. DeCrescente is the only distributor in the nation to have ever won the Founders Award four consecutive times.

The Founders Award winner will be announced later this year.

In 2020, C.J. DeCrescente was awarded the Molson Coors “Legends” award for his impact on the beverage industry. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Carmine “Carm” DeCrescente Sr., who was named a MillerCoors “Legend” in 2005.

Founded by Angelo DeCrescente in 1948, DDC will celebrate its 75th year in business this June with a series of events for its employees, customers, suppliers, and the community.

DDC distributes over 11 million cases of beer, soft drinks, and snacks to 11 counties in the Greater Capital Region, including Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, and Washington.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Jones Steves, LLP has officially announced a new named partner, as the Saratoga Springs-based firm has become Jones Steves Grassi, LLP.

The law firm is best known for its work in land use and development, representing companies such as GlobalFoundries, Saratoga Hospital, Albany Medical Center, Skidmore College, RISE Housing, and more. The name change adds partner Justin Grassi, Esq. to the firm’s title, who originally became a partner in April 2021.

Grassi said the new name does not change any operations at the firm, saying he will continue to work with fellow partners Matthew Jones and Bruce Steves.

“Largely, there’s three partner attorneys here,” said Grassi. “We’ve always collaborated, we will continue to collaborate. It doesn’t change anything other than becoming a financial partner with the office.”

The firm has existed in some form since 1980 under Jones, the senior partner. Steves and Grassi both attended Albany Law School, and each joined the firm after graduating, Grassi said.

“I think we’re all excited to have found the three of us,” Grassi said. “The firm, almost certainly, will grow, but will have the backbone of the three of us. We’ve worked together now for over a decade, which is awesome.”

Grassi said adding his name will help clients associate him as a partner.

“When they see the name on the sign, and they know you’re a partner, it’s just a little bit of a different dynamic,” said Grassi. “They understand that you have that experience, that you have that knowledge to have made it there.”

Grassi grew up in Schuylerville and currently lives in Saratoga Springs, he said, noting it is enjoyable to see and assist with development in the local community.

“We see all these projects come forth, we get to be involved with them, and watch them grow and end up building up our city,” Grassi said. “In that regard, it’s a very fun area of law to practice in. …  Living here, watching that happen, it’s fun for me to talk with my family about the projects we have.”

For those unaware, Silicon Valley Bank became the first bank to fail since 2020 and the largest bank to fail since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009. Is our current situation an echo of the last financial crisis, or is it a one-off? While the circumstances surrounding their failure are mostly unique to them, it is important to look at the implications for the rest of the banking industry.

To truly understand this story, we first need to look at the preceding 10+ years of low interest rates and how the seeds were sown for the situation we are in today. A low interest rate environment allowed money to flow freely into companies that had big dreams about their future potential but were short on current profits. A lot of these companies are concentrated in Silicon Valley in California, which is where our story picks up.

Given this backdrop, the foundation for this failure was in place – the pandemic was the catalyst to set it into motion. We all remember the COVID economic environment: stimulus checks and soaring stock prices. This created a mountain of cash, especially in Silicon Valley, that needed somewhere to go, and personal and corporate checking and savings accounts at SVB saw a large influx of cash.

When you deposit money at a bank, that money becomes a liability for the bank because they need to be prepared to give that back to you on demand. Simplistically, banks need to offset those liabilities from deposits with assets in the form of loans to customers or investments held by the bank. The appetite for loans was not enough to offset the growing deposit base, so SVB chose to invest this excess money in high-quality bonds. The problem with these bonds is that they were exposed to the risk of rising interest rates, which manifested itself last year as interest rates rose, driving the prices of these bonds down. Executives at SVB did not take enough action to hedge this interest rate risk, so they were vulnerable to needing to meet any large-scale withdrawal of money from checking and savings accounts.

The Federal Reserve’s actions to quell inflation have primarily focused on raising the rates on short-term bonds. This had a dual-pronged effect on SVB’s balance sheet. First, higher interest rates slowed the growth prospects for many of its customers’ businesses, which led to these companies withdrawing some of this cash to pay for continuing operations. Second, there became an opportunity cost for holding cash in a checking account, paying close to 0% interest.  People started withdrawing cash to buy things like Treasury Bills. These withdrawals left SVB in an unenviable position of selling some of their bond holdings that were at a loss, which raised some red flags, and caused account holders to try to withdraw their money at once. Just like that, a 40-year-old institution was forced to close up shop.

The banking system is built on trust, and things can get messy once that trust erodes. The government has taken steps to alleviate concerns about other similar banks, but nobody truly knows how this will play out, which can be unsettling. However, this is nothing like 2008 which saw our largest financial institutions with truckloads of bad loans on their books from making questionable lending decisions. This is not the first time something like this has happened, and it won’t be the last.

David Rath, CMT, CFA, is the Chief Investment Officer at Continuum Wealth Advisors in Saratoga Springs. Continuum Wealth Advisors, LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor registered through the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, visit contwealth.com.

BALLSTON SPA — Ballston Spa National Bank (BSNB) announced that Bret Hasel has received the bank’s 2022 SUMMIT Employee of the Year award. BSNB President and CEO Christopher R. Dowd, along with Jaime Griffen, BSNB’s customer service committee chair, recently recognized Hasel for his exceptional dedication to customer service and the bank’s core values of teamwork, respect, accountability, integrity and leadership.

“Excelling in customer service is one of the key ways BSNB differentiates ourselves in the market. Bret is a shining example of someone who is willing to push up his sleeves and put in the necessary work to find solutions that benefit our customers”, said Dowd. “Bret’s customer service skills go above and beyond our already high standards and this recognition is very well deserved.”   

The following quarterly Summit Award winners were also recognized for their contributions and commitment to the bank’s customer service objectives: James Formosa, Jared Dean, and Bonnie Demers.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — UHY Advisors, Inc. (“UHY”) has announced that Eric Scaringe, CPA has joined UHY’s Tax Services group. Eric brings to the Capital Region team a broad spectrum of tax services experience spanning the federal, individual, international, state and local, as well as commercial and non-profit spaces.

Scaringe has nearly two decades of diverse public accounting and industry experience in both domestic and international tax. He advises public and privately held clients on tax savings opportunities, credits, strategies, solutions to tax issues, and other business operational matters. Eric specializes in the financial services, technology, cryptocurrency, retail, and asset management industries, including those of Fortune 50 companies.

“I’m thrilled to be joining UHY’s Saratoga Office,” said Eric Scaringe, Principal at UHY. “UHY’s reputation as a premier, national leader in the industry precedes it, and I’m excited to continue to grow the firm’s practice in Saratoga Springs and beyond the region. There is an abundance of opportunities within Upstate New York, and I look forward to working with clients to lend my expertise and help them fulfill their business objectives and needs. I’m both excited and passionate about problem-solving and am eager to help clients throughout the region and elsewhere understand and synthesize complex tax information.”

“We’re thrilled to have Eric join our Tax Services team in Saratoga Springs. He brings a wealth of experience in domestic and international tax from his background, and it melds well with our growing practice and firm strategy,” said Michael J. Mahoney, UHY Advisors CEO. “With Eric’s addition, we will be able to better assist our clients with their tax and advisory needs.”

Prior to joining UHY, Scaringe held a leadership position consulting with an international accounting firm.

Scaringe is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is a licensed CPA in the state of New York. Scaringe holds a B.S. in accounting from Siena College.

BALLSTON SPA — A Stewart’s Shop in Ballston Spa is now equipped with Tesla Superchargers that can be used by both Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles, one of the first of its kind.

This newly installed Supercharger can be found at the Stewart’s Shop, located at 2951 State Hwy 9, Ballston Spa, right off Exit 13N of Interstate 87. There are only a few locations in the United States where you can access this charger. This Supercharger is open to Tesla vehicles and non-Tesla vehicles with CCS compatibility. This shop is equipped with 8 Superchargers that are available 24/7 and charge up to 250kW. 

“Stewart’s is proud to support our EV customers by working with Tesla to bring these chargers to our location in the Town of Malta,” said Chad Kiesow, Senior VP of Facilities at Stewart’s Shops. “Now not only Tesla, but any EV owner can stop by to refuel the car and themselves.” 

Stewart’s Shops currently has 11 locations equipped with electric vehicle charging stations, six of them being Tesla Superchargers and five with NY EVolve stations. All Stewart’s EV chargers are Level 3 Direct Current Fast Chargers or DCFCs. 

These types of chargers take about 20-30 minutes to reach full battery and the cost to charge depends on a variety of factors. All Stewart’s EV charging stations, Tesla and NY EVolve, are placed in strategic locations that make sense in their respective market areas to reduce range anxiety and boost daily convenience. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Millennium Medical Imaging will continue its longstanding philanthropic support of Saratoga Hospital by donating $337,500 over the next five years.

The radiology practice has provided medical imaging services at Saratoga Hospital locations since 2000 and has contributed over $1 million to support Hospital programs and fundraising efforts.

Millennium’s latest pledge includes $250,000 for advanced imaging equipment. The remaining $87,500 will provide five years of sponsorship support for Saratoga Hospital’s three annual fundraising events: the Cantina Kids Fun Run, the Gala, and the Golf Invitational. The Fun Run supports children’s health care services, the Gala benefits the Hospital’s Saratoga Community Health Center, and the Golf Invitational supports the Hospital’s Nursing Scholarship Program.

For Millennium, philanthropic support is another way to serve Saratoga Hospital, their patients, and the community that is home to many members of the medical imaging practice.