SARATOGA COUNTY — Saratoga County is “open for business.” According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report on county employment and wages, Saratoga County had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in average weekly wages in the second quarter of any county in the United States, at +16.3%.
“The exciting and encouraging news released today from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics proves that Saratoga County is one of the best places to live and work,” said Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Theodore T. Kusnierz, Jr. in a press release. “The Federal BLS identified Saratoga County as leading the nation in average weekly wage gains at an incredible 16.3 percent for the second quarter of 2022. This data is a testament to what we already know; that Saratoga County is open for business.”
An average weekly wage gain of $1,478 (+109.3 percent) in manufacturing was the largest contributor to the increase in average weekly wages, the release says.
“With the lowest sales tax and property tax rates in the state, we continue to attract record growth in our business, manufacturing, and residential communities,” Kusznierz said in the release. “We are proud of this distinction, which validates the smart approach to economic development that attracts the top companies, top talent, and top wages.”
Photo provided by Nick Pavoldi of BodyWork Professionals.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —At BodyWork Professionals, massages are simply part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Nick Pavoldi, a structural integration practitioner, founded BodyWork Professionals in 2005, offering skills-based massages for a wide variety of issues. The company has since grown to three locations, in Saratoga Springs, Latham, and Niskayuna.
“We offer a variety of skills,” said Pavoldi. “We’ve got people that really love Thai massage, and they’ve been to Thailand five times to study with teachers from all over the world. We’ve got people who love craniosacral, or myofascial release. Each of these modalities require really specialized training.”
Pavoldi said the company attempts to pair clients up with therapists who can best suit their needs, offering options such as Swedish massage, deep-tissue, medical, and more.
“Like, a Swedish massage, for us, is a way of the client telling us they want to relax. They want a classic massage. They’ve got a lot of stress, or they feel it’s very difficult to process stress,” Pavoldi said. “That kind of direct touch and contact can be so powerful for something like stress. We have a deep-tissue massage, and that’s designed specifically for aches and pains. If you’ve got lower back pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain, you might want a deep-tissue massage.”
Pavoldi said their strategy helps therapists and clients communicate about the needs of the client better.
“We wanted to create a system where the therapist has a way of communicating with the client about what kind of work that they’d like,” Pavoldi said. “The people that get regular care and regular maintenance are so thrilled with it. They feel better, they have something to look forward to. If they have aches and pains, they know they’re not that far away from getting another session.”
In addition to massages, Pavoldi and his team also offer a unique form of bodywork: the “gong bath.”
“You get those things going, and it’s sound you can feel. It’s tactile tones,” said Pavoldi. “You can feel it in your body. …Our job is to just flood the room with sound. It’s called the gong bath. You just pack the room full of frequency and sound and vibration. Each person picks up something a little different.”
BodyWork has roughly 30 gongs, 15 of which Pavoldi said are “really enormous.” They offer private sessions at the Saratoga location, Pavoldi said, in addition to group sessions held at various locations.
Pavoldi, who grew up in Princetown, said “it’s great to be part of the fabric of this healing machine that is in Saratoga.” In addition to BodyWork’s regular operations, he also launched the BodyWork Guild, which offers classes to local therapists.
“There’s an incredible variety of practitioners in Saratoga,” said Pavoldi. “I opened up a massage school called the BodyWork Guild and offer classes to local therapists and things, because I think it’s important to offer that to the people outside of the office.”
BodyWork also offers rather unique gift certificates, ones that Pavoldi prints himself.
“I’ve always loved paper inexplicably, and I’ve always loved printing,” Pavoldi said. “For me, a massage is something that is valuable, and it is something really special. I wanted the gift certificates to reflect that.”
He took lessons in Albany, and eventually bought a Golding printing press from the woman who taught him. Now, the press lies in BodyWork’s Saratoga office, and Pavoldi said he typically goes “into print mode” during this time of year.
“This year, I hired a guy named Nigel French, who is sort of a legendary graphic designer in England, to help me with some of the designs,” said Pavoldi. “So I’ve actually got some new ones coming out that I’m pretty excited about. It’s foot-powered, and it’s got a rhythm and a cadence that is its own unique thing.”
And the company has continued to grow in the Saratoga area, which Pavoldi referred to as “a unique environment where people really do care about keeping themselves healthy.”
“I think the message of this being a way to care for yourself, something to do to keep yourself healthy … That message has been heard loud and clear by the people that are coming in and seeing that,” said Pavoldi. “And that’s been a huge part of the growth. Sort of establishing relationships with clients and helping them take care of themselves. I’ve always said it’s part of a healthy lifestyle.
“Good food, exercise, getting some body work when you need it, it’s all part of a healthy lifestyle.”
In collaboration with Adirondack Studios, renderings of Park & Elm were produced and are available for public viewing.
GLENS FALLS — Developed by Park Street Hospitality, the same team that operates Doc’s Restaurant and The Park Theater, Park & Elm is a new multi-concept eatery featuring a gourmet food market, delicatessen and fine dining restaurant located in downtown Glens Falls.
Park & Elm hosted an open house on Nov. 19 to celebrate the now open market and delicatessen featuring farm-to-table ingredients, local produce and dairy products, a deli counter with artisanal meats and cheeses, house-made breads, charcuterie, baked goods and desserts, as well as imported specialty products from across the globe.
Park & Elm will have an in-house butcher with a focus on premium meats, such as organic and free-range poultry, certified angus beef, heritage bred pork, sustainably caught seafood and more. In addition, basic grocery necessities will be available for purchase.
Fast-casual breakfast and lunch counter service will be available until 4 p.m., featuring a variety of breakfast items, deli sandwiches, soups, salads and house-made baked goods. There will be a prepared foods section that will include individual entrées and family-style meals to-go.
Building on the reputation established by Doc’s Restaurant, Park & Elm will continue to elevate its high-quality food and beverage programs. Curated by executive chef, Matthew J. Delos, the restaurant will continue to showcase quality local ingredients, featuring the quintessential dishes that everyone knows and loves, while elevating the dining experience with creative flair and flavor combinations.
Park Street Hospitality’s beverage programs have garnered attention throughout the Capital Region. Park & Elm will provide the ideal environment to elevate these programs through continuous innovation and creativity, including a state-of-the-art wine dispensing and preservation system. The dining room will also feature an expanded cocktail menu curated by lead bartender, Ethan McKee.
Park & Elm is located at 19 Park Street, Glens Falls, NY, 12801. The market will be open Tuesday – Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant will be opening mid-December and will mark the completion of Park & Elm.
Debra Darby. Photo provided by Tammy Doucette Dream Vacations.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Tammy Doucette Dream Vacations announces the addition of Debra Darby as an associate to its vacation specialist team.
Darby lives in Saratoga Springs, and rides out winters in Melbourne, Florida. She has a love of travel, and has organized cross-country trips by motorcycle, including a three-month ride seeing many National Parks along the journey. Darby has also booked flights and rides to the West Coast, and many other trips.
“We welcome Debra to the team. With her passion for travel, adventure, and encouraging people to live their best life, we are thrilled to have her,” said Tammy Doucette, Dream Vacations specialist and franchise owner.
As part of World Travel Holdings, one of the nation’s top travel retail networks, Dream Vacations offers consumers the lowest possible pricing and exclusive offers on cruise and land vacations through its relationships with every major cruise line and many tour operators.
For more information or to book a dream vacation, please call 518-573-1924 or visit www.AdventuresbyDebra.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Wesley Community, which provides affordable senior living and care, has announced a series of managerial promotions on its senior leadership team. Katie Lahoff was named Chief Financial Officer, Katelynn Ethier has been named Executive Director, and Greg Dixon was appointed as Chief Development and Marketing Officer. Heather Roselan was also named Director of Assisted Living.
Lahoff began working at Wesley in 2006 as a Controller, and had served as Director of Finance since 2018. As CFO, Lahoff’s oversight of business operations will expand to include admissions at the Wesley Health Care Center.
“Working for a mission-driven organization has given my career more meaning and purpose,” Lahoff said.
Ethier joined Wesley in 2016 as a Foundation Assistant and has worked in several roles. Ethier was promoted to Marketing and Advancement Associate in 2017, Development Manager in 2018, and Assistant Director of the Wesley Foundation in 2021.
Roselan, as Director of Assisted Living, will oversee operations and staff at the 40-bed assisted living facility. Roselan comes from a background of management and customer service, including a role at Highmark BlueShield Northeastern New York in Latham.
“Joining the Wesley and Woodlawn family has been an incredible experience. The residents and care team have been extraordinarily welcoming and helpful as we navigate this new era together,” Roselan said.
Dixon had served as Executive Director of the Wesley Foundation for the past eight years, leading marketing and development efforts for the fundraising arm of the Wesley.
For more information about The Wesley Community visit www.thewesleycommunity.org.
Helios CEO and co-founder Sean Austin. Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Helios Life Enterprises, a Saratoga Springs-based startup, is making some big waves. The company was recently invited to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200, where they showcased a unique product.
Out of thousands of applicants, Helios was selected to be among 200 startups at the event in San Francisco last month. The company showcased technology that can analyze voice recordings to see “how voice tone can truly change how we hear one another and understand one another,” said Helios co-founder and CEO Sean Austin.
Essentially, Helios can analyze audio and find potential disconnects between the words that are being spoken and the way they are actually spoken, among other uses. Austin said that tone accounts for roughly 38% of a given message.
The opportunity to attend the Battlefield 200 was an extremely valuable one for Helios, said Austin.
“It meant a lot,” Austin said of the invitation. “That was just really helpful with those connections, really helpful that they recognized what we were doing is pretty unique.”
Austin mentioned that Helios received strong, positive reactions from large companies such as BMW, and said he was told by several people that Helios was one of the most interesting companies at the Battlefield 200.
“We know we’re on to something, basically,” said Austin.
Helios also recently opened access to what Austin called their “entry-level product,” Comprehend: Composites, which was launched in partnership with Exabel.
“You don’t have to be an ultra-sophisticated super hedge fund, you can be investor relations, you could be someone who trades out of a smaller firm,” said Austin. “You can login, check how the call went that you care about for a company you’re covering, and you can see, visually, an answer. That is, to us and to me, an incredible jump into what a product is for us.”
Looking to the future, Austin said Helios will continue to grow, saying companies will realize the importance of having this advantage.
“We’ll keep building this thing so that it can sell, it can be valuable, it can be efficient. From seeing it, I very much think a company’s going to realize they need to have this advantage,” Austin said. “They can’t wait, and they will look to make a move, and Helios could be in the perfect position for that. We plan to be efficient, we plan to grow the company, and of course we’ll have conversations when it kind of makes sense to take it to the next level.”
There is a scene in the movie “Vegas Vacation” where Rusty goes on the hottest of hot streaks on some slot machines. He later explains to his father that “I put a dollar in – I got a car” four straight times. While I am always careful to invoke any reference to Las Vegas while writing about investments, I think there is a parallel to be drawn between this scene and the last decade plus. Over that period, investors were almost immediately rewarded for buying any pullback in the market. Even during the depths of the COVID-19 crisis, when the economy had completely shut its doors, investors were rewarded for being aggressive. I’m here to tell you that the game has changed.
Most people are aware of the basic tenets of Ivan Pavlov’s experiment with dogs. A ringing bell signaled feeding time, and after a while, the dogs would begin to salivate at the sound of a bell. From the end of the Global Financial Crisis, investors had been conditioned similarly to buy anytime the stock market fell by a meaningful amount. The more aggressive one became during these dips, the more they were rewarded in short order. This year has broken that positive feedback loop, maybe for a while. The dynamics behind the “buy the dip” mentality have materially changed thanks to inflation. Higher inflation causes higher interest rates because bond investors receive fixed principal and interest payments, and a depreciating dollar makes these payments relatively less attractive. As a result, bond investors demand higher interest rates on their investments.
There is a reason the investing community follows interest rates so closely – they affect EVERYTHING. The Federal Reserve typically grabs headlines with its interest rate policy, but it only directly sets short-term rates. These rates going up are why you can now get more than 0% interest on your savings account. Longer-term rates are set by supply and demand in the bond market. Banks take their cues from the bond market when setting mortgage rates, and as a result, the national average of a 30-year mortgage went from 3% to 7% in less than a year. Of course, this has a restrictive effect on the economy. Higher mortgage rates -> less demand for buying a house -> slowing or reversing market prices for houses -> less stuff to buy to fill those houses -> and so on. This is a very simplified view, but the point is clear: access to money is much more expensive than it has been.
A secondary effect of higher rates occurs in the stock market beyond what is immediately visible. Obviously, a slowing or even contracting economy is bad for the overall market, but higher interest rates also affect investment styles and sectors. At its core, a share of stock in a company represents a slice of the future performance of that company. Investors will project what future cash flows to expect when determining how much to pay for that future performance. When money is cheap, investors are more willing to pay higher prices for those companies that project higher growth in the future. Expensive money means investors become more discerning and focus on a more immediate future when allocating their investments.
One can point to the underperformance of technology stocks this year as Exhibit A of the game being different. Technology stocks and similar investments became relatively expensive during the era of cheap money, and we have seen a reversal of their fortune this year. How far that reversal continues is something to keep an eye on. Markets go through cycles as the rules change. Are you prepared to adapt? We are.
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.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Partners in success companies Saratoga TODAY and Spa City Digital recently added new hires.
Dylan McGlynn joined the news team at Saratoga TODAY as a news reporter. A graduate of Suny Oswego, Dylan will be covering education, sports and business. Prior to joining Saratoga TODAY, Dylan was a general news reporter for GlensFallsToday.com You can reach Dylan at: dylan@saratogapublishing.com
Spa City Digital hired Katy Haggerty as a full-time general news reporter for GlensFallsToday.com.
Katy has a strong background in hospitality, having owned and operated a restaurant for 17 years. Katy can be reached at: kate@glensfallstoday.com
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Julie & Co. Realty announced Charles B. Goodridge and Jennifer Mirling as the newest members of the brokerage in Saratoga Springs.
A seasoned real estate professional, Charles B. Goodridge is a top producing Real Estate Associate Broker, consistently ranking him in the top 1% of the Capital District. He ensures that all objectives & expectations are exceeded with unparalleled client services and proven marketing strategies. Charlie resides in Saratoga Springs with his wife, Lynne, and their three children.
Jennifer Mirling resides in Saratoga Springs, where she has specialized in area real estate for over 3 decades. Jenny has a deep commitment to preservation, open space and the arts in the community, where she has proudly engaged in the city’s resurgence and enjoys connecting people to the area so they can feel like they are part of the community.
For more information about Julie & Co. Realty call 518-350-SOLD (7653), or visit www.JulieCoRealty.com
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company recently appointed A. Kishani Choudhury as Branch Manager of the Clifton Park Office.
Choudhury joined the bank in 2018 as a Business Development Officer and was most recently Branch Manager of the Schenectady Office.
In her Clifton Park Office role, she manages the staff and branch operations to deliver quality customer service while strengthening established relationships. She brings almost 20 years of banking experience to the position.
Choudhury also serves on the Women In Business committee for the Southern Saratoga Chamber, as a member of Schenectady Business and Professional Women’s Club, a member of Business Network International, and as a children’s ministry leader in her church. She currently resides in Malta.
Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company is part of the Arrow Family of Companies, and provides banking, wealth management, and insurance at 11 locations in the Capital Region.
