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Pam Has Spoken…

Written by Carrie Rowlands Johnson on . Posted in Business.

Pam Worth and Tina Powell. Photo provided.

After thirteen years as proprietor of Spoken Boutique, and nearly forty years in retail, Pam Worth announces her semi-retirement. “My husband retired two years ago. I have a son who lives in Utah. I have a daughter who lives in town. I have elderly parents. I just thought, if I could knowingly pass the torch to someone who would totally take care of my third baby, I would feel comfortable just stepping back a little.”

Pam says retirement wasn’t on her radar until she bumped into Tina Powell at a coffee shop about a year ago. The women know each other from years of working retail in downtown Saratoga. Tina, who had left merchandising to stay home with her young family for a few years, expressed a desire to step back into a retail career. Pam invited her to consider joining the close-knit team at Spoken. Once Tina started helping Pam with the buying and merchandising and assisting customers, she was hooked.

“It’s like a serendipity story. It wasn’t planned. I never thought I’d get back into retail,” says Tina. “It kind of rolled into something. Tina was a perfect fit for us. She’s so knowledgeable. She’s a true Saratoga girl. She has an amazing retail background of over twenty years in downtown Saratoga… she instantly knew what this picture has always been painted as,” said Pam.

Spoken has been voted Best Boutique in Saratoga Today year after year. Pam says the store is just as popular with tourists as it is with locals.

“When I am buying for the first quarter, I am aware of the financial landscape for our customers. They are coming off the holidays and are watching their dollar. However, they also deserve the same quality and customer service they have been accustomed to. Those customers that come in those freezing months should still have great choices, just like our summer customers. It’s called “retail.” We are ever changing…but the same. On every level the customer service, the displays, the merchandising, the feelings and the warmth and of course the laughter are evident year round. We have so much fun, it’s almost illegal. We really have a great time.”

When Covid hit and she was forced to close her doors, Pam realigned her business strategy.

She established a more prominent online and social media presence, creating the now-popular Pammy’s Picks. Customers either came in to pick up what they’d bought online or Pam would drive all over the area to deliver purchases to her customers.

“Any retailer that came out of Covid will tell you, you really felt the love of your customers. I know I did. There were nights I would lie in bed thinking, ‘Thank you for these customers, because they kept us afloat.’”

Though the official transfer of ownership happened September 2nd, it is important to Pam that those customers hear the news from her first, before it hit the media.

“The continuity of the store is going to remain the same. The staff is here. I’m here. We just wanted our customers to feel like it was seamless… I don’t want them to feel a ripple, I want them to feel a flow.”

Pam plans to continue Pammy’s Picks, along with merchandising, buying and serving customers. While she plans to take more time traveling and enjoying family, she promises she and Tina will continue to work side-by-side. While there isn’t a grand re-opening planned, Spoken customers can expect a special experience on Black Friday, a celebration of thanks from both Tina and Pam. 

$32 Million High Speed Internet Project Comes to Saratoga 

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

Photo provided.

SARATOGA — After careful planning and testing, Saratoga Springs city officials and SiFi Networks celebrated the official groundbreaking of the Saratoga Springs FiberCity® project on October 25. The fiberoptic network being built citywide will improve digital connectivity in the city. Once complete the $32 million venture, being funded privately, will see high-speed fiber infrastructure available to every household, business and institution within city limits. Work to construct the network began earlier this year with the first homes scheduled to go-live next fall, and the entire city slated for completion in 2024. Officials also announced that that the internet service provider GigabitNow has signed on to be first provider on the network, offering speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second – among the fastest internet speeds in the United States.

“Today is a great day for the future of Saratoga Springs,” said Jason Golub, Commissioner of Public Works, City of Saratoga Springs. “This is a once-in-a-generation infrastructure project that will usher in a new era of high-speed connectivity, digital inclusion, digital readiness and new opportunities to expand and innovate in our local economy,” explained the Commissioner.

Unlike a typical fiber network, the FiberCity® is being built as an Open Access network, meaning that with one connection, residents and businesses can access multiple service providers for high-speed internet service, Smart City applications, telehealth, streaming video, voice and other uses. On an Open Access network, service providers compete for customers based on service, price and reliability, essentially disrupting the decades-old model that phone companies and internet providers have long enjoyed. 

“Once complete, our residents and businesses will benefit from competition,” said Commissioner Golub. 

One key element of Saratoga Springs’ FiberCity® network is that it is being made available to every address—business, residential, and institution—within the city. This includes low-income housing units that are typically passed over by internet service providers. 

“We’re excited to partner with the city and celebrate full-scale construction of the Saratoga Springs FiberCity®. We believe that everyone in the community deserves access to high-speed fiber infrastructure – connecting the community to each other and the world around us – at speeds never experienced before in New York,” said Robert Heaps, Corporate Vice President, SiFi Networks. 

Todd Shimkus, President & CEO of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, a driving force behind the development of the network, said that the Saratoga Springs FiberCity® network will usher in the next chapter in the city’s economy.

“It’s now estimated that one-third of the workforce works remotely, at least part of the week. Having the FiberCity® in Saratoga Springs is a game changer for economic development and will also help the region attract large employers and technology companies,” said Shimkus. 

“Our hotels have been vying for better connectivity for years. Full fiberoptic connectivity will enhance the visitor experience and enable our hospitality sector to do so much more for customers,” noted Darryl Leggieri, President of Discover Saratoga.

“The City began contemplating the need for an all-fiber network more than five years ago. We understood back then – even before the pandemic – the importance of high-speed connectivity for our residents and businesses. This unique partnership forged with SiFi Networks has helped us start to realize what modern-day digital connectivity can be. I’m enormously proud to see the FiberCity® come to fruition,” said former Commissioner of Finance, Michele Madigan. 

Full-scale construction on Saratoga Springs’ FiberCity® will continue until around Thanksgiving when underground work will be paused for the winter. Crews will resume work in the spring and the first customers on the network will go-live next fall. Those interested in learning more about GigabitNow service can visit www.gigabitnow.com/saratoga-springs. 

Palette Opens New Location in Downtown Saratoga

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

Photo provided.

Saratoga Springs — Palette, a female-focused coworking space and community created to support women in careers and in life, opened the doors to its third location in the Capital Region. Palette owner Catherine Hover hosted a ribbon cutting in Downtown Saratoga Springs, where Palette now has two locations.

“Every time we open a new space it’s a demonstration of what can happen when people come together to support each other,” said Catherine.

The location includes workspaces, a conference room and event gathering space allowing members to work and connect with each other. The space also provides printing, faxing and private rooms to its members. Memberships range from annual and monthly, to daily with corporate and non-profit options.

In attendance were Palette members, Capital Region Chamber President Mark Egan and Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner who spoke highly about the importance of coming together for collective success.

“It’s not just about Catherine,” said Egan. “It’s about women in our community and what they are doing to help our community survive.”

“I am always impressed by how Catherine brings women together in our community,” said Woerner. “The opening is only going to make our city and entrepreneurial climate better.”

For more information about the new location and membership details visit www.palettecommunity.com.

Lawsuit Filed Against Moreau Planning Board; Saratoga Biochar: CEO Says Claims Are Not ‘Remotely Accurate’

Written by Dylan McGlynn on . Posted in Business.

MOREAU — The Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls has filed an Article 78 petition against the Town of Moreau Planning Board and Saratoga Biochar Solutions, alleging that the Planning Board did not follow the State Environmental Quality Review Act before green-lighting a proposed agricultural fertilizer plant by Saratoga Biochar.

But Ray Apy, CEO of Northeastern Biochar Solutions, says the claims made are not accurate, saying they are “a delay tactic.”

“While we would not provide details specific to our planned response to the Article 78 complaint, I can tell you that the complaint is simply a delay tactic that is severely flawed in logic and law and will be readily defeated,” Apy said in a statement. “None of the claims made are remotely accurate.”

The planning board had issued a conditional negative declaration for the project in March, ruling that it would not have adverse environmental impacts. The petition filed by CAAN, however, says that the planning board has received “a variety of information” that should have led to the decision being revisited.

According to a release by CAAN, this information includes, “Saratoga Biochar’s admission that its facility would release PFAS into the air and that the sewage sludge would be trucked in from downstate and western New England.”

The Biochar facility would be the first in New York State and would use pyrolysis to convert as much as 720 tons of sewage sludge per day into biochar, a charcoal soil amendment, according to the release. The facility would also release quantities of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, PFAS, and more.

A positive SEQRA declaration would have forced Saratoga Biochar to produce an Environmental Impact Statement, the release says, which would detail the project’s impact on the community. 

“The interim planning board chairperson told me that in his 18 years on the Moreau Planning Board, no applicant has ever been required to do an Environmental Impact Statement,” said Clean Air Action Network chair Tracy Frisch in the release. “Such a track record suggests that the planning board has not been using all the tools at its disposal to protect the best interests of the community. Not only is the planning board failing the people of Moreau; it is also breaking the law.”

CAAN is aiming to have the Planning Board’s conditional negative declaration ruled invalid, and have the project re-examined by the Board.

Apy continues to dispute the suit, saying it is “unfortunate” that CAAN has chosen to fight and delay the project.

“What is really unfortunate in this is that a group that self-describes as ‘environmental’ has filed a complaint that will only delay a project that has tremendous environmental and human health benefits,” Apy said in his statement. “This does not change our plans for the Moreau Industrial Park at all.”

The Biggest Surprise of 2022

Written by David Rath, CMT, CFA on . Posted in Business.

Markets are difficult. Anyone who says differently is a fool or a liar. Entering this year, many were looking at the potential for inflation to rear its ugly head. However, it has been hard to capitalize. Imagine this: on January 1, 2022, you were given all the future inflation readings for the year. How would you have invested your money? Gold? Bitcoin (“digital gold”)? Inflation-protected government bonds? The correct answer, and its implications, may surprise you.

The U.S. dollar has been one of the best-performing assets year-to-date. How is it possible that your money, which is clearly buying less and less food, fuel, and housing, is doing well at all, let alone outperforming? It is important to understand that everything is relative. If you were to go on a trip to most places in the world right now, the amount of foreign currency you would receive in exchange for your dollar would be higher than at the beginning of the year. This represents outperformance in the foreign exchange market. Relative to stocks, bonds, and even gold, just treading water by holding cash has been more attractive than the double-digit negative returns by each of those asset classes. Those owning “real” assets like a house have seen that portion of their net worth grow, but higher interest rates probably prohibit taking advantage of those higher Zillow prices. After all, you will have to live somewhere when you sell, and a 7% mortgage is much less attractive than a 3% one.

A strong dollar has massive implications beyond being able to take a cheaper European vacation. For starters, multinational corporations based in the United States conduct business in many different currencies. A strong dollar makes it more expensive for them to convert those foreign currencies back into their home currency. Fewer dollars due to unfavorable conversion factors means lower profits for those types of companies. Additionally, if you hold international stocks in your portfolio, part of the relative weakness is due to that currency conversion. 

Another byproduct of a strong dollar is the adverse pricing of commodities like oil for foreign countries. The Dollar is the world’s “reserve currency,” which essentially means it is the preferred means of transacting business across borders – a common denominator if you will. Commodities are bought and sold on the open market in dollars which means that despite higher prices for basic necessities at home, we have it relatively easy. Those living in a country like Japan are not only feeling the pinch from higher oil prices in dollars, but they also have seen the Japanese yen depreciate by a whopping 25 percent versus the dollar just this year. These types of price shifts will have far-reaching implications in the years to come.

It wasn’t always like this. I recall a few famous entertainers and supermodels requesting to be paid in euros in 2007 based on the euro’s relative strength versus the dollar. Relative strength ebbs and flows, and our current situation is merely the most recent chapter in an ongoing saga. If you are looking for a turning of the tide in the stock market, keep your eye on the relative strength of the dollar, as a sign of weakness could signal calmer seas. King Dollar, as it is sometimes referred to, rules the international finance scene with an iron fist, and any chinks in its armor can give us a breather.

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.

National Museum of Racing Hires Jessica Cloer as Museum Curator and Matt Reichel as Museum Educator

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

SARATOGA — The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has named Jessica Cloer as Museum Curator and Matt Reichel as Museum Educator. 

Jessica Cloer comes to the museum with more than a decade of experience working in museums. She began her career sharing the story of America’s founding as a park ranger at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Since 2013, Cloer has been a registrar at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University, Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA, Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, and the Stanley Museum of Art at the University of Iowa. A graduate of Smith College in Northampton, MA, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in History, Cloer went on to earn a Master of Liberal Arts from Harvard University. 

Matt Reichel worked in the field of education in New York’s Capital Region for five years prior to joining the Museum. Upon graduating from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History, Reichel taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, Saratoga Central Catholic and the Saratoga Film Academy.  Following his undergraduate studies, Reichel earned a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He has also worked at the New York State Museum in Albany. 

For more information about the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including upcoming events, visit racingmuseum.org or call 518-584-0400. 

Drs. Karen Hu and Juliann Lajoie Join Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Eye Care

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ophthalmologists Karen Hu, MD, and Juliann Lajoie, MD, have joined Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Eye Care. The practice provides comprehensive eye health services, including ophthalmic surgery.

Dr. Hu comes to Saratoga Hospital after completing a fellowship at Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in Chicago. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, she completed an internship at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California and a residency at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. 

Dr. Lajoie grew up in Queensbury and has connections to the Albany Med Health System, of which Saratoga Hospital is a member. A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Lajoie earned her medical degree from University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and completed an internship and residency at Albany Medical Center. She is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. 

 “With Drs. Hu and Lajoie, we add two very talented physicians to our highly skilled team,” said Richard Falivena, DO, vice president and chief medical and physician integration officer at Saratoga Hospital. “In this most competitive environment in years, their decision to choose Saratoga Hospital is a testament to the reputation of our medical group and the quality of life in our community.”

 Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Eye Care is located at 3050 Route 50, Saratoga Springs.

Sensory Six Celebrates 9th Year Anniversary

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

Photo provided.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sensory Six, a commercial and residential interior design firm located in Saratoga, recently celebrated their 9th year in business. Located at 8 Butler Place in Saratoga, the team is led by founder and president Sandra Fox. Fox calls Sensory Six’s design philosophy “21st Century Zen” with a focus on organic lighting and modern finishes. “As we enter our 9th year in business, we want to thank our talented team for their incredible work and our amazing clients and vendors who have allowed us to create such distinctive spaces for all to see and enjoy! We are truly grateful and can’t wait to see what this next year brings us,” said Sensory Six in a statement. 

For more information on Sensory Six, or to view some of their past work, visit: sensorysix.com.

“Love Our Locals” Campaign Returns

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

SARATOGA – In a show of support to local business owners and non-profit organizations throughout Saratoga County, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce is kick-starting their “Love Our Locals” campaign for another year. What started as an effort during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown in 2020, the campaign (then called “Save Our Locals”) was a community driven initiative to shop local, dine local and hire local in order to support the many small businesses, artisan shops and local contractors that embody Saratoga’s business culture.  

This year, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic ostensibly waning, the campaign is back for another year. Only this time, it is called “Love Our Locals.” The idea is simple, patrons who spend or donate $20.22 or more to participating vendors, non-profits or service providers and share their receipt with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce via email (loveourlocals@saratoga.org) will be put in a running to win a $100 gift to a host of other local businesses.

 The event begins on October 21 and runs throughout the remainder of the year, ending December 31.  Winners will be selected weekly and will be announced across the Chamber’s social media channels. Winners will also be notified separately via email as to how to claim their gift card. Saratoga County businesses and non-profit organizations are encouraged to hang up a “Love Our Locals $20.22” poster in a prominent spot to remind customers, clients, and employees about how they can support the Saratoga community. For more information on how to participate or how to support the community, please email loveourlocals@saratoga.org.

Sixth Generation Strings Hosts Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce for a Ribbon Cutting

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Business.

Photo by Tyler Murray.

SARATOGA — On Friday, Oct. 14, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce will visit Sixth Generation Strings for an official ribbon cutting ceremony. Sixth Generation Strings, located at 480 Broadway, will officially be cutting their ribbon at 12 p.m. Sixth Generation Strings is a local music hub for the Saratoga Region and beyond. They offer rental instruments and accessories, six generations of family traditions in violin making and repair, a carefully curated selection of string instruments and a wide variety of used vinyl records. 

Sixth Generation Strings is the work of Thomas Dunn, who carries with him six generations of violin making that traces back to the mid 1800s in Hungary. The oldest of a musical family of 9, Thomas was raised on a farm in Fort Plain from age 11. He developed manual labor skills and built many model tall ships as a teen, which sparked his love for crafting and woodworking. Combining his passions for music and woodworking with his love of science and physics, Thomas decided to continue in the family tradition of violin making. Violin making is something that combines knowledge, skill, artistry, science, and even philosophy, according to Dunn. For more information on Sixth Generation Strings, visit their website,  sixgviolin.com, or their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/sixgviolin.