By Susan Elise Campbell

The indoor golf experience that gained momentum during the pandemic continues to delight residents from all around the region.  Whether it’s a family out for a few hours of fun, a couple on a date, or serious golfers working to improve their handicap, audiences are being attracted to golf simulators in greater numbers as the underlying technology evolves.

Troy Miller has opened five new facilities called The Bunker since Covid temporarily closed the doors of many recreation facilities. The latest is at 307 Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

“I read an article recently that golf, for the first time, has more non-green golf interest than the traditional golf course,” said Miller. “People come to have fun and they also come to train and improve their game.”

Popularity has much to do with strides in graphics and high definition monitors that make the  experience more realistic. But as the individual swings and makes contact with the ball, the simulator technology is collecting dozens of data metrics, Miller said.

“We have seen advancements with the flight tracking technology, which was first developed to afford greater detail and insight with respect to club fitting,” said Scott Hoffman, the second generation to own and operate Northway Golf Center, 1519 Crescent Road in Clifton Park. “That has been our forté.”

Northway Golf Center is one of the top 100 club fitters nationwide with every major club manufacturer in the industry, Hoffman said. 

“Technology has revolutionized the industry,” he said. “It has broadened the components of performance characteristics to provide every different player type with an opportunity for betterment.”

In 1974 when Hoffman’s parents were opening the golf shop and a personal computer didn’t exist yet, “club fitting was not a thing,” he said. “Each of the manufacturers had one or two models designed to appeal to the better half or lesser half as far as player ability.”

For example, a blade style golf club was performance oriented and not very forgiving, he said. By the 1980s manufacturers determined that hollow construction, or placing the weight of the club head around the perimeter, enlarged the sweet spot so golfers could have better performance on a miss-hit.

“That’s like the difference between an aluminum baseball bat and a wooden one,” said Hoffman. “Now we have interchangeable components in one club and use golf simulators to determine the best configuration for the player.”

Today’s top-of-the-line simulator is the TRACKMAN, which draws serious golfers to both The Bunker and Northway Golf Center, along with other brands such as TOPTRACER and TOPTRACER RANGE technology.

While TRACKMAN is an indoor machine, it can be used outdoors and the data translated indoors.

“TRACKMAN is the one all the PGA pros use to warm up for the Masters,” Miller said. “It feeds back club head speed, ball speed, degree of angle, attack angle, smash factor, distance and about two dozen other metrics.”

A user can factor in wind speed and course conditions if they would like, or emulate a course in Colorado, for example, he said. 

Miller said in making TRACKMAN simulators the manufacturer collected inputs from millions of golf swings and stored them to inform users.

“There is not one shot that TRACKMAN hasn’t recorded and now it has an artificial intelligence element,” he said.

“You hit a ball 20 or 30 times and the system will tell you what’s wrong with your swing,” Miller said. “It’s an unbelievable training system.”

“We have currently five teaching professionals on staff to offer instruction and a full-fledged golf academy,” Hoffman said. “There is growing demand in our region for coaching, from individual private lessons for beginners and virtual playing lessons on the simulators to several levels of group programs.”

“Launch monitors once captured only basic information such as club angle, club speed, ball speed and launch angle,” Hoffman said. “Now we see interactions with multiple technologies  such as high-speed cameras and Doppler radar that combine to capture ball and club data simultaneously.”

“It actually gives more data that a golfer would expect, want, or need,” he said. “Things like your face angle variation relative to your target line at impact is quantified.”

Non-green golfers using indoor simulation can follow their shots on a high definition monitor overhead and see their data displayed. Miller said graphics are advancing all the time, and there is no longer anything artificial looking about the display.

“Kids love the HD monitors,” Miller said. “You know how kids are, they love their screen time.”

Customers at The Bunker can rent a bay by the hour that holds up to four people, Miller said. VIP and semi-private spaces are also available.

“It’s like buying a bucket of balls,” Hoffman said. “You can play as few or as many as you like.”

Indoor golf is wholesome recreation for families that bridges multiple generations, the business owners said.

“Kids play with their moms and siblings and grandparents,” Hoffman said. “The beauty of the sport of golf is that it doesn’t discriminate.”

Hoffman said the initial attraction of Northway Golf Center was the driving range when his folks started the business 50 years ago. That was the first amenity along with a single story, one-room pro shop with bare floors and one or two lines of clothing. 

No one was offering golf equipment in the Capital Region then, and that aspect of the business quickly took off along with miniature golf, he said.

“The business became a venue for family entertainment,” said Hoffman. “Now with the introduction of TOPTRACER technology, it ties to the evolution of the driving range experience.”

In 2020 Northway Golf Center built a 2,400-square-foot performance center that combines driving golf balls outside with simulator technology inside. This is a heated space enclosed on three sides but open to the fresh air. 

Customers can watch their drives travel a couple hundred yards onto the driving range or look up to see what was tracked and rendered on screen by the simulator, Hoffman said.

“The allure of golf is to see the ball fly,” said Hoffman. “But golfers also want the interaction of technology.”

Miller and Hoffman use different brands of simulators for different purposes and know that with any technology there is a certain shelf life. Constant, dynamic changes can make it obsolete. Nevertheless, both business owners purchase rather than lease their equipment because it makes greater economic sense in the longer run, they said.

The Bunker and Northway Golf Center invite golfers and non-golfers in the community to discover a new kind of recreation, stay a while, have a meal and some beer or wine. Log on to www.getinthebunker.golf and www.northway8golf.com for more information.

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By Susan Elise Campbell

Arnoff Moving & Storage achieves another milestone this spring with its 100-year anniversary as a family corporation. What was started in 1924 by generations one and two with Abraham Arnoff and his son Louis is now under the management of generations three, four and five.

How future generations will impact the growth of the company when they come on board, time will tell, if they first follow one family rule.

“My grandmother Phyllis had the idea, I was told, that any family member has the opportunity to join the business but must have worked for at least a year at another company,” said Dan Arnoff, chief relationship manager and company spokesperson who oversees sales, marketing and human resources. “She is the one who enforced the rule.”

Phyllis Arnoff has passed away, but her husband Richard, generation three, is the firm’s CEO. The president is their son Michael and his wife Lisa is executive vice president and corporate counsel. Their sons Dan and Craig, the latter a CPA and the company’s chief operating officer, are also operating the firm alongside their cousin Nick, vice president of fleet and safety, and uncle Mark, who manages a separate moving company in southern Florida. 

The family is preparing a ribbon cutting May  1st to celebrate their golden milestone.

“The event will be open to the whole community,” said Dan Arnoff. “We want as many people there a possible.”

The Arnoffs plan to open their doors for “tours, snacks, and fun things,” said Arnoff. “We will also host another event specific to real estate agents in the fall.”

There will be a similar spring celebratory event in Poughkeepsie, which became home to Arnoff Moving in 1960 and where the company continues to maintain a strong presence, Arnoff said.

“My great-great grandfather and my great grandfather started as dairy farmers in Lakeville, Connecticut,” Arnoff said. “They didn’t like farming much, but they had a truck and started moving the furniture or items purchased on the travels of wealthy families living there.”

“Their clients trusted them to move items of great value, whether monetarily or sentimentally,” he said. “They got a knack for taking good care of the things they moved or stored.”

This reputation followed the family business into Poughkeepsie when Richard moved his growing family there. Arnoff said IBM was taking off then, and there was an influx of people  needing residential moving services.

At that time, all of the Arnoff’s neighbors were IBM families who were telling Richard and Phyllis that there would be demand for setting up offices and bringing in equipment for manufacturing IBM’s mainframe computers. And employees were coming from all around the world to populate the factories, Arnoff said. 

“From that moment my grandfather realized what a benefit it would be to diversify the company to provide other services in addition to residential moving, making it more financially sound and stable for not only his family, but also the families of those who worked for him,” Arnoff said.

One truck became two, and two employees became 20 as the family business owners learned how to move equipment and office furniture safely while expanding their client base.

“IBM was our largest customer for many years and while that business has shrunk down, that experience was a jumping off point for the company to determine what we could do with the resources we had,” he said.

It was also their entreé into serving the technology industry. Continuing to look for ways to grow the business more into the commercial market, Arnoff Moving made the move to expand into another branch in Albany in the early 1980s.

The Arnoffs opened a small warehouse off Broadway and later purchased the RCA building in Albany, when the iconic “Nipper became the company’s mascot for a time,” Arnoff said.

“He is still on top of that building,” Arnoff said. “But the building has four floors and one freight elevator and it was not efficient” for the storing and warehousing services that had been flourishing.

But Malta was fast becoming another of the state’s technology manufacturing centers by the early 2000s and a long search for expansion space lead the Arnoffs to 10 Stonebreak Road and the former Racemark building in 2016.

“We sold all our Albany properties and significantly renovated the original building on Stonebreak Road, turning 100,000 square feet into 200,000,” Arnoff said. “We added to our state-of-the-art logistics campus when we built another 120,000 square feet on the premises a year ago”

Logistics is the process of getting goods from one location to another, and Arnoff staff helps their customers determine “how to make their supply chain resilient and robust,” he said.

Customers may require transportation, long-term storage, or just-in-time warehousing, where Arnoff holds inventory until the customer’s need is determined and a delivery is arranged. There is both staff and a specialty trucking fleet to handle high-value freight, Arnoff said. 

“This area of the company focuses on customers with sensitive or very expensive equipment,” he said. “An example is one shipment worth $12 million shipped to support a client’s manufacturing process at their facility.”

Looking back on a 100-year history, Arnoff said the company has come from two employees with one truck to more than 200 employees and 200 trucks. The family attributes their growth to “a strong group of customers across diversified business lines,” he said. 

Arnoff said the family feels “fortunate” to get to this milestone through the employment pool in Malta and the “really great group of employees” that the Arnoffs call family.

“We try to embody the multi-generational family business aspect of the company, and that means all of our employees are part of our family, all of our customers are part of our family, and the community at large is part of our family,” Arnoff said. 

“Not every day is the greatest day, but in our company culture we try to make every day better than yesterday,” he said. “If there’s an issue and we can make something better for an employee or a customer, that becomes our focus and mission for that day.”

Arnoff said that family also feels fortunate to have developed good relationships with the Town of Malta.

“It’s not always easy to do large commercial development projects but Malta has been very welcoming to us,” he said. “This makes the Arnoff family more confident about continuing to  invest in this property.”

That support is focused not only on Arnoff Moving & Storage but also across Saratoga County, Arnoff said. 

“We know the growth in the entire county isn’t going to stop,” he said. “We want to be a part of it and be a supporting player here.”

“We feel very proud and extremely optimistic for the short- and long-term where our business is going,” Arnoff said. “We think this 100th year is going to be a milestone on the way to a 200- or 500-year-old company.”

Visit www.arnoff.com for more information.

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The Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (THA) held its annual meeting and election of officers in South Florida March 19-20. Tina Marie Bond, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA), was elected president of the national organization. She is the first woman to head the THA since its inception in 1994.

“It’s an honor to be elected president of such an esteemed collective,” Bond said. “THA is at the forefront of collaborative decision-making and policy implementation on issues such as racehorse aftercare, equine safety and welfare, and protecting the integrity of our sport. I look forward to leading the organization as it addresses the challenges that horsemen and women face on local, regional, and national levels.”

Chris Block, president of ITHA, and David Richardson, executive director of MTHA, were elected as vice presidents. Michael Musto, executive director of NJTHA, and Bessie Gruwell, executive director of DTHA, will serve as treasurer and secretary, respectively.

Bond, who with her husband Jim own Song Hill Thoroughbreds LLC in Saratoga Springs, follows previous THA presidents Michael Martin, Rick Violette Jr., and Joe Appelbaum.

“We are proud of the leadership role that women play in the THA and our member organizations. Tina has worked with the THA for years and she will be a great resource for the industry,” said THA Chairman Alan Foreman.

Established in 1994, the THA is a highly regarded and influential voice for its member organizations in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, representing more than 20,000 owners and trainers.

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Aneesa Waheed has come a long way since she and her husband began selling Moroccan-Indian fusion dishes at a farmer’s market in 2008. Now the owner of six Tara Kitchen restaurants, Waheed is the recipient of the New York Small Business Person of the Year Award for 2024.

This year’s award winner runs a woman-owned, minority-owned string of eateries that extend from Schenectady to India. There are more than two million small businesses and potential candidates in New York, but the honor goes to the Capital Region entrepreneur. 

“It’s great to be nominated and shocking to have won,” she said. “I feel honored and humbled.”

Waheed was nominated by Keri Pratico, who is currently senior business development officer for Pursuit and who was approached by Waheed 15 years ago seeking a small business loan for her New York City restaurant.

“Back then, the Tara Kitchen empire of today felt like a distant dream,” said Pratico. “Anyone who knows Aneesa isn’t surprised that her tenacity and dedication have led her to this award.”

“I’m thrilled to see her recognized on the national stage,” Pratico said. 

According to Waheed, her family, including her mother, sisters, and children, have been extremely supportive. So have the community of small businesses, resources that the state offers, and peers like Pratico who have followed Waheed’s entrepreneurial career in their roles at different government agencies.

“You survive in a family of locals,” she said. “We are all very dependent on people within a few miles of our business.”

“It was a reflective moment for me to think about the amount of people and energies and doors and walkways you have to pass though to get to this point,” Waheed said. “It’s a massive, massive effort of thousands of people.”

She has had a SCORE mentor and over the years mentored others. Waheed launched an incubator during the COVID that she still maintains. She works closely with the New York City and Upstate chapters of the Small Business Development Center, now part of Pursuit, and with Empire State Development, which has helped her extensively with her launch in India, she said.

She is part of the leadership board for the James Beard Foundation for 2023-2024 and has a mentee getting his restaurant up and running in Philadelphia and another is starting up her sideline cheesecake bakery. She is helping an individual negotiate a real estate deal, and there are others, she said. 

“I don’t see this as mentoring someone,” said Waheed. “It’s part of business. People are constantly reaching out to me and I make myself knowingly and willingly very accessible to people.”

“It is a duty to educate and to give back this way,” she said. “My advice to anyone starting up is, if you are offered, take the help.”

Waheed graduated high school in Schenectady, earned a college degree from Russell Sage, and had a high tech career in New York City until 2009.

“My husband had recently moved from Morocco and I was wanting to get out of corporate America,” she said. “We felt it was a good time to try our hand at business.”

With the American couple’s Indian and Moroccan backgrounds, their food blended the ingredients of all three cultures, Waheed said. The food was unique and set Tara Kitchen apart, and they were getting excellent feedback from their customers.

Not only are the warm spices and flavors of their dishes distinctive, but also very good for people with allergies, she said.

“Our customers like that we serve dairy free and soy free dishes,” she said. “We use light, fresh ingredients like lentils and spices cooked together.”

It didn’t take long to open a restaurant in Waheed’s home town of Schenectady. Today there is one Tara Kitchen in New York City, three upstate, one in Wildwood, NJ, and Waheed is currently traveling back and forth to India launching the sixth.

“India has one of the fastest growing and most robust economies, and 30 percent is in the food and beverage sector,” she said. “We are trying to see if we have a shot at building a brand there.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration is the “only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government [and which] empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses,” according to www.sba.gov.

The Waheeds will be present at the National Small Business Week award ceremonies held April 28th and 29th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington, D.C., where SBA administrator Isabel Guzman will announce the top honor of National Small Business Person of the Year.  

Learn more at www.tarakitchen.com.

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By Christine Graf      

The owners of Sophia’s of Little Italy, a popular Manhattan restaurant, have opened a sister location at 54 Clifton Country Road in Clifton Park. The restaurant serves a vast array of authentic Italian fare.

According to Stephan Wininger, business manager at Sophia’s of Clifton Park, the eatery’s owners, a  trio of New York City chefs, fell in love with the Clifton Park location. The building has housed numerous restaurants over the years, the most recent being the Painted Lemon, an establishment that closed its doors after less than one year in business.   

“We all love this building, and we are putting our heart and soul into caulking every crack and doing everything within our power to bring it up to our level of expectation. It’s a great building that was never utilized to its potential. We’ve signed a ten-year lease, so we plan on being here for a long time.”

New York City-based Brazilian artist Murah Lemos was hired to paint murals and create reliefs (raised plaster designs) on the restaurant’s walls. 

“We had him here for six weeks. He is really amazing, and he has a lot of high-end clients in New York City and Miami. We’re very lucky to have him,” said Wininger.

As part of the renovation, the kitchen was reconfigured to allow for a better work flow. Kitchen equipment was upgraded, new coolers were installed, and a 3,000-pound pizza oven that was located in one of the dining areas was relocated to the kitchen. 

“By moving it to the kitchen, we gained some floor space. We’re going to make that room a place for private parties of 20 people or less,” said Wininger, noting that they will work with customers to accommodate larger private parties elsewhere in the restaurant.  

Sophia’s of Clifton Park expects to have 20 employees, and the entire kitchen staff has relocated to Clifton Park from Manhattan. Executive chef Aurelio Calel was among those who made the move, and Jose Veloz was brought on as general manager. Veloz has more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry.

The menu at Sophia’s of Clifton Park is very similar to that of Sophia’s of Little Italy, featuring homemade pasta and pizza along with an extensive selection of entrees featuring seafood, chicken, veal, and beef. Wininger said prices will be in line and competitive with other restaurants in the area. 

“We will also have a full bar and a wine list that includes wines that are not available in the liquor store. We will also have happy hour specials.”

In addition to its large indoor dining space/bar with room for 115, Sophia’s has a seasonal outdoor patio/bar that can accommodate an additional 109.

Serving lunch and dinner, Sophia’s of Clifton Park is open seven days a week from noon until 10 p.m. An online reservation system is in the works. For reservations, call (518) 280-2116 or use Google Assistant. To view the menu, visit Sophia’s of Clifton Park on Facebook.

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New board members include: Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub; Supervising Judge of the Supreme Court in the Third Judicial District, Hon. Christina Ryba; local business owner and musician Derek Stannard; and, president and CEO of Empire Media Network, Abby Tegnalia. 

“It is tremendously exciting to have these four new members joining our board,” says Board President Steve Rosenblum. “All community leaders in the Capital Region, each new member brings a valuable perspective and talent to our leadership team. I am looking forward to working with them as we continue to take Opera Saratoga forward.”

Those interested in learning more about Opera Saratoga’s 2024 season, its board, or wish to become involved, may visit www.operasaratoga.org or contact Managing Director Amanda Robie at arobie@operasaratoga.org.

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Since joining NBC affiliate WNYT News Channel 13 in 1990, Elaine Houston grew to be an impactful and influential member of the news media for more than three decades. Post-retirement, Houston’s next chapter will begin with the Business for Good team, which she joined April 1. An Emmy award-winning reporter, Houston’s aptitude for highlighting social justice issues and stories strongly aligns with Business for Good’s mission.

“Elaine’s renowned career speaks volumes about the robust and vibrant content she will develop for Business for Good,” said BFG co-Founder, Ed Mitzen. “Through the years, her writing and reporting have not only informed people, but educated people. We are honored and excited to have Elaine join our team.”

Houston earned a doctorate degree in executive leadership and social justice from St. John Fisher University, a Master of Arts degree in international women’s studies from State of New York, Empire State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. 

Throughout her career, Houston was recognized with numerous community and journalism awards. According to Mitzen, her decades of impactful storytelling will be an asset, as she works to highlight Business of Good’s family of companies and the amazing entrepreneurs in the communities with which BFG has worked.

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WEXT Radio, the Capital Region’s listener-supported roots and rock radio station, has announced the addition of Laura Grant as its new midday host. With an eclectic background – from voiceover and audio production work to on-stage roles in classical ballet and theatre – Grant is an ideal fit for WEXT’s unique and diverse music and community-oriented programming. 

 A native of Delmar, Grant is a born storyteller with a love for varied musical genres. She spent the past six years as a producer and voiceover specialist at Creative Voice Development Group in Albany. A devoted cinephile, she has hosted the New York State Office of General Services’ Classic Film series since 2018. 

 Grant also enjoys being on stage as both a dancer and actress. Getting her start at the age of five, she has 15 years of dance experience, performing with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Northeast Ballet, Boston Ballet and Manhattan Youth Ballet. She’s also starred in numerous productions with Curtain Call Theater in Latham, Schenectady Civic Players, and Home Made Theater in Saratoga Springs.

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Over the past five years, the Arrow Family of Companies has donated nearly $3 million to various causes. “Our mission is to strengthen financial lives and make a positive impact in the communities we serve,” said Dave DeMarco, President and CEO of Arrow Financial Corporation. “We are committed to giving back, and we are incredibly proud of the dollars we donate, the impressive number of hours our team volunteers, and the impact we make on our communities by doing so.”

The Arrow Family of Companies’ total number of employee volunteers saw an increase of 21 percent, with 252 individuals actively participating in various community initiatives. Through their collective efforts, 561 nonprofits were supported across the company’s eight-county footprint, spanning from Albany to Plattsburgh.

“Giving back is not only important to our business, but it is also important to our people,” said Kate Otis, Vice President, Community Engagement Manager. “We consider it both a responsibility and a privilege to enhance the quality of life in our communities through charitable giving and volunteerism.”

The 2023 charitable contributions benefited a range of causes, including mental health, financial empowerment, education, workforce support, basic needs, health and human services, safe and affordable housing, business and farm support and environmental sustainability.

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“I am absolutely thrilled about Healthy Saratoga Weekend,” said Discover Saratoga President Darryl Leggieri. “This event truly embodies our community’s unwavering dedication to health and wellness. We invite everyone to join us in exploring the diverse array of health and wellness offerings in our vibrant county by visiting participating businesses. Let’s unite and celebrate a healthy Saratoga County together.”

This weekend coincides with the Mind Body Soul Market on Saturday, April 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the Mind Body Soul Expo on Sunday, April 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., both hosted at the Saratoga Springs City Center. Dive deeper into wellness practices, holistic living, and discover the latest trends in the wellness industry. Learn more at mindbodysoulexpo.com.

“I am excited to partner with Discover Saratoga to bring the largest community-wide health and wellness event to this area,” said Mind Body Soul Event Coordinator, Jennifer Rhodes. “Healthy Saratoga Weekend is the perfect opportunity for individuals to delve into and embrace the world of health and wellness within Saratoga County.”

For more information about Healthy Saratoga Weekend and to see a complete list of participants, visit www.discoversaratoga.org/events/healthy-saratoga-weekend/. Stay informed about all things Saratoga, including Healthy Saratoga Weekend, by downloading the new mobile app, which is free to download from the App Store and Google Play.

 Discover Saratoga, known as the Saratoga Convention & Tourism Bureau, is a key economic development engine for Saratoga County. Its mission is to contribute a positive impact on the local economy by promoting and marketing Saratoga County as a world-class destination for leisure travel, meetings, and events. For more information about Discover Saratoga, visit discoversaratoga.org.

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“Consumer sentiment is gaining upward momentum. Nationally the index, up 9.7 points this quarter, stands 28 points higher than at this time last year. In New York, the index is up 2.8 points this quarter and 14.5 points higher than a year ago. The national numbers are above the breakeven point of balanced optimism and pessimism for the first time in three years and while in New York the current score remains below breakeven, New Yorkers top the nation in future optimism. Still, high prices in the grocery stores continue to impact over three-quarters of residents. While pump price shock is the lowest we’ve seen in three  years, a majority also see housing and utility costs seriously affecting their finances”, according to Don Levy, SCRI’s Director.

In the first quarter of 2024, buying plans were down for cars/trucks at 19.7% (from 22.9%). Buying plans were up for consumer electronics at 47.9% (from 45.4%), for furniture at 29.8% (from 26.8%), for homes at 8.3% (from 6.4%) and up slightly for major home improvements at 22.7% (from 22.2%).

Fifty percent (down from 55% last quarter and the lowest since March 2021) of all New Yorkers say that current gasoline prices are having a very serious or somewhat serious impact on their financial condition. Seventy-seven percent (up from 75% last quarter) of state residents indicate that the amount of money they spend on groceries is having either a very serious or somewhat serious impact on their finances.

Seven in 10 (67%) New Yorkers say that housing costs are having a very serious or somewhat serious impact on their financial condition. Additionally, a majority (60%) of residents say that their utility costs are having at least a somewhat serious impact on their finances. Other monthly expenses including the cost of cell phones (29%) and entertainment services including internet, cable and streaming services (45%) are having a very or somewhat serious impact on New Yorkers’ financial condition.

Fifteen percent of all New Yorkers are somewhat or very seriously impacted by all six monthly expenses – food, gasoline, housing, utilities, home entertainment and cell phones. The consumer sentiment index among that group of New Yorkers is 65.8, 11.1 points below the statewide reading.

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By Paul Post

Saratoga National Bank & Trust Company has $1.1 billion in assets and works hard to support and improve the financial futures of all its business and personal clients throughout the Capital Region.

When Chairman Raymond F. O’ Conor — he’s been with the bank since its 1988 founding — needs a break from such responsibilities he and hiking partner Joe Murphy head to the mountains for “An Above Average Day.”

That’s the title of a new documentary film scheduled to debut at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24 on WMHT-PBS in conjunction with Earth Week.

“If you told me a few years ago that a pair of superb filmmakers, Katera and Aviral Kapoor of the Veda Film Company, would feature my buddy Joe and I in a documentary film I wouldn’t have believed it,” said O’ Conor, a Wilton resident.

O’Conor, 69, and Murphy, 39, a SUNY Albany academic advisor, of Halfmoon, have hiked more than 4,000 miles and climbed more than 400 peaks since a chance meeting — or was it fate? — on an Adirondack Mountain Club group hike in 2009.

They are Adirondack 46ers and Catskill 3500 Club members, having summited every mountain in both summer and winter, and have also achieved the prestigious feat of climbing all 115 mountains in the Northeast with an elevation of 4,000 feet or more.

Following a career as a U.S. Border Patrol agent and Department of Defense special agent, O’Conor made a dramatic change into the financial services and banking industry. After 25 years, he retired from Saratoga National Bank as its chief executive officer, but still serves as chairman and is on the board of directors of Arrow Financial Corporation and its subsidiary banks, Glens Falls National and Saratoga National.

He’s also a Wilton town councilman and is chief executive officer of the Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation, a not-for-profit community development organization.

O’Conor continues to deal with many types of challenges and difficult business decisions, some of which greatly influence the lives of customers and the hundreds of employees he’s responsible for as well.

He’s discovered that arduous outdoor adventures are a great training ground for overcoming life’s obstacles, establishing priorities and maintaining a healthy balance in his personal and professional life.

“I’m fond of saying that there is nothing better for the body, mind and soul than being in the wilderness, sauntering along a stream, sitting at the base of a waterfall or enjoying the view from atop a mountain. It is all the more special to share the experience with a good friend,” O’Conor said.

“Joe and I have had many challenges along the way with unexpected foul weather, extreme cold and heat, rugged bushwhacking, severe blowdown and other obstacles,” he said. “During an Adirondack traverse of the Lower Great Range on a Friday the 13th in January, it crossed our minds that we might have to hunker down for the night as a blizzard with blinding snow and bitter cold struck. We always carry emergency equipment and supplies for such an occurrence.”

“With poor visibility and no service, we relied on an old-school map and compass to find our bail-out trail and avoid an overnight stay,” he said. “It was a lesson in always being prepared for whatever life or nature may throw at you.”

O’Conor and Murphy got acquainted during an Adirondack Mountain Club group hike of the Seward Range on May 23, 2009. At the time, Murphy was residence life manager at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. In his current position, he does superb work with the SUNY Albany students assigned to him and does everything possible to help prepare them for success in life and future careers.

“We enjoyed the heck out of the 12 hours, 18 miles and thousands of feet of elevation gain we shared that day,” O’Conor said.

During the past 15 years they’ve also completed the New England Hundred Highest, the New Hampshire 52 With A View, Adirondack Fire Tower Challenge in summer and winter, the Lake George 12sters, Saranac 6, Lake Placid 9, Adirondack Blue Challenge (10 mountains), the ADK-9 Challenge, the Vermont 5 (4,000-foot peaks), Vermont Fire Tower Challenge, Fulton Trifecta and several individual mountains.

Many of these were on dog-friendly trails with Murphy’s beautiful golden retriever, Moose.

“About four years ago I received a Facebook message from Katera, who had followed social media posts that Joe and I did about our adventures, asking if we would be the subject of a documentary film,” O’Conor said. “Coincidentally, Katera is originally from Saratoga Springs and more than 30 years ago Katera and my daughter, Meghan, were members of the YMCA gymnastics team.

Once again, fate seems to have been at play with regard to O’Conor and Murphy’s hiking interests.

Filming for “An Above Average Day” was done in the Adirondacks and Vermont.

“Among the most remarkable things about the process are Avi and Katera’s technical and directorial skills,” O’Conor said. “Joe and I were also impressed with their ability to haul equipment on hikes and operate the drone camera. They were absolutely delightful to work with.”

“No matter how challenging or exhausting one of our outings is, the adventure always ends with us declaring that it has been ‘an above average day’,” he said. 

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