Month: July 2026

Munter Enterprises Expands Portfolio With Major Commercial And Community Projects

July 20, 2026

The newly completed Hudson River Community Credit Union branch in Greenwich is among the commercial and community projects delivered by Middle Grove-based Munter Enterprises this year alone.
Courtesy Munter Enterprises

By Rod Bacon

The crews at Munter Enterprises are looking at a very busy year. The Middle Grove-based construction firm has numerous projects underway or nearing completion.

Munter is one of a few Capital District contractors awarded work at the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals facility in the W.J. Grande Industrial Park in Saratoga Springs.

“We are honored to be among those chosen to move this project forward,” said Vice President Mike Munter.

Regeneron’s $2 billion investment, estimated to create 1,000 permanent jobs and 500 construction jobs, is slated for full completion in June 2033. The start of pharmaceutical production is scheduled for 2030.

In June, Munter completed the first phase of a two-phase rebuild of Stewart’s Shops’ food and ice cream production facility in Greenfield.

Munter is quarterbacking the project, which will modernize and expand Stewart’s ice cream and milk production while more than doubling the size of the convenience store chain’s commercial kitchen.

The project will position Stewart’s to grow for decades.

Queensbury’s Hilltop Construction Celebrates 50 Years And Third-Generation Growth

July 20, 2026

From left, Cindy Albrect, Tom Albrecht Sr., April Washburn, Daniel Washburn and Tom Albrecht Jr. gather at Hilltop Construction as the Queensbury family business marks its 50th anniversary.
Courtesy Hilltop Construction

By Paul Post

Tom Albrecht Sr. launched Hilltop Construction with a dollar and a dream.

Now marking its 50th anniversary, the firm is one of the area’s best-known residential and commercial builders, with projects from Saratoga to the southern Adirondacks and from Great Sacandaga Lake to Lake St. Catherine in Vermont.

But Albrecht says he never worked a day in his life.

“That’s because I loved the business, every aspect of it,” he said. “But more importantly, I loved building people’s dreams.”

A celebration for clients, current and former employees and business friends is planned for August at Hilltop’s new headquarters at 21 Casey Road in Queensbury’s Airport Industrial Park.

Albrecht and his wife, Cindy, recently celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. Now retired, they enjoy spending time with grandchildren and traveling, especially to major league ballparks across the country.

Their son, Tom Albrecht Jr., daughter, April, and her husband, Dan Washburn, now co-own and manage the company. A third generation, Noah Albrecht and Cameron Washburn, recently joined the business.

KPM Targets Larger Restoration Projects Through Regional Expansion

July 20, 2026

KPM Restoration employees gather beside company vehicles as the firm expands across the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and Vermont to pursue larger residential and commercial restoration projects.
Courtesy KPM Restoration

By Susan Elise Campbell

KPM Restoration now has five fully staffed offices in the Capital Region, three in the Hudson Valley and one in Vermont, allowing it to handle 30 or more jobs each week, according to President and founder James Kennedy. The firm restores homes and buildings damaged by water, fire, mold and sewage caused by natural disasters or system failures due to age or accidents.

Kennedy said clients range from Lake Placid to Long Island and that the Bronx is the latest market he is entering. He is moving into the boroughs by “getting out there networking and keeping relationships tight,” which has been his approach since starting KPM Restoration in 2017.

“The growth we are experiencing goes back to taking a chance and getting a network of good vendors, building managers, insurance companies, construction project managers, plumbers, and others to partner with,” he said. “And it is about making a foundation of people with grit who are like family to me.”

The firm is shifting to larger jobs from its new location in southeastern New York because, as Kennedy said, “bigger buildings need bigger restorations.”

SUNY Adirondack Students Explore AI-Driven Technology Careers at StoredTech

July 20, 2026

SUNY Adirondack students meet with StoredTech staff to discuss new careers shaped by AI.
Courtesy StoredTech

By Carol Ann Conover

StoredTech, a managed IT and cybersecurity firm, capped off the spring semester by hosting cybersecurity students from SUNY Adirondack in late May for a hands-on look at how artificial intelligence is reshaping day-to-day work in the technology field and the career paths now opening because of it.

The visit came together, fittingly, through an unplanned encounter. “Interestingly, the connection started through a conversation during a DoorDash delivery,” said David Andrade, StoredTech’s president. “It’s a great reminder that in a close-knit community, opportunities often come from unexpected places. We saw this as a great chance to connect students, see the many pathways available in the technology field.”

During the visit, StoredTech staff led students through a live demonstration of the platform the company uses to support its clients, including a walkthrough of how a support ticket is completed and how the company gathers and analyzes data for client reporting. The students’ reaction stood out to the StoredTech team members who participated.

Staff also spent time with students discussing how AI is changing the way StoredTech’s teams work and how that shift will shape the jobs those students are training for. The team shared practical tips on prompting, providing context and adapting to this new way of working, lessons that Zac Barber, a pre-sales engineer at StoredTech, described simply. “The most value in AI comes from the context you give it,” Barber said. “The more clearly you explain what you need, the better results you get.”

TickDetect Brings AI-Powered Tick Screening To Warren County Residents

July 20, 2026

Tim Montgomery demonstrates TickDetect, an AI tool that screens for ticks and rashes.
Courtesy TickDetect

By Carol Ann Conover

When Tim Montgomery’s daughter made three visits to the emergency room in a single week, the diagnosis wasn’t the flu. It was babesiosis, a tick-borne parasite that attacks red blood cells. “She ended up spending three visits to the emergency room over a week with a temperature of north of 103 for the whole week,” Montgomery said. His sister also has battled Lyme disease for years, and his brother has been infected twice. “It’s just an awful thing,” he said.

Those family experiences, along with a tick Montgomery recently had removed from his back at Hudson Headwaters, led the Queensbury entrepreneur to build TickDetect, a free artificial intelligence tool that helps people — and their pets — check for ticks and tick-related rashes before the bites become more serious.

Montgomery founded TIMIT Solutions in January 2012 after a 20-year career at GE and a series of executive roles running global technology, health care and staffing businesses. The Queensbury-based firm primarily serves midsize companies, generally those with $10 million to $1 billion in revenue, by building custom software, modernizing legacy systems and offering chief information officer coaching and mentoring, Montgomery said.

TickDetect, the company’s newest project, runs entirely in a phone’s web browser — no app store download is required. Users photograph their skin or a pet’s fur, and the tool uses Claude AI Vision to identify tick species, attachment status and rash patterns, generating a private report users can bring to a doctor or veterinarian. “There’s no reason to download an app at all,” Montgomery said.

Privacy was central to the design, Montgomery said. Photos are analyzed and then discarded rather than stored, and the tool collects no names or other identifying information unless a user opts in to share anonymous usage data. “It records no personal information. Nothing is ever stored. It’s totally encrypted,” he said. The platform is built to comply with European and California privacy regulations, according to Montgomery.

Business Report: Businesses Improve Visibility in AI-Powered Search

July 20, 2026

Valleri James, Director of Digital Sales and Strategy at Mannix Marketing.
Courtesy Mannix Marketing

By Valleri James

For years, local businesses have focused on improving their visibility on Google so customers can find them through search. Now, the way people discover businesses is changing.

Instead of typing “best accountant near me” or “top roofing contractor” into a search engine, more consumers are turning to AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot for recommendations.

According to BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, 45% of consumers had used ChatGPT or another generative AI tool to find local business recommendations, up from just 6% the previous year. The survey found AI had become the third-most-used source of local recommendations, behind Google and Facebook.

Rather than scrolling through pages of search results, users increasingly see a short list of businesses and an explanation of why they may be a good fit.

That means your online presence now needs to serve two audiences: the customers you want to reach and the digital tools connecting those customers with answers.

The good news is that most businesses do not need to rebuild their websites or master complicated new technology. The fundamentals that have always helped customers choose a business — clear information, helpful content and proof of credibility — also help search engines and AI tools understand your company.

Business Report: When It’s Time To Stop Patching And Start Replacing

July 20, 2026

By David Andrade
President of StoredTech

There’s a quiet problem I see across a lot of businesses, and it’s worth naming. That’s technical debt, or sunk cost. Sometimes a business bought the wrong system years ago or outgrew a setup that used to work fine. They keep pouring time and money into propping it up. At some point, you’re not maintaining it anymore; you’re just patching the same holes each year. It’s a hard thing to admit at times, but the businesses that recognize this and make the change save themselves more years of frustration and wasted budget.

Every business maintains something: a building, a piece of equipment or a fleet of vehicles. But none of them would drive a 15-year-old car without getting the brakes inspected, getting an oil change or changing the tires. We understand instinctively that things wear down, that maintenance is cheaper than a breakdown and that waiting too long to replace something usually costs more than replacing it on your own schedule. For some reason, we don’t always apply that same logic to the technology running our businesses.

AAA Northway Highlights Trust As Travel Demand Grows Among Older Adults

July 20, 2026

Amy Roode leads AAA Northway travel operations as demand grows among older travelers. Courtesy AAA Northway

By Carol Ann Conover

As more adults 50 and older look to travel rather than downsize their plans, AAA Northway says it is seeing steady demand for hands-on trip planning, along with a renewed emphasis on the trust between traveler and travel agent.

Amy Roode has spent 20 years with AAA Northway and now serves as managing director of travel operations, based out of the organization’s Queensbury office. AAA Northway’s footprint spans five locations, from Vestal in the Binghamton area up through Schenectady, Saratoga, Halfmoon and Queensbury. Roode works with more than 50 preferred vendors, including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruise Line and Trafalgar escorted tours, managing marketing contracts, training and travel events while coaching the sales team one-on-one.

Roode said travel habits among the 50-plus set have shifted noticeably since the pandemic. “I think COVID has helped us,” she said, describing a mindset she now sees regularly among clients. “They’re like, travel while you can. They have that mentality.” River cruising, in particular, has grown. “River cruises have picked up in the past eight years in our area,” Roode said, noting it appeals to travelers who want the intimacy of a smaller ship and closer ports alongside the variety of an escorted tour.

Long-Term Care Planning in New York: Why Waiting Can Limit Your Options

July 20, 2026

Brian Johnson, director, business development at Advisors Insurance Brokers.
Courtesy Advisors Insurance Brokers

By Brian M. Johnson, MBA, CLTC

Ask most Capital Region residents about retirement planning, and they’ll likely talk about 401(k)s, IRAs, Social Security, investment portfolios, or estate planning.

Ask about long-term care planning, however, and the conversation often becomes much quieter.

That’s surprising considering that long-term care may represent one of the largest financial risks facing retirees today. Whether care is received at home, in an assisted living community, or in a nursing facility, the costs can have a significant impact on retirement savings and family finances.

In New York, those costs are among the highest in the nation. According to Genworth and CareScout’s most recent Cost of Care Survey, the median annual cost of a home health aide in New York is approximately $77,792, assisted living costs roughly $75,600 annually, and a semiprivate nursing home room costs approximately $176,660 per year.

For many families, the challenge isn’t simply paying for care; it’s understanding their options before a health event occurs.

Why Waiting Can Reduce Your Options

One of the biggest misconceptions about long-term care planning is that it can be addressed later. The reality is that many planning options depend on both age and health. Traditional long-term care insurance and many hybrid long-term care solutions require medical underwriting. As people age, premiums generally increase, and certain medical conditions may limit eligibility or reduce available choices. A strategy that may be available at age 55 could be unavailable at age 70 following a major health diagnosis. That’s why many financial professionals encourage clients to begin evaluating long-term care funding options in their 50s and early 60s, while they are still healthy and insurable.

Hinman Construction Builds Aging-in-Place Business Through Remodeling Demand

July 20, 2026

A remodeled kitchen illustrates Hinman Construction’s design-build work as growing numbers of homeowners age 50 and older choose to update their existing homes rather than move elsewhere today.
Courtesy Hinman Construction

By Carol Ann Conover

Ballston Spa-based Hinman Construction, a family-run design-build firm, has built a growing share of its business around a demographic shift familiar to communities across the region: homeowners age 50 and older who want to remodel rather than move.

Nationally, 75% of adults age 50 and older say they want to remain in their current home as they age, according to AARP’s Home and Community Preferences Survey, and 73% of remodelers report increased client demand for aging-in-place features over the past five years, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Owner Kim Hinman said she sees that demand play out in a few distinct ways among her clients.

“I would say almost like three groups,” Kim Hinman said. One group built a large home within the past decade or so and later realized they wished they had a first-floor bedroom and bathroom, whether for an aging parent or for themselves as mobility needs change. A second group modifies existing space to make it work, converting a closet into a shower area or turning a dining room into a bedroom. A third group sells a larger house and hires Hinman Construction to fully renovate a smaller, existing home to suit their needs going forward.