Category Archives: Economic Development

By Christine Graf

For the past 12 months, the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership (SCPP) has helped more than 1,000 local businesses navigate challenges related to COVID-19. President and CEO Shelby Schneider said the organization hit the ground running during the early days of the pandemic. 

The agency is not membership based and offers assistance to Saratoga County businesses of all sizes.

“We did a survey right away to help understand how the business community was being impacted by the shutdown and what sort of resources they considered to be critical. We also helped quantify how many jobs were being impacted,” she said. “This was the kind of information we were able to push up to our federal and state representatives so that they knew what the issues were. We were able to give them hard data on what the economic impact of the shutdown looked like for our business community.”

The Prosperity Partnership played a vital role in educating local business owners on the resources that were available to them, she said. They held multiple webinars related to Phase 1 of the economic stimulus package which included Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) loans.

“It’s critically important to work with our community, county, state, and federal government to understand federal stimulus packages and make sure we are communicating those to the business community,” said Schneider. “Businesses do what they do well, and navigating a gauntlet of regulatory environment or funding sources is not necessarily something they are aware of.”

By Christine Graf

For the past 42 years, Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has been a driving force for economic growth in Saratoga County. They have helped to generate more than 17,500 new jobs, $12 billion in investment, and $34 million in annual tax revenue for the county.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a successful year. The agency worked on 11 projects that resulted in investments of $121.3 million—more than the previous 4 years combined—and the creation and retention of over 1,100 jobs in the county.

SEDC focuses heavily on attracting manufacturing, warehouse and distribution and corporate headquarters to the area.

“We are looking for manufacturing of all kinds,” said SEDC President Dennis Brobston. “But we are precise in targeting companies that offer good paying jobs that are above the national average for the type of jobs we are looking at. We also want companies that have been in existence a long time or have good funding behind them and companies that want to be here long term–companies, like Ball Corp. and Quad Graphics, that are well funded and do a good job of taking care of their people.”

According to Brobston, Saratoga County is an ideal location for warehouse and distribution centers because it is within a day’s drive to just under 40 percent of the entire population of North America.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

Mandi Marra began her property preservation company out of Ballston Spa four years ago.

“It’s a complicated business. It’s an ever-evolving industry,” said Marra.

The company manages bank owned assets such as foreclosures. M&K Preservation acts as a third party to the bank that owns the foreclosed property, contracting with national mortgage field companies such as Mortgage Contracting Services LLC. They are the eyes and the ears for the company out in the field.

Marra began her career working in the back office of a friend who owned a similar company in a different region.

“I was really inspired by her and the work she did. She taught me how to navigate everything, and I decided to give it a shot for myself,” said Marra. Marra works within an hour radius of Ballston Spa, and works with different national mortgage field companies, to avoid any semblance of competition between the two businesses.

Over time, the company grew to include seven other employees and five company vehicles out on the road. Marra employs her own contractors full time. Each are supplied with a company work truck.

By Christine Graf
A shortage of new, young talent in the workforce is one of the issues the Saratoga Prosperity Partnership deals with, said Shelby Schneider, its new president and CEO.
The economic development organization was established in 2014 to enhance economic growth in Saratoga County.
Schneider, a mother of four who lives in Wilton, earned a degree in management and business administration from Skidmore College. She entered the economic development field in 2000 and spent thirteen years working at Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC). During her early years at SEDC, she served as the Empire Zone Coordinator. The Empire Zone tax incentive program allowed qualified businesses to take advantage of a variety of tax credits.
“I oversaw the New York state tax incentive program and administered it on behalf of county,” she said.

By Kevin Hedley
I first became involved in the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce at the invitation or more accurately the insistence of Jessica Petraccione of First National Bank of Scotia. The Chamber had just formed its Twin Bridges Council and Jessica was the first person to lead it.
Forming the Twin Bridges Council was part of a larger effort to get more business owners with operations in Clifton Park, Halfmoon, and Mechanicville more involved in the Saratoga County Chamber.
Soon after getting involved in the Twin Bridges Council, I was approached about serving on the Saratoga County Chamber’s board of directors and a year or so later became the organization’s treasurer.
And here we are in 2020 and I’m the volunteer chair of the board of directors of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
One of the reasons the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce is still thriving as it enters its 102nd year of operation is the fact that it has had tremendous volunteer and professional staff leadership.

By Greg Hitchcock
Saratoga County has taken its place as an economic powerhouse trending to continue growing into 2019, with nearby Warren and Washington counties benefiting from this growth.
According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, 17 counties in New York state had employment gains from June 2017 to June 2018 with Saratoga County having the largest gain up 2.7 percent.
“All three counties have grown their private sector over the last five years with GlobalFoundries kicking off this growth,” said Andrew Kennedy, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Economic Growth, an economic and business development agency serving as a primary point of contact for businesses interested in growing in or moving to the Capital Region.

By Christine Graf
The Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency, a public benefit corporation created to encourage the construction and expansion of industrial and commercial facilities, is a key cog in the economic development efforts in Saratoga County.
Since beginning operations in 1980, the IDA has approved financing arrangements for 119 projects.
“Those are the ones that have been approved and assisted financially. There have been a number that have not even been considered,” said IDA Administrator Michael Valentine. “There is an application process, a review process and certain standards that somebody coming in needing assistance has to go through.”