Saratoga Business Journal

Longtime Jack Byrne Ford Dealership Sold, Becomes Marchese Ford Of Mechanicville

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

The Marchese brothers, Dan and Joe Jr., purchased Jack Byrne Ford and now operate their business out of that building at 1003 Hudson River Road in Mechanicville.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

By Jill Nagy
Dan Marchese, co-owner of Marchese Ford of Mechanicville, may be the new guy in town, but he is an old hand at the automobile business.
The Marchese brothers, Dan and Joe Jr., were long-time owners of J&J Auto Sales, a used car dealership in Troy founded in 1956. They purchased the former Jack Byrne Ford dealership at 1003 Hudson River Road in Mechanicville in November.
Dan Marchese said they kept most of the Jack Byrne staff and brought the J&J staff from Troy to Mechanicville. Their used car operation was closed. They also own Goewey Ford in New Lebanon, N.Y., which they are keeping.
In Mechanicville, they increased inventory, service capacity and advertising, Marchese said. Otherwise, they did not make changes.

Kirsh Helmets To Increase Marketing Efforts As Motorcycle Season Expands Nationwide

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Motorcycle helmet manufacturer Kirsh Helmets launched its first product, the CHM-1 half shell helmet, in December. Its marketing efforts started in the south and will grow nationwide.
Courtesy Kirsh Helmets

By Christine Graf
Motorcycle helmet manufacturer Kirsh Helmets launched its first product, the CHM-1 half shell helmet, in December. The company has also expanded its network of independent agents throughout the country.
“Our agents are working to get our helmets into stores—primarily motorcycle dealerships,” said Donald DeVito, president and chief operating officer. “We have 18 agents right now and would like to add a few more.”
Manufacturing and assembly is in full swing at the company’s 5,000-square-foot facility in Queensbury. The space is leased from Seeley Machine Work and opened one year ago with support from Warren County Economic Development.
“You launch motorcycle products the same way you do in the automotive industry. You start out of the east coast and west coast and then work your way into the interior. That’s how we are approaching it right now.”

Saratoga PLAN Efforts Preserve Drumm Farm Acreage From Future Development

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

The Drumm Farm, 170 acres of farmland in the Town of Saratoga, is now permanently protected from development and will forever be accessible for agricultural use.
Courtesy Saratoga PLAN

Saratoga PLAN has conserved the Drumm Farm, 170 acres of farmland in the Town of Saratoga.
The land is now permanently protected from development and will forever be accessible for agricultural use. The process was completed in November. Partial funding for the project was provided by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
The property, located near the Saratoga Monument and Victory Woods, is owned by Ruth Drumm. Saratoga PLAN said it consists of primarily fertile soils for farming, as well as some forests and wetlands that provide wildlife habitat.
“It was my husband’s wish to protect this land and I have finally succeeded in doing it,” said Drumm. “I love the farm, I love farm life. A conservation easement is the only way to see that the land stays this way.”

SBA And Lenders Are Taking More Steps To Improve Paycheck Protection Program

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

The U.S. Small Business Administration and lenders are taking more strides to improve the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) so that small businesses can access much needed funds to persevere through the pandemic, recover, and build back better.
The administration is working to increase equitable access to under-served small businesses, to assure the integrity of the program, and to promote rapid and efficient distribution of funds, officials said.
By Feb. 10, the SBA had hit a major milestone of approving $104 billion of PPP funds to more than 1.3 million small businesses, according to the agency.
Highlights from this round include:

During COVID Pandemic, Attorneys Face Challenges In Courts And Business Law Cases

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

James T. Towne Jr. is a principal partner at The Towne Law Firm PC.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

By Susan Elise Campbell
As businesses adjust to the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic, so do the attorneys who advise them.
“There have been a whirlwind of legal issues that we never thought we would have to deal with,” said James T. Towne Jr. of The Towne Law Firm PC, with offices in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls.
Unique issues about government relief, bankruptcy and foreclosures, contracts, COVID-19 fraud, cybersecurity and much more are on a daunting list of topics attorneys are being challenged to address this past year.
“During the first 120 days we were confronted with a variety of labor and employment inquiries,” said Towne.
Many of these were rooted in the logistics and liabilities of sending non-essential staff home to work and as a condition of employment, he said.
“Managers are accustomed to taking their laptops and working from home, but maybe not the support staff,” he said. “Matters come up about restrictions on the equipment taken offsite, using that equipment for personal matters, and businesses not enforcing obligations in connection with work performed at home.”

Business Report: Preventing Small Business Fraud

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Paul Zarecki, CPA, is a partner with Ferraro, Amodio & Zarecki, CPAs.

By Paul Zarecki
Small businesses are more likely to become the victims of fraud than larger businesses.
Small businesses are the most vulnerable to occupational fraud and abuse, according to the Association for Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). In its 2020 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, ACFE cites that the smallest organizations, 100 employees or less, suffered higher median losses than did the largest organizations (10,000 employees or more).
While the largest companies suffered losses of $140,000 on average, small businesses’ losses averaged $150,000, based on its survey.
Considering the potential losses and how much more of an impact $150,000 is to a smaller business than a larger business, it befits small-business owners to make the prevention of fraud a priority. Though no business owner wants to feel it employs unscrupulous people, sometimes temptation or personal financial pressures can push even the hardest working, most trusted employee into perpetrating fraud.
Here’s how you can prevent fraudulent activity in your workplace:

COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Doug Ford, left, Curtis Lumber vice president, and Bob Eakin, director of sales.
©2021 SaratogaPhotographer.com

By Christine Graf
The timber industry has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 and according to the National Association of Home Builders, lumber prices have risen by 130 percent since April.
The price increase is attributed to various factors, including supply chain disruptions and material shortages. As a result of the pandemic, many lumber producers were forced to close temporarily or operate at reduced capacity. Social distancing protocol made it difficult for plants to produce at pre-pandemic levels and increased operating costs.
Prior to the pandemic, lumber supplies and pricing had already been impacted by tariffs that were imposed on wood being imported from Canada. The tariffs are as high as 20 percent for treated lumber.
“The import duty or tariff that has been placed on Canadian lumber that is coming into the United States is so high that the Canadians are shipping wood to other areas rather than the U.S.,” said Doug Ford, vice president of sales and purchasing at Curtis Lumber. “The tariff was increased within the last year or two, and it’s put Canada in a position that they would rather sell it to someone else.”

Barbera Homes & Development Will Build 132-Unit Condo Project In Clifton Park

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Barbera Homes & Development will embark this year on a 132-unit condominium neighborhood in Clifton Park.
The 28-acre Park West community will be connected via sidewalks throughout leading to an open space common area, mail kiosk and gazebo, according to company president Frank Barbera.
The Park West project is comprised of 27 4-unit buildings, five 2-unit twin-style duplex buildings and 14 single-family homes. A combination of first floor master suites and one-floor, ranch-style homes will be the design for the 2- and 4-unit buildings. Single-family units will offer a contemporary colonial style.
Floor plans will be between 1,200 and 1,700 square feet.
The community is centrally located near the new round-about at routes 146 and 146A in Clifton Park, behind the Raven’s Wood Restaurant. Route 146 is a primary commercial corridor through the town.

Curtis Lumber Grows With Acquisition Of Wiley Brothers Lumber Yard In Schaghticoke

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

Curtis Lumber announced the acquisition of Wiley Brothers at 1854 Route 40 in Schaghticoke.
Wiley Brothers has been a family-owned lumber yard and home improvement store for 75 years.
Adding this new location brings the number of Curtis Lumber Co. locations to 23, all of which are independent, family-owned, full-service home centers and building supply yards.
Officials said moving forward, the store location will carry Curtis Lumber’s premium products, superior hardware assortment, and be staffed with the expertise to cater to both builders and homeowners.
Curtis Lumber has long served the area with delivery service from nearby stores and this acquisition will serve to increase delivery and product availability to more of Rensselaer county.

Estimating The Costs For Construction Projects Is A Difficult Task During COVID

February 18, 2021February 19, 2021

By Christine Graf
Economists and industry experts predict that the construction industry will continue to be plagued by rising material costs, material shortages and supply chain disruptions throughout 2021.
“The price increases are pretty drastic,” said Sara Turoczy, manager of business development at MLB Construction Services in Malta. “Along with lumber, we are seeing steel pricing skyrocket.”
MLB is a commercial builder. When the pandemic hit, they were working on projects for several customers including Saratoga Performing Art Center. The work at SPAC included construction of a two-story concession and venue space, as well as a smaller concessions building and an outdoor pavilion.
In addition to continuing work on projects that were underway, MLB took on numerous last-minute projects.
“We’ve been able to take on emergency calls in everything from medical to the hospitality industry,” said Turoczy. “In the beginning, when no one really knew protocol or what needed to happen, healthcare was really scrambling to try to do the best that they could to section people in the right areas and keep everyone safe.”
When company president Jim Dawsey received an emergency call from Wesley Health Care Center in Saratoga, he and a crew of workers were there the next day to build a space for the center to house COVID patients.
“Jim took the call on Friday, and he was up there on Saturday morning building it out himself with a small crew of people,” said Turoczy.
MLB, a company with 66 employees and a second office in North Carolina, works in many different sectors of the construction industry and frequently bids on large projects. According to Turoczy, an increasing number of these projects are being postponed. She said state agencies are not currently awarding contracts.
“There is some uncertainty of whether some project will move forward at all. We haven’t had any projects that have been specifically canceled. They have just all been postponed—at least the ones we were looking at,” she said. “For the most part, we are just being told that these projects are being postponed and reevaluated.”
These postponements can have major implications for companies that are bidding on jobs. If the owner of a project delays the awarding of the contract, there is the potential for material prices to increase dramatically during that time frame.
“Since we have to hold our (bid) number, it becomes a challenge when the prices keep increasing between the bid due date and months later when the project gets awarded,” said Turoczy. “We are nearing the third month of being asked by one owner to hold our price.”