By Jim Marco

It was just a few weeks ago that employers were lamenting the fact that they could not find enough qualified employees to help run their businesses. Now, these same business owners are faced with questions of whether they are essential/non-essential, closing store fronts and offices, remote work, layoffs, furloughs and more.

While you might be trying to recover from “managerial whiplash” at the moment, it’s time to start planning for your business to emerge from the other side of this pandemic. That starts with making sure you have the people to help you successfully recover from this challenging time.

While it is true every day, communication with your employees is more important now that it ever has been. Frequent, honest, thorough communication with your staff, whether actively employed or on furlough or layoff, will help you gain the trust you need to retain these folks so they will be ready to come back to work and help you re-start your business.

By Bill Murray and Gretta Keene

Relationships lie at the heart of a business. As psychotherapists, we have observed that effective communication promotes healthy relationships. And healthy relationships will improve the outcome, whatever challenges your business is currently facing.

We teach our clients this important and often overlooked principle of effective communication: Everyone is in their own movie.

We all tend to assume that others are experiencing life in the same way we are. In fact, that’s why we’re often puzzled—or outraged—by other people’s words and actions. Their behaviors don’t make sense in our movie, so we label them wrong or bad or stupid or worse.

By Jill Nagy

William Farmer,  chief operating officer of Creatacor Inc., is hoping to help with the coronavirus pandemic with a plan he has to build  hospital beds and other things to help out in the crisis.

The company, located in Halfmoon, usually builds displays for retail stores, trade shows and other events. It is well positioned to create temporary structures for use in the crisis, building things like beds, waiting rooms and treatment areas, Farmer said.

Normally, Creatacor would be preparing exhibits for events like South by Southwest and companies like AngioDynamics, General Electric, Lego and Ikea.

The Holiday Inn in downtown Saratoga Springs is now serving as a temporary location for the city’s homeless.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shelters of Saratoga (SOS) Executive Director Karen Gregory said isolating people experiencing homelessness in individual hotel rooms with access to private bathrooms is the best possible solution to facilitate safe distancing and the ability to practice good hygiene thus preventing a community-wide spread of COVID-19.

Food service, basic necessities and case management is being provided to those staying in the hotel. The shelters on Walworth Street remain open and SOS is serving over 100 people through the outreach program which provides people with food and hygiene products, she said.

By Stephen Kyne, CFP

At the end of March Congress passed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, which is a $2.2 Trillion life support bill to help the economy survive the duration of the government-imposed shutdown.

While the bill is extremely wide-ranging, and many provisions may not apply to you, there are some items in the Act which you should at least be aware of.

Saratoga Raceway’s 79th season of live harness racing is underway at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Coupled with the 2020 racing season is the unveiling of the SaratogaBets Simulcast Center, a new trackside venue offering carrel seating, self-service and live teller wagering options, in addition to bar and food service at Diamond Jim’s.
This season the casino will look to build on the success of last year’s performance, officials said, where all-source handle exceeded $48 million and the Saratoga Harness simulcast signal was broadcast to over 400 outlets worldwide.

Universal Preservation Hall (UPH) the new performance center in Saratoga Springs, opened on Feb. 29 before a sellout crowd that was entertained by singer-songwriter Roseanne Cash.
While the renovation and construction is not quite complete, it is finished enough to begin a season that already includes well known acts from across musical genres, and also standup comedians.
The transformation from 19th century High Victorian Gothic church to a 700-seat, state-of-the-art performance facility was long and expensive, but worthwhile, officials said.
The opening of UPH, at 25 Washington St., capped a $13.5 million effort by community members to turn the church building into a performance space. Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly helped cut the ceremonial ribbon before the concert.
“When we saw it was possible to open on a Leap Day, we leapt,” said Philip Morris, CEO of the Proctors Collaborative in Schenectady, of which UPH is a subsidiary, during a new conference before the concert.