By Rod Bacon

After an 11-year planning, engineering and permitting process, site work is underway on Phyllian’s Bluff, a 31-lot development being built by Witt Construction.

O’Connor Construction, of Glens Falls, is approximately one-third of the way to completion of earth work, road construction, underground utilities, and sewer installation. 

According to President Pat O’Connor, the company is installing two roads that end in cul-de-sacs. They will also install a sewer line along NY-9P that will tie into the development’s sewer system via County Route 71. Finally, they will pave all roadways. 

An important aspect of the earth work is the installation of storm drainage, on which the company is currently working. To prevent storm runoff from polluting Saratoga Lake, each homesite will have what is referred to as a rain garden or depression area that will filter the water back into the soil, preventing it from running downhill. In addition, the roads will have an elaborate system of independent catch basins that allow water to flow into other catch basins so it can slowly filter into the ground.

O’Connor Construction started this work in September and estimates it will be completed this summer.

By Rod Bacon

A haberdashery that has kept men looking their best for over 60 years has a new location.

J. Reid Menswear is now at 174 Glen Street in Glens Falls, two doors away from where they’ve served customers for the past five years.

“It’s important that I stay on Glen Street,” said owner Jeffrey Ives. “This store is a small business that specializes in serving the community.”

Ives purchased the multi-story building, formerly the local office of Albany-based Aeon Nexus Corporation, for $750,000. He worked with Leslie D’Angelico and Zane Smith at Arrow Financial Corporation on the small business loan. His real estate agent was Christine McKee of Hunt Real Estate ERA. Improvements were done by Argyle-based StraightUp Concrete & Renovations, owned by Jack Ash.

The menswear company was founded in 1965 by Seymour Segan as Jonathan Reid, named after his son. The store was first located in Queensbury’s Northway Plaza. In 1975, he opened a store in Saratoga Springs’ Pyramid Mall and later moved the original store to the Aviation Mall. Throughout the 1980s and ‘90s he expanded to 12 stores in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts. Segan retired in 1994 and turned the business over to his son, who downsized it to focus on the Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs markets.

“Within six months of starting work I knew I was going to buy it,” said Ives, who joined the company in 2000. “I didn’t know when and I didn’t know how, but I knew I was going to. So I started keeping a log of everything that worked and everything that didn’t. I did that for fifteen years so the day I bought it I was ready.”

The Adirondack Thunder, an ECHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils and Utica Comets, raised a record $60,016 during its annual Stick it to Cancer weekend Feb. 27-28 at Harding Mazzotti Arena.

The total surpassed the $37,323 raised in 2025 by more than 60%.

Proceeds from the weekend’s games against the Maine Mariners and the Trois-Rivières Lions benefited Randy’s Patient Assistance Fund at Glens Falls Hospital’s C.R. Wood Cancer Center, which helps cover treatment needs for cancer patients.

“We could not be more thrilled with the outcome of this year’s Stick it to Cancer weekend to support Randy’s Fund at Glens Falls Hospital,” said Adirondack Thunder President Jeff Mead. “We thank the local community for showing up in a big way to benefit an invaluable cause during one of our most anticipated events of the year.”

Fans could paint the ice after Friday’s game with a $10 donation, and the team wore special Stick it to Cancer jerseys that were auctioned after Saturday’s contest. A 50/50 raffle was also held during both games to benefit Randy’s Fund.

By Paul Post

Federal tax refunds from President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill are expected to be $150 billion higher this spring, helping all kinds of business as people purchase everything from lawn tractors to new homes.

That’s what keynote speaker Robert Doll said during a recent 2026 Economic Outlook program hosted by Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce at the Excelsior Springs Event Center with more than 100 attendees on hand.

The bill, which the president signed into law last July 4, includes tax deductions for tips, overtime pay, auto loans, and creates Trump accounts allowing parents to create tax-deferred accounts for their children, all set to expire in 2028.

“That’s real money and creates a tailwind for consumption,” said Doll, CEO of Houston-based Crossmark Global Investments. “The economy is improving. Economic growth in the United States in 2026 will be 50 basis points higher than it was in 2025 and there’s nothing embarrassing about 2025.”