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Bi-Weekly Development News for Warren County and the Region

Ed Bartholomew, President | Arleen Girard, Chair

JULY 1, 2016

INSIDE EDC

EDC recently hosted a kickoff meeting of the Technical Committee assembled to develop project scope and RFQ for the upcoming Route 9/Exit 20 Corridor Study designed to examine traffic that has caused congestion along the route and at the Route 149 intersection which is a heavily traveled road locally as well as a primary means to travel to Vermont and northern New England destinations. EDC, with the assistance of Warren County, Town of Queensbury and National Grid have partnered on underwriting the study costs with the end result targeting and implementing optimum ways to alleviate traffic, options for consideration as well as incorporation of bike, transit and pedestrian improvements that can be made to make the area safer and more accessible. The study is expected to be completed by year end 2016 and will involve participation by multiple agencies as well as major commercial property owners in the area and nearby residents.

Updated: JUST Beverages Gives Upbeat Report

Jim Siplon, chief operating officer of JUST Beverages presented a report to the Glens Falls Common Council this past Tuesday.

Read the article in the Post-Star.


Will Smith

Will Smith Discloses Interest in JUST Beverages

Glens Falls: Actor Will Smith has publicly disclosed his involvement in JUST Beverages, the start-up packaged water company headquartered in Glens Falls along with other investors.

Read the article.

Downtown Glens Falls - Take a Bite

Take a Bite in Downtown Glens Falls

The Glens Falls Collaborative is excited to introduce the fifth season of the summer event, Take a Bite! Join downtown Glens Falls every Wednesday, June 29 through August 17 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm for evenings of fun, food and music!

Restaurants take to the sidewalks to offer "small plate" menu items that range in price up to $5. Enjoy the beauty of Glens Falls, while experiencing the best of downtown restaurants and retailers, including live street performers!

Click here.

Summer Pops

Sunday, July 3, 2016

7:30 pm at Crandall Park Glens Falls (free concert)

Approximately 6,000 people attend the Annual Summer Pops Concert at Crandall Park in Glens Falls. Aside from planning this concert of summertime tunes and patriotic favorites, the Symphony also organizes a wide variety of food and drink vendors as well as an impressive display of fireworks.

Though concert admission is free, Sym�phony supporters should understand that it costs approximately $21,000 for the Sym�phony to put on this concert each summer.

Glens Falls City Band Offers Free Concert Series

Glens Falls City Band continues its free annual summer concert series, offering shows Monday evenings in City Park.

The concerts start at 7 p.m. weather permitting, and will include a special patriotic-themed performance on Monday in honor of the Fourth of July.

Click here for more information.

TIMIT Solutions & Town of Queensbury Announces Launch of "The findit app", Connecting Businesses to Local & Regional Consumers

Click here for the press release.

Lake George and Gore Mountain

The Lake George area has a historical depth to it, is filled with natural beauty and has a whole host of fun for those with an adventurous streak.

Read the article.

Hyde Acquires Lake George Watercolor by Modernist John Marin

Read the press release.

ORDA REPORT ON WINTER 2016

Albany Tines Union Rick Karlin

Snowstorms and cold weather will be the far from the minds of New Yorkers this holiday weekend. But the annual report from the organization that operates New York's three publicly owned ski areas - as well as other winter sports venues - records the chilling effect of last winter's freakishly warm, dry weather on the state's sizeable snow sports industry.

The Olympic Regional Development Authority noted that there have been significant investments and improvements at its Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface ski centers over the past year, including energy-efficiency equipment and high-tech snowmaking guns.

And hockey tournaments as well as figure skating competitions in ORDA's Lake Placid rink were well attended. But Mother Nature dealt ORDA and the state's entire snow sports industry a tough blow last winter in the form of a Christmas that felt more like Easter, followed by extended periods of snow drought or heavy rainfall.

The report from Gore describes a "historically adverse" season at that Adirondack ski center. About 90 minutes north outside of Lake Placid, Whiteface underwent the "worst season on record," according to the report.

The proof was in the weather statistics and snowfall averages, brought on by the El Nino effect.

More Information

El Nino winter dented ORDA's snow depths

Belleayre: Typically gets 130 inches of snow. Last year it got 38.

Gore: Typically gets 133 inches of snow. Last year it got 37.

Whiteface: Mountain near Lake Placid typically gets more than 100 inches of snow. Last year it got 58.

While the Whiteface area typically gets 100 inches of snow and less than 5 inches of rain during a ski season, the winter of 2015-16 dropped just 58 inches of snow and a slush-inducing 17-plus inches of rain. A more man-made wound to the North Country resorts was the drop in the value of the Canadian dollar, which resulted in fewer visitors from the Montreal market.

The nearby cross-country ski center shut down in February and some ski-jumping competitions, scheduled for the iconic facility in Lake Placid had to be canceled.

In the Catskills, Belleayre received a paltry 38 inches of snow - about what one might expect from two decent-sized storms in a normal year. Normally, the area is blanketed by 130 inches.

All told, ORDA skier visits were down 25 percent last winter, which translated to an $8.8 million drop in revenue. ORDA resorts were not alone in feeling the fiscal chill from the literal warmth.

For East Coast resorts, "It was the toughest year in many years,'' said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, a Colorado-based trade group.

Ski Areas of New York, a regional trade group, had previously estimated that the low-snow winter would cost about $330 million in what is usually a billion-dollar winter tourism industry, according to published reports. Representatives of the group couldn't be reached on Thursday.

There were some bright spots, ORDA officials noted.

Loyal skiers who take advantage of ORDA's popular season pass deals provided needed cash at the start of the season. The report noted that ORDA sold 9,140 such passes, down just a bit from the 9,234 in the 2014-15 season.

And Berry said pent-up demand means a more seasonable 2016-17 winter should bring out the crowds.

That phenomenon happened on the West Coast, where this winter's heavy snows ended a four-year drought. Resort operators in states such as Oregon and Washington, he said, saw their business more than double from the year before.

"The bounce back we saw in the West is what we expect to see this year in the Northeast," Berry said.

GE Will Close Upstate New York Plant, Move Work to India

General Electric confirmed Thursday that it will close its locomotive turbocharger manufacturing plant in Latham, New York within the next year.

Read the article in the Business Review.

SUNY Adirondack Office of Continuing Education Seeks Proposals for 2016-2017 Workforce Development Grant Funds

Click here.


Representative Elise Stefanik delivers the commencement address at Schroon Lake Central School on June 25. Photo by Jill Lobdell

Stefanik Speaks to Schroon Lake

Graduates

"Keep working hard," Stefanik says to Wildcat Class of 2016.

Read the article in The Sun.


	Crandall Public Library is a recipient of a $60,000 grant awarded by the Glens Falls Foundation.

Foundation Names Grant Recipients

The Glens Falls Foundation has been awarded $180,000 in grants to three community organizations for new efforts to fight inter generational poverty and help families in crisis in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties.

Read the article in The Sun.

WARREN COUNTY HAPPENINGS

Lake George Board Moves Ahead on $17 Million Sewer Plant Project

Lake George village passed a milestone June 20 as it passed a resolution authorizing the municipality to borrow up to $17 million to bankroll planned upgrades to their wastewater treatment plant. A companion resolution approved Monday authorizes village mayor Robert Blais mayor to sign grant applications for the project.

Read the article in The Sun.