Week in Review: June 10 – June 14, 2019
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CEG IN THE NEWS
Times Union: High school grads facing positive employment outlook
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Balas share new details about Velan Studios’ game deal with EA
“Karthik Bala shared some new details of the first original game that his downtown Troy video game studio is developing for Electronic Arts Inc. this year.
Velan Studios announced in March that its first project was picked up by Electronic Arts Inc., who will be the publisher for consoles, PCs, and mobile. When the partnership was announced, Velan shared few details about the experimental game. Bala discussed more over the weekend about how the deal with EA came about, and what players can expect.”
Menands tech company wants to double its workforce by hiring 200 in the next year
“The jobs are for Zones’ high-end call center, working with Microsoft’s most important customers to help them use the Office 365 and Microsoft 365 tools better.
The jobs are for Zones’ high-end call center, working with Microsoft’s most important customers to help them use the Office 365 and Microsoft 365 tools better. The employees provide technical help to Microsoft’s customers mostly working with the IT teams within companies. For example, they could be helping a 40-person law firm in Omaha, Nebraska, or a Fortune 100 company in California.”
BOCES puts a new spin on Signing Day
“Eight area students took part in the first-ever BOCES Signing Day Monday night, when students completing trade programs signed letters of intent for full-time employment after graduation.
Modeled after the day college-bound athletes sign letters of intent, the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES has created its own day for students to accept job offers from area employers.”
Tannersville in the running for $10M
“Village officials have applied for a $10 million state grant to help spruce up Main Street.
The state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant program, in its fourth year, helps communities to develop their downtown districts by administering 10 $10 million grants each year.”
SPAC Upgrades Completed In Time For 2019 Season, Including Security, Safety Measures
“The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center celebrated in May the completion of a $1.75 million project to modernize the facility’s amphitheater.
The project, funded by NY Parks 2020 initiative to rejuvenate the state park system, renovated the amphitheater’s aging balcony ramps and lighting with an elegant and safe entryway.
The projects were completed in time for the summer concert season, which began Memorial Day weekend.
This Merck subsidiary is expanding in Albany — and hiring
“ILÚM Health Solutions plans to create 115 jobs in the Albany area over the next five years, investing $48 million. The company currently has 14 on staff at its offices at the Bull Moose Club on State Street in downtown Albany.
ILÚM is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK).”
The company behind the kitchens at GlobalFoundries and Druthers is growing in a new market
“Saratoga Restaurant Equipment Sales has helped design and install kitchens at some of the most popular restaurants in the area, and now the company is getting more involved in business dining.
Dylan Bowden, the company’s director of operations, said a big growth area for Saratoga Restaurant Associates has been designing and fitting out kitchens for companies like GlobalFoundries and Regeneron.”
Capital Region company seeks to remake helmet industry
“One Capital Region company is looking to revolutionize the helmet industry, and potentially become the area’s next billion dollar business in the process.
Schenectady-based Kirsh Helmets is months away from debuting their specialized motorcycle helmets to the public for $245 apiece.
SUNY Poly researchers get $900,000 for quantum computing
“wo SUNY Polytechnic Institute researchers were awarded $900,000 from the Air Force Research Lab in Oneida County to develop superconducting optoelectronic systems that use both light and superconducting material cooled to cryogenic temperatures to try and mimic the human brain for quantum computing.
The grant was awarded to Satyavolu Papa Rao, the associate vice president for research and an adjunct professor of nanoscience at SUNY Poly and Nate Cady, a professor of nanobioscience.”
KeyBank’s community benefits plan invests $357 million in Albany area over 2 years
“KeyBank says it has invested $357 million in its Albany market in the last two years as part of the bank’s national community benefits plan that promises the bank will lend or invest in low- and moderate-income communities, nonprofits and small businesses.
It is part of KeyCorp’s five-year, $16.5 billion-plan to reinvest in its communities by stimulating job and economic growth. That plan was necessary to complete its acquisition of First Niagara Bank in 2016.”
The Adirondacks prepare for a new generation of vacationers
“he Adirondacks, tourism officials here like to say, were the “original vacation destination.”
But they felt the story of what the region has to offer needed to be spread far and wide.”
Cheesemaker finds reaction positive after going public as transgender
“Moxie Ridge Farm and Creamery, a small Washington County farm known for its goat cheese, sold more of its product that ever before at its booth at Troy Waterfront Farmers Market last weekend, if only because of one factor: owner Lee Hennessy came out publicly as a transgender man on Facebook, a brave choice even under the auspice of Pride month throughout the country.
‘I feared that (coming out) would affect business. There were fears that I’ve worked so hard to establish regulars, what if people are transphobic?’ he said. What happened instead was an outpouring of support from the community. ‘(Coming out) wasn’t a strategic business decision. It was something that was important to me. I didn’t want to live in the closet because I wanted people to buy my cheese,’ he said.”
