Greene County wants hotel
The Greene County Industrial Development Agency issued a “request for information” targeted at hotel developers who might want to build at Thruway Exit 21, south of Albany. Healthcare facilities are proposed for the location, and the county wants to find a buyer and developer for property where a hotel once stood. This is the county’s second try for this site, a story in the Albany Business Journal says.
WhistlePig distillers buys more property
WhistlePig, distillers of rye whisky, has purchased land at the Moriah Business Park in Essex County and will add eight buildings to the eight they already own, doubling their production capabilities, the Albany Business Journal says. In four years, WhistlePig has spent $6 million constructing two bottling lines and eight warehouses, the story says. They already age their whisky in 100,000 barrels.
Making Hudson Falls “Great again”
A small but growing group of Hudson Fallsites have joined the new Facebook group “Let’s Make Hudson Falls Great Again” and will meet at Juckett Park at 10 a.m. Saturday to walk the village and talk about what they can do to bring business to the empty storefronts, clean up yards and parks and generally improve the village, a story in the Post-Star says. They join Phoenix Rising which is looking to the same problems, and the hope in the village that a code enforcer will be hired soon to target run-down buildings.
And then there were two: Watson out of Democratic run
Ezra Watson dropped out of the 21st Congressional District Democratic primary. He failed to get the requisite number of signatures to keep him on the ballot, a story in the Post-Star says. Matt Castelli and Matt Putorti are the two Democrats left in the primary hunt to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik this fall. Rather than help the Democratic nominee, Watson hopes to run an independent campaign, the story says.
Hemp rebar at RPI
Reinforcement bar, or rebar, is used inside cement to strengthen it. The rebar is usually steel, but a team of researchers at RPI think they can do it with hemp and thermoplastics, the Times Union says. It could be less costly and be more sustainable in the construction industry, the story says. Corrosion naturally occurs with steel rebar, but not with hemp, making it more sustainable and less costly, the researchers believe.
Historic lumber
Ward Lumber, over 130 years old, has been added to the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry. Four generations of Wards owned the company before it became employee-owned last year, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise is reporting. State Sen. Dan Stec nominated the company for recognition.