SBJ 9 Broad Street #7 Glens Falls, NY 12801
SARATOGA BUSINESS JOURNAL
VOL. 31 NO. 01
www.saratogabusinessjournal.com
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GLENS FALLS, NY 12801 PERMIT #600
MARCH 2026
Great Escape Included In $331 Million Twin Leaf Farms Expands Maple Operation Sale Of Six Flags Theme Park Portfolio As Demand For Syrup Continues To Grow
Great Escape has six roller coasters including the Bobcat, which opened in 2024. Six Flags has sold the Queensbury amusement park to Kansas City-based EPR Properties. BY PAUL POST Great Escape, one of the area’s oldest tourist attractions and largest seasonal employers, is expected to maintain regular operations following its sale to Kansas City-based EPR Properties. The $331 Million deal includes six other Six Flags theme parks in the U.S. and Canada. Founded as Storytown USA by the late Charles R. Wood in 1954, the amusement center was renamed Great Escape in 1983. Thirteen years later, Wood sold it to Premier Parks, which later purchased Six Flags and adopted its name. “This move allows Six Flags to concentrate on the parks that we believe offer the greatest opportunities for growth and long-term success,” company President and CEO John Reilly said. “Since joining the company, I have been clear that Six Flags’ earnings power has been under-realized. This transaction will simplify our portfolio, strengthen our balance sheet and position us to execute with
Courtesy Paul Post
greater clarity and discipline.” The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter. Great Escape will maintain the Six Flags brand in 2026 and honor all season passes sold, including multi-park pass privileges at other parks within the Six Flags portfolio. “From a regional tourism perspective, we are confident that the park will continue to operate successfully and remain a vital attraction for families visiting the Lake George area,” said Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The new ownership group already has a presence in New York’s attractions industry through Enchanted Forest Water Safari in Old Forge.” “We believe this experience positions them well to operate the park with energy and enthusiasm,” she said. “Great Escape has long been a cornerstone of our region, and we Continued On Page 9
Arrow Financial Plans Acquisition Of Adirondack Bancorp In $89 Million Deal BY PAUL POST Glens Falls-based Arrow Financial Corp. expects to double its geographic territory with the proposed $89.1 million acquisition of Utica-based Adirondack Bancorp, which has 19 branch offices from the Mohawk Valley north to the Canadian border. “Part of our strategic plan is mergers and acquisitions,” Arrow President and CEO Dave DeMarco said. “To continue to provide shareholder value in our business, you have to grow. We’re celebrating our 175th year. The timing couldn’t be better to find a willing partner to join forces.” “We’ve been actively looking for a bank or banks that fit our mold, a community-based bank that looks, feels and acts like we do,” he said. Adirondack Bancorp serves the same types of communities as Arrow, which makes the deal a good one culturally, DeMarco said. But with $4.5 billion in assets, Arrow is much bigger than Adirondack ($942 million in total assets) and offers a broader range of services including wealth management and insurance. Based on financial results as of Dec. 31, 2025, the combined company would have pro forma total assets of $5.4 billion, total deposits of $4.8 billion and total gross loans of $4.1 billion. When completed, the merger would make Ar-
An Arrow Bank sign is shown as Arrow Financial pursues Adirondack Bancorp acquisition. Glens Falls Business Journal
row upstate New York’s fourth-largest community bank, ranked by assets. Continued On Page 3
Containers of maple syrup glow in a window, highlighting the finished product of sugaring season as producers expand their operations and add equipment to keep up with rising consumer demand. BY PAUL POST Maple producers comprise a pretty tight-knit community, always willing to lend a helping hand. Just ask Ryan Veitch, who started making syrup eight years ago at his family’s 191-year-old, eighth-generation Twin Leaf Farms at 200 Hyspot Road in Greenfield Center. “In 2019 we added a parcel of land that had sugaring on it,” he said. “That’s when we jumped back into full-time farming here. The property had aging maple infrastructure on it and the owner wanted to sell. It was next to our property so we bought it to keep it green instead of someone building another housing development. That’s when we decided to revamp and modernize the maple operation.” They did it with help from the Monica family, longtime owners of Maple Valley Farm in Corinth. “They held our hand and helped us get set up the right way so we didn’t have to guess a million times,” said Ryan. “The first year or so they would truck all our sap up to their place and boil it. Over time we added our own equipment and made it inhouse.” “We’re super fortunate that they were there to help us out in the beginning because I had never done any of this before,” he said. “It was a totally new thing. I did a lot of ‘YouTube university’ to figure out what we were doing. They helped us out big time.” Ryan runs Twin Leaf Farms with his brother, Jake, who lives in the original family homestead, built in 1826. From humble beginnings, they’re now tapping 2,000 trees with plans for significant expansion to keep up with fast-growing demand. “We’re at the point now where we have to expand because we’re running out,” Ryan said. On the weekend of March 21-22, Twin Leaf Farms will host an open house pancake breakfast from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days, with live music. The $5 fare includes pancakes, syrup and a beverage served in take-home style containers. Limited seating is available. “Last year we served 850 breakfasts,” he said. “It was unbelievable.” In addition to maple season, the brothers have planted thousands of Christmas trees that will be ready for harvesting in a few years, along with property mainte-
Courtesy Paul Post
nance for various clients. Taking a cue from the Monicas, when setting up their maple operation they purchased a modern, wood-fired evaporator used to boil sap into syrup. Wood burning is more traditional compared with gasfired evaporators and Ryan believes it also enhances syrup’s f lavor. In addition, they use reverse osmosis technology, which removes most of the sap’s water content prior to boiling. This makes boiling much quicker and greatly reduces the amount of wood needed. “We can boil 2,000 gallons of sap in just a few hours,” Ryan said. Steam billowing from sugarhouses is a common sight throughout upstate New York and New England in March. With more than 2,000 sugar makers statewide, New York is the nation’s secondleading producer behind only Vermont, and the industry generates an annual economic impact of about $141 million. The industry in New York state is growing 7 percent annually, fueled by increased demand both domestically and globally from countries such as China and Japan. New York has produced more than 800,000 gallons of syrup in six of the past eight years, including a record-high 846,000 gallons in 2024. Production has more than quadrupled since 2001 (193,000 gallons) thanks in part to state funding for marketing and research and legislation that has opened some state-owned land to sugaring. Taste NY markets promoting maple are set up at key locations throughout the state this month, including the Adirondack Welcome Center between Northway Exits 17 and 18 northbound. Maple samples will be available there from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Thursday in March. The welcome center will also host a “From Sap to Syrup” event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, March 20. Visitors may sample maple products, and there will be educational and interactive displays. Samples of maple lattes and locally made maple hot cocoa will be sold on-site. Ideal sugaring conditions are warm days with temperatures in the 40s and 50s followed by cold nights down to about 25 degrees. This cycle creates pressure within trees that makes sap f low. A deep snowpack such as this year’s helps cool things down at night. Continued On Page 12