Community Development: Expanding Glens Falls Hospital

As a nonprofit, community hospital, Glens Falls Hospital is committed to providing big-city medicine and hometown care to everyone in our five-county region, regardless of their ability to pay. The organization is continually reinvesting in high quality professionals, innovative health care technologies and services, and facilities.

The challenge
"Our Foundation's goal was to raise $12 million in funding towards the building of the Northwest Tower," explained Ray Agnew, executive vice president of the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation. "We raised just over $14 million, and that level of success was largely due to Zone Capital Credits.

"We were approaching donors who would be making a gift of $20,000 or more, so the bottom-line, New York State tax deduction certainly put another arrow in our quiver."

The solution
The $65 million, six-story addition, which opened in the fall of 2005, was the largest expansion project in the hospital's 110-year history and a major community development project for Warren County. As the Empire Zone Administrator, EDC worked with GFH to access three rounds of Zone Capital Credits for this EZ approved project. "Usually, Zone Capital Credits are capped somewhere around $100,000," explained EDC President Len Fosbrook. "But in the case of Glens Falls Hospital, the Foundation was so successful in raising money and the project was so significant in its impact on the community, that the Empire Zone Board sought approval for additional credits."

Economic Development: Enabling expansion and creating jobs

AngioDynamics was founded in Queensbury, NY, in 1988 to manufacture products for the growing field of interventional radiology. Today, the firm is a leading provider of innovative medical devices used by interventional radiologists, surgeons, and other physicians for the minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of cancer and peripheral vascular disease. AngioDynamics is one of the “Top 100 Hot Growth Companies,” according to BusinessWeek, and ranks No. 11 on Forbes prestigious list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America (Oct. 2006).

The challenge
By 2002, the fast-growing firm was in need of a larger facility. There was ample space on its 13-acres to build, which would allow the company to bring their warehousing on-site and increase manufacturing. “We explored a number of financing options,” explained Joseph Gerardi, chief financial officer. “Including independent borrowing and competitive bid. However, the solutions EDC brought us far outweighed other financing avenues.”

The solution
EDC assisted AngioDynamics in becoming a Qualified Empire Zone Enterprise (QEZE), which allowed the company to take advantage of tax abatements and other benefits. In addition, EDC assisted the firm in obtaining an Empire State Development grant, which provided capital as well as employee training funds. In 2003, the company completed a 32,000 square-foot addition (warehousing and manufacturing space), which fueled job growth for several years.

“EDC led us to the Empire Zone Program, which made it possible for us to expand and add jobs,” said Eamonn Hobbs, President and CEO, of AngioDynamics at that time. “I encourage you to connect with the folks at EDC, they can help you cut through the red tape.”