Our Advocacy Agenda
The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce is a visible and vocal advocate for its members and all the communities across Saratoga County.
Our advocacy agenda is focused on laws, policies, rules, and actions that will grow our local economy in a responsible way. Often times, our advocacy involves simply helping a local organization get a permit, a favorable decision, or the information they need to decide how to proceed.
In 2023, we helped the Village of Schuylerville to obtain a $4.5 million New York Forward grant to support the renaissance of this amazing Village, and today we are working with leaders in the City of Mechanicville to secure a New York Forward grant as well.
Below are a few current priorities and a couple of our other success stories we'd like to share.
Let's build more workforce housing
The creation of more workforce housing is a top priority. With Saratoga County's median home sale price now topping $500,000, we need to build more affordable housing so the people who work here can also live here. Below are several of the projects we’ve supported as they sought local approval and state funding:
- Intrada – This project is now fully operational at 1 Freeman Lane, in Saratoga Springs, and includes 158 units of workforce housing.
- Promenade – This project is now fully operational at 3 South Federal Street, in Saratoga Springs, and includes 63 units of workforce housing.
- The Reserve at Saratoga Springs – This project is now fully operational at 3 Robin Lane, in Saratoga Springs, and includes 202 units of workforce housing.
- The Springs West Apartments – This project is under construction on Allen Drive, and will include 98 units of workforce housing.
- Liberty Workforce Housing – This project is expected to begin construction in late 2026, at the corner of Jefferson and Crescent Streets, and will include 216 units of workforce housing.
- We have also joined the celebration as Rise Housing and Support Services opened Dominic Hollow, in Ballston Spa, and Riverview Apartments, in Corinth. These two supportive housing projects in total include 120 units of affordable housing.
Let's expand public transportation services across Saratoga County
Expanding public transportation across Saratoga County is also a priority. We need to support people as they look to get to work safely, conveniently, and affordably. Below are several of the projects we’ve supported:
- CDTA Flex – Led by Mechanicville Supervisor Tom Richard, the Chamber was part of the team that successfully secured CDTA’s support to start a new Flex Service to serve the communities of Mechanicville, Clifton Park, and Halfmoon, in 2012. This service was recently expanded to Stillwater and talks continue about expanding it further into Malta in the future.
- CDTA Flex in Saratoga Springs – From the time CDTA Flex began in Mechanicville, the Chamber continued to suggest this service would be a great fit for the City of Saratoga Springs. In 2025, CDTA agreed to establish a new Flex Service within the City in part to replace a fixed-bus service that just wasn’t attracting enough ridership.
- Bus Service Connection between Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs – Several years ago, CDTA took over the operation of the Glens Falls Transit Authority. This change eventually led to the establishment of bus service between the two cities, a request that spanned decades of advocacy among local leaders in both communities along with the Adirondack Regional and Saratoga County chambers of commerce. We continue to work with CDTA to designate a bus stop near Exit 16, in Wilton, to help the thousands of people that work or attend classes at SUNY Adirondack's local campus nearby to more easily get to and from work and school.
Let's talk about a few of our other success stories
For decades, the Chamber's staff and board of directors have engaged in efforts to advocate for policies and projects that have made a positive difference in the communities across Saratoga County.
Recently the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors passed new laws to ensure short-term rental operators will get registered, their properties inspected and pay their fair-share of occupancy and sales taxes to grow our hospitality industry. The Chamber was a long-time supporter of this effort and applauds state, county, and city leaders that are now implementing this important action.
During COVID, the Chamber led the effort to secure local approval in municipalities across Saratoga County to allow restaurants to expand outdoor dining. Many of these expanded dining options have become permanent and a number of restaurant owners have commented that this action saved them from closing in 2020 and 2021.
In 2012, the Saratoga County Chamber successfully led the discussion among private and public sector leaders at the local and county level to create the partnership which built the Woodlawn Parking Garage. This garage and the availability of hundreds of parking spaces very close to Broadway ignited several redevelopment projects adding commercial and office space, a movie theater, stores, shops, apartments and condominiums to the downtown. The Chamber also supported the Saratoga Springs effort to construct a new parking garage which opened in 2020.
