- Project
- Northeast
- Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, and Events
- Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis
- Regional
The Challenge
The Cool Insuring Arena is a 4,800-seat multi-purpose venue located in downtown Glens Falls, NY. The Arena is home to the Adirondack Thunder, a professional hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League.
In addition to hosting home hockey games, the Arena serves as a venue for numerous shows, concerts, tournaments, and other events, drawing visitors from across the state and beyond. To measure how the Arena benefits the surrounding region, the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition called on Camoin Associates to examine the economic and fiscal impacts of Arena operations on the regional economy.
The Solution
In 2016 and 2018, Camoin Associates conducted economic and fiscal impact analyses of the Arena in Warren, Saratoga, and Washington counties. In 2023, we provided an update to the 2018 analysis and examined how the arena was contributing to the region following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Impact
Similar to previous analyses, the Camoin Associates team determined that economic and fiscal benefits related to the Arena’s operations increased once again. Results from the analysis for the period between August 2017 to July 2018 indicated that the Arena had a total economic impact of more than $13.2 million in sales, 155 jobs, and $4.3 million in earnings.
When looking at Arena operations for August 2022 to July 2023, Camoin Associates observed a total economic impact of approximately $20.9 million in sales, 161 jobs, and $6.1 million in earnings. In addition to updating the original analysis, we also looked at the impact of recent arena improvements and determined these projects produced another $3.2 million in sales, supported 18 jobs, and resulted in around $1.2 million in related employee earnings.
Services Provided:
- Tourism market analysis and visitor spending profile
- Model of economic impacts from visitor spending and construction spending
- Estimate of occupancy, sales, and property tax revenues
- Economic and fiscal impact infographic (PDF)
