We sat down with Sherry Finkel Murphy, CFP®, ChFC®, RICP®, who is an Associate Wealth Management Advisor in Northwestern Mutual | The Atrium Financial Group’s Glens Falls Office and Women’s Practice to ask her some questions about how and why she chose to move her business to Warren County after living and working downstate. Below are her answers to our questions.
Tell us what is special and unique about your approach, and what experience you bring to the table.
The Atrium Financial Group, founded by Bill Newman, CFP®, ChFC®, CASL® in Albany, is a Financial Times 400 practice providing comprehensive financial planning to individuals, families, and businesses. Fifteen strong, we have six Certified Financial Planner® practitioners, three of whom are women. We act as fiduciaries and financial coaches to help our clients become the heroes of their own lives.
This is a second career for me, incorporating my business experience from years as an executive in the technology sector; my own experiences with marriage, divorce, re-partnering, aging parents, and launching children; and a commitment to financial planning domain expertise, so that I can help my clients ramp up their careers, plan for business succession, taxes, lifestyle funding, and enjoying a successful retirement!
Where are you from and how did you land here?
I’m from downstate. I lived in NYC when I was single and on Long Island when I was married. For years I was trying to get out of dodge.
After 9/11, NYC wasn’t the same for me. It wasn’t until I divorced and then met a man who raised his children in Queensbury, that I realized this was a way to have all the cultural benefits of metropolitan life and country life simultaneously.
The first thing I did when I relocated was to purchase a subscription to Proctor’s KeyBank Broadway Series and the Adirondack Theatre Festival.
Why did you choose Warren County as the place to move your business?
I arrived in this area just as Glens Falls and the Lake George Region really began to achieve ‘four-season destination’ status. I’m amazed by the growth I’ve seen in traditional businesses, creative startups, and full-time residents. With that growth comes the need for personal and business financial services provided by practitioners who have a broad reach across the US and the world.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this place has become foodie-central, with superior dining options and catering for all types of tastes.
The only thing I did not see, when I focused my practice here, was a Women’s Business Council to promote women-owned businesses and raise the next generation of diverse leaders. With the support of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, I was able to gather like-minded women to launch the Council in 2019. It’s a hub of business education, networking, and mentorship for owners, representatives, and professionals who are Chamber members. For me, knowing that it takes a village, I want to see its members tapped for future business and community leadership within our local economy.
What do you find unique about Warren County?
Warren County has all the charm of small-town USA and plenty of sophistication, arts, and services to satisfy everyone. This is a community that works together for the common good.
I’m starting to see, among my clients, young people who are returning to this area with their families after having moved away for a bit.
The schools are excellent. And the access to both summer and winter sports is a huge advantage. While 2020 was tough on everyone, families in Warren County have access to the outdoors. The Adirondack Park is our backyard playground.
What would you say to business owners considering relocation to Warren County?
Professional firms, especially, have more flexibility to work virtually than ever.
When I made the switch from living downstate and spending weekends traveling upstate to living upstate and taking the Amtrak to New York’s Penn Station to visit clients, my quality of life improved dramatically. Manufacturing firms should be thinking about our strong labor force, reasonably priced commercial and residential real estate, and our access to air, rail, and interstate systems.
Anything else you want to share, Sherry?
I love to introduce family and friends to the history of the United States as told by our geography in the region. From Ticonderoga to the Saratoga Battlefield, to the Erie and Champlain Canal locks, I regularly reflect that we live along the waterways that made our country a spectacular economic powerhouse.
While industry has changed dramatically over the centuries, our location remains a geographic gift that keeps on giving to those who choose to work and live here.
Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM) and its subsidiaries. NM and its subsidiaries are in Milwaukee, WI.
Sherry Finkel Murphy is an Associate Wealth Management Advisor with William Joseph Newman; using The Atrium Financial Group as a marketing name for doing business as a representative of Northwestern Mutual. The Atrium Financial Group is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, insurance agency or federal savings bank. Sherry Finkel Murphy is an Insurance Agent of NM. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. The Chartered Advisor for Senior Living (CASL®) designation is conferred by The American College of Financial Services.
