Market report · Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
The State of Outbound Sales in Albany, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro right now: who the buyers are, which trades have room, what is being built, what a rep costs to hire here. Then a 4-tool kit to work the market this month.
- 1,875business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #72 of our 100 metros
- 104buyer sites per commercial painting contractor, #4 of 86 markets: the best rank of any trade here
Sites: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; rank among the 100 metros on our market pages. Room: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 sites per contractor in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1, among markets with at least 10 contractors.
Executive summary Read this if nothing else
5 things to know about outbound sales in Albany
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 496 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Albany-Schenectady, ahead of retail stores (460).
Where the metro leans
Churches and religious organizations: 5.43x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: senior living and nursing (1.77x) and golf courses and country clubs (1.73x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Painting & Coatings: #4 of 86 markets
104 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 11 local commercial painting contractors. The most crowded is commercial cleaning & janitorial, #84 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Albany Capital Center Expansion, $54.9 million
Under construction since October 2025. One of 4 named, sourced projects in this report.
Hiring locally
$124,700 for an in-house SDR's first year (illustrative)
At a $55,000 base salary, once commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and training, turnover and manager time are added, before ramp time.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; project sources as of 2026-09; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Full list at the end.
Chapter 01 The market
Who buys in Albany-Schenectady
1,875 business sites in Albany-Schenectady have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #72 of the 100 metros we publish. Here is what those buyers are and where they sit.
The largest buyer categories
Sites with 20 or more people are the ones worth an SDR's time: big enough to have a facility lead, a service budget and a contract that comes up for renewal. The "vs. U.S. mix" column compares each category's share of local employment with its national share (1.00x is the U.S. average).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All sites | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RestaurantsLargest pool | 496 | 2,209 | 1.30x | -40 |
| Retail stores | 460 | 2,879 | 1.25x | -84 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 229 | 1,464 | 0.79x | +9 |
| Manufacturing plants | 181 | 588 | 0.79x | -8 |
| Wholesale distributors | 152 | 793 | 0.77x | -26 |
| Senior living and nursing | 101 | 411 | 1.77x | -3 |
| Grocery stores | 85 | 555 | 1.59x | -12 |
| Hotels | 56 | 135 | 1.02x | -6 |
| Auto dealerships | 56 | 129 | 1.22x | -2 |
| Private K-12 schools | 45 | 69 | 1.52x | -3 |
Albany-Schenectady leans toward churches and religious organizations (5.43x), senior living and nursing (1.77x) and golf courses and country clubs (1.73x). A trade that already sells to those buyers elsewhere has a deeper pool here than the national numbers suggest, and a case study from one of them travels well on the phone.
It is thinner than the U.S. mix in trucking companies (0.55x) and wholesale distributors (0.77x). A program built around those buyers runs out of fresh accounts sooner here.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+9) and hospitals (+2). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY: 5 counties in this report's counts.
Albany County, Saratoga County and Schenectady County hold 83% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Albany CountyStart here | 872 | 47% |
| Saratoga County | 462 | 25% |
| Schenectady County | 216 | 12% |
| Rensselaer County | 211 | 11% |
| Schoharie County | 17 | 1% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Albany
Buyer sites per contractor is a rough read on how crowded a trade is: more sites for each local competitor means more doors nobody else is knocking on. Each trade's Albany figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Painting & CoatingsMost room | #4 of 86 | 104 | 11 | 0 |
| Fire Protection | #23 of 96 | 55 | 20 | -1 |
| Commercial Roofing | #22 of 89 | 82 | 13 | +1 |
| Commercial Construction | #27 of 100 | 5.8 | 109 | -9 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #41 of 100 | 10 | 68 | +1 |
| Commercial Electrical | #62 of 100 | 9.7 | 97 | -2 |
| Commercial Flooring | #43 of 68 | 63 | 12 | 0 |
| Managed Service Providers | #64 of 100 | 2.3 | 475 | -5 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #68 of 100 | 3.2 | 364 | -20 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #74 of 94 | 32 | 34 | -1 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #84 of 100 | 3.0 | 278 | -9 |
Commercial painting & coatings (#4), fire protection (#23) and commercial roofing (#22) rank best in Albany. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Commercial cleaning & janitorial is the most crowded trade here, #84 of 100: 3.0 buyer sites for each of 278 local commercial cleaning companies. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Commercial landscaping (-20) and commercial construction (-9) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Commercial roofing (+1) and commercial HVAC & mechanical (+1) added them.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Albany yet. We take one client per trade per territory, so ask before you plan around it.
Chapter 03 The projects
What is being built, and who owns the buildings
4 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in Albany-Schenectady. Each one is a reason to call that has nothing to do with your company and everything to do with the buyer's building.
The projects
- 01 · $54.9 million Albany Capital Center Expansion Under construction since October 2025 An expansion of the downtown convention center at 126 State Street in Albany that brings rentable event space to 84,000 sq ft, adding five meeting rooms, a multi-purpose room, a new ballroom, pre-function space and an outdoor courtyard. Ballroom and meeting space additions carry heavy HVAC, lighting and AV power scope, then finish work in flooring and painting. Once open, a high-traffic event venue needs recurring cleaning and maintenance contracts. Office of Governor Kathy Hochul, 2025-10-16
- 02 · $100 million Albany International Airport Main Terminal Expansion Departure Hall partly opened April 2026, full completion expected December 2026 A phased modernization of the main terminal at Albany International Airport in Colonie, centered on a new departure hall connected to the TSA checkpoint and the North Parking Garage. Phased work inside an operating terminal keeps electrical, mechanical and finish crews busy through the end of 2026, and the larger public footprint adds ongoing cleaning and floor care demand. CBS6 Albany, 2026-04-24
- 03 · 120,000 sq ft Saratoga Regional Health Center Completed 2026 A two-story, multi-tenant medical office building at 612 Maple Avenue in Wilton, Saratoga County, with clinic, imaging and ambulatory surgery space. A newly occupied medical office building with surgery and imaging space needs medical-grade cleaning, HVAC service agreements, fire protection inspections and grounds maintenance from day one. Construction Owners, 2026-08-04
- 04 · $575 million GlobalFoundries New York Advanced Packaging and Photonics Center Announced January 2025 A center for advanced chip packaging and testing, including silicon photonics, built within GlobalFoundries' existing Fab 8 campus in Malta, Saratoga County. Semiconductor packaging space depends on cleanroom-grade HVAC, process utilities and dense electrical distribution, with fire protection tailored to manufacturing hazards. Fab 8 work also draws subcontractors from across the Capital Region. Office of Governor Kathy Hochul, 2025-01-17
Projects current as of 2026-09; each source is linked on its card. Values are as reported by the source.
The anchor owners
Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings in Albany-Schenectady. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Albany, Albany County
Albany Medical Center
Albany Med says Albany Medical Center has a 766-bed hospital and is the only academic medical center within a 150-mile radius.
A dense downtown academic campus of patient towers, research labs and the medical college runs central plant equipment, sprinklers, patient-room floors and round-the-clock environmental services.
Albany Med Health SystemCampus · Albany, Albany County
University at Albany
UAlbany says it serves over 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students and is an R1 research university founded in 1844.
The uptown campus on Washington Avenue plus downtown and East campuses carry classroom buildings, residence halls, labs and large surface parking lots.
University at AlbanyMajor employer · Malta, Saratoga County
GlobalFoundries Fab 8
The Governor's office said in February 2024 that the Fab 8 facility in Malta produces 400,000 wafers each year and that GlobalFoundries employs 2,500 employees in the Capital Region.
A semiconductor fab campus with cleanrooms, process utilities and a planned 358,000 square-foot new facility depends on mechanical, electrical and life-safety systems running without interruption.
New York Governor's OfficeLogistics hub · Albany, Albany County, and Rensselaer, Rensselaer County
Port of Albany-Rensselaer
The Port lists 430 acres on both sides of the Hudson River, 350,000 square feet of covered storage and 5,400 feet of wharf.
Warehouses, wharf structures, yard pavement and tenant industrial buildings on both riverbanks need roofing, paving and electrical work.
Port of Albany-RensselaerPublic owner · Albany, Albany County
Empire State Plaza
The NYS Office of General Services says the Plaza covers approximately 98 acres with approximately 12 million square feet of commercial and office space, and its steam plant generates up to 4 million pounds of steam a day.
Seven state office towers, the underground Concourse, the Capitol and a central steam plant under a funded decarbonization program are managed by OGS as one complex.
NYS Office of General ServicesAirport · Colonie, Albany County
Albany International Airport (ALB)
The airport's About page lists the airport property at 1,200 acres.
Terminal, parking garages, surface lots and airside support buildings on one property need HVAC service, cleaning and pavement work.
Albany International AirportAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 9 |
| Commercial Electrical | 7 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 7 |
| Fire Protection | 5 |
| Commercial Roofing | 3 |
| Commercial Construction | 3 |
| Commercial Flooring | 3 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 3 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 2 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Albany selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Albany-Schenectady metro's counties, month by month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail and damaging wind reportstotal, 2015 to 2024 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 19 | 162 | 114 | 323 | 281 | 68 | 49 | 0 | 5 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 67 | 169 | 129 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,328 | 1,133 | 997 | 597 | 270 | 59 | 13 | 28 | 146 | 484 | 795 | 1,134 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 31 | 34 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
NOAA logged 81 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 969 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #45 of 100 markets for hail and #10 for wind. May, July and August carried 73% of the reports. Storm calls are a real door-opener here, and the contractor who is already known before the season gets the inspection.
The metro averages 408 cooling degree days a year (#86 of 97 markets) and 6,983 heating degree days (#9 of 97). Cooling load peaks in July and August; heating in January, February, March, November and December. Peak months are when HVAC calls lead with service and response times; the rest of the year they lead with planned work and budgets.
5 months average a high of 60°F or more (May, June, July, August and September). That is when exterior painting, paving and landscaping crews are busiest, so in-season calls catch owners while they can see the work that needs doing. The contracts themselves are bid on each property's own dates, so the selling runs all year.
Trades with no weather season
Cleaning, construction, electrical, flooring and fire protection sell on contract end dates, budgets and inspection cycles. Learn each account's date on the first call and come back before it.
Chapter 05 The numbers
What one meeting takes, trade by trade
What booking a meeting has taken on our own calling floor for the trades we run in Albany, next to the records we can prospect here. The sales center figures are national; it does not break them out by city yet.
| Trade | Dials per appointment | Reached proposal | Proposals won | Dials for 10 meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire ProtectionFastest to book | 78 | 21.6% | 13.2% | about 780 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 86 | 32.2% | 7.4% | about 860 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 88 | 18.8% | 12.7% | about 880 |
| Commercial Electrical | 96 | 14.6% | 21.1% | about 960 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 98 | 16.6% | 24.9% | about 980 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 115 | 31.2% | 14.4% | about 1,150 |
| Commercial Flooring | 122 | 30.8% | 9.8% | about 1,220 |
| Commercial Roofing | 140 | 25.9% | 16.1% | about 1,400 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 142 | 23.9% | 21.7% | about 1,420 |
| Managed Service Providers | 162 | 10.0% | 20.5% | about 1,620 |
All of these trades together: 122 dials per appointment
The records behind a Albany program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Albany-Schenectady territory.
- 2,359Commercial Roofing
- 2,359Commercial Construction
- 989Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 801Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Source: Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: estimated decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each program in the territory. Shown for the programs the count covers.
Read it this way
Divide the records by the dials one meeting takes and you see how long a list lasts before it repeats. A thin list means a program has to work every record well, not just call more.
Chapter 06 Build or buy
What an in-house SDR costs in Albany
Before you hire a sales development rep in Albany, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 3,060 people hold the role in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro, and every one of their employers is competing for the same hires.
| Cost | Year one |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $55,000 |
| Commission and bonus | $15,000 |
| Payroll taxes and benefits (25% of pay) | $17,500 |
| Tools and data ($550 a month) | $6,600 |
| Recruiting and training | $7,000 |
| Turnover (35% a year, rehiring) | $2,450 |
| Manager and QA time (5 hours a week) and admin (4 hours a month) | $21,150 |
| Total, before ramp time | $124,700 |
Headcount: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091). The cost lines are the starting values of our SDR cost calculator: $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $550 a month in tools, $7,000 recruiting and training, 35% yearly turnover, and manager, QA and admin time. Change any of them there.
$124,700
for one in-house SDR's first year at a $55,000 base salary.
That buys one rep. It does not buy the list, the manager's coaching system or cover when the rep leaves.
Part two Apply this
The Albany market toolkit
4 working tools built from the chapters above. Tick the boxes as you go (they stay ticked in this browser), copy the scripts into your CRM, or save the whole guide as a PDF and print this part as a worksheet.
Tool 01
Account scorecard
Before an account goes on the call list, check every line that fits. Call the accounts with the most ticks first, and leave the ones with none for later.
Tool 02
Discovery question bank
Ask fewer, better questions. Pick three or four for the call and save the rest for the meeting. Each one comes with the reason it earns its place.
Restaurants: 496 sites here
From our fire protection talk track. Staying open and passing inspection. Multi-unit operators are worth more than single locations.
- When was your hood suppression system last inspected, and when is the next one due?Due dates tell you when to call and what to offer.
- Have you had a failed inspection or a citation recently?Failed inspections threaten the ability to stay open and create urgency.
- How many locations do you operate, and does each one use a different vendor?Multi-unit operators are more valuable and often want one vendor across locations.
Retail stores: 460 sites here
From our painting talk track. Night work that does not close the store. Chains often run repaints as multi-site programs from regional facilities.
- Is painting bought store by store or through a regional or national remodel program?Program work needs a different contact and often a vendor registration process.
- Can the work be done overnight without closing the store?Night work capability is often the deciding factor for retail painting.
- Are remodels, brand refreshes or new stores planned in this area?Planned programs give you a timeline and a defined scope.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 229 sites here
From our HVAC talk track. Patients notice a hot waiting room. Ask how comfort complaints get handled and who owns the equipment, the practice or the landlord.
- Does the practice own the HVAC equipment, or is it the landlord's responsibility under the lease?Ownership tells you whether the buyer is the practice administrator or the property manager, which changes who you meet.
- How many locations does the group run, and is service handled by one contractor or several?Multi-site groups often want one agreement across every office, a bigger first contract than a single suite.
- How do patient and staff comfort complaints get handled today, and how fast?Complaints in clinical spaces are felt immediately, and a slow response is the most common reason a practice will take another call.
Any first meeting
Plain practice that works in every market.
- How are you handling this today, and what would you change about it?The gap between today and what they want is the whole reason to meet.
- What happens if nothing changes this year?Tells you whether there is a cost to waiting, or only curiosity.
- Who else would need to agree before anything moves?Names the people who can stall the deal, while you can still invite them.
- When does the current contract or budget come up for review?Gives you the date to plan around, even when the answer today is no.
- What would make a first meeting worth your time?Lets the buyer set the agenda, which is the agenda they will show up for.
Tool 03
Trigger watchlist
Each of these changes gives a buyer a reason to take the call this month instead of next year. Tick the ones you will track, and set a news alert or CRM field for each so you hear about it first.
Tool 04
30-day action plan
4 weeks, 15 steps, nothing you need to buy. Tick each one off as you finish it; your progress stays in this browser.
Week 1Draw the territory
Week 2Check the rules, then write the talk track
Week 3Make the calls
Week 4Measure and decide
Sources and notes
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023: business sites by category, size and county, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1: contractor establishments, one-year change and concentration (location quotient).
- Projects: named public sources linked on each card, current as of 2026-09.
- Anchor owners: sources linked on each card, checked 2026-10.
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2015 to 2024: hail and damaging wind reports by month across the metro's counties.
- NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages: degree days and average highs by month.
- Abstrakt sales center, Performance Intelligence, national, as of October 2026: dials, appointments, proposals and wins by trade. Method.
- Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: decision-maker records per program in the Albany-Schenectady territory.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
