Month: January 2018

Merodie A. Hancock, the president of SUNY Empire State College since July 2013, has accepted a new job as president of Thomas Edison State University of New Jersey.

She will take the position on March 5.

“While I am thrilled at the opportunity to join New Jersey’s flagship institution for adult education, leaving Empire State College will be difficult for me,” she said. “Working closely with the extraordinarily capable people who believe so deeply in the mission of providing access to a broad array of learners across the state has been a high point of my career.

“The work has been both challenging and rewarding, and would not have met with the success it has without the commitment and efforts of the good people across the college.”

The SUNY Board of Trustees is expected to appoint an interim president in January and a nationwide search will begin thereafter.

Renovations at the renowned Caffé Lena in Saratoga Springs have been given a boost by a $50,000 grant from the Charles R. Wood Foundation of Glens Falls.

As the campaign reaches its completion, the funds help with the costs associated with the structural and expansion work done at the 47 Phila St. location.

“We were very glad to be able to help with the Caffé’s project,” said Charlene Wood, chairperson and trustee of the foundation. ​“​As always, we had many worthy applications to review, but ultimately we decided the campaign project was an excellent community partnership for us this year. The C​affés mission of serving people of all ages from our region with music, song, and the spoken word struck a positive chord with us.”

In 2016 the ​venue​ beg​an​ a $2 million donor-funded renovation project on their 19th century building in Saratoga’s historic downtown. The transformation guarantees a home for their arts programming for years to come, creates handicap accessibility to the second floor performance space, and enhances the intimate listener and artist experience.

OneJet will offer non-stop flights between Buffalo and Albany beginning Feb.1—a direct link between the Capital Region and New York state’s largest upstate city.

It will operate two times per day at convenient times for business travelers.

“The return of Buffalo-to-Albany air service is a testament to our efforts to revitalize the western New York economy that will only add to the momentum of this region’s renaissance,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “OneJet is a brand new airline to the Queen City, one that caters to people who want to get their business done quickly and go back home to their families. We welcome the expanded service this company will provide and look forward to building upon it even further.”

Flights between Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Albany International Airport will be as follows:

The number of craft beverage manufacturers has grown by 50 percent since the enactment of the Craft New York Act three years ago, according to state officials.

The Craft Act went into effect on Dec. 13, 2014, continuing the state’s support of the growing craft beverage industry. Since then, 340 new craft beverage businesses have opened their doors across the state, officials said.

“This administration has worked hard to cut red tape, lower costs and roll back burdensome regulations for New York’s craft beverage industry – efforts that are clearly paying off in every corner of this great state,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “I’m proud of the continued growth of this sector, which has created jobs, spurred tourism, supported New York farms and led to the creation of top-notch world-renowned products.”

New York state has implemented a series of legislative and policy changes to capitalize on the soaring consumer demand for locally produced craft beverages and to make it easier to open and run a craft manufacturing business, officials said. These improvements include lowering taxes and fees, providing support for research, creating new licenses for farm breweries and cideries, rolling back restrictive regulations, cutting the time it takes to obtain a license in half and overhauling the state’s antiquated Alcoholic Beverage Control law.