Discover Saratoga announced the hiring of Amy Sgromo and the promotion of Karen Verrigni.
Sgromo joins the team as the assistant director and sales coordinator at the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center. She is responsible for all aspects of the Visitor Center operations and services as well as group tour and sports market sales.
Previously, Sgromo worked as the social sales and bistro manager for the Pavilion Grand Hotel where she acquired new business for the hotel and oversaw the food and beverage for hotel functions. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from LeMoyne College School of Communication and an associate degree in hospitality management from Onondaga Community College.
Verrigni was promoted to director of heritage area visitor center, tourism & event sales.
She started her career at Discover Saratoga as the assistant director and sales coordinator at the Visitor Center where she provided service to the group tour market and assisted with all aspects Visitor Center operations, program planning and volunteer recruitment.
She graduated with a master’s degree in reading, a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a certificate in hospitality & tourism after returning to school to further pursue her passion for travel and the tourism industry.
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Hodgson Russ announced that Anna-Lesa Calvert has joined the firm as manager of professional development and diversity.
She will work with the firm’s senior leadership to guide the firm’s ongoing diversity projects and processes affecting attorney recruitment, development, and promotion. Calvert will create new initiatives that support a diverse and inclusive work place and strengthen the firm’s commitment to diversity in the legal profession and the communities it serves.
She was recently awarded a master’s degree in strategic leadership from St. Bonaventure University, with honors. Prior to joining Hodgson Russ, Calvert started Algonquin Sports, a nonprofit organization which provides sports for youth development opportunities for underserved youth across Erie County.
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Six Conservation Heroes were honored at the Wm. H. Buckley Farm in the town of Ballston for their contributions to conservation in Saratoga County.
Conservation Heroes are individuals or entities recognized for their extraordinary efforts related to conservation.
Mark Sacco, who hosted the event at his Wm. H. Buckley Farm, is a two-time Conservation Hero. He used some of the proceeds from selling his development rights on his first land easement to purchase an additional 62 acres on adjacent land, which was slated for development and is now permanently conserved as farmland.
Linda, Chad and Amber Barber were honored for their conservation of 463 acres of their 1,200-acre dairy farm in the town of Northumberland, to secure the forage needed for their large dairy herd.
Rick Burke and the Nature Conservancy were awarded for their work in conserving 80 acres of woodland on Irish Hill in the town of Saratoga. Julie Stokes received the award in Burke’s absence, and Peg Olsen represented the Nature Conservancy.
Dolores Arste and David Hickey, represented by daughter Deanna Hadley and her husband Rob, were recognized for conservation of 168 acres straddling the towns of Galway and Providence. The acreage contains woodlands, wetlands, pasture land, and a spring that flows from their land to the Glowegee Creek, a tributary of the Kayaderosseras and into the Saratoga Lake.
Bill Lasher received a Conservation Hero award for his guidance and management of the Monday Steward volunteer group. Lasher coordinates and stays in touch with roughly three dozen or so Monday Stewards who help maintain the public access to PLAN lands. Together, the Monday Stewards have already donated over 1,700 hours in 2019 alone.
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Two local business people were among 13 honored by the SBA Syracuse District Office upon graduating from the Capital Region Emerging Leaders program.
Nick Patterson of Dig Deep Chiropractic & Massage in Clifton Park and David Sowinski of Miss Steel LLC in Mechanicville were among the graduates.
The SBA program is made possible through support from local partners including the Albany Small Business Development Center, Arsenal Business & Tech Partnership, Capital Region Chamber, New York Business Development Corporation, and Northeast NY SCORE Chapter.
Emerging Leaders provides free entrepreneurship education and training for executives of small, poised-for-growth companies that are potential job creators. The executive entrepreneurship series includes nearly 100 hours of classroom time. It also provides opportunities for small business owners to work with experienced coaches and mentors, attend workshops, and develop connections with their peers, local leaders, and the financial community.