Category Archives: Business News

Baker Public Relations, a full-service communications firm, has announced its President and CEO Megan Baker has been named the 2023 Capital Region MARCOM Marketing/Communications Practitioner of the Year.

The award recognizes a marketing or communications professional who has achieved exceptional success, displayed the highest ethics and has shown dedication to serving the community and the profession.

“Receiving an award for your work is rewarding, but being recognized by your peers makes it especially so,” said Baker. “I want to thank MARCOM for this honor and our clients who put their trust in us to tell their stories. Most importantly, I want to thank the entire Baker Public Relations team. This award may have my name on it, but it is their extraordinary work that truly made it possible.”

The 2023 Capital Region MARCOM awards also recognized Baker Public Relations as a winner in the Printed Publication category and as a finalist in Public/Government Affairs Campaigns.

Baker began her career in journalism, where she enjoyed a highly visible 10-year run in television news. She helped launch Spectrum News (formerly Capital News 9), Charter Communication’s 24-hour news channel, serving as its weekday evening news anchor. During her tenure, she was awarded a New York State Emmy.

After stepping away from the news, Baker worked at a well-known public relations firm before starting Baker Public Relations in 2007.

Last year’s Saratoga New Year’s Fest — a post-COVID revival of what was formerly known as First Night — was developed by its new organizers in the spirit of a “necessary reinvention and re-imagining” of an annual event that had simply run out of momentum after two-plus decades.

That turnaround strategy involved not only the name change and good financial planning, but also a new emphasis on higher profile, festival-style musical entertainment as the key draw to the Spa City’s downtown. The plan must have succeeded in hitting its benchmark goals, as evidenced by the seeming “now let’s go even bigger this year!”attitude behind the booking of this coming edition’s scheduled talent lineup.

That roster includes such luminaries as Joan Osborne of ‘What if God Was One of Us?’ fame, pedal steel maestro Robert Randolph, bluegrass superstars the Gibson Brothers, the Weight Band (fronted by The Band’s fifteen-year guitarist), 90’s angst queen Tracy Bonham, turntable pioneer DJ Logic, the hottest jam band in the USA ….. and much, much more.

As producer Robert Millis of The 398Group describes this impressive set of bookings: “We’re bringing in three acts with Grammy cred, a member of a legendary Rock Hall of Fame inductee, the reigning international Artists of the Year in their genre, plus regional and statewide award winners. Sprinkled about will be some of the best local and regional artists we could round up, plus comedy, dance and, of course: the legacy fireworks and 5K road race.”

The Saratoga Builders Association prented proceeds totaling $70,000 from the 2023 Saratoga Showcase of Homes to Rebuilding Together Saratoga County and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. The Saratoga Builders Association announced that the total contribution to local charities from this area’s premiere new home tour event is now over $1.5 million.

The 2023 edition of the Saratoga Showcase of Homes had nine homes from 11 builders on tour this year – Belmonte Builders (2), DeGraff Bloom Custom Homes, DSG Construction & Remodeling, Kodiak Construction (2), R & M Homes, Whitbeck Construction, and Witt Construction.    R & M Homes won the People’s Choice Award for Executive Home and Witt Construction won the People’s Choice Award for Luxury Home. This year’s event attracted over 2,500 visitors to these new homes, which were on display over two weekends. In what has become an autumn tradition in the area, the Saratoga Builders Association is dedicated to this long running show being an integral part of the fabric in the fall season.

On November 20, Alpin Haus held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the completion of an expansion project spanning 15 months and nearly doubling the size of existing usable square footage at its flagship store in Amsterdam. One of the Northeast’s largest outdoor recreation retailers with six stores in the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and Northern New Jersey, Alpin Haus will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2024.

 The expansion increased the ski and pool departments at the flagship store by 60 percent, to 39,600 square feet from 24,800, resulting in nearly double the amount of showroom space for these two premier divisions of the company.

“The need for the build-out was driven by growing demand during ski and pool seasons, which have increasingly begun to overlap,” said Alpin Haus President Andy Heck. “Shopping for winter sports equipment now occurs August through April and for pools and patios year-round. We’ve incorporated many exciting enhancements and made the store more experiential, including a new observation area to complement our state-of-the-art ski-tuning machine and a custom space for taking selfies featuring a chairlift backdrop.”

Local author Fran Dingeman has released her first book, called The Animal Menagerie. The book was officially launched at a celebration for contributors, family, and friends at Saratoga Arts. 

The Animal Menagerie, written by Francine Dingeman and illustrated by Marta Maszkiewicz, is an A-to-Z picture book for children ages 4-7. The characters are animals for each letter of the alphabet. The book is written to entertain and educate by introducing dozens of creative new words to a child’s vocabulary. The Animal Menagerie uses rhyme to help children learn and remember new words and animal names, and teaches their meanings through the use of imagery and animal tales. 

“Writing a book was something I talked about doing for years,” said Dingeman. “In 2021, I decided to act on it. The Animal Menagerie was created with a goal of elevating a child’s vocabulary while entertaining them in the process. Fabian the Fly takes the young reader on a learning adventure to meet new animal friends and hear of their tales. Parents will enjoy sharing this book with their children, and may even learn something new in the process.”

Cosmetic dentist Dr. Richard Dennis has relocated his practice, Saratoga Smiles, to 6 Carpenter Lane in Saratoga Springs. Prior to moving to the former Women’s Care building, his office was located at 176 Lake Avenue.

Dr. Dennis, a United States Marine Corps veteran, has been practicing dentistry for 26 years. As part of his extensive post-graduate studies, he completed an Advanced Implant Fellowship at Rutgers School of Dentistry. He earned his Conscious Sedation Certification from the University of Pittsburgh and is a Master in the Academy of General Dentistry (MAGD).  Less than 2 percent of general dentists in North America are AGD Masters.

Saratoga Smiles is one of the few dental practices in the area to offer a wide array of services under one roof. Services include single implants, implant dentures, IV Sedation, cosmetic procedures, Invisalign, all restorative services and oral surgery, as well as preventative care.

 “We offer IV Sedation which very few offices in this area offer,” said Office Manager Patty Humphrey. “There is extensive training involved as well as continuing education to renew certification to be able to offer IV Sedation. Our team is highly trained in working with patients with dental anxiety.”

By Christine Graf

Carpetland recently celebrated the grand opening of its 5,800-square-foot showroom at 11 Aletta Street in Saratoga Springs. Prior to moving to Aletta Street, the business was located at 78 Church Street. 

Carpetland was founded 77 years ago by owner Kate Morrell’s great-grandfather. The company’s flagship store was located in Amsterdam, and a Saratoga Springs branch was opened 50 years ago.

 “He started it in Amsterdam in a 1,000-square-foot building, and they just kept building and building until it ended up being about 20,000 square feet,” she said. “It ended up in the Mohawk River when Hurricane Irene hit.”

Over the course of seven decades, many members of the Morrell family have been involved in day-to-day operations of the business. Morrell’s father, the late James Morrell, bought out his partners after the Church Street property was sold for $1.4 million in October 2022. 

Morrell worked alongside her father for eight years before taking over the business after he passed away in April 2023. Six months after his passing, she opened the Aletta Street showroom with a staff of three employees.

By Jill Nagy

The former Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company on Broadway in Saratoga Springs is now Saratoga Outdoors, but its owner, John Nemjo, said it is still the same business, same owner, same quality outdoor gear, and same knowledgable staff. The store needed a new name because Nemjo sold the old one, along with several outlets in Old Forge, NY.

Mountainman began in 1993 as a store in Old Forge. Nemjo came to Old Forge from New Jersey by way of Florida  “I came back with $6,000 in my pocket” to start a business. “It was rough,” he recalled.

The business expanded to three outlets in Old Forge and in 2008 he added the Saratoga Springs store. Recently, Nemjo sold the Old Forge stores, along with the name, to a former employee. The Old Forge stores will continue to specialize in canoes—more than 20 brands of them—and kayaks, along with other outdoor gear. He expects that he and the new owner will work together.

Stillwater is culminating a 5-year library building project at their new library location at 712 Hudson Avenue, Stillwater. A grand opening celebration is planned for Saturday, December 2, from 3pm to 5pm, beginning with a formal ceremony, including opening remarks by community leaders, followed by a ribbon-cutting, facilitated by the Capital Region Chamber, starting at 3:30pm. The afternoon event will include an Open House and tours of the new library. Light refreshments will be served.

The opening of the new library was years in the making beginning with multiple focus group meetings and public forums in 2019 to assess the ability of the 147-year-old former St John’s Episcopal Church location (that held the former library since 1959) to meet the continuing needs of the community. It was determined that the space was not sufficient to accommodate what the community requested, including meeting and class spaces, as well as accessibility for individuals with limited mobility. It was deemed that an alternative space was necessary to be able to offer what residents were looking for. Site reviews began in July, and an identification of the Fiber Mill at 712 Hudson Avenue as the most fiscally responsible space to move the library into, came in December. Next came COVID, which slowed the library project’s progress significantly.

In October of 2021, a referendum was voted on by the residents of the Stillwater Central School District as to whether to purchase and renovate a new library facility. The vote in favor of the project won by a landslide of 350 to 191.

“Our new library has been a labor of love for quite some time,” said Library Board President, Heather Frank. “This project has evolved over the years from building an addition to our existing building to the realization that we need a new building to truly meet the needs of our community. We couldn’t be more proud of the end result. We still have some finishing touches that will help to make this house our home, but we can’t wait for the community to take full advantage of what our new library has to offer. Sara Kipp, Director of the Library, has really been the engine that has kept this project moving forward and we are so proud of the end result!”