Category Archives: Business News

Townsquare Lifestyle Events in Saratoga Springs, in partnership with the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau (SCTB), announced plans to hold a wine and food festival in July.

Saratoga UnCorked will be a multi-day celebration of fine wine, gourmet cuisine, wellness and entertainment, officials said. It will serve as a kick-off to the racing season at Saratoga Race Course and give travelers and locals a chance to experience what the Spa City has to offer.

Organizers said the event will feature hundreds of artisans, including renowned chefs, sommeliers, vintners, brewers, distillers and local producers.

It will run July 20-24. The track opens July 22.

“We are thrilled to partner with the SCTB to launch Saratoga Uncorked, said AJ Bodden, Vice President, Townsquare Lifestyle Events. “There is no place better than Saratoga in the summer to host this world class, epicurean-focused event, showcasing the city’s most appealing and unique assets. We are extremely fortunate to have such unique and diverse attractions to offer and it’s a great honor to be involved with bringing new visitors to the area.”

The Pavilion Grand Hotel on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs has hired Mazzone Hospitality to oversee operations of a new restaurant inside the hotel.

The restaurant is currently in development and is anticipated to open perhaps in June, hotel officials said.

Officials at Mazzone Hospitality said it will be named Fish at 30 Lake and it will offer fresh seafood, grilled fish and pizza and a raw bar.

The restaurant space on the ground floor of the facility had been occupied by a restaurant called Mingle on the Avenue, owned by Jose Filomeno. That was short-lived, and the restaurant closed early this year.

The restaurant, situated at the corner of Lake Avenue and Pavilion Place, will feature outdoor sidewalk dining at its ground floor location next to the main entrance of Pavilion Grand Hotel, officials said.

Mazzone Hospitality’s newest addition to the region’s culinary scene is expected to open at 2 p.m. daily for light fair and cocktails with dinner service beginning at 5:30 p.m. The restaurant will open for Sunday dinner service at 3 p.m.

Season admission passes, dining reservations and group sales packages for the 2016 meet at historic Saratoga Race Course are now on sale.

Reserved seats for the full 40-day season are also on sale, said the New York Racing Association. Weekly reserved seat packages will go on sale beginning Wednesday, April 20, at 10 a.m.

The full-season and week-long plans are available online through NYRA AccountManager, using the all-new Saratoga Virtual Venue seating map, enabling fans to digitally preview seat locations and sightlines before purchasing tickets.

Daily reserved seats may be purchased through Ticketmaster.com beginning Tuesday, May 3, at 10 a.m.

All tickets to new subscribers will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, according to available inventory, NYRA officials said.

All reserved seats purchased in advance include admission. Full-season plans include 40 days of admission based on the cost of a season pass.

Just 12 months after its inception, the Saratoga Women in Business (SWIB) group is already making its mark in the Spa City.

The group targets female business leaders in the greater Saratoga Springs area and offers free bi-monthly fellowship opportunities, complete with wine, light hors d’oeuvres, and door prizes sponsored by area businesses.

“We formed this group because we believed that women needed an avenue to meet other successful female professionals in our area,” said Heidi Ives, sales manager at HomeBridge Financial Services Inc., and one of the group’s co-founders. “Men do a lot of their networking on the golf course, so we wanted to create an equivalent fun, casual atmosphere where women could meet each other and learn more about one another’s businesses.”

SWIB has over 140 members in its LinkedIn group and reports an increasing number of women attending the bi-monthly gatherings. At the most recent networking event on March 30 at The Gideon Putnam Hotel in the Saratoga Spa State Park attracted over 60 women professionals.

“We were thrilled to have such a great turnout,” said Dorothy Rogers-Bullis, owner of drb Business Interiors and another of the group’s co-founders. “The fact that we have more and more women joining our group and doing business with one another as a result is proof that professional women truly want to help one another succeed.”

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce asked members ‘What would you do with one extra day?’ in reference to the leap year day of Feb. 29.

According to Todd Shimkus, Chamber president, the question was asked of a special task force formed by the Chamber. last fall During the discussion, Bo Goliber of Fingerpaint Marketing offered an idea: Leap of Kindness Day.

The group decided to invite people to use the extra day to do something kind for someone else.

“Little did anyone on the task force know at the time. But this idea spread like wildfire after being announced at the Chamber’s annual dinner on Jan. 28,” said Shimkus. “Since that time, dozens of organizations across Saratoga County and hundreds of volunteers decided to thank or help thousands of their neighbors on this day.”

He said beyond Saratoga County, local chambers of commerce in 30 states as far away as Alaska decided to encourage members and communities to participate in the Leap of Kindness Day celebration. Viewing social media posts, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce has seen people doing something kind for someone else using the hashtag #leapofkindnessday as far away as Bangalore, India.