Category Archives: Business News

By Jill Nagy

Raffael Rispo and Gilberto Barron-Nunez have been friends for many years. They learned barbering together and, for almost 10 years, worked for the same company. Now, they have their own shop, Ballston Spa Barber Club in Ballston Spa.

“It’s just a barber shop,” Rispo explained. The “club” reflects their strong interest in sports. There are no membership requirements or dues. “We want to cater to all kinds of people, he added.”

The shop is located in the busy Carousel Village, between a gym and karate studio, near several restaurants and a hair salon, and across from a former Pizza Hut morphing into a Ted’s Fish Fry. 

“The barbershop fits in well here,” Rispo said. 

Walk-ins are welcome, encouraged in fact, but they also accept the appointments.

Most of the shop’s business is haircuts. They also give “really good shaves, especially hot towel shaves,” he said. “We love doing that.” 

For clients who do not shave, they trim, sculpt, and otherwise take care of beards. 

“A lot of our client have beards. They are very prevalent,” he said. 

By Paul Post

Emily Ellenbogen has done just about everything at Uncommon Grounds, from baking and kitchen prep work to set-up and hiring for the company’s newest store at 751 Upper Glen Street in Queensbury.

The site has quickly caught on with students, young professionals and small groups of seniors; anyone looking for a quiet place to work or simply relax and enjoy delicious fresh-roasted coffee and tempting baked goods, made on site from scratch.

“Uncommon Grounds is the ‘third place’ for customers,” Ellenbogen said. “You’ve got home, you’ve got work. Uncommon Grounds is the third place. We like people to feel comfortable here, sitting doing work or just relaxing where they don’t have to be pressured to do things at home or work. They’re here to do whatever they want.”

The spacious, 8,000-square-foot tastefully designed location fills a retail venue previously occupied by a Recovery Sports Grill restaurant whose walls were adorned with huge television screens and all sorts of sports memorabilia. That noisy atmosphere has been replaced by a much more cozy setting with handsome wood paneling, a dropped tin ceiling and hanging plants

By Christine Graf

During his 37-year career in real estate, Ballston Spa real estate agent Tom Trevett has worked extensively in the REO (real estate owned) sector of the industry. REO refers to property that has been foreclosed upon and is owned by a bank or other lender.

“I own a full-service real estate company serving commercial, residential, and new construction, but I seem to have found a niche in REO–real estate owned by banks and corporate entities like hedge funds and trusts,” said Trevett, an approved REO broker who works in nine counties throughout the region. 

For the companies he represents—companies whose names he prefers not to disclose–Trevett works as the listing broker, a job he described as labor intensive.

“Corporate companies and hedge funds demand a lot from you as far as servicing their properties–weekly inspections, monthly status reports, and broker price opinions every ninety days,” he said.

By Susan Elise Campbell

An authentic Vietnamese restaurant, Mama’s Pho House, has come to Malta. Mama is Nga Nguyen ( “Graceful Win”), whose first restaurant fulfills a lifetime dream.

Pho is the brothy noodle dish that has gained popularity everywhere. Already customers are coming up from Albany and down from Lake George and Montreal to visit her restaurant since the September 10th opening, Nga said.

“There has been no Vietnamese restaurant past Northway Exit 9,” she said. “Malta is a good location and I love it here.”

When Nga cooks, her dishes link her love of food, family, and her youth during the Vietnam war years. 

“Pho is an international dish, like a meatball, and everybody loves it,” she said. “It contains fresh protein and spices and herbs like anise, clove, ginger, Thai basil and cilantro.” 

“Pho helps you sleep well and warm up and feel good,” she said.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Moreau Animal Clinic is within months of relocating to a new facility designed by Nick and Jill Outterson, the husband and wife veterinarians who purchased the practice in August 2018.

“After being in a general veterinary practice and Nick in emergency medicine, we were looking forward to the next step, and practice ownership was next on the list,” Dr. Jill said. 

Moreau Animal Clinic had been a single-doctor practice for 50 years when the Outtersons relocated from Albany to take it over, she said. 

In the years that followed, it became more of a challenge with two practitioners working out of a clinic that had been set up to accommodate only one, they said.

“With two of us, we have grown the practice quite a bit and have also added a full-time associate who we have been mentoring the past three years,” said Dr. Jill. 

By Jill Nagy

Saratoga attorney Debra Whitson is on a mission to keep divorce clients out of court. She advocates and if possible practices collaborative divorce or mediated divorce, processes that empower the parties to resolve issues such as property division and child custody without litigation.

She explained that the parties can resolve the issues between themselves before consulting attorneys. She calls that do-it-yourself divorce. If that fails, they can bring in a neutral third party to mediate. The mediator can keep the conversation going and help the parties work things out. In mediation, each party is usually represented by an attorney. In a collaborative divorce, the parties are joined at the table by experts to assist with issues of property valuation, child welfare, and others. A divorce coach heads the team. A litigated divorce “is the last stop on the train,” said Whitson.

Resolving issues at the courthouse, that last stop, can be heart wrenching, especially for children, Whitson argues. It is also costly. Legal fees for a litigated divorce can reach $100,000 or more; the total cost, to both parties, for a collaborative divorce typically ranges from $10,000 to $15,000. The reduction in emotional cost, may be even greater.

By Rod Bacon

Three business associates have parleyed their experience in the hospitality industry into a new venture serving a variety of comfort foods.

Kevin Joyce, Jimmy Murphy and Erika Fass opened The Post Pizza & More in Middle Grove over Memorial Day weekend. It is located in the United States Post Office building in an area that once housed The Post Cafe. Joyce has owned the building for years, and when the cafe closed the pizza parlor was born. 

 Prior to opening the pizza parlor, Joyce owned Tinny’s on Lake Desolation for 10 years, with Fass serving as general manager. Murphy has extensive experience creating unique pizza dishes and was brought into the business as the pizza chef.

While the search is on to expand their staff, the partners currently do the majority of the work.

“Everything is made here,” said Murphy. “We make the dough here. We make the sauce here.”

The menu includes breakfast sandwiches, slices of pizza, a 16-inch pizza, a 12-inch cauliflower pizza, a pepperoni roll and a Caesar salad.

They are experimenting with rotating offerings such as a hamburger special and quesadillas.

Since 1956, family-owned shipyard Comitti has been building bespoke, heirloom-quality boats in Lake Como, Italy, that are prized by discerning yachtsman, families and superyacht owners alike for their timeless lines, Italian craftsmanship and high level of customization. Now, these elegant runabouts and tenders, which range from 22 feet to 42 feet, are being offered exclusively in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean through newly formed distributor Comitti North America, headquartered in Saratoga Springs. 

Among the models Comitti North America is introducing to the North American market year are the new 25’8” One 780 and 32’6” Isola 33, as well as a “super custom,” bespoke version of the popular Venezia 28 model paying homage to Comitti and many of the most coveted European runabouts from the ’60s and ’70s.  Each of these models is now making its U.S. debut. Comitti North America also has several other Comitti models located in the U.S. available for viewing by prospective dealers and retail clients.

Comitti North America was founded this spring by Christopher and Chris Mackey, a father-and-son team who have made their mark in the luxury automobile industry over the last 30 years and have recently stepped out on their own with Mackey Auto Group, authorized factory sales and service provider for multiple internationally recognized brands with dealerships throughout upstate New York.

By Paul Post

All-sources and average daily handle were both up and paid attendance totaled more than 1 million at this year’s Saratoga Race Course meet, despite the loss of a full day’s action because of severe weather.

The addition of Saratoga’s first-ever, four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in June generated significant extra momentum for the regular summer meet, which concluded on Labor Day Monday, September 2.

Combined with major entertainment at other venues such as Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the impact was extremely positive for local businesses.

“Our lodging partners had a strong summer season actualizing year over year growth in both occupancy and average daily rate,” Discover Saratoga President Darryl Leggieri said. “June alone saw a nearly 20 percent increase in revenue year over year due to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. These strong increases came off a record year for lodging in 2023.”

“The unique combination of the Belmont Stakes and our traditional summer meet created a vibrant atmosphere that drew visitors from near and far, benefiting restaurants, shops and other local businesses,” he said. “These events not only strengthened our economy, but also once again reinforced the fact that Saratoga Springs is a world-class destination for horse racing, and helped to shine a spotlight on our destination as a whole; that we can host world-class events in Saratoga County.”