Category Archives: Business News

By Christine Graf

Less than two years after opening Cupola Coffee in Burnt Hills, owner Cindy Turgeon is expanding her 227 Kingsley Road coffee shop. Plans are currently underway to expand into an adjoining 300-square-foot space.

Before opening Cupola in 2021, Turgeon operated Sgraffito Art Studio on Route 50 and worked as an art teacher for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District. Her goal at the time was to finance the opening of a coffee shop—an “artful café”—in Burnt Hills where she lives. 

“Almost every other little town on the planet had a coffee shop,” said Turgeon. “We have such a great community that is so supportive, but we didn’t have a coffee shop.”

Turgeon spent close to five years putting together a business plan and educating herself on the coffee shop industry. She worked with the Small Business Development Center in Albany and attended the free workshops offered by the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region. 

“I wanted to open a place that anyone could just walk in and meet up with a friend. I also wanted a place where we could hang art and display work without it being a commission-based space,” she said. “I wanted to have something beautiful, and I knew it had to be right in the center of Burnt Hills.”

By Paul Post

Glens Falls was a shadow of the proud, prosperous community people called “Hometown USA” when Ben Miller left home to pursue a music career.

Vacant storefronts lined Glen Street, attractions were far and few between, and dysfunctional traffic patterns made trips downtown a nightmare.

When visiting home, however, Miller saw a steady resurgence that has blossomed, making Glens Falls one of upstate New York’s more vibrant small cities.

“It was really within the last five years that things really started to explode and more and more, every time I came home I saw Glens Falls as a place where I could see myself some day,” he said. “There’s been a huge amount of work done by the business community to make Glens Falls a place where people want to live and have the amenities they’re looking for.”

Building on this positive momentum, Miller has opened a fine dining restaurant, deli and grocery mart called Park & Elm, which fills a  void while revitalizing an historic building that turns 100 years old in 2023.

The Saratoga Springs City Center will host the first Saratoga Reptile Show on Jan. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The one-day event will feature hundreds of healthy, captive-bred reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates that can be purchased from reputable vendors. There will also be a wide selection of discounted cages, supplies, feeder insects, and frozen/live rodents.

Tickets to the event are $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 7-13, and free for children ages 6 and under. 

Organizers said the Saratoga Reptile Show is here to cultivate a family friendly, educational, and fun filled event where people can enjoy wandering and observing reptiles.

There will be an educational sales and networking event geared toward reptile enthusiasts, hobbyists, and reputable breeder. They will be able to purchase quality captive-bred reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, discounted cages, supplies, feeder insects, frozen and live rodents!

Next year’s New York State Innovation Summit will be held in October in Saratoga Springs, presenters of the event  NYSTAR and FuzeHub announced last month.

The event will be held Oct. 16-17 at the Saratoga City Center. 

The multi-day event is for New York state organizations that want to showcase and discover new and emerging technologies that support innovation and drive business growth.

It serves as an opportunity to foster collaboration; introduce industry to experts that can assist growth, strengthen our statewide innovation ecosystem and showcase promising early stage companies.  

“Whether you’re a startup, an economic developer, or an established manufacturer, the NYS Innovation Summit is for you,” organizers said.

The 2023 New York State Innovation Summit will showcase companies and researchers at the forefront of emerging technologies and new advancements in production capabilities.  

The event celebrates New York State leadership in technology-led economic growth with experts in biotechnology, new materials, energy innovation, and artificial intelligence that will explore current technology convergence opportunities, ways to accelerate commercialization, and issues of manufacturing sustainability.

By Christine Graf

With ski season officially underway, staffs at Gore Mountain and West Mountain are gearing up for what is likely to be another very busy winter. Last season, Gore had a record-breaking year for both revenue and season pass sales. 

According to Gore’s general manager James “Bone” Bayse, pass sales for the 2022-2023 season have been strong.

“I’m not sure that we will break last year’s record because it was so high, but we will be very close. At the moment, we are tracking that way.”

Meanwhile at West Mountain in Queensbury, “Last winter was a good, solid, profitable year,” said co-owner Spencer Montgomery. “Coming into this year, revenue-wise which includes season passes, we are up about 20 percent over last year. We pre-sell school programs, and that has been really strong this year. We’re on a fiscal year that starts May 1 and we’re probably pushing a 30 percent increase in sales for the same period last year.”

During the off season at Gore, an additional 230 snow guns were added to the snowmaking fleet. Some of these guns will be used on the new trail that was cut into Burnt Ridge Mountain. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Only one year after starting her own residential interior and architectural design business, Stuidio K owner Kennedy Taylor has opened a retail showroom called Motif Home Gallery that she says  “bridges the gap” for homeowners, design professionals and vendors. 

The new venture comes at a time when home renovation has been in high demand, especially for the large scale remodels and luxury construction that is Taylor’s niche.

“Motif is a one-stop shop where homeowners can have their spaces deigned from the ground up,” she said. “We display some favorite vendors of lighting, fixtures, wall coverings, fabric and furniture and assorted items of cool and unique home décor, all under one roof.”

Taylor plans to introduce cabinetry displays in the spring, she said.

Describing her style as “a mix of classic Americana and modern with some rock ’n roll,” Taylor said, “I like high-end glamour and elegance with a little glitter among the refined.”

By Christine Graf

In response to the growing demand for coworking spaces, SARATOGA CoWorks has opened its third location at 92 Congress St. in Saratoga Springs.

SARATOGA CoWorks provides fully remote, hybrid, or independent professionals with a shared workspace that features all of the amenities of a traditional office. The company’s other locations are at 462 Broadway and 153 Regent St.

Owners Dan Bullis and Dorothy Rogers-Bullis also own drb Business Interiors, a commercial design and furniture company. That company designed and outfitted each of the three SARATOGA CoWorks spaces.

After purchasing the building at 92 Congress Street, the couple transformed the second floor into a state of the art coworking space.  It features private offices, suites, private desks, best in class internet, security, kitchen and on site parking.  Falkbuilt wall systems were used for floor to ceiling privacy and reduced sound.

Skidmore College announced that Dr. Dorothy E. Mosby will serve as the college’s next dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs following a national search. 

Mosby will join the Skidmore community on or around June 1. She will succeed Michael Orr, who will return to a faculty role in the Department of art history. 

 “Dr. Mosby brings exceptional experience, skill, and leadership that will be key in supporting and leading our faculty and staff,” President Marc C. Conner said. “She also prioritizes students, will be a wonderful addition to Skidmore’s leadership team, and will act as an integral partner in the College’s efforts to support a more welcoming, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible campus community.” 

Mosby most recently completed a two-year term as interim dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass., where she has been a faculty member since 2003 in the Department of Spanish. 

She earned a master’s degree in Spanish and a doctoral degree in romance languages from the University of Missouri-Columbia. At  Mount Holyoke, she served in a wide range of leadership roles, including chair of the Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American Studies Department, faculty director and resident director of the MHC-Goucher Costa Rica Program, chair of the African and African American Studies Program, and the inaugural associate dean of faculty for faculty diversity, inclusion, and development.

Discover Saratoga was honored by the Northstar Meetings Group at the organization’s sixth annual Stella Awards. 

Discover Saratoga was named a bronze winner in the Northeast category for Best CVB/DMO. 

The Stella Awards are the meeting industry’s highest honor, recognizing hotels, convention centers, conference centers, airlines, cruise lines, DMOs/CVBs and DMCs that consistently deliver quality service and innovation to meeting and event professionals.

A total of 220 organizations from around the globe are honored for consistently delivering quality service and innovation to meeting and event professionals.

“What an honor,” said Darryl Leggieri, president of Discover Saratoga. “We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the top Convention and Tourism Bureaus in the industry. We’re so grateful to our hospitality partners for their service, and for making Saratoga Springs a popular destination for meetings and events.”