Category Archives: Business News

By Jill nagy

The Plant Hatch, a new plant shop in Clifton Park, saw a “great turnout” for the store opening  at the end of June and sold more 700 plants during their first weekend, according to co-owner Nick Marshall. 

The shop combines a full-service florist with a store selling indoor house plants like cactus, succulents, and some rare indoor house plants. There are some 2,000 plants in all, said Marshall.  

The shop is located at 800 Route 146, in the Town Plaza shopping center in Clifton Park. 

Marshall and co-owner Jeff Paulsen, saw a lack in the Clifton Park area of  shops offering a wide variety of top quality plants and a staff with experience in plant care and floral design, able to educate customers in how to care for the plants they bring home. 

The Plant Hatch has six employees, including the owners, who can help them choose a plant and keep it healthy.

By Susan Elise Campbell

With the opening of Other One Brewing, a new craft brewery and tap room at Glennpeter Plaza in Halfmoon, co-founder and president Randy Lewis has checked one more thing off his bucket list.

Lewis has been a home brewer for years, an interest shared by his son. But with a new baby and grandchild on the way, the timing wasn’t right for a father-son enterprise, he said. But it was just right for his three neighbors, Brian Hutchinson, Pete LaPan and Matt Stillitano. During the pandemic the four started making beer and working out of Hutchinson’s garage, splitting all the expenses. 

Now they own a business.

“Brewing isn’t cheap,” Lewis said. “We’ve spent well into the six figures.”

The story began when one of the neighbors came over to his home to watch the brewmeister at work “and to drink the stuff,” Lewis said. As interest grew, Lewis said, “I’m not getting any younger. Let’s open a small tap room.”

Lewis is retired but the other three still work full time. Nevertheless, they agreed to run the tap room with no outside staff.

Lewis said he did some market research and analysis to assess what styles and flavors of beer the community would buy. 

Stacie Clark, operations consultant for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), will be  the keynote speaker for OwnerView’s in-person Thoroughbred Owner Conference held at Saratoga Race Course on July 25-26.

Clark has been with the TAA since its inception in 2012 and assumed the role of operations consultant in 2014. Previously, she created the first in-house retirement program while serving as Thoroughbred Retirement Program manager at Adena Springs. She has made numerous presentations on behalf of thoroughbred aftercare throughout North America as well as in the U.K. and Japan.

Before delving into aftercare, Clark rode as a jockey in Ontario, Canada, and was nominated for the 1994 Sovereign Award as Outstanding Apprentice. When Woodbine Racetrack expanded its television department in 1999, she crossed over to associate producer and racing television commentator. In 2013, Clark co-produced HRTV’s Eclipse Award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary “Saratoga War Horse.”

Clark will provide her perspective on the evolution of aftercare from the early 2000s to today, highlight the progress made by the industry, and discuss future challenges.

By Christine Graf

After encountering countless pandemic-related delays, the owners of Dancing Grain Farm Brewery in Moreau hope to open their craft brewery in July.

For owner Rachel McDermott, a Cornell University graduate with a degree in applied economics and management, Dancing Grain is more than a business.

“For me, it’s a passion project. This is how we secure our family farm for the future,” she said.

A farm girl at heart, McDermott grew up on her family’s grain farm, WestWind Ag in Schaghticoke. The farm is owned by her father, James Czub, and uncle, Robert Czub. In 2016, the brothers purchased the 308-acre Moreau property, a former dairy farm, where the brewery is located.

McDermott and her husband, attorney Sean McDermott, live in the remodeled farm house on the property along with their two-year old son. Six years ago, McDermott left a successful career as an investment banker on Wall Street in order to join the family business.

“I always had a desire to be closer to my roots,” she said.

Under her leadership, WestWind Ag diversified operations and invested in new processing equipment and expanded planting operations to include brewers and distiller’s grains—grains that are used in the production of Dancing Grain’s craft beers.

By Jill Nagy

After a decade handling insurance claims, Kyle Magne is, for the first time, an agent with his own office, Magne’s State Farm Agency at 200 West Ave., Suite 102, in Saratoga Springs, just north of Saratoga High School.  

He is reveling in his new role. 

“In claims, you get to help people and you never see them again,” he said. As an agent, he looks forward to establishing long-term relationships with clients. His office offers “a plethora” of insurance products as well as financial products. 

In recent years, State Farm has been emphasizing financial products, including mutual funds, as well insurance, he said. Magne hopes to add services as a financial planner to his agency. 

“That’s my goal, I hope within a year,” he said. Overall, “Our mission is to educate people so they know what they have.” 

What Magne referred to as his team, includes another licensed agent and two others who are studying for their licensing examinations. 

“We’re having fun we’re helping people, we’re happy,” he said. 

Zobel & Co. Kitchens, a kitchen design and custom cabinetry showroom located in the Union Square Building in Glens Falls, announced the addition  of two new product lines, signaling continued growth for the firm in residential  renovation and construction.  

The firm now offers a  line of cabinetry made  especially for outdoor living, along with fully custom and semi-custom cabinetry  lines, the company said.

“In the past, outdoor kitchens were a harder  investment to make because of our short summers,” said Arthur Zobel, owner and  senior designer. “But now many folks are working from home or spending the full  summer at their vacation house so elevating their outdoor space makes great sense.”   

Zobel & Co. Kitchens now offers the NatureKast, a 100 percent weatherproof line of outdoor cabinetry designed to withstand the dramatic weather changes of the region.