Category Archives: Business News

Saratoga Casino Hotel celebrated ‘Giving Tuesday’ by donating $130,000 to 13 Capital Region non-profit organizations during their annual ‘Make A Difference’ holiday luncheon in Vapor recently.

“Twenty years later, this is still the event we look forward to most every year,” said Skip Carlson, vice president of external affairs at Saratoga Casino Hotel. “Giving back to organizations that improve the lives of so many and impact our guests, team members and the overall community is an integral part of our company’s principles and something our owners truly believe in. We are honored to be in the position to help.”

The Saratoga Springs Police Department K9 Unit, one of the recipients of a donation this year, consists of four highly trained police dogs and their handlers. This specialized unit provides essential support to the Patrol Division in various operations, including tracking, building and area searches, item location, narcotics and explosives detection, and suspect apprehension. Handlers and their canine partners undergo a rigorous selection process, followed by extensive training to develop effective teams that are deployed in a wide range of situations.

Lieutenant Paul Veitch was on hand to accept the $10,000 donation to the Saratoga Springs Police Department K9 Unit, 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Looking back on their first full year of production, entrepreneurs Max and Nikki Poritzky have counted one ton of produce grown and distributed to restaurants and schools from their hydroponic farming facility, Foothills Farm, in Greenfield Center.

The farm is a 40-by-eight-foot container housing an efficient, vertical growing system that produces high quality lettuces and herbs using a fraction of the space of traditional farming.

The couple have backgrounds and careers in the field of nutrition and come from health conscious families, they said. 

She studied nutritional biochemistry at UC Davis and was a commercial executive marketing dietary supplements, an industry in which Max also had an executive career spanning 25 years. He said his mother founded Wild Oats, the first health food store in Saratoga Springs. 

“‘Let food be thy medicine’ might sound clichéd, but this is how our families live,” Max said. 

The couple met in and resided in California and later while in Boston, their careers and life took a new trajectory. About six years ago Max was visiting a technology museum in San José and was exposed to hydroponic farming at a kiosk display.

“Hydroponic farming lets you grow nutrition-rich food year-round in any environment,” he said. “We were interested in the concept but didn’t know how or if to get into the business.”

By Rod Bacon

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 51.6 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. That is 21 percent of the U.S. population. Of that number, 17.1 percent experience what is termed “high impact” chronic pain, which is defined as pain that persists most days or every day for three months or more and significantly limits their daily activities.

Locally, Charles F. Gordon III, MD, has been addressing this problem for over 20 years at his health care clinic, New York Pain Management, which he founded in 2003 after three years as head of Glens Falls Hospital’s Pain Management Center.

He decided he wanted to practice full-time pain management without having duties as an anesthesiologist because he realized that patients suffering from chronic pain required one hundred percent of his energy and attention. After exploring options with the hospital it was determined that starting his own practice would result in a more immediate outcome and enable him to care for those in chronic pain more expeditiously. 

By Paul Post

Olympic Regional Development Authority has invested $17 million on capital upgrades at Gore and Whiteface mountains for the upcoming ski season.

Projects include replacing antiquated lifts, updating and maintaining existing lifts, improving snowmaking and electrical infrastructure, and modernizing buildings and lodges.

At Gore, workers broke ground last spring on a new 18,300-square-foot lodge at North Creek Ski Bowl, operated by ORDA adjacent to the main ski center but owned by the Town of Johnsburg. The new lodge, complete with a restaurant and two levels of outdoor patios, is scheduled for completion in 2025 and is expected to boost year-round recreational tourism, further enhancing the resort’s impact on the local economy.

In addition, the Ski Bowl’s old Hudson chairlift has been replaced with a new detachable quad servicing all levels of ski trails.

By Paul Post

Peckham Industries has 17 hot-mix asphalt plants and 26 stone quarries in five states including a large operation on Vaughn Road in Kingsbury where crowds gathered recently to celebrate the fourth generation, family-owned company’s 100th anniversary.

“Not too many businesses make it to 100 years and less than three percent make it to the fourth generation,” said Damian Murphy, the firm’s president and chief executive officer. “It goes back to the values that have been there since the founder’s days. We talk about safety, integrity, dedication.”

“Be consistent,” he said. “Even though things are always changing, those values never change. People know that about our business, whether it’s our customers, communities or work force. They know they can trust us and that we’re here for the long term.

“The bigger story we like to talk about is the culture in our business,” Murphy said. “That’s what really differentiates us. One of the key phrases is, ‘Our word is our bond’.”

Recent large projects have run the gamut, such as paving a long stretch of the Northway from Schroon to North Hudson, and construction of large parking facilities in The Bronx and at UBS Arena where the NHL’s New York Islanders play.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County has taken over management of the Taste NY shop at the Adirondacks Welcome Center in Glens Falls, according to Greg Stevens, assistant director of the extension.

For those unfamiliar with CCE, it is a subsidiary of Cornell University, the land grant university for New York. CCE translates Cornell’s world renowned, science-based research into knowledge through educational programs administered by independent associations in nearly every county in the state.

“We are about building vibrant communities through education,” said Stevens, who has a 26-year career with CCE. 

Stevens oversees the 4-H Youth Development Program and the Family and Consumer Science Program for the Saratoga extension. There is a third area, Agriculture, which Stevens said is how land grant universities were established.

Taste NY was launched by New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets to highlight the quality, diversity, and economic impact of food and beverages grown, produced, or processed in the state, says the department’s web site. Its events, promotions, and stores are seen state-wide.

A Taste NY store has been operating in the Adirondacks Welcome Center located between Northway Exits 17 and 18 with oversight by the Lake George Visitors Center. The Department of Agriculture and Markets approached CCE to see if the Saratoga association would be interested in taking over.

“We are always looking for more programs to benefit the community and that align with our mission,” Stevens said. “This was an exciting opportunity to connect our farmers with the residents, tourists, and travelers coming up the Northway.”

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce has kicked off its Love Our Locals $20.24 campaign, an initiative that emphasizes the importance of supporting local businesses and non-profit organizations.

The campaign began on November 1 and continues through the remainder of the year. During this time, residents and tourists who support any business or non-profit in Saratoga County by spending or donating $20.24 or more are eligible to enter a gift card giveaway.  

Individuals are encouraged to submit their receipts of $20.24 or more online at www.saratoga.org/love-our-locals to enter. Each week, the chamber will randomly select winners for $100 in gift cards to businesses across the county.

Love Our Locals $20.24 is sponsored by SaratogaWine.com and many area businesses that donate gift cards as the prizes.

This campaign started during the pandemic as Save Our Locals $20.21, which resulted in more than 2,000 entries from locals whose purchases directly aided in the county’s economic rebound from COVID-19 restrictions. In 2022, the Save Our Locals program was recognized with a New York State Tourism Excellence Award from the New York State Tourism Industry Association. 

Since then, the campaign was renamed Love Our Locals and remains a popular and purposeful annual effort.