By Paul Post

Burlington, Vt. residents Jim Doyle and Christine Dunbar are fortunate to own a second home in downtown Saratoga Springs.

Even so, they and weekend guests will likely spend $400 per night at local restaurants during the June 6-9 Belmont Stakes Festival. They’ll also buy souvenirs and make plenty of other related purchases.

“Without a place here, I can’t imagine what it would cost for a hotel, breakfast and parking at the track,” Doyle said.

Their Belmont Stakes budget is a drop in the bucket compared to what international horse people, who arrive early and stay long afterward, will likely spend — explaining why the Festival is expected to have a more than $50 million economic impact on the surrounding area.

“Beyond the excitement and energy around a Triple Crown event at the sport’s most beloved venue, the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course will generate important economic impact and drive tourism throughout the Capital Region,” said David O’Rourke, New York Racing Association president. “We are thrilled to add a new chapter to the story of thoroughbred racing in Saratoga Springs this June.”

A recent study prepared for Saratoga Economic Development Agency says the regular summer meet’s economic impact has increased 57 percent to $371 million since 2014, across the nine-county Capital Region. Saratoga Race Course is also responsible for generating almost 3,000 jobs.

Many merchants says the summer meet is like having a second Christmas shopping season. The Belmont Stakes Festival is a third major boost.

Marianne Barker, owner of the popular Broadway gift shop Impressions of Saratoga, has already seen sales skyrocket for a special Belmont Stakes at Saratoga poster and T-shirt created by prominent Capital Region artist Greg Montgomery.

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce has announced that Cynthia Hollowood is the 2024 Joseph Dalton Community Service Award recipient. 

This recognition, created by unanimous vote of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors in 2017, is a community service-focused award to honor an individual who has been faithful and loyal to the Saratoga County community for more than 25 years.

Hollowood has served as the Executive Director of Saratoga Sponsor-A-Scholar since 2020. This organization is dedicated to the philosophy that every student showing academic motivation and potential should have the opportunity to finish high school and continue to college. 

Prior to this role, Hollowood was General Manager and Partner at the Holiday Inn Saratoga Springs for a total of 38 years. 

Hollowood has volunteered countless hours within the Saratoga community over the past four decades, serving on boards and committees of more than a dozen area nonprofit organizations, including but not limited to the Saratoga Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Saratoga Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, the Saratoga Hospital Foundation, the City of Saratoga Springs Special Assessment District Committee, Discover Saratoga and the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. 

She is also a Distinguished Alum of Leadership Saratoga, was named Tourism Executive of the Year by the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association in 2015 and was honored a Woman of Distinction by the New York State Senate in 2016. 

The Manufacturing Institute (MI)—the workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers—honored two outstanding women from GlobalFoundries at their annual Women MAKE Awards.

Jennifer (Jenny) Robbins, senior director, Central Facilities, was recognized as a 2024 Women MAKE Awards Honoree, while Katelyn Harrison, senior integration engineer, was honored as an Emerging Leader. The Women MAKE Awards is a prestigious national program that honors women who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and excellence in their careers, representing all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C-suite. 

For over two decades, Robbins has been an influential leader at GlobalFoundries. In 2023, she made a successful transition from a manufacturing leadership role to a global facilities role, where she built her new central facilities engineering team. In 2022, she established the Community Engagement Team at GlobalFoundries’ Vermont facility in Essex Junction, which has significantly boosted employee engagement, inclusion and belonging. She continues to be a mentor, recently serving as the executive sponsor of GlobalFoundries’ Early Tenure Professionals employee resource group. Robbins played a role in the final stages of enabling GlobalFoundries in Vermont to become its own electric utility, GF Power. She and the team are in the planning stages of installing solar arrays at the site. 

“I am empowered when my contributions positively impact my team, my company, and my community,” said Robbins. “Receiving the MI’s Women MAKE Honoree Award is a great honor, and I am deeply grateful.” 

The Women MAKE Awards are part of the MI’s Women MAKE America initiative, which is the nation’s marquee program to close the gender gap in manufacturing. Women account for about half of the U.S. labor force but represent less than one-third of the manufacturing workforce. Women MAKE America aims to build the 21st-century manufacturing workforce by empowering and inspiring women in the industry.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Herzog Law Firm, P.C., has expanded its presence in Saratoga Springs and is making further growth possible with a new location and a quadruple ribbon cutting that took place on April 25 at 60 Railroad Place.

With its flagship office in Albany and another location in Kingston, Herzog Law Firm is now in its 78th year of operation, said David A. Kubikian, principal, one of the firm’s three partners and hosts of the grand opening. 

“When I spoke a few words to our employees and guests at the event, I said that we are on the shoulders of all the previous attorneys who have done really good work here,” Kubikian said.

There were about 60 family members, friends, employees and business partners in attendance, including representatives of all four area chambers of commerce: Saratoga, Colonie, Adirondack Regional and Capital Region. A representative of each cut a ribbon and a member of Saratoga Chamber of Commerce served as master of ceremonies.

By Jill Nagy

Bakery Suzanne, a new bakery on Route 50 in Wilton, got off to a cautions start. It was open on April 29 for a “trial run,” just for one day. 

“It was our first morning in a new space,” owner Wilson Keenan explained, and they were just getting the ovens going. “We didn’t care if we even sold a loaf of bread.”

The following few weeks, Keenan planned to open for the weekend—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then, he said, “We will grow gradually to Wednesday to Sunday.”  On the first day, “there was not even a sign on the street,” he recalled. Now, he is ready to try to promote the business.

The bakery will be a wholesale business selling to restaurants, co-ops, and grocery stores, as well as a retail outlet. They use local grains and mill their own flour. The bread is made without yeast, “wild fermented.” Many of the pastries are based on croissants. “We are refining the classics,” Keenan said, “Nothing crazy.”

Saratoga Springs rower and Regatta Director for the Saratoga Rowing Association, Kristi Wagner, has been announced as one of the first 21 members selected to go to the Summer Games in Paris this July, by US Rowing. 

Wagner plans the Head of the Fish, among other high school races for SRA, with her doubles partner Sofia Vitas.

Together, Wagner and Vitas won the Bronze medal at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. The two women were part of the first round of rowers selected by the US Rowing Team to compete at the Olympics. 

Together they will be looking to return to the medal podium in the women’s double sculls in Paris. Now a five-time national team member, Wagner will be racing at her second Olympic Games, having finished fifth in the event in Tokyo. Also a five-time national team member, Vitas will be making her Olympic debut in Paris. 

Applications are now being accepted for those interested in being a part of the award-winning Leadership Saratoga program.

Sponsored by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, this popular program is dedicated to the development of leaders who will serve their communities today and in the future.

The purpose of Leadership Saratoga is to inform and educate members of the community who want to ensure its success by giving of their time, talents, energy and expertise. This is often in a volunteer capacity such as serving on a board of an impact sector organization, a board of education, a land use board or becoming an elected official. Since the program’s inception in 1985, nearly 700 graduates have completed the program.

The 2024-2025 Leadership Saratoga program will run from September 2024 to May 2025. Program participants are engaged in a nine-month cohort with other participants where they explore team dynamics, leadership, creative problem solving, strategic planning, communications, board governance, development and quality of life, education systems, government and more. Insider tours and experiences, case studies and group service projects are also part of this dynamic development program.

By Jill Nagy

Keuka Spring Vineyard, a Finger Lakes winery, now has a tasting room and bottle shop in Saratoga Springs. Located in the Saratoga Marketplace at 454 Broadway, this is the first offsite tasting room and shop for the 39-year-old vineyard. There was a “soft opening” April 1 and an “awesome” formal ribbon-cutting on May 2.

The vineyard is family-run and owned by area growers. They produce and bottle a “diverse portfolio” of wines from grapes grown on more than 500 acres in Penn Yan, on Lake Keuka, according to marketing director Corinne Marriott. They grow most of their own grapes but also buy fruit from other growers, she said.

Samplers have a choice of three options: dry wines, including a dry Reisling; KSV Classic, a mixed variety; or sweet wines. Each flight consists of six wine samples. The price is $15.  If people like what they taste, they can buy a bottle; wine is not sold by the glass. They also do not sell any food. Much of the wine is from the vinifera grape, an Old World variety that no longer does well in Europe but thrives in New York State, noted Autumn Manning, the manager of the Saratoga outlet. Wine samples include several gold award winners and blaufrankish, a dry red wine that was the best New York State red wine of 2021.