By Paul Post

 Co-owners Spencer and Sara Montgomery, and financial backers, have spent nearly $20 million on capital upgrades since purchasing West Mountain 10 years ago.

 In preparation for this winter they’ve added a $500,000 Winch Cat to the large fleet of grooming machines and covered base lodge floors with safe, clean carpeting.

 But the biggest investment is in personnel with a new food and beverage director, rental shop manager, snow sports person, full-time ski tuner and a larger, more skilled snowmaking crew.

 “It feels like we’re getting some really good professional people in here,” Spencer Montgomery said. “Hiring has been really tough the past three years. Now we’ve got a good overnight snowmaking crew. Really robust, hardworking guys. That makes all the difference because nights are when you get all your production. Someone always has to be watching the pumps, pressure and guns.”

 “Hiring and mild weather were very challenging last year,” he said. “We got through it and this year feels good. We’re looking forward to an awesome season.”

 The Queensbury resort plans a Dec. 16 opening to get all the kinks out and be ready for Christmas week.

By Paul Post

Spa City merchants say track season is like having a second Christmas time because of all the extra business it generates.

 Now they’re gearing up for yet another huge windfall with the announcement that Saratoga Race Course will host the June 6-9 Belmont Stakes Festival, which is expected to have a direct $37 million economic impact and generate untold future tourism by creating worldwide media exposure for one of thoroughbred racing’s most historic events.

 The third leg of racing’s Triple Crown is moving upstate because of ongoing construction and renovations at Belmont Park in Queens. “That it gives us the opportunity to really showcase our area to people who have never been here before,” said Deanna Devitt, president of the 200-member Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association. 

 And excitement surrounding the Belmont Festival is expected to generate momentum and boost attendance for the regular, 40-day racecourse season that begins on Thursday, July 11.

 “Just very, very excited for this opportunity. We can’t wait,” said Marianne Barker of Impressions of Saratoga, a popular Broadway gift and souvenir shop.

 Local business leaders have already begun meeting to make sure Saratoga gets the biggest bang for its buck from this unprecedented opportunity, which Saratoga Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus has likened to the Super Bowl.

JPMorgan Chase has announced the opening of its first retail branch in Saratoga Springs, located at 3086 Route 50. The bank officially opened on November 28 and will celebrate with a ribbon cutting on January 17 with local businesses and community groups.

 “We’ve long viewed Saratoga Springs as a place we wanted to be,” said Jill Annunziato, branch manager for the Chase branch in Saratoga Springs. “We look forward to building new relationships and helping our customers during life’s most important moments, like opening their first savings account, buying their first home or planning for retirement.”

 The branch is about 3,000-square-feet and features modern, bright designs with comfortable meeting areas and state-of-the-art banking technology. A dedicated Chase Private Client team will provide premium banking services, personalized attention and access to the expertise and investment capabilities of J.P. Morgan to help families reach their most important goals. Customers may also meet with financial and home lending advisors and business banking relationship managers.

The 37th annual Stewart’s Holiday Match Campaign kicked off on Thanksgiving Day and runs through Christmas Day at all shop locations. The program supports nonprofit organizations benefiting children. To date, the program has raised over $36 million for children’s charities.

Last year, customers donated over $1 million to the program, doubling to more than $2 million with the Stewart’s match. The funds were able to support 1,939 local children’s organizations across the 32 counties where Stewart’s Shops are located.

“Sharing is a central focus of everything we do at Stewart’s. Holiday Match takes those efforts to another level by supporting children in the communities that we serve,” said Stewart’s Shops Director of Corporate Philanthropy Jennifer Frame.

Local organizations benefiting children are encouraged to apply for funding online beginning Thanksgiving Day. The deadline for submission is January 31, 2024. All groups applying must be locally based, benefit children, and be a qualified charitable 501c3 organization. 

Baker Public Relations, a full-service communications firm, has announced its President and CEO Megan Baker has been named the 2023 Capital Region MARCOM Marketing/Communications Practitioner of the Year.

The award recognizes a marketing or communications professional who has achieved exceptional success, displayed the highest ethics and has shown dedication to serving the community and the profession.

“Receiving an award for your work is rewarding, but being recognized by your peers makes it especially so,” said Baker. “I want to thank MARCOM for this honor and our clients who put their trust in us to tell their stories. Most importantly, I want to thank the entire Baker Public Relations team. This award may have my name on it, but it is their extraordinary work that truly made it possible.”

The 2023 Capital Region MARCOM awards also recognized Baker Public Relations as a winner in the Printed Publication category and as a finalist in Public/Government Affairs Campaigns.

Baker began her career in journalism, where she enjoyed a highly visible 10-year run in television news. She helped launch Spectrum News (formerly Capital News 9), Charter Communication’s 24-hour news channel, serving as its weekday evening news anchor. During her tenure, she was awarded a New York State Emmy.

After stepping away from the news, Baker worked at a well-known public relations firm before starting Baker Public Relations in 2007.

Last year’s Saratoga New Year’s Fest — a post-COVID revival of what was formerly known as First Night — was developed by its new organizers in the spirit of a “necessary reinvention and re-imagining” of an annual event that had simply run out of momentum after two-plus decades.

That turnaround strategy involved not only the name change and good financial planning, but also a new emphasis on higher profile, festival-style musical entertainment as the key draw to the Spa City’s downtown. The plan must have succeeded in hitting its benchmark goals, as evidenced by the seeming “now let’s go even bigger this year!”attitude behind the booking of this coming edition’s scheduled talent lineup.

That roster includes such luminaries as Joan Osborne of ‘What if God Was One of Us?’ fame, pedal steel maestro Robert Randolph, bluegrass superstars the Gibson Brothers, the Weight Band (fronted by The Band’s fifteen-year guitarist), 90’s angst queen Tracy Bonham, turntable pioneer DJ Logic, the hottest jam band in the USA ….. and much, much more.

As producer Robert Millis of The 398Group describes this impressive set of bookings: “We’re bringing in three acts with Grammy cred, a member of a legendary Rock Hall of Fame inductee, the reigning international Artists of the Year in their genre, plus regional and statewide award winners. Sprinkled about will be some of the best local and regional artists we could round up, plus comedy, dance and, of course: the legacy fireworks and 5K road race.”

The Saratoga Builders Association prented proceeds totaling $70,000 from the 2023 Saratoga Showcase of Homes to Rebuilding Together Saratoga County and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. The Saratoga Builders Association announced that the total contribution to local charities from this area’s premiere new home tour event is now over $1.5 million.

The 2023 edition of the Saratoga Showcase of Homes had nine homes from 11 builders on tour this year – Belmonte Builders (2), DeGraff Bloom Custom Homes, DSG Construction & Remodeling, Kodiak Construction (2), R & M Homes, Whitbeck Construction, and Witt Construction.    R & M Homes won the People’s Choice Award for Executive Home and Witt Construction won the People’s Choice Award for Luxury Home. This year’s event attracted over 2,500 visitors to these new homes, which were on display over two weekends. In what has become an autumn tradition in the area, the Saratoga Builders Association is dedicated to this long running show being an integral part of the fabric in the fall season.

On November 20, Alpin Haus held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the completion of an expansion project spanning 15 months and nearly doubling the size of existing usable square footage at its flagship store in Amsterdam. One of the Northeast’s largest outdoor recreation retailers with six stores in the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and Northern New Jersey, Alpin Haus will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2024.

 The expansion increased the ski and pool departments at the flagship store by 60 percent, to 39,600 square feet from 24,800, resulting in nearly double the amount of showroom space for these two premier divisions of the company.

“The need for the build-out was driven by growing demand during ski and pool seasons, which have increasingly begun to overlap,” said Alpin Haus President Andy Heck. “Shopping for winter sports equipment now occurs August through April and for pools and patios year-round. We’ve incorporated many exciting enhancements and made the store more experiential, including a new observation area to complement our state-of-the-art ski-tuning machine and a custom space for taking selfies featuring a chairlift backdrop.”

Local author Fran Dingeman has released her first book, called The Animal Menagerie. The book was officially launched at a celebration for contributors, family, and friends at Saratoga Arts. 

The Animal Menagerie, written by Francine Dingeman and illustrated by Marta Maszkiewicz, is an A-to-Z picture book for children ages 4-7. The characters are animals for each letter of the alphabet. The book is written to entertain and educate by introducing dozens of creative new words to a child’s vocabulary. The Animal Menagerie uses rhyme to help children learn and remember new words and animal names, and teaches their meanings through the use of imagery and animal tales. 

“Writing a book was something I talked about doing for years,” said Dingeman. “In 2021, I decided to act on it. The Animal Menagerie was created with a goal of elevating a child’s vocabulary while entertaining them in the process. Fabian the Fly takes the young reader on a learning adventure to meet new animal friends and hear of their tales. Parents will enjoy sharing this book with their children, and may even learn something new in the process.”