By Paul Post

 Common Roots Brewing Company, best-known for its popular craft beer and ale, now helps people start their day right by serving up fresh coffee, roasted on site, and a selection of  tasty breakfast sandwiches.
The Café, open 7 a.m. to noon Monday to Friday, is located in the firm’s spacious new multi-purpose building, which Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado christened during recent ribbon cutting ceremonies.

 “We started roasting our own coffee because it’s an important ingredient for some of our beers like our Coffee Cup stout,” said Bert Weber, who co-owns Common Roots with his son, Christian. “It became kind of a progression after that. While we’re making coffee we thought it might be a nice way to introduce the public to this space. So we have a lot of people coming in now for coffee and an egg sandwich or breakfast burrito. It’s exposing the space to people who might see it as a nice place to have a celebration or party.”

 The new building, called Bierhall & Barrel House, is on the south side of Common Roots’ restaurant and brewery, at 58 Saratoga Avenue in South Glens Falls.

 The $3.6 million structure, aided by $450,000 in state economic development funding, can accommodate up to 200 people and has already hosted a wedding and a travel program about a local adventurer’s trek to the Himalayas in Nepal.

By Ann Donnelly

Chef Christian Raeth, originally from Erlangen in the Bavarian region of Germany, is looking forward to the opening of his new restaurant, Spargel on Nine, later this month. As the name suggests, the restaurant is located at 925 Route 9 in Queensbury, in the former location of Outback Steakhouse and, more recently, 40 Oak.

“While this is my first time owning a restaurant,” says Raeth, “The vision of what we are trying to accomplish has been clear to me for decades. It has always been my dream.

Raeth started his culinary training with an aprenticeship in his native Germany in 1984 and has worked in some of the top restaurants in Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland. In 1991, Raeth came to the USA, where his sister had relocated, and found a position at the Albany Country Club, where he worked for four years until he returned to Germany.  

After his father died in 2000, Raeth returned to New York State to stay. He worked in fine dining in country clubs and restaurants like Van Patten Golf Club in Clifton Park, Fort William Henry in Lake George, and Pumpernickle’s in Bolton Landing. For the last 13 years, Raeth spent most of his time out of the kitchen, working in sales for Sysco, the world’s largest wholesale food distributor.

Saratoga County has partnered with Discover Saratoga (Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau), a prominent player in the tourism industry, in a collaboration that officials hope will redefine the travel experience for visitors and locals alike in Saratoga County.

The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution naming Discover Saratoga as the county’s official tourism promotion agency at its September meeting. 

Discover Saratoga will assume the duties for the county beginning Jan. 1.

The resolution also authorizes Discover Saratoga to register as the county’s tourism promotion agency with the Empire State Development Corp. and apply for an I Love New York grant for 2024.

“The partnership between Saratoga County and Discover Saratoga aims to enhance the overall tourism ecosystem in the county. With a shared commitment to promoting the unique cultural, historical, and natural attractions of Saratoga County, this collaboration will bring about a wealth of benefits for tourists and the local community,” said a statement from the county board.

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded GlobalFoundries a new 10-year contract for a supply of securely manufactured, U.S.-made semiconductors for use across a wide range of critical aerospace and defense applications. 

With an initial award of $17.3 million tin September and an overall 10-year spending ceiling of $3.1 billion, the new contract provides the Department of Defense and its contractors with access to GlobalFoundries’ semiconductor technologies manufactured at its U.S. facilities. 

GlobalFoundries also announced it is seeking federal funding to expand its ability to produce semiconductors and modernize its U.S. facilities, including its property in Malta.

The GlobalFoundries facilities in Malta are Department of Defense-accredited to the highest security level, Trusted Supplier Category 1A, which implements proven stringent security measures to protect sensitive information and manufacture chips with the highest levels of integrity to ensure they are uncompromised. 

In addition to secure chip manufacturing for Department of Defense systems used on land, air, sea, and in space, the new contract provides the Department of Defense and its contractors with access to GlobalFoundries’ robust design ecosystem, IP libraries, early-access to new technologies in development, quick and efficient prototyping, and full-scale volume manufacturing. 

The Saratoga New Year’s Fest will be back for its second year with a full holiday weekend of entertainment and celebration leading into the new year.

The multi-venue, weekend-long festival, scheduled for Friday, Dec. 29, through Monday, Jan. 1, is anticipated to be bigger and better with additional venues, expanded programming and outstanding talent, event officials said.

Headlining this year’s lineup are seven-time Grammy nominee Joan Osborne, who made her way onto the Billboard charts in the mid-1990s with her hit single “One of Us,” along with fellow Grammy nominee Robert Randolph bringing his blues, rock and gospel sound to the Spa City. Country bluegrass band The Gibson Brothers, a nationally touring act with roots in upstate New York, will also perform.

Also slated to perform as part of the Saratoga New Year’s Fest are Dogs in a Pile, Organ Fairchild, Tracy Bonham, Toubab Krewe, Ward Hayden & the Outliers, GA-20, DJ Logic, The Swing Docs and more to be announced.  

In addition to the many indoor live performances happening at venues throughout downtown Saratoga Springs, this year’s festival will include a free family, family-friendly concert at 5 p.m. and a fireworks display at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at Ellsworth Jones Place outside of the Saratoga Springs City Center. 

By Christine Graf

Christine Hernandez is the new owner of The Broadway Grind at 493 Broadway in Saratoga Springs. The Long Island native is also the owner of Allo Saratoga, a business that opened at 25 Lawrence St. in November 2021.

“Allo has an indoor play space for children, and in addition to open play, we have classes for kids as well as workshops for parents, childbirth education classes, and new parenting groups,” said Hernandez. “I always wanted to own a coffee shop, and when I saw that Broadway Grind was for sale, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to marry the two businesses. I can walk between the two spots, and I’m pretty hands-on at each business.”

The Broadway Grind seats 25 and has a patio and sidewalk permit. Since taking over ownership of the coffee shop in July, Hernandez has been focused on growing the business. “We already have some collaborations lined up,” she said. “We have some events planned for after hours. We have a cookie and coffee event with Scotia Sweets and an event with the Norwegian Candle Co. We also plan on doing more collaborations,” she said. Hernandez also hopes to partner with local food businesses to host what she describes as pop-up dinner residencies at The Broadway Grind.

By Paul Post

Greg Connors has deep roots in Saratoga County, which makes him a good fit for growing its multifaceted economy with strong manufacturing, retail, hospitality, tourism and agricultural sectors.

After 10 years at GlobalFoundries, he took over as Saratoga Economic Development Corporation’s chief executive and president on Sept. 5.

A former Stillwater town supervisor, he was instrumental in creation of Luther Forest Technology Campus where GlobalFoundries is located. He was responsible for GlobalFoundries’ government relations in New York and Vermont where the company has a large manufacturing facility in Essex Junction near Burlington.

“I interacted with governors, legislators, regulators, regional and local governments in both states,” Connors said. “I think I took them as far as I could. It was simply time for a change. My main goal here at SEDC is to be more collaborative and cooperative with community and business stakeholders and economic developers throughout the county and Capital Region. I want to work with our staff and board of directors to enhance the image of SEDC going forward, and continue the work done by this organization over the last 40 years, which has had great success during that time.”

Connors succeeds Dennis Brobston, who retired Dec. 31 after 14 years at the agency.

Prior to joining GlobalFoundries, Connors was a real estate broker and appraiser for many years, and is a past president of the New York State Association of Realtors.

His family owns and operates The Connors Agency LLC, in Mechanicville, an insurance, real estate and financial services company started by his father 65 years ago and now run by Connors’ siblings. His wife and brother operate the more than century old Matrazzo Florist shop in Mechanicville.

By Susan Elise Campbell 

Following a two–year search for space in Saratoga Springs, owner Troy Miller has begun his latest expansion of The Bunker, an indoor golf simulator, restaurant, upscale pub and event center at Congress Park Center, 307 Broadway.

Miller said golf has been the number one sport during the pandemic because outdoor gatherings were allowed. He and minority partner Robert McKutcheon opened the Clifton Park location only last year, saying, “it’s a scary thing to push forward into Saratoga, but I am glad we did.”

In the prior 12 months other locations were opened in New Hartford, Utica, North Greenbush, and Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady. 

The newest location will occupy two floors and Miller said they will build stairs between the floors for a total of 11,000 square feet, making it the largest location.

“Saratoga is probably the most well-known gem in the Capital District, and we are happy to have some level of control over the entrance to it,” he said. 

Northshire Bookstore celebrated 10 years in its Saratoga location of 424 Broadway in August.

The store is an award-winning independent bookstore, founded by Ed and Barbara Morrow on Main Street in Manchester Center, Vt., in 1976. The Saratoga Springs location opened in August of 2013. 

Both Northshire Bookstore locations are now owned and operated by sisters Cathleen Ihasz, Nicole Ihasz and Ashley Ihasz-Austin.

“Saratoga Springs understood the value of a downtown bookstore and effectively lobbied, invested and supported us,” said  Nancy Scheemaker, general manager of the Saratoga store. “We are of course deeply grateful for this passion and vision. We are grateful also for a decade of support that we could only have dreamed of prior to experiencing the real thing.”

Over the last decade, Northshire has presented more than a thousand author events in Saratoga Springs, hosted children’s programming and brought authors into area schools, partnered with local not-for-profits, and has worked with our customers to provide free children’s books to area children via our Book Angels program.