By Ann Donnelly

Saratoga County’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened on July 20 in Clifton Park Center, with long lines going out the door. 

Before this, fans could only get the iconic chicken sandwich if they were flying out of Albany Airport or traveling to Massachusetts or other parts of New York state.

Chick-fil-A, Inc. selected Scott Payne as the independent franchised owner/operator of Chick-fil-A Clifton Park Center, 304 Clifton Park Center Road. 

“After serving in the Marine Corps for nearly two decades, I was looking to continue serving in a purpose-driven role,” said Payne. “So I pursued the path of becoming a Chick-fil-A operator. From 2015 to 2022, I had the honor of serving as the operator of Chick-fil-A Purcellville in Loudoun County, Va. During this time, I learned the ins-and-outs of the business from a great group of seasoned operators while also discovering the many ways in which Chick-fil-A supports its local community.”

Payne is looking forward to living and doing business in the area. 

By Jill nagy

Dr. Danushan Sooriabalan—known as Dr. Dan to many of his patients—expects his new “direct primary care” practice to give him more time with patients and less with paperwork. 

Patients will pay a fixed monthly fee, the amount depending upon their age, for unlimited access to his care.

The doctor, an internist, has been in practice since 2007. He did his internal medicine residency at Albany Medical Center, including a year as head resident, was a hospitalist at Glens Falls Hospital for 10 years, and was part of the Hudson Headwaters practice group. 

In May, he set out on his own with an office at 2452 Route 9 in Malta. 

He said after his first six weeks, he had 87 patients. He aims for a maximum of 300. 

Most of his new patients are from Malta, Clifton Park, Saratoga and other nearby communities. He made no attempt to bring patients from his prior practice “out of respect for my previous employers,” he said.

While he expects to hire a nurse in the near future and uses a third-party company for billing, everything else is “do it myself.” 

Correction Applied August 8, 2023

By Christine Graf

After almost three years of serving as general manager of Saratoga Winery, Anne Brill has assumed ownership of the business. 

She and her husband, Andrew, purchased the winery from Rich and Tara Nimmo for $1.4 million on June 15.

Saratoga Winery is located at 462 Route 29 in Milton, just 10 minutes west of downtown Saratoga Springs. 

The winery’s tasting room serves handcrafted wines made on the premises with New York state grapes. They also serve local craft beers, spirits from Saratoga Courage Distillery, and cocktails. Food offerings include wood-fired pizzas, appetizer, salads, and sandwiches. 

Brill grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and met her husband while they were both students at Skidmore College. After graduating, they settled in Chicago but chose to get married in Saratoga.

“We came back to look at venues in 2011, and this was in the height of the economic turn down,” she said. “But Saratoga was still thriving, and we were amazed and impressed by how much the town had grown. In 2014, we decided we wanted to live here full-time.”

By Christine Graf

Less than one year after Mike Gerarde established PSG Golf, he and partner Jeff Boss have opened an indoor golf facility at 615 Maple Ave., Suite 2, in Saratoga Springs.

PSG Golf offers golf lessons to students of all ages and skill levels, and their new facility features two golf simulators, a TopGolf simulator, an indoor putting and chipping green, and a bar. 

Gerarde, a Glens Falls native, began playing golf about 10 years ago while a student at Syracuse University. After graduating and joining his family’s payroll company, Keena Staffing, he found himself entertaining clients on the golf course.

 “The connections you create through the golf course are invaluable, and that’s how I got the idea to start a golf lessons business,” said Gerarde. “A lot of people that I worked with or that I knew didn’t want to get out on the golf course because they thought they weren’t good enough.”

After becoming certified as a golf teacher, he established PSG Golf in July 2022. The business is named in honor of his father, Paul Stephen Gerarde, who passed away when Gerarde was 10.  

Before opening his own facility, Gerarde taught lessons at the Luxury Box in Queensbury and Tarks Indoor Golf Center Saratoga. He then partnered with Jeff Boss, a Capital Region native who has been golfing since he was 10.

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) plans to significantly enhance opportunities for fans to experience the Saratoga Breakfast And Breeding Farm Tour package, which debuted to sold out crowds each Friday in its inaugural season last year.

The track opens Thursday, July 13.

The tour this year will be offered every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the Saratoga meet and feature two active thoroughbred breeding farms. The tours will accommodate up to 52 guests each day beginning Friday, July 14, and concluding on Friday, Sept. 1.

The tours will be offered every Wednesday at Song Hill Thoroughbreds, 290 County Road 75 in Mechanicville, and every Thursday and Friday at Old Tavern Farm, 45 Brown Road, in  Stillwater.

The package, presented by the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA), features a buffet breakfast at Saratoga Race Course; the opportunity to watch the thoroughbreds during morning training; a round-trip, trolley ride from Saratoga Race Course to the farms; a 60-90 minute guided walking tour of the breeding farm; and admission to Saratoga Race Course.

The package is $85 for adults and $35 for children 12 and under. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis and may be purchased at NYRA.com.

The Double H Ranch, a nonprofit organization providing specialized programs and year-round support for children dealing with life-threatening illnesses announced the hiring of Alison Wilcox as CEO. 

Wilcox will be following in the footsteps of Max Yurenda, who retired after 30 years leading the organization founded by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and businessman and philanthropist Charley Wood.

“Alison has a wonderful passion for the mission of the Double H Ranch and a respect for our culture. Her experience developing leadership skills for young girls; financial management; and organizational development will inspire the Double H Ranch to grow upon its reputation of excellence as one of the premier non-profits in the Capital District and North Country. By working with our great Double H Ranch team, I am confident Alison will bring great enthusiasm, energy, and engagement in her new role,” said Charlie Crew, the facility’s board chairman.

Wilcox has over 20 years of global experience in nonprofit leadership and board governance and has been the CEO of Girl Scouts of Western New York for the past four years, and she was COO for three years. 

Prior to that, she was a senior strategy advisor to Girl Scouts of USA, lead development specialist at Delaware North Companies and the senior vice president of program and membership of Girls Scouts of Western New York. 

A 100-acre horse farm dedicated to revolutionizing equine care has opened in Schuylerville,

From rest to rehabilitation, GMP Farm offers diverse opportunities for the recovery and wellbeing of equine athletes. Situated on a an estate just minutes from downtown Saratoga, it embodies a holistic approach to healing and preventative care for horses of all disciplines, the organization said.

Featuring state-of-the-art barns and the latest equine healthcare technology, GMP Farm is the culmination of excellence between former thoroughbred trainer Gary Gullo and partner, racing owner Anthony Melfi. 

An experienced 24-hour onsite team led by farm manager Steve Rybowski, who came up under Hall of Famer John Nerud, boasts over 200 years of experience.

Officials said customized therapeutic programs begin with cutting edge thermographic diagnostics along with veterinary consultation. As a leader in equine science, the farm boasts the nation’s seventh Equine Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber, and only HBOT New York. 

Equine Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a drug-free and non-invasive treatment option for horses that helps treat many different conditions and diseases, officials said. With HBOT technology, horses receive a high concentration of pure oxygen in a completely sealed and pressurized environment. This veterinary treatment option can greatly reduce healing time in a safe and calm environment, while increasing the longevity of their careers.