The Beekman Street Arts District is home to a new art gallery, The Cottage of Art & Design, at 73 Beekman St., a collective that showcases the work of six local creatives and features jewelry, fiber art, pottery, art quilts, tiles, mosaics, and paintings.  

A wide array of working artists and restaurateurs call the three-block stretch on the west side of Saratoga Springs home.

 Financed by grants secured by preservation minded proponents  the Arts District went from vision to reality over 20 years ago.   

 The Cottage artists are Amejo Amyot, creator of spiritually motivated clay work and paintings; Meg Dalton, maker of detailed art quilts and wearables; Meryl Davis of Black Bird designs, designer and crafter of enamel jewelry and mosaics; Nancy Niefeld of Two Spruce Pottery, creator of finely crafted sculpture and pottery; Susan Rivers of Greentree Fiber Arts, practitioner of Quilted Alchemy, blending technology and tradition; and Don Shore of Lesperance Tiles, maker of artisanal tilework for installations and stand-alone art pieces.

The Friends of the Saratoga Springs Public Library has hired Jennifer Allen as its first executive director.

Allen oversees all Friends activities, including its successful used book shop, and will work to expand community engagement and support for the library’s facilities, programs and collection. 

Jeff Budge will continue his decade-long tenure managing book shop operations.

“The Friends saw an opportunity over the past two years to reflect and rebuild,” said Klare Ingram, president of the board of directors. “Hiring a full-time executive director was long overdue and aligns with how much the organization has grown during its nearly 50-year history.” 

Allen joined full-time in July, after working with the Friends part-time since the start of the year. She brings two decades of experience from leadership roles in fundraising, marketing, community engagement and education.

The Friends has long benefited from a generous community of members, donors, and book shop patrons as well as a committed corps of nearly 60 volunteers, Ingram said. The realities of COVID, however, forced the group to close its book shop for months and the organization was forced to rethink how it achieves its mission.

There’s good news for residents of downtown Saratoga Springs who were upset when Price Chopper closed its doors 55 Railroad Place. 

Adam Foti, founder and owner of PDT catering, plans to open PDT Market in the 19,000-square-foot space which is located on the ground floor of a luxury apartment building. 

“A lot of the residents above the market and in the neighborhood were sad to see Price Chopper go because you could just walk in and grab a few groceries,” said Jennifer Hull, marketing director for PDT Market. “We won’t be the size of a Price Chopper with aisles and aisles of groceries, but we will have groceries.”

Product offerings will be in line with what Hull refers to as the store’s “Good, better, best, model.”

“If you want to spend $30 on olive oil, we will have that for you. If you want to spend $10, we will have that as well. We will have affordable options, and there will be gluten-free and vegan. There will be something for everyone.”

GlobalFoundries received the final last local approval needed to go ahead with the construction of a second major building on its Malta property.

Officials said the billion computer chip factory will cost $6 billion to $8 billion. It comes as the computer chip industry worldwide has expressed the need to increase capacity to overcome a semiconductor shortage.

In another boost to the project, on July 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to increase U.S. semiconductor manufacturing known as “CHIPS and Science Act” and the day before the U.S. Senate has passed his historic federal semiconductor incentive, scientific research, and technological competitiveness bill to bring manufacturing back from overseas to places like Upstate New York.

The CHIPS legislation now moves to the White House and awaits President Biden’s signature. The Biden Administration has been a strong supporter of increasing semiconductor manufacturing and the many jobs it creates in the U.S..

“With the votes taken in the House of Representatives and yesterday in the U.S. Senate, Congress has expressed broad, bipartisan and national support for leveling the playing field for competitive semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, GlobalFoundries  president and CEO. “Congress took action to protect U.S. economic, supply chain and national security by accelerating semiconductor manufacturing on American soil.”

Jill Johnson VanKuren of MedStar Health System in Maryland will be the new president and CEO of Saratoga Hospital.

She starts Sept. 19.

Michael J. Toohey, Saratoga Hospital board of trustees chairperson, announced VanKuren’s appointment in July, citing her 17 years of experience with the largest integrated healthcare system in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. 

 VanKuren succeeds Angelo Calbone, who will retire in August after 16 years of significant investment in programs, facilities and talent. He is credited with leading the transformation of the hospital and healthcare in the Saratoga region.

Most recently, VanKuren served as senior vice president of operations and chief operating officer at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, one of 10 MedStar hospitals.

 “From her first interview, Jill impressed us with her understanding of the vital role of a community hospital in a larger health system,” Toohey said. “She shares our commitment to maintaining Saratoga Hospital’s reputation for exceptional quality and personal attention while bringing the benefits of the Albany Med Health System to our patients and community.”

 “I have a deep respect for the community and the culture that the people of Saratoga Hospital have built over the years,” VanKuren said. “I look forward to building on that strong foundation as we evolve to support the future needs of the community. I am honored to have been selected to lead this team.”

 At MedStar, VanKuren held leadership positions at both the corporate and hospital levels for a system with more than 300 care locations and 31,000 employees. As an assistant vice president with MedStar corporate strategic planning, she developed system service lines and business models. 

Dr. Lisa Vollendorf, incoming SUNY Empire State College president,began her tenure on July 1 at the college’s Saratoga Springs location.

Vollendorf will take over for Officer in Charge Nathan Gonyea, who will continue his work at the college as acting provost.

Vollendorf, who was selected by the SUNY Board of Trustees after an extensive national search, will be SUNY Empire’s sixth president since its founding in 1971.

“I am thrilled to be part of the SUNY Empire State College community,” she said. “As a leader in online and blended learning, SUNY Empire fills a very special niche in the higher-education landscape—one that is in more demand now than ever before. I look forward to building upon the college’s history of access and innovation and moving the institution forward in ways that benefit and empower our students and the communities in which they live across New York state and around the world.”

Prior to SUNY Empire, she served as interim provost and chief academic officer at the University of Northern Colorado. She also worked for 16 years in the California State University system at three campuses as a faculty member, department chair, academic senate chair, dean, and provost.