Month: November 2022

By Susan Elise Campbell

What started as a plan to add more production and canning space has snowballed into an additional restaurant and event space that doubles the size of Common Roots Brewing Co. at 58 Saratoga Ave. in South Glens Falls.

Guests are already booking weddings and corporate events for up to 250 people, according to Christian Weber, who owns the brewery with his father, Bert Weber.

“The site has been cleared and the steel for footings has arrived,” said Weber. “We hope to have the new building up and closed in by the end of the year and opened to customers the end of spring.”

The new building and beer garden is being designed and built by Phinney Design Group of Saratoga Springs with V&H Construction Inc. as lead contractor. These are the same firms that rebuilt the modern Adirondack-style structure in 2020.

By Christine Graf 

Queensbury-based Praxis Technology— a manufacturer that produces titanium components for the medical, aerospace, consumer and sporting goods markets—has announced plans to consolidate its operations in a 53,500-square-foot manufacturing complex on Pruyn’s Island in Glens Falls. 

The company purchased the facility from Andritz Inc. It sits on 6.2 acres. The investment was made after the city rezoned the site from single-family residential to heavy industrial use. The property at 1 Namic Place is located at the southern end of Pruyn’s Island, an area that is home to other industrial uses including Flomatic Corp., Umicore Electrical Materials and building materials supplier ABC Supply Co.

“We purchased the building and are relocating both of our facilities that are currently in the industrial park by the airport,” said Joseph Grohowski, founder and president of Praxis Technology. 

“We’re doing it for a number of reasons,” he said. “One is that we want to have all of our operations under one roof. Two is that we need room to grow. We are pretty much out of room in our current two facilities. It’s a great opportunity for us to lay the foundation for future growth as well as to create a really nice environment for our employees. It’s very important to us that Praxis is a great place to work.”

By Paul Post

COVID-19 shone a spotlight on the need for a safe, secure food system and strong local agriculture, which has a $500 million economic impact on Saratoga County alone, led by its diverse equine industry.

Numerous farm businesses, from large dairies to maple production, award-winning goat’s milk cheese and Christmas trees, are prevalent throughout Warren and Washington counties as well.

“I’m really excited about what we learned during COVID-19,” state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said. “We had supply problems, getting food in grocery stores. We’ve got to leverage that right now and make sure people remember that we need food here, and need it grown here.” 

Ball is president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, which recently brought hundreds of people from throughout the U.S. to Saratoga Springs for a four-day, annual conference. Participants attended panel discussions on critical farm issues such as labor shortage, toured local ag enterprises and worked on policy proposals. 

“I’m excited about connecting with a population that maybe didn’t know as much about New York state agriculture as it really should. It’s upstate New York’s biggest economic engine and it’s so large we don’t know totally how large it is,” he said.

A 2019 Cornell University study said the agriculture, farm and food system had a direct $43.6 billion in total industry output, encompassing over 163,000 jobs.

By Paul Post

Local officials welcomed Ice Castles with open arms last year, hoping it would help fulfill the long sought-after goal of making Lake George a year-round tourist destination

It did that and more, by generating enough occupancy tax to bring four brand new attractions to Charles R. Wood Park’s Festival Commons in 2023, exponentially increasing Ice Castles’ economic impact by drawing even more people to the village, according to local officials.

“When Ice Castles was open, the streets had as many people on them as we’d see normally and all the accommodations I’m aware of that were open were full on weekends,” Mayor Robert Blais said. “So many people stayed at Fort William Henry Hotel, Holiday Inn, Quality Inn and the Marriott Courtyard that our occupancy tax collection for that period was up 40 percent. That will go toward increasing the number of special events the village can support and expanding the special events we have here presently.”

Warren County Tourism expected last year’s inaugural Ice Castles to give the local economy a $4 million boost. That figure should be much larger in 2023, both directly and indirectly, thanks to more attractions throughout the year, officials said.

By Andrea Harwood

Tyler Russell and wife Julia Sanzen are planning to open a second Rocket Recycling location in Queensbury in about seven months, with a third location also in the process.

Russell opened the first location mid-March at 255 Ridge St. in Glens Falls, in the former Stewart’s location across the street from the newer, larger Stewart’s. Russell described the property as nearly turn-key upon purchase.

“It was game plan from the start to have three locations opened in the area,” said Russell. “From there, we will continue our growth forward.”

“There’s a need and an opportunity locally,” he said.

The second location is at the circle roundabout near Evergreen Plaza (known locally as the Sokol’s Plaza), off Aviation Road. The facility is a former gas and service station from many years ago and has been empty for years. Tyler said the property was just waiting for the right idea and the right business. Rocket Recycling fits that bill.

The building has a three-bedroom apartment above the garage, but Russell said there are no plans for that space just yet. 

MLB Construction, established in 1947 in Albany, under the name McManus, Longe, Brockwehl Inc., is celebrating 75 years in business.

Operations  started  from  the  attic  of  the  Longe  household. Throughout  the  years the  company expanded, changing its name to MLB Industries in the mid-1970s, and later to MLB Construction Services LLC.

As it celebrates its landmark anniversary, James M. Dawsey, MLB president, said the company is “in the process of our next leadership/succession transition. This should take care of MLB Construction for the next 20-30 years. Based on what this next team has learned, it will make it easy for them to do their transition after this one.”

He said the company “will continue to do what we do well—higher education, K-12, medical, resorts and historic renovations. We are also licensed up and down the east coast and will continue to build in these markets.

“We also plan to push into the housing market, both affordable and market rate. We want to continue to grow our design-build side in all the above markets.”

By Jill Nagy

The new owner of Queensbury Wine and Spirits, Brian Miller, freshened up the premises and brought in new wines and spirits, including 15 or 20 wines he said no one else in the county offers. 

The shop now stocks more than 200 wines, 50 spirits, and a selection of canned cocktails, Miller said.

The store is located at 340 Aviation Road in Queensbury, a residential neighborhood with no other liquor stores nearby. 

“So, we have to carry a little of everything,” he said. “We are trying to pump some new life and some fresh energy” into the business.

Miller bought the wine and spirits outlet in early August. He did some remodeling and reopened the first week of September. 

During the holiday season the store will offer tastings on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. They will also make up gift baskets that can be picked up at the store or shipped.  

By Christine Graf

Premier Plus Travel and Premier Plus Travel and Tours are now operating out a new location at 154 Warren St. in Glens Falls. 

The property was purchased by Dawn Biddiscombe and her son, Matthew Colucci, for $375,000 in September of last year. Biddiscombe is the owner of Premier Plus Travel, and she and Colucci co-own Premier Plus Travel and Tours. 

A former paralegal, Biddiscombe opened her travel agency in 2014 while still working full-time in the legal profession. The following year, she and her son established Premier Plus Travel and Tours. 

The company provides airport and special event transportation. Their fleet of Mercedes Benz vehicles includes a limousine, executive coach, and shuttle. They also own the Hoppy Tour Brew Bus, a 14-passenger bus that offers tours of breweries, wineries, and distilleries in the North Country, Capital District, and Vermont.

 “You could consider us a mini Yankee Trails,” said Biddiscombe.

In 2016, Biddiscombe left the legal profession in order to dedicate herself full-time to both businesses. For the next three years, her companies operated out of a leased building in Glens Falls. As their fleet of vehicles continued to grow, they moved to a new location that had a parking lot large enough to accommodate their growing fleet of vehicles. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery is making its first major expansion since bringing bottles of its flagship vodka to market in 2015. 

According to co-owner Matt Colucci, moving all operations to a five-acre parcel on Route 149, adjacent to the current location at 133 Clements Road in Queensbury, will enable the business to increase production, visibility and space for tastings and events. 

David and Connie Bannon, two of Springbrook’s five co-owners, have owned and raised their family on the Clements Road property. The distillery began in their antique barn that once stabled horses.

When all the equipment is transported to the new location, “the Bannons will get their barn back,” Colucci said. 

The process of moving has been two years in the making, he said. When the acreage came up for sale, the partners did not hesitate to bid on it.