Month: October 2026

By Carol Ann Conover

In 2009, Andrea Harwood charged $18,500 to a credit card to buy a single-wide trailer in serious disrepair. Newly a single mother of two young children, she had lost her home and was struggling to finish college with little money.

The trailer stood on its own tax parcel rather than a rented lot, giving her reason to believe the property could retain its resale value. Harwood saw potential in a property others might have passed over.

“And I knew I could make it decent,” Harwood said.

She replaced rotted subflooring, repaired burst pipes, patched a roof and taught herself to tile.

“This experience solidified within me that I could figure anything out, no matter what, and that renovating distressed properties is not only very doable, but very satisfying,” she said.

That first renovation launched a real estate business that now owns rental properties across Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties. Based in Queensbury, Casa Bella Development LLC focuses on attainable rental housing and the rehabilitation of existing properties.

In 2012, Harwood bought another home through a pre-foreclosure short sale, renovated it with help from her children and rented out the first property.

“I was hooked,” she said.

Harwood built the portfolio as a sole proprietor before establishing the LLC in April 2026. After working as a financial adviser and in retail banking, she moved into the real estate business full time in January 2023.

“My highest personal value is autonomy,” she said. “I work very, very hard and I had no interest in dedicating my intense work ethic to someone else’s vision.”

By Rod Bacon

A Saratoga Springs woman has used her artistic talent to build a business creating designs for prominent companies around the world.

Since 2021, Dominika Godette has provided original designs for products ranging from fabrics to greeting cards to home decor. Her clients include American Greetings, T.J. Maxx, Wilson Jeux, PicCollage, Hawthorne Supply Co. and Orange Circle Studio, among others.

Godette makes her work available to clients in two ways. As a licensing artist, she creates marketable designs for her portfolio. When a client selects one, she licenses it for a specific period. When the license expires, the rights revert to her, and her name remains attached to the artwork.

“I do a lot of drawings that can recall memories of holidays, things like little villages that could end up on a Christmas product,” she said.

She also does commissioned work for companies that request specific motifs. She submits preliminary sketches and, once they are approved, provides the finished design. In that case, the company owns the rights to the artwork.

“Right now I’m working on Fourth of July prints for a company that makes paper products for parties,” she said.

Her fees range from $500 for a simple design to nearly $6,000 for a complex one.

She primarily markets her work online, but she has gained significant clients through trade shows.

“When I first started my business I posted some of my work on Instagram thinking it wouldn’t go anywhere but a company reached out to me and licensed some of my work,” she said. “Then, in 2023, I attended a licensing trade show in New York City where big companies would buy artwork for their upcoming seasons. I got T.J. Maxx and other clients there.”

By Carol Ann Conover

A Tuesday for Melanie Fronhofer Weber might span a Glens Falls Business Improvement District board meeting, a toddler music class at her Exchange Street children’s store, (g)row, and a human resources issue at Common Roots Brewing Co. in South Glens Falls.

“I wear a lot of hats, and that’s how I thrive,” she said.

Weber chairs the EDC Warren County board, runs businesses and is raising three sons younger than 5. She describes entrepreneurship as something “almost always in my blood.”

Her father founded Fronhofer Tool in the family’s Washington County basement 11 years before she was born, attending night school and taking side jobs. He later bought a barn on Cossayuna Lake and built a machine and fabrication center. One of her brothers now runs the company, with another working alongside him.

Growing up inside it, she said, “prepares you for how hard it is.” Her parents made every sports game, but “my dad might not come home for a week because he was working around the clock.”

Weber built experience in events, operations and human resources. At Gannett, she helped open USA Today Sports Media Group’s New York City office. In Washington, D.C., she launched Eleven Eleven Events for weddings and private parties, then planned medical education conferences for the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“As I moved along my path in corporate roles, I always sort of was still doing this startup mode, even though they were big companies,” she said.

At the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, she worked on City Awake, an initiative to retain young graduates. Her three-person team became the chamber’s economic development arm, connecting her with entrepreneurs and small business owners.

“Everything was so siloed,” she said. “There needed to be a voice of collaboration.”