Category Archives: Business News

After a decade of serving delicious, award-winning pizza, The Pizza Shop in Warrensburg is excited to announce its rebranding to Canepa’s Pizza Shop, effective March 18. The new name reflects the Canepa family’s legacy and deep roots in the community.

The ownership, led by Giovanni and Maggie Canepa, remains unchanged, and customers can expect the same high-quality pizza they’ve come to love since the restaurant’s opening in December 2014. The name change simply adds a personal touch to the business that has become a local favorite.

“We want our customers to know that while we’re changing the name, everything else remains the same,” said Giovanni Canepa, co-owner. “Our focus is still on providing the best pizza and a welcoming atmosphere for families and friends. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the amazing team we have, and we are incredibly grateful for the dedication and hard work of our staff.”

Canepa’s Pizza Shop has earned widespread recognition, including multiple “Best of the Region” awards and an appearance on the Rachael Ray Show. Known for its fresh ingredients and traditional methods, the pizzeria continues to be a standout in the area.

“This name change is a celebration of the past 10 years and the support we’ve received from the community,” said Maggie Canepa. “We’re excited to continue this journey and look forward to the future.”

By Paul Post

Ben Bernard cut his baseball business teeth at East Field with the Glens Falls White Sox in the early 1980s.

A few years later, when he owned the Albany-Colonie Yankees, The Sporting News named him America’s Double-A Executive of the Year.

Eleven years ago, he went back to East Field where it all began, as new owner of the Golden Eagles, comprised of top-flight college players, which became the Glens Falls Dragons, preparing now for their 10th season in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.

The ballpark Bernard took over had seen much better days. Bleacher seats weren’t safe, lighting was bad – a far cry from the venue’s glory days when future big leaguers such as 1983 AL Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle and Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz played there.

Slowly, despite a summer without baseball during the COVID-19 pandemic, East Field has made a steady comeback. Five hundred stadium-style seats were installed behind home plate last year, wooden bleachers are new and LED lighting casts a brighter glow when the sun goes down.

This spring, city Public Works crews spruced things up by removing unsightly trees just inside the gate.

“We survived, that’s all I can tell you,” Bernard said. “Now we can concentrate back on the field and marketing of the team.”

At Heritage Park, in Colonie, Bernard oversaw one of minor league baseball’s best-run operations and the Yankee lineup, at various times, featured future all-time greats such as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

By Paul Post

His wholesale bread business is so good that Kevin Haux only needs to open his retail shop two days per week.

But it seems to be doing quite well, too, based on the steady stream of customers going in and out.

The Haux Nest Bread store will mark its first anniversary in June, located at 430 Dix Avenue, near Queensbury Avenue (Airport Road).

“I love my wholesale accounts, the consistency, so I don’t see myself getting rid of them,” 26-year-old owner Kevin Haux said. “I see myself expanding on those. But we’re not really set up for wholesale here. Ultimately, I would like to have this place be just for counter space, a retail shop, and have someone invest with me and do the baking elsewhere at a bigger setup.”

The business is named (Haux pronounced like “hawks”) after his grandparents’ summer camp in Bolton Landing.

He started it four years ago in the kitchen of his parents’ home on Chestnut Ridge Road in Queensbury. “I dragged my whole family into it, voluntarily,” Haux said, smiling.

His mom, Lisa Haux, and his sister, Haley Ward, help keep things running smoothly.

Haux Nest specializes in naturally leavened, hearth-style and old world-style breads; crusty crunchy sourdough; brioche-type cinnamon rolls; cookies and muffins; and breakfast sandwiches on brioche buns with a choice of bacon or ham.

By LEE COLEMAN

New aircraft hangers and other improvements have been made at Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury to meet an increased demand from the owners of both small and large aircraft.

“There is a very large demand for T-hangers used by small, general aviation aircraft,” said Robin Mapp, airport manager for Warren County.

He said a $1 million project added eight new aircraft hangers several years ago. Ninety percent of the cost of the construction was paid by the New York State Department of Transportation.

Construction of new hangers by airport owner Warren County and by Rich Air, the airport’s fixed base operator (FBO), are underway this year as well.

This year the county finished another six-bay hanger and later in 2025 will demolish an old hanger built in the early 1940s and replace it with another six-bay hanger.

At the same time Rich Air has its own hangers, including recently completed hangers for larger aircraft such as Gulfstream 650 jets, said Stephen Abbott, Rich Air’s general manager.

Rich Air manages approximately 70,000 square feet of hanger space and 37 T-hangers for smaller planes. The fixed base operator also provides fuel and repair services.

The county, with funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, has also completed a new building to house snow removal equipment replacing an older facility from the 1940s. Runway lighting – specifically taxi way lights – were upgraded to energy efficient LED lights to enhance visibility and reduce maintenance costs.

By Rod Bacon It is never too early to embark on a career as an entrepreneur. When he was 11 years old, Blake Mahieu started mowing lawns in his neighborhood, soon adding other yard maintenance tasks to his services. He built his client roster to 25 weekly clients, continuing to operate this business through...

By Rod Bacon

One of the most effective ways to learn something is to immerse yourself as completely as possible in the subject.

Battlefield Leadership, under the guidance of President and CEO Col. (Ret.) Kevin W. Farrell, Ph.D., provides total immersion leadership programs based in history throughout the United States and several sites overseas. Clients attend multiple-day seminars at locations where some of the most significant military decisions were made, influencing the destinies of the people at the locations in which they occurred. Based on the traits of Character, Courage, and Competence, facilitators use the lessons of history to prepare attendees for leadership positions in their companies.

One example is the Saratoga Leadership Experience, in which participants visit the historic battlefield and study the event considered the turning point of the American Revolution. Case studies of Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates, Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, and Sir William Howe are used to illustrate key leadership lessons that show attendees how to seize the initiative, align a complex organization, overcome adversity, and defeat complacency.

As with all the organization’s offerings, this two-day program is facilitated by a leader with extensive knowledge of the subject. Chief Operating Officer Adrienne M. Harrison, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in Early American History and has written extensively on subjects related to the American Revolution. She is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point who has spent 20 years as a military leader and private sector executive.

By LEE COLEMAN

Duct Kings, a new business specializing in professional air duct cleaning, dryer vent cleaning and mold removal, has opened at 5 Knabner Road in Mechanicville.

James Kennedy, owner of KPM Restoration, and Dan Kirchner started the business eight months ago and serve  Saratoga County, Albany County, Schenectady, Troy, and southern Warren County.

“Being in the restoration world, we have seen many fires that have started due to clogged dryer vents. This is an easily preventable issue,” said Kirchner, who did work for Kennedy’s fire and water restoration business.

“Along the same lines we have done many restoration projects on properties with mold, water and fire damage. The air ducts in these properties are affected and need to be cleaned for healthy air quality,” he said.

“We are fully licensed, certified and insured. We serve residential homes, businesses and institutions with the same dedication to quality and attention to detail,” Kirchner and Kennedy said in a joint statement.

“Our commitment is simple: to provide exceptional service that ensures the air quality and safety of your property,” they said.

Kirchner said it took Duct Kings a couple of months to develop a good system that is now in place. The company employs a three-person field tech crew and one office person. “We are looking to add another service van and another field tech team,” he said.

By Paul Post

 Rock Hill Bakehouse sells more than 14,000 loaves of bread per week, from Westchester to Lake Placid and is aiming for a 30 percent increase in production.

“That’s one of the main reasons we moved here, to get wholesale manufacturing back to a breakpoint in production,” owner Matt Funiciello said.

Wholesale accounts for about 80 percent of the firm’s business to health food stores, co-ops, supermarkets and restaurants, including ski areas and resort towns in western Massachusetts and Vermont as well.

The other 20 percent is retail, from its cozy cafe at 18 Curran Lane adjacent to The Shirt Factory in the east end of Glens Falls. Funiciello moved there five years ago, from a Route 9 strip plaza just north of Exit 17 in Moreau.

Now everything is under one roof. Previously, Rock Hill also had a café on Exchange Street in Glens Falls, in addition to the Moreau bakehouse.