Category Archives: Entrepreneurs

By Paul Post

Bert Weber got so much help from his small business mentor that he named a beer after him.

A retired BOCES horticulture and landscape design teacher, Weber co-owns South Glens Falls-based Common Roots Brewing Company, which has blossomed into one of the region’s largest craft breweries since its founding 10 years ago.

Weber credits much of its success to programs such as SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer expert business mentors; and Start-Up ADK, an eight week non-credit SUNY Adirondack course for small business owners and entrepreneurs that includes business planning and topics such as marketing, bookkeeping, legal issues, financial projections, human resources and small business tools.

“Everyone has a great idea and wants to get started, but there’s the business part of it, things like finance, insurance, regulations and licensing that you have to consider; things you don’t want to think about, but are really necessary as a new business starting out” Weber said. “They talked a lot about pitfalls you should avoid.”

By Ricky P. Thibodeau, Department Chairperson

Whether you are interested in launching your first business venture or are an existing small business owner looking to grow your current business, the HVCC Entrepreneurship AAS program will give you the necessary skills to pursue that dream. Students will learn the fundamentals for increasing the likelihood of building sustainable success in their ventures. 

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in the United States and now accounts for more than 20 percent of all jobs. The internet has greatly expanded the possibilities for small entrepreneurs, allowing businesses to establish niche audiences and clientele around the world. Since the Entrepreneurship program can help you establish any number of small business opportunities, your career path is completely in your hands.

Coursework will help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and understand entrepreneurial finance, small business management, and marketing and legal issues for small business owners. Entrepreneurship coursework is often sought by those who want to establish their own businesses.

However, another path students may take is intrapreneurship, which refers to becoming a driver of innovation within an existing company, applying the new and unique ideas and strategies learned through entrepreneurial education.  Intrapreneurship opportunities exist within a wide variety of companies and organizations, and the demand for innovative strategies and creative thought within existing companies is always in demand.

By Christine Graf   

Remodeling contractor Craig Volkommer, owner of Details and Improvements, is on a mission to teach basic construction skills to young people. About three years ago, he established Pop-Up Rally, a business dedicated to radio controlled cars. 

 “I started this business to teach kids how to use hand tools—how to bend things, tighten things, cut things—how to work with their hands. Working with models has really helped me improve my own skills that I use in my remodeling business,” said Volkommer.

A life-long radio controlled car enthusiast, he teaches kids to assemble, modify, and build hobby-grade radio controlled cars. 

“It can be assembly projects or custom-built bodies, and it’s also repairs and maintenance,” he said. “They are hobby grade cars, so all the parts are interchangeable.”

This summer, Pop-Up Rally will be conducting a summer enrichment program at SUNY Adirondack. Designed for children ages 8 and up, participants will learn to build, repair, and race radio controlled cars. 

After the cars are built, they will be raced on an elaborate rally-style race track, one based off the renowned Dakar Rally. The track includes many obstacles including jumps, turns, and bridges. It can be configured in a multitude of ways.

By Susan Elise Campbell 

Aneesa Waheed has come a long way since she and her husband began selling Moroccan-Indian fusion dishes at a farmer’s market in 2008. Now the owner of six Tara Kitchen restaurants, Waheed is the recipient of the New York Small Business Person of the Year Award for 2024.

This year’s award winner runs a woman-owned, minority-owned string of eateries that extend from Schenectady to India. There are more than two million small businesses and potential candidates in New York, but the honor goes to the Capital Region entrepreneur. 

“It’s great to be nominated and shocking to have won,” she said. “I feel honored and humbled.”

Waheed was nominated by Keri Pratico, who is currently senior business development officer for Pursuit and who was approached by Waheed 15 years ago seeking a small business loan for her New York City restaurant.

“Back then, the Tara Kitchen empire of today felt like a distant dream,” said Pratico. “Anyone who knows Aneesa isn’t surprised that her tenacity and dedication have led her to this award.”

“I’m thrilled to see her recognized on the national stage,” Pratico said. 

By Jill Nagy

If someone needs a nurse, Lisa Murphy can be there without the patient leaving home. Her Glens Falls-based ADK Mobile Nurse Services provides services in patients’ homes—or wherever else they are—in communities within 60 miles of Glens Falls, including Queensbury, Lake George, Saratoga, Albany, and surrounding locations.

Murphy is a registered nurse with 15 years of hospital experience, including case management, and 10 years as a director of clinical services in long term care and rehabilitation facilities. Her office, at 35 Evergreen Lane, Queensbury, is in a senior living facility.

With hospitals discharging patients earlier and providing less outpatient care, there is a growing need for the kind of care Murphy can provide. She can step in to provide follow-up care after hospital discharge, whether managing medications, changing dressings, helping patients adjust to a new lifestyle, or just looking in to be sure someone is getting along well. 

In addition, she administers intravenous vitamin and mineral treatments (on orders from a physician). 

By Christine Graf

For the past 20 years, Adirondacks & Beyond Motorcycle Safety LLC, has been offering a variety of motorcycle courses for both beginners and experienced riders. 

Owner Jeanne Dion purchased the business from Marc and Margie Connelly when they retired in 2021. Before that, she worked for the Connellys as a Motorcycle Safety Foundation certified RiderCoach. 

Dion has been riding for about 20 years, and after learning the basics from her husband, she enrolled in a motorcycle course for beginners. 

“I took the class within six months of him teaching me to ride,” she said. “I learned so many skills, and it just made riding much more enjoyable.”

A few years later, Dion was working as a civilian at the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh when she became a RiderCoach for the motorcycle safety course that was offered there. After she and her husband relocated to the North Country, she continued to work for the military and became a RiderCoach at Adirondacks & Beyond Motorcycle Safety. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Flour Child Bakery opened in February at 128 Glen St., two years after proprietor and Fort Edward native Taylor Suprenant started her in-home baking business.

“People saw the baked goods I posted online and asked for orders,” she said. “I outgrew my home kitchen and started looking for someplace to do the baking, not necessarily for a storefront.”

She said she was “a little young” at that time, but as it happened, her friend Ashley Kopf, who also had gone from home baker to shop proprietor, was selling Abby’s Cookie Jar after running it for three years. 

Suprenant once worked at Abby’s over a summer. Kopf and her husband, who was Suprenant’s high school band teacher, asked if she wanted to take over the business.

She purchased the equipment and display cases and brought over her decorating materials and cookie cutters used to create specialty cookies, macarons and custom cakes and cupcakes.

By Jennifer Farnsworth

It might be that Yvonne Manso has the ability to ensure confidence in her customers when it comes to the quality of the product, because quite simply Manso believes in herself.

As a sales director for D.A. Collins, Manso has spent the past 14 years earning a solid reputation in a historically male dominated industry. Her work ethic and spirit brought her to the forefront of the construction materials industry.

She is originally from Michigan. After high school, Manso served two years in the military and four years in the reserves. She later moved to Las Vegas, working in the hotel  industry for 14 years. After meeting her husband, a native of Saratoga County, she found herself moving to the area and in need of a job. She landed a position at D.A. Collins as a sales coordinator.

“The hotel industry is so different and I had no experience in the construction field, but I was lucky enough to find a company that trusted I could learn the business. And I did,” said Manso.

When she first began, she could sometimes sense apprehension when contractors would see a woman show up on a job site. She said she did not let that deter her. In fact, It motivated her to learn the ins and outs of the business. Now, contractors know they are dealing with a seasoned pro.

“It has gotten so much better over the years, but I really had to prove myself, which I wanted to do. I wanted to learn all that I could so that I would feel confident in what I was doing. I knew I had to spend time at the plants and really work hard to gain enough experience to have the confidence I needed,” said Manso.

By Jill NAgy

A hobby became a full-time business three years ago when Brad LaCross gave up a career in IT to devote himself to automobile detailing.

His Legendary Auto Salon in Queensbury specializes in protective finishes for automobiles.

LaCross recently signed a 10-year lease on a facility at 75 Carey Road, near Exit 18 of the Northway. It is a brand new facility. In fact,  “there are a few things to fix” before his certificate of occupancy becomes permanent.

The shop has 3,800 square feet of work space and includes a custom-built clean room and a training facility. The first training session was in October and attracted auto detailers from across the country. He hopes to help build credibility for a new industry, working with colleagues to develop standards and a certification process.

As an information technology person, LaCross worked as a systems administrator and operated data centers. His experience in running a business carried over into the current enterprise. It also helps in his effort to develop standard operating procedures for everything.

At the same time, he was preparing cars for auto shows and doing other detailing work, using space in the back of an automobile service shop.