Kristin Chlopecki was named the new executive director of the Tri-County United Way, succeeding Brian Bearor, who resigned in April.

She has served the organization for eight years as a business manager and director of resource development before accepting her new position with the board of directors.

Zack Moore, chairman of the Tri-County United Way board of directors, said he is happy to have someone who is already a part of the organization take the job.

“We are so fortunate to have a local person who is already on our United Way team and is as experienced a leader as Kristin and is prepared to accept these broader responsibilities,” Moore said in a news release. “Kristin was the unanimous and enthusiastic choice of our search committee.”

Chlopecki is a Glens Falls High School graduate. Before joining United Way, she worked in fashion publishing in New York City after earning degrees from Ohio University and New York FIT. She said she is looking forward to bringing leadership of the United Way team the “financial and creative skills that made her successful in business.”

“I’ve had the privilege of working with the Tri-County United Way for eight years and have truly learned the meaning of community. The people of this area are sincerely generous and I have learned so much from watching the work of the local agencies that help so many people and the donors who make it possible for the agencies do their good work,” Chlopecki said. “I am honored to be chosen to be the team leader for the Tri-County United Way to help positively impact our area nonprofits.”

The Arts District of Glens Falls is calling for a second round of artists to create public art on three more electrical boxes in downtown Glens Falls. 

The Arts District, launched in 2015, is a group of 14 organizations working with the City of Glens Falls on a public arts trail as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. It was created by the nonprofit arts and cultural organizations of Glens Falls to build a connection between member organizations, attract tourists and residents to arts and culture offerings throughout the city, and engage in public art. 

Officials said the program will enhance the cultural experience of the art-centered district. 

The group is seeking artists to paint on electrical boxes. Art proposals must include all sides of the electrical box. Final box assignments will be determined by the group’s  public art committee. 

Proposals must include the artist’s signature on the proposal as it would appear on the actual electrical box. 

By Andrea Harwood

Mike Gerarde, formerly of Keena Staffing, has started a professional golf instruction business.

PSG Golf offers golf lessons to golfers of all ages and abilities, with an additional focus on golf as a means of professional business development, Gerarde said. 

He teaches out of Bay Meadows Golf Course and The Luxury Box, both in Queensbury. He will meet clients at their own golf course within 25 miles of downtown Glens Falls.

When Gerarde was in a business development role at Keena Staffing, he went to many golf tournaments to network. He noticed most of his associates didn’t go. When he asked them why, they responded they didn’t think they were good enough golfers to go.

“Golf is such a great opportunity to get with other business owners and people, not just for tournaments, but in general,” he said. “There’s no better way to network  … Thinking that you’re not good enough to golf shouldn’t be a reason to deter you from doing it.”

He said his client target is  “the person who wants to enjoy golf and use it in the business world. I did the coffee dates and seeing people at mixers. But nothing comes close to the type of relationship that I would get out on a golf course.”

By Christine Graf

New Way Lunch, home of the famous “dirt dog,” is finishing up renovations to its restaurant at 21 South St. in Glens Falls. 

Established in 1919, the popular family-owned eatery has been a fixture in downtown Glens Falls since 1919. New Way Lunch also has locations in Queensbury and Warrensburg.

The popular lunch spot closed in March 2020, and because of the pandemic, work on the project was significantly delayed. 

“We’re still in the process updating and fixing all that needs to be fixed and extending the building out on South Street,” said owner Peter Gazetos, grandson of New Way Lunch founders John and Mary Floro. His wife, Susan, along with son, Nicholas, and daughter, Alexandria Minneo, work alongside him in the family business.

“We’re putting a small addition on the back and changing interior and exterior color. We’ve updated all of the infrastructure including the plumbing. We will have a covered outdoor seating area with a galvanized roof. We’re giving it a nice face lift,” he said.

Gazetos started at New Way Lunch in 1979 and has owned the business since 1990. His flagship location was moved from 54 South St. to 21 South St. more than a decade ago. 

By Jill Nagy

Adirondack Winery has opened a new tasting room and event space in Queensbury at 395 Big Bay Road. 

Adirondack Winery, with locations in Lake George and Queensbury, produces 35 varieties of wine from New York state grapes, most of them from the Finger Lakes region. In addition to many standard wine varieties, they specialize in fruit-infused wines.

Sasha Pardy and her husband and co-owner, Michael Pardy, opened their first winery in 2008 at 285 Canada St. in Lake George. That year, Pardy and his father produced 1,000 cases of wine, using a 1,000-square-foot space at the back of the tasting room. They quickly sold out and had to supplement with wines from other New York state wineries. 

Three years later, they moved their wine-making operation to their location in Queensbury and they also renovated and enlarged the Lake George tasting room. Pardy estimated that more than 60,000 people visit that tasting room each year. The winery added Brad Casacci to its staff, promoting him to winemaker in 2021.

The Pardys also developed an online sales capacity and began shipping their wine to 35 states.  

By Jill Nagy

Morcon, a paper products company in Eagle Bridge, plans a major expansion of its facility. 

Company president Joe Raccula expects to have the final piece of the puzzle in place by the end of the month when the Waren-Washington Industrial Development Agency (IDA) os expected to approve the company’s application for a tax abatement package.

The total cost of the project is budgeted at $15 million. 

To help pay that bill, the company is seeking some $744,000 in sales tax exemptions and $119,000 in mortgage tax exemptions. Preliminary work, like moving fiber optic lines, has already begun.  

The IDA has been “extremely supportive” throughout a two-year planning process, Raccula said. That support influenced the decision to expand in Eagle Bridge rather than at the company’s much larger facility in South Carolina, he noted. 

Morcon manufactures paper towels, napkins, and facial tissue. They buy rolls of paper from factories all over North America and turn the paper into the finished products. 

By R.J. DELUKE

Schermerhorn Real Estate Holdings in Queensbury has purchased the former Water Slide World amusement park property in Lake George for a reported $3 million.

A document was filed July 27 in Warren County, signed by Dawn Koncikowski, who operated the amusement park with her husband Gary until he died in May 2018.

The 12-acre park has been dormant since 2018.It is located at the corner of routes 9 and 9L along the southern entrance to the Lake George village.

Rich Schermerhorn, an active developoer of apartment complexes in the area, was represented by the firm of Bartlett Pontiff Stewart & Rhodes PC in Glens Falls.

Schermerhorn did not respond to requests for comment.

He envisions a mixed-use project with professional offices, some retail and some apartments, according to media reports.

In 2008, the amusement park was listed for sale for $6 million. About a decade later, the owners of Waterslide World asked to have the property included a proposed economic development plan for Lake George that envisioned a year-round community with more commercial and residential development, according to Danial Barusch, director of planning and zoning for the Town of Lake George.