The Adirondack Civic Center Coalition announced on July 12 that it has entered into a five-year agreement with Cool Insuring Agency to rebrand the Glens Falls Civic Center as Cool Insuring Arena, effective immediately.

“We’re proud to partner with a great member of our community in Cool Insuring Agency as we are able to name our building for the first time in its 38-year history,” Adirondack Civic Center Coalition President Dan Burke said. “We are almost 60 percent of the way to our overall Keep Hockey Here fundraising goal and are excited to move forward as the Cool Insuring Arena.”

Cool Insuring Agency, based in Queensbury, becomes the first sponsor of the downtown arena since its inception in 1979. The five-year agreement keeps the agency as the official sponsor of the arena through 2022. The naming rights deal marks the next step as the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition and Adirondack Thunder hockey team approach the 2017-18 season.

“From day one in 1979, we have been a season ticket holder and dasher board advertiser at the Civic Center,” Cool Insuring Agency Vice President Jack Bieniek said. “We are acutely aware of the benefits of what a viable and catalytic entertainment venue means to our hometown community and its local businesses.

“The employees, management and owners of Cool Insuring Agency are honored to support the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition today and into the future.”

The third annual Adirondack Wine & Food Festival held in June at Charles R. Wood Festival Commons in Lake George was the best attended thus far, organizers said.

Officials said nearly 6,000 tickets were purchased.

Adirondack Festivals owner Sasha Pardy said, “We sold nearly 6,000 tickets to the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival and had more than 5,700 people in attendance at the event over the two days. We also broke all past attendance records at the Festival Commons.”

In 2016, the festival sold about 5,200 tickets and 5,000 people attended, she said.

“We are particularly proud of this achievement, as our 2016 Festival was designated as an official Taste New York Event and we received a $65,000 grant from Gov. Cuomo’s New York Craft Beverage Initiative, on top of some local funding, to help promote the festival,” Pardy said.

“We were concerned that although we were granted $35,000 in funding from Lake George village, town and Warren County this year, that without the state funding, we might not be able to reach the 6,000 tickets goal we had set out for this year. Thankfully, we could reach our goals on a much tighter marketing budget. I think it shows the impact positive attendee feedback and word of mouth can have and that we made the right marketing choices with our budget this year.”

The vendor list included 24 wineries, four breweries, eight distilleries, three cideries, 26 artisan food vendors, nine food trucks, one local restaurant, six specialty vendors, some sponsor booths, and a weekend full of culinary demonstrations provided by the SUNY Adirondack culinary students.

The Hyde Collection Board of Trustees announced  that Erin B. Coe will leave the position of museum director this summer to accept a position as director of the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University.

A national search will be conducted for a new director, said Karl Seitz, chairman of the Hyde board of trustees. Coe will leave the Hyde in late July.

The board also announced that Anne Saile, an accomplished nonprofit CEO and founder of the Saile Group LLC, a business development and leadership consulting firm, has been named interim director.

Saile is the former president of Bellevue Woman’s Center in Schenectady. She has served on numerous boards and blue ribbon panels, is founding chair of the Women@Work Executive Advisory Board for Hearst, immediate past president of the board of directors of the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society and founding member of the Forum for Executive Women.

“This is a bittersweet moment for The Hyde,” Seitz said. “We are delighted to see Erin take the next big step in what is already a brilliant career. Her leadership of the Hyde, particularly the establishment of the new Feibes & Schmitt Gallery for Modern and Contemporary art, has been extraordinary.

“Erin has created a platform for future growth and opportunity for The Hyde. As her colleagues and friends, we will miss our daily contact with a vibrant, optimistic, visionary spirit and we wish her only the best.”

Coe helped the Hyde secure one of the largest gifts in its history, $11 million in modern art and cash from Schenectady architect Werner Feibes and his late partner, James Schmitt. She then led a successful campaign to raise $500,000 more in private contributions and foundation support to expand the museum and build a new gallery to showcase modern art, the first new exhibition space at the Hyde in more than 28 years.

Two area small businesses were recognized during National Small Business Week at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 19th annual Small Business Excellence Awards luncheon in Albany in May.

Small businesses are selected for the Excellence Awards based on their company’s longevity, innovation, sales growth, increased employment, ability to overcome adversity or community contributions.

Glens Falls National Bank & Trust Co. honored the Bullpen Tavern based in Glens Falls with a the Small Business Excellence Award. The tavern, a downtown Glens Falls sports bar and restaurant, was started by four high school friends, Paul Bricoccoli, Jr., Scott Endieveri, David Krogmann, Jr., and Jason Krogmann.

In 2013, a fire in an upstairs apartment burned the interior. The partners undertook a complete renovation and re-opened nine months later with a new look. The new Bullpen Tavern also has a second-floor banquet space for 100 guests and two third-floor apartments.

Glens Falls Hospital announced that Dr. Benjamin Katz of Saratoga Springs was named vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer.

The hospital also announced that Patti Hammond of Ray Brook was named vice president of physician practice management.

Katz succeeded retiring CMO Dr. Robert Pringle effective July 3.  Katz was previously the associate CMO. Pringle will remain at the hospital as an internal physician consultant through Dec. 1.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Ben on our team and have witnessed his outstanding dedication and passion for his work.  His vision and commitment to high quality patient-centered care will be a tremendous asset to Glens Falls Hospital as we continue to grow and expand our services,” said Dianne Shugrue, president and CEO of Glens Falls Hospital.

In addition to his role as associate chief medical officer, Katz also served as associate medical director of the Emergency Department at the hospital.

Previously, he worked in the Emergency Department at Albany Medical Center as associate residency director and director of quality assurance.

The Adirondack Thunder hockey team has released its regular season schedule for the 2017-18 ECHL season, their third as a member of the ECHL.

The home schedule, which consists of 36 home games, will begin on Saturday, Oct.  14, as the Thunder take on the Brampton Beast at the Glens Falls Civic Center at 7 p.m., the first time that the Thunder have opened the regular season at home.

The 2017-18 home schedule will conclude on Friday, April 6, as the Thunder take on the Manchester Monarchs in a rematch of both the 2015 and 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The Thunder’s home schedule is highlighted by 13 Saturday home games and 12 Friday home dates for a total of 25 games on those evenings. The schedule also contains three Sunday home games making it the most weekend heavy schedule in three seasons in the ECHL, team officials said.

The 2017-18 schedule will be rounded out with two Tuesdays and six Wednesdays.

All Friday and Saturday home games will begin at 7:00 p.m., with the exception of Saturday, March 17, which will begin at 3 p.m. for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Sunday games will begin at 3 p.m., with the exception of the annual New Year’s Eve game, which will start at 5 p.m.