By Christine Graf

After giving birth to her first child in 2015, Hudson Falls native Carly Trerise was especially grateful to the friends and family members who delivered home cooked meals to her house. It was out of that gratitude that the idea for a business was born. 

With the help of her father, Jim Quinlan, she came up with the idea for Dinner and Flowers (previously known as Send A Meal Today), a business that delivers pre-cooked refrigerated meals that can be reheated in the microwave or oven. 

The meals make perfect gifts for new parents, people who have just had surgery, or those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. In addition to entrees, a variety of homemade desserts are also available.

After a lot of time spent brainstorming with her father, Trerise enlisted Tamberlyn Dickinson to provide meals and baked goods for the business. Dickinson and her husband, Jon, are the owners of Dickerson’s Delight, an eatery in Glens Falls. They also sell their baked goods at the Glens Falls Farmer’s Market.

“After that, I started putting the word out that my dad and I had an idea that we were working on and that we were in the beginning stages and wanted to do test orders,” said Trerise. “I would use social media, including Facebook, to get orders.”

They accepted test orders for an entire year before officially launching the business in 2017. Trerise hired Kate Austin, owner of Advokate, a Glens Falls PR and marketing company, to help her as she worked to get the business off the ground.  

“Kate helped us iron out all of the little details. She also helped us to really get our business name out there into the community,” she said.

By Jill Nagy

When a company needs a controller, a staff accountant, a chief financial officer (CFO), or similar staff member, but not on a full-time basis, CEFO Advisors can step in. 

The Saratoga company provides a variety of professional staff members on a part-time basis.

Amy Roman has owned the company for 10 years. For the first five years, however, Roman was the only employee. Eventually, she realized that clients “needed more than just me,” and for the past five years, she has been hiring staff members and placing them with clients. 

In the early days, one of her clients described her as ”the bridge between CFO and CEO.”   That is the origin of the company name, CEFO.

Roman has 18 employees including managers, accountants, bookkeepers, controllers, CFOs, and staff training specialists, that she matches with companies needing their skills and expertise. Many are part-timers, working parents, or semi-retired people ready for a second career. They work flexible hours, including working at home, but must be available when the client company needs them on site, Roman said.

Typically, the CEFO specialist will remain with a company for year or more, coming and going as needed.

Company offices are at 125 High Rock Ave., Suite 103, in Saratoga Springs. 

Roman creates a team for each client company and she hires people for specific companies.

By Paul Post

Patrina Leland wasted no time making believers out of skeptical co-workers and customers in the male-dominated world of tire sales.

In 2021, she was named RNR Tire Express Rookie Manager of the Year for her success with a brand new store at 708 Upper Glen St.  in Queensbury.

Now plans are in the works for a second shop on State Street in Schenectady, with a long-range goal of opening one or two more between Albany and Troy.

“Sometimes people are a little surprised that a woman in this business knows about the tire, the wheel, the bolt pattern, what you can and can’t put on it,” Leland said. “I can run all the machines out back, set up the alignment rack, do the tire balances.”

Her can-do spirit comes from 30 years of work at her husband Jeff’s long-time, family-owned business, Leland Paper Co., which became part of W.B. Mason in 2019. 

“I really believe all my years there set me up for this position because I’ve done all of it—accounting, receivables, payables, sales. I ran the warehouse, loaded trucks and drove trucks,” said Leland, who holds an accounting degree from Russell Sage College.

By Ann Donnelly

Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business group is a valuable resource for women doing business in the Lake George region.

When I returned to upstate New York five years ago, participation in the group helped me quickly build connections and gain important information about the area and the best ways to do business here. So, in 2021, I took the group’s co-chair role to participate more actively and support the women working so hard on their careers while advancing the Lake George region.

Formed in 2012, the first co-chairs were Lynn Clausen, who worked at Dunhams Bay Resort, and Kathy Miller, owner of Love is on Lake George, still an active member. They spent the first meetings developing the mission, which we continue to adhere to today, “To inspire personal growth using our combined experiences and expertise to provide the tools to aid and encourage women in our region through networking, educating, and mentoring.”

All women who are Chamber members, or work for member organizations, including non-profit and commercial enterprises, are welcome to participate. In addition, those considering joining the Chamber may attend one meeting. Recent attendees have come from real estate, healthcare, business services, hospitality, leisure, retail, education, local agencies, healthcare, and membership organizations.

LGRCC Women in Business meets on the first Wednesday of each month from September through June. After 30 minutes of open networking, the meeting starts with “around the room,” where each attendee introduces herself, describes her business, and announces any news, promotions, or events. Attendees may also note any needs where others in the group could assist. Many members have developed valuable alliances from this.