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Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

The Success Of Benson’s Pet Centers Aided By Strong Commitment Of Extended Family

Posted onApril 21, 2025
NYS Senator Jim Tedisco presents a plaque commemorating the 25th anniversary of Benson’s Pet Center’s Wilton store to President Ryan Kramer, Sr. as family members and staff look on.
Courtesy of Benson’s Pet Centers

By Rod Bacon

Entrepreneurship is all about seizing the day. When someone with an entrepreneurial spirit recognizes a viable business opportunity they act upon it.

What started as a small fish room inside Benson’s Pet Shop in Wilton’s Pyramid Mall in 1992 has grown over the past 33 years to a family-owned-and-operated business with eight locations in the Capital District, Upstate New York, and Massachusetts.

As a youngster Ryan Kramer became interested in aquatics and his father, Frank, bought him his first fish tank when he was 12. His interest in fresh-water fish never waned and 10 years later he had the opportunity to purchase multiple fish tanks from a Ballston Spa store that was getting out of that area of the pet business. Shortly thereafter, he walked into the mall’s pet store looking for fish. There were none. The owner, a self-described “dog guy” who had named the store after his pet beagle, Benson, suggested that Ryan set up his fish tanks in an unused section of the store. He sold fish and fish supplies. 

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The Town Of Greenfield Welcomes Vicki’s Pizzeria & Market To The Community

Posted onApril 21, 2025
Greenfield Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch (holding pizza) stands with (from left) Walt Brownell, George Goss and Tony Ippoliti, the owner and staff, respectively, of Vicki’s Pizzeria & Market.
Photo by Jenn Ginley

By Rod Bacon

When Walt Brownell realized there was a dearth of pizzerias and grocery stores in the Town of Greenfield he filled the void by opening Vicki’s Pizzeria & Market.

“There were no pizzerias in the immediate area and the only nearby store selling groceries is a Stewart’s Shop in Greenfield Center. People have to go to Saratoga Springs or Corinth to find a large grocery store,” said Brownell. “Our grocery department is fully stocked with most items a household needs.”

This includes a large variety of deli meats, Cabot cheeses, milk, bread, cereal, soap and paper products. Also available in the deli department are wings, smoked brisket, corned beef, and breakfast sandwiches. For $12 customers can get a foot-long, fully stacked sub. 

“We’re new to the grocery business so we’re taking suggestions from customers about what they’d like us to add to our inventory,” Brownell said.

The pizzeria offers 24-cut, 12-cut, and six-cut Sicilian pies, as well as medium and large New Yorkers. Prices range from $11 to $24.  

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The Still At Speckled Pig To Bring Craft Spirits And Elevated Pub Fare To Ballston Spa

Posted onApril 21, 2025
A rendering of The Still at Speckled Pig, a new distillery and gastropub set to open next to the popular Speckled Pig Brewing Co. in Ballston Spa.
Courtesy Speckled Pig

By Susan Elise Campbell

Three years after opening The Speckled Pig Brewing Co. in the heart of Ballston Spa, the owners set their sights on the building next door and another business venture to build their brand: The Still at Speckled Pig.

Partners RJ Elliott, Randy Elliott, Kelly Delaney Elliott, Larry Heid, and Mary Jo Heid were keenly interested when the owner of Jim’s Garage at 17 Washington Street approached the Elliotts last summer with an offer to sell, according to Larry Heid.

“We were kicking around ideas to increase our revenue stream with a new restaurant. I loved the idea of spirits because if you’re a good brewer, you can be a good distiller,” said Heid, who was a home brewer when he joined the Elliott Family to launch Speckled Pig.

The partners hope that come this July, The Still will be selling its own brand of vodka, gin, rum, and, after it has aged two or more years, whiskey and bourbon.

Speckled Pig was the first company in the Village to craft their own beer onsite and to serve their own label on tap. Now with The Still at Speckled Pig, customers will be able to sip on spirits and craft cocktails, eat elevated pub food, and see through to the distilling equipment where the liquor in their glass was made, Heid said.

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Business Report: Entrepreneurs Benefit From Formal Education

Posted onApril 17, 2024
Ricky P. Thibodeau, Department Chairperson, HVCC Entrepreneurship AAS Program.
Courtesy of HVCC

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.

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Pop-Up Rally Encourages Young People To Work With Their Hands Building Hobby Race Cars

Posted onApril 17, 2024
A boy navigates a radio-controlled car through a simulated racetrack provided by Pop-Up Rally, a business designed to get kids interested in working with their hands.
Courtesy of Pop-Up Rally

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.

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Entrepreneurship Programs In Area Provide Valuable Information For Small Businesses

Posted onApril 17, 2024

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.”

Without good insurance, Common Roots probably wouldn’t have survived a devastating 2019 fire.

Kate Austin got so much help from Start-Up ADK that she literally can’t stop talking about it as one of the program’s most enthusiastic ambassadors, telling clients and fellow entrepreneurs about its many benefits. Austin owns Advokate, a Glens Falls-based firm she launched 13 years ago specializing in web and graphic design, branding, public relations, marketing and social media outreach.

“I thought it was very helpful to be in a class with other people who were in the same boat I was, trying to figure out what their business even was,” Austin said. “Having that peer group was super valuable on top of the fact that we had experts in insurance, legal matters, marketing and writing a business plan. They also talk about the nitty-gritty, ups and downs of what it’s like to be in business.”

“The whole thing start to finish was absolutely essential and I’ve been recommending it ever since,” she said.

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DeCrescente Distributing Wins President’s Award From Molson Coors For 10th Time

Posted onApril 11, 2023
DeCrescente Distributing Co. has been in business for 75 years.
Courtesy DeCrescente Distributing

DeCrescente Distributing Co. in Mechanicville  has won the Molson Coors President’s Award for the second consecutive year and 10th time overall.

The company is in its 75th year as a family run local beverage distributor.

Only 32 beverage distributors nationwide earn this prestigious award each year. Winning the award twice in two years is uncommon and a testament to the hard work and creativity of the DDC team, said company president C.J. DeCrescente.

“We set a high bar here,” DeCrescente said. “Each year, we create a strategic plan for each of our suppliers to help take their products to new heights. Winning this award proves that our entire team brought their A-Game to help us achieve our ambitious goals for the Molson Coors family of brands in 2022.”

In addition to winning the President’s Award, DeCrescente Distributing is one of seven Molson Coors Founders Award finalists. The award recognizes the nation’s top Molson Coors distributor for exemplary sales and distribution performance over the last year. DeCrescente is the only distributor in the nation to have ever won the Founders Award four consecutive times.

The Founders Award winner will be announced later this year.

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ADK Mobile Nurse Services Brings Medical Help To Patients Homes In The Region

Posted onApril 11, 2023
Lisa Murphy, RN, is the owner/operator of ADK Nurse Services.

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). 

Care ranges from a single consultation to continuing care on a monthly retainer basis. 

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Dion Puts Her Skills To Work As Owner Of ‘Adirondacks & Beyond Motorcycle Safety’

Posted onApril 11, 2023April 11, 2023
Jeanne Dion gives riding lessons at Adirondacks & Beyond Motorcycle Safety LLC.

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. 

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As Business Grows, ‘Chimney Heroes’ Owner Builds His Own Training Facility

Posted onApril 11, 2022
Jamie Wallace, right, Chimney Heroes owner with Michael Wager, center, and Tyler Delsignore.

Chimney Heroes, a chimney services company based in Ballston Spa,  has been experiencing a series of growth spurts over the past several years, according to president Jamie Wallace.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how people live in their homes. In turn, the home services industry has experienced a lot of record-breaking growth, he said. The latest iteration of Chimney Heroes’ growth trajectory is the completion of a 3,000-square-foot training facility and a new, larger warehouse.

  Chimney Heroes provides chimney inspections, sweeping, repair, masonry work and installation of gas and wood fireplaces. Wallace said the secret to the company’s growth and strength is his commitment to education.

All company technicians experience continuing education for excellence training, both internally and externally in an ongoing fashion. The construction of a dedicated training facility is the physical manifestation of years of investment in staff education and training.

“We have a manager on staff whose sole responsibility is training technicians in the field,” said Wallace. “Our company’s core values include professionalism and leadership development and my promise to my team is that I will provide everything they need to succeed and thrive in the chimney care business.

“We have a modern-day apprenticeship to tradesperson program, and we’re always looking to meet new serious candidates who’d like to study and work with us.”

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