Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County have no shortage of fantastic goods and services to offer! In this podcast, our host Mike Nelson will clue you in on the amazing gems hidden in your very own community!
Habitat for Humanity
Season 3, Episode 6
Michael Nelson and Katherine Kressner interview George and Fawn from Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren, and Washington Counties. Discussion focuses on the change in H4H model, challenges they see in fund raising and more.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The opinions reflected in this podcast are not indicative of the views of Saratoga Business Report, SaratogaBride.com LLC, Glens Falls Business Report, or Five Towers Media.
Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County have no shortage of fantastic goods and services to offer! In this podcast, our host Mike Nelson will clue you in on the amazing gems hidden in your very own community!
Elite Fighting Promotions
Season 3, Episode 5
In Season 3 Episode 5 of Buying Local our host, Michael Nelson, sits down with Don Walton and Jay Ingleston from Elite Fighting Promotions to talk about their upcoming Fight Fest in Saratoga Springs.
They chat about Don’s recent trip to Thailand with one of his students who is absolutely dominating his age group, local fighting and jiu jitsu, and of course the upcoming event at Saratoga Springs City Center on November 1st. Jay also drops a big news bomb on some things coming up in February! CHECK IT OUT!! Learn more by going to https://www.elitefightingpromotions.com/.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The opinions reflected in this podcast are not indicative of the views of Saratoga Business Report, SaratogaBride.com LLC, Saratoga TODAY, Glens Falls TODAY Business Report, or Five Towers Media.
Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County have no shortage of fantastic goods and services to offer! In this podcast, our host Mike Nelson will clue you in on the amazing gems hidden in your very own community!
Alliance Jiu Jitsu Saratoga
Season 3, Episode 4
Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media is on location at Alliance Jiu Jitsu Saratoga as they prepare to open their doors. He interviews Brazilion Jiu Jitsu Professors James and Jesse Bruchac about what is in store for the new location as well as some of their past experiences on and off the mats.
Don’t miss their Grand Opening on September 28! Check out their website at saratogajiujitsu.com for details.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The opinions reflected in this podcast are not indicative of the views of Saratoga Business Report, SaratogaBride.com LLC, Saratoga TODAY, Glens Falls TODAY Business Report, or Five Towers Media.
Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County have no shortage of fantastic goods and services to offer! In this podcast, our host Mike Nelson will clue you in on the amazing gems hidden in your very own community!
Katie Tansey, HR Resolved
Season 3, Episode 3
In this episode Mike Nelson from Five Towers Media interviews Katie Tansey about her successful company HR Resolved and her passion for nutrition coaching, fitness, and helping people be the best version of themselves.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The opinions reflected in this podcast are not indicative of the views of Saratoga Business Report, SaratogaBride.com LLC, Saratoga TODAY, Glens Falls TODAY Business Report, or Five Towers Media.
Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County have no shortage of fantastic goods and services to offer! In this podcast, our host Mike Nelson will clue you in on the amazing gems hidden in your very own community!
R.A.S.P Controls – Ron Richards
Season3, Episode 2
In this episode Michael Nelson from Five Towers Media interviews Ron Richards from R.A.S.P. Controls. They talk about Ron’s experience launching and growing his business, Triathlons, and more.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The opinions reflected in this podcast are not indicative of the views of Saratoga Business Report, SaratogaBride.com LLC, Saratoga TODAY, Glens Falls TODAY Business Report, or Five Towers Media.
Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County have no shortage of fantastic goods and services to offer! In this podcast, our host Mike Nelson will clue you in on the amazing gems hidden in your very own community!
Saratoga Dry Age Cuts
Season 3, Episode 1
In this Episode host Michael Nelson interviews the owners of Saratoga Dry Age Cuts. These guys built a successful business that started as a hobby in their garage and grew into a brick and mortar store with over 12 employees.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The opinions reflected in this podcast are not indicative of the views of Saratoga Business Report, SaratogaBride.com LLC, Saratoga TODAY, Glens Falls TODAY Business Report, or Five Towers Media.
From the hardships of military life, challenges of navigating parenthood, and unpredictable economic changes, Juan and Amie Gonzales have overcome a lot in their lives. Through every obstacle however, they remained committed to their community and each other.
As the President of Hunt Companies, Inc. Amie views her team as a family and is dedicated to leading them to success. Juan supports her as the Chief Financial Officer for the company, creating strategies to ensure they make it through every obstacle. While their success with Hunt Companies is impressive, it is their continued dedication to serving their community that makes Juan and Amie such admirable leaders.
In 1986, Amie’s father, Dennis Hunt, began a construction business known as Hunt Construction Services. The name was later changed in 1992 to Hunt Companies, Inc.
Growing up, Amie always enjoyed learning about her father’s business and thought about the possibility of taking over for him. When she graduated high school, Amie earned an associate’s degree from Herkimer Community College. She then continued working with her father, until an army recruiter tracked her down in the parking lot. Dennis was a Navy veteran and Amie had always wondered if she could make it in the military. She decided to take the leap and enlisted in the Navy, vice the Army.
Like Amie, Juan’s father was also a veteran having served in the Army. For him, enlisting in the military was a way out of the neighborhood, and provided more opportunities for his life. He participated in a buddy program with three of his friends and joined the Navy two weeks after high school.
While in the Navy, Amie was a journalist writing stories that would be distributed worldwide. She also did some videography work and photography. Eventually, the Navy combined the photographers, journalists, and lithographers to create mass communication specialists. Amie continued producing stories, photos, and videos for various media outlets. She spent most of her time on the east coast, but was deployed several times. Juan was in the yeoman rating, where he managed a lot of different administration and finance functions.
“They sent me to Hawaii for three years as an 18 year old kid, and everybody asks why I stayed in the Navy for that long? It’s because they sent me to Hawaii for three years,” Juan shared.
At about his 10 year mark in the Navy, Juan joined the flag writer program. While in this program, he managed the offices of senior Navy and Joint leaders.
He shared that this role was, “Where I honed all of my office manager skills, change management and process improvement skills, financing, budgeting… All that really was a great pathway walking into Hunt Companies.”
Juan & Amie; Admiral and Mrs. Giambastiani, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Denny & Cindy Hunt at their dual reenlistment ceremony in the Pentagon (2007)
Juan and Amie met in Millington, Tennessee — the home of Navy personnel commands. This was Amie’s first active duty station following her schooling and also where the two began their relationship. However, the military lifestyle meant that being together consisted of quite a bit of time apart. They spent hours driving to see each other on weekends when Juan was stationed in the Pentagon and Amie in Norfolk, VA and communicated as often as they could.
“Because we were both active duty, we both understood the lifestyle, we understood what sacrifices had to be made on both sides and we were willing to do that. We had trust and faith in each other,” said Amie.
Eventually the two were married and welcomed their son Ethan into the world. This made being long distance even more difficult, and there was a period of time while Amie was deployed that Juan had to care for Ethan himself. Juan shared that, through the challenges, he and Amie often referred back to the quote by Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who said, “Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, and the temporary failures.” Having served an eight year long career in the military, Amie decided that she would leave in order to be with her son.
Once she left the Navy, she began working remotely and focused on getting her master’s degree from Strayer University. She then returned to her father’s business and found that the skills she had acquired in the military helped her be successful at the job. “The experiences from the service, the leadership that we learned— the accountability, determination, all those things that the service teaches you— directly applied to what we were doing here at Hunt Companies and really helped us refine what my father had started,” Amie shared.
Juan continued in the Navy for 20 years before retiring, but not before he earned his master’s degree. “When we came up here, I was happy to be retired and didn’t have any plans. I wanted to be the first confirmed Washington county sasquatch and started growing out my beard and my hair,” he joked. However, the plan changed in 2015 when Denny and Amie brought him on as the Chief Financial Officer for Hunt Companies.
While HCI had many successes, they experienced a major loss when their biggest customer stopped construction that year. “In one phone call, 8 million dollars worth of work disappeared for the year with us not knowing where the work was going to come from,” explained Juan. Luckily, they were able to resolve the conflict and not lay off a single employee, but they realized the importance of having a backup plan and not relying on one customer for too much of their income. As a result, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Juan, Amie, and her brother Jason, the Vice President and Operations Manager, were prepared and refined the plan they had created.
“When Covid hit in 2020 we were actually ready for it, we just dusted off the book, made some tweaks to it and actually kept our plan on how to survive a tough year,” said Juan. They were able to get through the difficult time without letting go of anyone on their team. Today, the company continues to thrive and Amie, Jason, and Juan are working on continuing to build a strong foundation for the future of Hunt Companies. “My main goal is just continuing to strengthen the foundation,” said Amie.
While the two are extremely proud of how far Hunt Companies has come, their biggest achievement has been the impact they’ve had on their community. “When you find that level of success, you have to give back to the community that you’re in. America has survived 240-plus years because you’ve always given some to the next generation,” said Juan. Amie feels the same way saying, “Our businesses and our communities will thrive when they invest in each other.” Recently, Amie took over as the Chair for the SUNY Adirondack Board of Trustees and Juan is the Chairman for the Warren/Washington County Industrial Development Agency.
“To be able to run two chairs in one family on vital community boards here is special to us personally and shows people you have to stay involved even sometimes when you do get a little tired,” shared Juan.
When they are not busy giving back to their community or running Hunt Companies, Juan and Amie love traveling. They still keep in touch with friends from the military and enjoy visiting them when they can. “With military buddies, you pickup where you last left off, it doesn’t matter if it’s one day or ten years,” Juan shared. The two also have bees that they care for and spend time outside gardening. In the future, they are looking forward to retiring and preparing to see how Hunt Companies grows under the next generation.
Vision is a privilege that can easily be taken for granted, but for many, clear sight depends on the expertise of dedicated opticians. Yet, not everyone has the luxury of easy access to an optometrist or the means to afford a new pair of glasses.
Recognizing this, Lions Club member Josh McIntyre is on a mission to make vision care more accessible. By providing eyeglasses to those in need, he’s helping people see the world with newfound clarity and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to experience life through a clearer lens.
As a New York State registered optician, Josh has a passion for helping people see by providing them the right prescription. He was inspired by his grandfather-in-law Lion John Banach PDG (past district governor) to join the Lions Club. The Lions Club is the world’s largest service organization, with more than 1.4 million members. They have several global causes with vision being one of them.
Josh McIntyre of the Glens Falls Lions Club
Because of his occupation, Josh saw the Lions Club as the perfect way to help serve his community. “I saw it as a great opportunity to bring some of the knowledge and services that I can provide to the Lions Club,” shared Josh.
He found inspiration when the non-profit organization Remote Area Medical (RAM) visited the Hudson Falls area.
This organization provides similar health services and Josh thought, “If they can do this nationally, why can’t we do this locally?”
He then began researching and reached out to another Lions Club in Niagara Falls. They invited him to one of their clinics where they were able to provide people with a no-questions-asked eye exam. The exam provides people with a new or updated prescription which they can use to order the needed glasses.
From there they are given the choice of a frame and then a date when their glasses will be ready. This is an incredible resource for people who need an updated prescription or can’t afford to replace old frames. “It gives them the opportunity to pick out new frames versus using the old ones that may not be well fit or ruined and glued together,” explained Josh.
The clinic was a huge success and had an impact on hundreds of people. “This is something that is very rewarding seeing the amount of people that needed the glasses. We ordered 90 pairs of glasses within 6 hours,” Josh shared.
He went on to say, “That’s about 90 people that couldn’t or didn’t have eyeglasses, [their] most recent prescription, and/or any prescription, are now going to be able to have that vision again.”
In order to meet the needs of the mass amounts of people that need new glasses, Josh also participates in another program that reuses old frames. As people get new prescriptions and need to change their glasses, they often end up with older pairs that are still in excellent condition.
Collection boxes for these old frames are located all throughout Glens Falls such as at optometrist and ophthalmologist offices, Crandall Library’s park entrance, banks, and Walmart.
After the glasses are collected, Josh removes the old lenses and fits them with new prescriptions tailored to the needs of each individual. He can create both single vision lenses, used for either distance or reading, and bifocal lenses, which are convenient for people who need correction for both near and far vision.
Currently, he has 300 pairs of frames that people can pick from. This not only provides people with something they need, but allows them to have a say in their appearance which is a huge confidence booster. They are able to see clearly and feel good about the way they look at the same time.
The success he’s seen through these programs has inspired Josh to begin working on bringing a clinic to the Glens Falls area.
“It’s inspiring me to bring that to the East side of New York, mostly in Glens Falls but not limited to Glens Falls,” Josh said.
He wants to help even more people locally and even expand in the future to the Schroon Lake and Salem, New York region. If you’re interested in helping community members gain access to better vision care, consider dropping off your old frames in one of the donation boxes.
This program is just one of the many ways the Lions Club helps the community and serves those in the area. For more information, please contact Josh at gflionjosh@gmail.com
As a small business owner, one thing we understand is the importance of time management.
Even with meticulous planning of our days, we can quickly find our lists of “To Do’s” pile up faster than we can blink, and we can find ourselves stressed out in the moment. What does stress do to our physical and mental health? When we experience stress in prolonged periods of time our physical and mental health suffers. We start to feel the effects of stress in not being able to concentrate, experiencing digestive issues, our heartbeat may rise along with other tightness and tension in various areas of our body. These symptoms indicate a dysregulation in our nervous system and our body needs a reset.
When stress happens here are five things you can do to help with all the emotions and overwhelming thoughts you may experience.
1. Sleep
Adults should strive for 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Studies show anything less than 6 hours a night can cause mental distress. The first question I ask when beginning an initial therapy session with someone is how their sleep is. Did you know that REM sleep is what restores and heals our mind and body? So without adequate sleep our body and mind cannot function at full capacity.
2. Sunlight
Improves our physical and mental health. Research shows that the sun provides our mind and body with Vitamin D for bone health, increases serotonin for a calm mood, and melatonin for adequate sleep. We need 15-20 minutes of sunlight a day for optimal health. Living in the northeast we experience long, gloomy winters. To help make sure we get adequate sunlight, buying a Light Therapy Lamp is highly effective to supplement the dark, frigid days. I use this lamp in my office daily to ensure I am getting what I need in vital nutrients.
3. Unplug and Get Moving
Put your phone and other electronic devices on “do not disturb,” and take a 20 minute walk. Unplugging from technology for 20 minutes and walking is a terrific way to reset our nervous system.
4. Grounding Techniques
Help people become aware of the present moment, by doing so an immediate reduction of the intensity of our emotions decreases. Our bodies react well before our brains catch up. When we engage in grounding techniques, we get our brain and nervous system communicating with one another. An example is utilizing your senses to get your mind and body communicating with one another in the present moment. For example, identifying three things you see, three things you hear, and three things you feel as in physical touch. Other grounding techniques that I teach are listening to music, breathing exercises, and guided imagery.
5. Hobbies
Doing things that bring us joy. To keep our peace in mind and body it is necessary for us to not lose sight of what energizes and rejuvenates us, so that we can keep moving forward to our next goals. So read for pleasure, engage in some art, do your favorite exercise or sport. Anything that brings peace and joy to your day is what enhances your nervous system to recognize these positive emotions.
In conclusion, as entrepreneurs we have had to master the art of time management. By incorporating these five tips into our daily lives, we can build a solid routine that nourishes our physical and mental wellbeing. When we are our best version of ourselves, we can put all our creative drive and passion into the small businesses we love.
Disclaimer: This article is a whole health approach and not meant to treat any specific diagnosis.
Photos courtesy of Jim McLaughlin, McLaughlin Photography
The Hyde is thrilled to be hosting their annual gala on Saturday, September 14, honoring Dr. John Rugge and Victoria Palermo. This year’s theme is “Celebrating the Healing Impact of Art.” Throughout the past few years, the number of visitors have increased, showing the impact and importance that the Hyde Collection has had on the community. The gala celebrates all that the Hyde Collection has to offer and looks to the future of the museum as well.
Each year, the Hyde Collection hosts a fundraising gala to support and expand the museum’s operations. This year, the focus is on building support for The Reimagine Project, particularly its first phase: the renovation of the Hoopes House, the first building on the campus. Completing this project will transform the Hyde Center for Arts Education by expanding its programming space from 800 square feet to over 7,000 square feet.
“As our programs continue to grow and our service to the community continues to grow, that space I have no doubt will be an incredible resource for The Hyde and our community at large,” said Kate Wilkins, Chief Advancement Officer.
This year, The Hyde Gala will revolve around the theme “Celebrating the Healing Impact of Art.” The gala is honoring Dr. John Rugge, founder of Hudson Headwaters Health Network and Victoria Palermo, a leading visual artist in the region. Both John and Victoria are leaders within their fields and they embody this year’s theme.
“We believe that creativity is the core of wellness and is really truly required for a holistically enriching life for folks in our community,” shared Kate.
The event will be led by co-chairs Francine and Robert Nemer. Francine serves on The Hyde’s board of trustees, and is the lead education sponsor for 2024 along with Robert.
“We’re really excited to be celebrating with this group of people in our community who have made such an impact on the lives of residents across Glens Falls, Warren County and beyond,” Kate said.
In addition to its fundraising efforts and celebration of John and Victoria, the gala will also be visitors’ last opportunity to see The Hyde’s summer exhibitions, which close on Sunday, September 15.
This season’s exhibits include a surrealism show that celebrates the 100 year anniversary of the Surrealism Manifesto. There is also a show celebrating Richard Estes, one of the best-known photorealist artists, and works by rising contemporary star Daniel Giordano.
“Those are an incredible set of exhibitions which leverage and celebrate The Hyde as a space for contemporary and modern art,” Kate shared. Guests will be able to see all these, plus many more wonderful exhibits during the gala.
In addition to the exhibitions, there will also be a cocktail hour, followed by a dinner, and concluding with a live auction.
Originally founded by Charlotte and Louis Hyde, the museum opened its doors to the public in 1963. Since its opening, The Hyde has continued to serve its surrounding community through numerous exhibitions and excellent programming. In recent years, the number of people visiting the museum have grown, highlighting the influence and impact of The Hyde.
Last year, The Hyde hosted nearly 14,000 visitors and of those people almost 2,600 engaged in programming.
“Those numbers continue to climb and I have no doubt will continue to trend upward as folks in our community come forward and join us in support during the gala and in other ways throughout the year,” explained Kate.