Nardacci to be honored at annual Arts Center gala
TROY, N.Y. >> The Arts Center of the Capital Region will honor Tom Nardacci and the Troy Innovation Garage with its second annual Creative Spirit Award at the group’s 55th Anniversary Gala, which will be held Wednesday, May 17, at the center, 265 River St.
Nardacci is an accomplished communications professional and entrepreneur who founded and serves as chief executive officer of Gramercy Communications and opened the Troy Innovation Garage last year in a historic former car dealership on 4th Street in downtown Troy. Since establishing Gramercy in 2005, he has built that business into one of upstate’s most successful public relations, public affairs and marketing communications agencies, with a client list representing billions of dollars in economic activity across the state.
In 2015, he acquired a long-vacant, 14,000-square-foot building and turned it into the Troy Innovation Garage, which includes co-working and meeting spaces and offices for a range of companies and creative professionals, including Grammercy. The garage is home to Spark Exchange Inc. one of few incubators in the country dedicated to launching creative companies, and Spark Academy, a program that looks to aspire middle- and high- chool entrepreneurs by providing support and real world instruction.
Nardacci, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a master’s degree from Columbia University, has been honored as PR Practitioner of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America’s Capital Region chapter, as a 40 Under Forty emerging business leader by the Albany Business Review and as a Person to Watch by Capital Region Living magazine. He has been actively involved with many local charitable organizations and is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Rensselaer County.
The gala will also include dining and dancing, featuring fine fare from local restaurants, as well as providing a sneak peek at the celebrated Fence Show, a members show that is the group’s largest exhibition of the year, before it opens to the public. Tickets are $150, $200 to join the honorary committee, and are available, along with more information, online at www. artscenteronline.org or by calling 273- 0552.