Workshops promote small business
SOUTH GLENS FALLS, N.Y. >> Sometimes three or four base hits can generate more offense than a home run.
The same is true in business says Richard Ferguson, Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency’s chief executive officer.
That’s why he and other local economic development officials are presenting a series of workshops to promote small busi-
ness throughout Saratoga County.
“You’ve got to hit singles,” Ferguson said. “We try to get 10 to 15 singles in a year, every year, and maybe one home run per decade.”
That’s because for every major employer, such as GlobalFoundries, a strong economy also has a vibrant small business sector, which quite often provides the most rapid job growth. One example locally is Round Lake-based Death Wish Coffee Company, whose payroll has doubled and sales are in the tens of millions of dollars, since it won a free Super Bowl television commercial in 2016.
Workshops, organized by the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, are designed to help budding entrepreneurs see their dreams come true by providing access to valuable tools and information.
“Economic development is really a grassroots effort,” said Shelby Schneider, the Partnership’s director of business retention and expansion. “We really need to grow our communities.”
The Partnership, based in Malta, has been Saratoga County’s official economic development agency since 2014.
Its latest Small Business Workshop, held at South Glens Falls Village Hall, brought together nearly a dozen representatives of lending institutions and non-profit firms that can provide benefits such as financing, tax credits, marketing opportunities and help developing a business plan.
In addition to the IDA, the list included Empire State Development, the USDA’s Rural Development Program, Glens Falls National Bank, Adirondack Trust Company, Roohan Realty, New York Business Development Corp. and SCORE, a national program with local offices that provides free counseling and mentoring.
Christine Hutchins, of Gansevoort, has a patent pending for a new product she’s developed called DumpSac, a clear plastic bag that eliminates the mess of emptying bagless vacuums.
SCORE officials Bill Edwards and Charles Newman discussed her venture and planned to set up a formal meeting where they could provided more detailed information for getting her business off the ground.
Similar workshops have already been held in Saratoga Springs and Corinth, and two more are planned: this Thursday at Mechanicville Elks Club and on Thursday, March 30 at Saratoga Town Hall in Schuylerville.
Erica Freudenberger, of the Southern Adirondack Library System, said she’d like to see even more sessions held at some of SALS’ 34 libraries in four counties — Saratoga, Washington, Warren and Hamilton.
After hearing presentations, workshop attendees are invited to meet one-onone with business experts.
For example, Jillian Mayott, of Roohan Realty, specializes in helping people find the right size space and location for their commercial enterprise.
For more information and to register for upcoming workshops, call (518) 871-1887.