Save the Date: ANCA Annual Meeting

Join us at our 2022 Annual Meeting, where we'll envision a prosperous and inclusive future for our region. You'll hear from constituents, expressing in their own words what a New Economy might look like for their businesses and communities years from now — and what steps we can take to achieve that future. 

What: ANCA Annual Meeting

When: Friday, September 23, 2022, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Where: The Wild Center, Tupper Lake, NY

Stay tuned for more information, including guest speakers, meeting topics and how to register.

Photo courtesy of The Wild Center.

Price goes up next month. Sign up today!

Join us in celebrating the local agriculture movement and the farmers and small businesses that are driving it.

• What: Bike the Barns
• When: Saturday, October 8, 2022
• Where: Champlain Valley, NY
• Start/finish: The Hub on the Hill, Essex, NY
• Cost: $85 — cost increases August 23

Get your 2022 event tee!

We are so excited to share the design for this year's Bike the Barns t-shirt. The tomato, the barn, the bicycle wheel... we love everything about it.

Many thanks to Saranac Lake-based designer Rob Carr for his vision and talent.

Get a Bike the Barns shirt as part of your rider registration, or purchase one separately on the registration page. 

Bust a move at Bike the Barns

After you ride, swap out your bike shoes with dancing shoes... Bike the Barns participants will wrap up the day with a finish line celebration featuring local food & drink and live music by The Insolent Willies.

The Insolent Willies are an upstate New York-based acoustic roots-rock band known for its hip-shaking mix of quirky, clever original music and unpredictable covers. Check them out.

Become an event sponsor today!

Join the growing list of businesses and organizations supporting Bike the Barns and ANCA's work with local farms and food businesses. 

A special shout out to our first official sponsor for Bike the Barns 2022: Adirondack Health! This community institution is supporting the event at the Harvest Level.

Visit www.adirondack.org/btb to learn about sponsorship opportunities and our current sponsors.

Spreading the word about ANCA CPR

ANCA's Center for Pandemic Response (ANCA CPR) invites more businesses and nonprofits to join over 100 who have already enrolled in this program designed to build stability and resilience.

“We want people to know that no matter what kind of business they operate and no matter where they are in their business journey, we can connect them with resources and professional networks to address their needs and plan for the future.” ~ Dani Delaini, ANCA

Health insurance for small businesses

On July 14, ANCA CPR members participated in an interactive webinar about health insurance options for small businesses and organizations.

Thank you to the guests who shared their expertise and answered questions about availability, accessibility and affordability of health insurance: Debbie Hughes, New York State of Health; Tish Biesemeyer, Burnham Benefit Advisors; and Rachel Karp, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.

Interested in learning more about affordable health insurance options for yourself or your employee? A webinar recording and other resources are available to all ANCA CPR members, along with our full range of small business services.

Learn more and begin the enrollment process at www.adirondack.org/small-business-services.

New owners at the historic Belvedere 

On July 20, ANCA staff gathered with the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, elected officials and local community members to celebrate Chrissie Waits and John Levy and their new ownership of The Belvedere Restaurant and property.

Learn about Chrissie and John's business ownership journey in the newspaper or this 5-minute video feature by Bing Bang Boom Inc. of Saranac Lake.

Climate solutions for All

ADI Director Nicky Hylton-Patterson is featured as one of several regional leaders "making extraordinary contributions to shift the narrative on climate" in the new Climate Solutions exhibit at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

“The exhibit explores the encouraging stories of people from across different backgrounds, generations and sectors who are building a web of climate solutions in their lives and communities.”

Learn more and visit The Wild Center.

Adirondacks for All: Indigenous rights

The “Adirondacks for All: Identity & Environmental Justice in the North Country” virtual series offers programs that examine the intersections between racial and environmental justice.

Presented by Adirondack Experience in partnership with ADI, The Wild Center and The Nature Conservancy — the next presentation in the series is Indigenous Homelands, Land Rights, and the Politics of Protest in the Adirondacks on Tuesday, August 9 at 7:00 p.m. 

Learn more and register.

Resistance Revival in Lake Placid

ADI is proud to be a performance partner for The Resistance Revival Chorus at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Friday, August 5.

The Chorus, made up of a diverse group of women and non-binary performers, "fuses music and activism inspiring change and uplifting women’s voices in the music industry and the world."

Learn more and register.

Music benefit thanks

Many thanks Sugar House Creamery and musician Nora Brown who came together to offer a benefit concert for ADI on July 6. The old-time traditional music performance at the farm in Upper Jay raised nearly $1,800 to support ADI's work building equity and inclusion in the region.

Learn how you can support this work at www.diversityadk.org.

Community thanks

From ANCA and ADI — thank you to the Community Policing partners and community members who thoughtfully and carefully responded to the tragic shooting that occurred in Saranac Lake on June 29 and the public's concerns following the incident. 

As expressed by The Sun Community News: "This is an obvious tragedy for all involved, and while tragedies may not have silver linings, they do often come with lessons. What stands out to us is the care, professionalism and reason with which all sides demonstrated in the aftermath."

Travel the Adirondack Cuisine Trails

Newly updated Adirondack Cuisine Trails, featured on Adirondack Harvest's website, showcase farms, orchards, restaurants, breweries, wineries, and local food and agricultural producers that give visitors an up-close view of what agriculture in the Adirondacks is all about.

The platform allows you to explore six unique regions and the farms and small businesses that welcome visitors seasonally or year-round.

Double up your food bucks

It's been great to see so many local food shoppers taking advantage of Double Up Food Bucks New York at the High Peaks Farmers' Market and other markets across the region.

Used in conjunction with SNAP, Double Up matches every dollar SNAP users spend (up to $20). This means consumers can get $40 worth of farmers' market products for $20.

Stop by the High Peaks Farmers' Market, which is hosted by ANCA — Wednesdays in Lake Placid and Saturdays in Saranac Lake — to learn more. Market Manager Caitlin Bottcher is happy to help!

Harrietstown invests in local solar

The Town of Harrietstown in Saranac Lake has been working with ANCA Energy Circuit Rider Nancy Bernstein and other clean energy advocates to explore transitioning to solar power through Community Distributed Generation.

The transition to locally produced solar will be supported by ANCA through NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities Program. We're thrilled to have Harrietstown on board!

EPA EV School Bus Rebate Program

ANCA recently hosted a webinar discussing the EPA Clean School Bus Rebate Program which will provide $500 million in funding to replace existing school buses with zero- and low-emission models. State and local governmental entities that provide bus service, including public school districts, are eligible to participate.

Check out the recording of the webinar on ANCA's YouTube channel. Applications are due by August 19. Contact ANCA's Jen Perry at [email protected] for more information.

New ANCA clean energy job opening soon

ANCA's Clean Energy Team is growing! Keep an eye out next week on our Facebook page and jobs page for a new Regional Clean Energy Program Manager position designed to support our latest NYS energy program.

Contact Clean Energy Program Director Jill Henck at [email protected] for more info.

Celebrating Sandra A. Young

On June 12, friends, family and community gathered to celebrate the life and work of long-time ANCA friend and Adirondack Buyer Days show participant, Sandra A. Young, who passed away in October 2021. ANCA's Lauren Richard was honored to participate in the community celebration at the Almanzo Wilder Homestead in Burke, NY.

Check out our jobs page for openings with member and partner organizations and regional nonprofits:

• Interim Executive Director: Cooperative Development Institute
• Executive and Operations Assistant: Adirondack Council
• Business Development Coordinator: Adirondack Economic Development Corporation

Have an opening you want to promote? Send a web link to [email protected].