The Chamber of Southern Saratoga announced the winners for the Annual Achievement Awards on April 23rd at the Chamber’s Annual Dinner at Mohawk River Country Club and Chateau in Rexford.

Ellis Hospital received the Endurance Award for exhibiting the dedication to excellence necessary to achieve long term success.

Ravenswood Pub in Clifton Park received the Inspiration Award for inspiring and encouraging excellence in small business ownership.

Faldoni’s Deli & Catering located in Mechanicville received the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award for exhibiting a talent and passion for their company that results in outstanding potential for success.

Kate Baker, Business Advisor for the Small Business Development Center at the University at Albany School of Business received the Southern Star award for her dedication to the Chamber through her volunteer efforts.

Dee Pangburn, Branch Manager for Capital Bank received the [...]

Albany, New York - Mayor Gerald D. Jennings and Tulip Festival Chair, Marcus Q. Pryor will announce the five finalists for 2009 Tulip Queen at a press conference in Albany City Hall’s Corning Park (behind City Hall) today, Wednesday April 29 at 11:00 am.

The five finalists were chosen through an extensive interview process out of 100 nominations. Nominees were interviewed by the Tulip Queen & Court Selection Committee, a panel of judges from the community including prior Tulip Queen & Court members. These young women were chosen based on their community service & leadership skills as well as their knowledge of Albany.
The Queen will be crowned at the Tulip Festival on Saturday May 9, 12pm, at the Amphitheater in Washington Park.

The Tulip Queen & Court spend their year of reign involved with many community education initiatives and coordinate a program each year for the Mayor Jerry Jennings Literacy [...]

ALBANY NY, April 21, 2009 – Albany.com announced this week that Capital Region Living Magazine, the leading life and leisure publication for the Capital Region and Tech Valley, has moved their online home to Albany.com/capitalregionliving to increase their exposure in the community.

“Capital Region Living Magazine is very popular among locals for events in the area, home design trends, travel tips and so much more,” said Sara Mannix, Founder and President of Mannix Marketing, Inc. “In addition to our Albany movie guide, local news and events, this new guide offers yet another great reason for Capital Region residents to visit Albany.com!”

For the convenience of Capital Region Living’s regular online visitors, the well-known domain www.crlmag.com automatically takes visitors to the new guide on Albany.com. [...]

On May 1st at 7 pm renowned medium Georgia O’Connor is hosting an event called Hauntings in her Meet The Medium series at the Courtyard By Marriott in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Reservations may be made online at www.MeetTheMedium.com or by calling 518-583-0105. Tickets are $50 in advance or $60 at the door.
Most of Georgia’s work as a Medium involves simply relaying messages from our deceased loved ones who are always with us and who rarely resort to the “scare tactics” normally associated with a haunting. But who better to deal with Hauntings than someone who can see and speak to the dead? Georgia’s ability to communicate directly with anyone who has died has made her a much sought after “medium” between people who are experiencing paranormal events and those spirits who are causing the “bumps in the night”.
[...]

61st Annual Albany Tulip Festival

Albany, New York - The City of Albany is seeking volunteers for the 61st annual Tulip Festival for Friday, May 8, Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10 in Washington Park.

Volunteer positions include: park security (road marshals, parking attendants); information booth attendants; vendor check-in attendants; Kids Zone attendants; craft assistants; security/safety assistants; beverage servers; plus much more…SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE…volunteer as a group or family!

Volunteer benefits include:

• Commemorative Tulip Festival Tee shirt
• Flexible shifts all day long
• In-depth orientation
• Parking
• Entered into special prize drawing*

The Tulip Festival will include two days of 100 craft vendors, a fine art show, three stages of entertainment, children’s activities, “wellness garden” practitioners and the coronation of the 2009 Tulip Queen.

* The City of Albany [...]

ALBANY, NY — This year is the City of Albany’s Quadricentennial honoring the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson River. To highlight this monumental year in our City’s history, Mayor Jerry Jennings and the City of Albany, along with the Downtown Albany, Central and Lark Street Business Improvement Districts (BID) are joining together to host a city wide contest in search of 400 Great Discoveries in Albany.

“With 400 years of history under our belts, visitors coming from far and wide to New York’s Capital City have many options of great treasures to explore here in the City of Albany,” stated Mayor Jerry Jennings. Pamela Tobin, Executive Director of the Downtown Albany BID added, “There is so much worth discovering, you’ll be amazed at what you find. Maiden Lane Park for a game of chess, the architectural wonder that boasts the [...]

AMSTERDAM, NY – Local cultural heritage company italyMONDO! has decided to donate a portion of their revenue for the next month to assist the victims of Monday’s earthquake in L’Aquila and the surrounding Abruzzo region of Italy.

The earthquake, which registered 6.3 on the Richter scale, has caused over 200 of deaths, scores of injuries and thousands of damaged homes and historic buildings throughout Abruzzo.

“My family’s ancestral village is only 50 miles from L’Aquila,” said italyMONDO! founder Peter Farina. “In fact, many people in New York’s Capital District can trace their roots to the region of Abruzzo, notably in Schenectady and Saratoga counties. In times like these we need to help our distant relatives.”

Farina said he was inspired after calling a friend who is studying at the university in L’Aquila. The quake caused [...]

PRESS ADVISORY

Contact: Andreas Kriefall, 331-3190

ARISE Organizes New Opportunities Forum
for Tech Valley

What: New Opportunities Forum for Tech Valley
A Policy Forum on Building Pipelines of Opportunity from Distressed Neighborhoods to Areas of Growth in the Capital Region

Working Groups on Community Benefits Agreements, Getting Workers to Jobs, Re-Entry Jobs and Training, & Green Jobs Pipeline for Stimulus Projects

When: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 1-5pm

Where: Crowne Plaza, Albany

Who: 300+ people (political, agency, corporate, labor, faith community, and residents of poor neighborhoods), with the following featured speakers:

Mayor Jennings
Congressman Paul Tonko
Steve Groseclose, GlobalFoundries executive
Bruce Herman, NYS Deputy Commissioner of Labor
Judith Saidel, Center for Women in Gov’t & Civil Society
[...]

The Chamber of Southern Saratoga announced today the nominees for the Chamber’s Endurance, Inspiration, and Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards. The announcement was made by Peter L. Aust, President & CEO and the Chamber staff in a special online video that can be viewed at www.southernsaratoga.org.

The Endurance Award, newly created this year to address the unique qualities of larger companies, have eligibility requirements of employing more than 50 employees and be in business for longer than 5 years. The Endurance Award nominees also exhibit the dedication to excellence necessary to achieve long term success. Additionally, all award nominees must serve the Southern Saratoga County area and be members of good standing in the Chamber. The nominees for the Endurance Award are: Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan, Cornerstone Telephone Company, Ellis Hospital, Home Instead Senior Care, Momentive Performance Materials, and Saratoga Gaming & Raceway

The [...]

OH NO!

The Trees are planning to take Albany by storm. Call them the Little Band That Could; after being in full-fledged existance for less than five months this Beverly, MA duo have already landed a spot on The Edge Radio Show (airs May 2nd), gotten noise complaints at open mics much to the pleasure of their audience and are planning an East Coast tour in support of their upcoming EP.

This psychedelic folk-punk noise pop duo is fronted by Dan Frost (lead vocals and guitars), a singer-songwriter who could almost be described as a punk rock Bob Dylan on acid. amandA Nonesuch (aka the Pussum of Pussum and the Big F’n Q) “wields her bass like a scimitar”, sings and screams with equal aplomb and constantly loses her coolest clothes to Dan. They share birthdays with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, respectively.</ [...]