Heritage and Preservation

Want to Run a General Store Rennselaerville? Here’s Your Chance! Rent? $1/Month!

September 22, 2021 By Maureen Sager

I am looking for someone that wants to run a small town grocery store, rent free! I have searched for 5 years to fill the local General store and my hope and the communities would be to find someone willing to take the risk, rent free! The fact is nothing has worked up to this point so this is a last chance at filling the space. The potential proprietor would need to run it as a store/cafe.

To start with some building specifications: Medusa General Store is a 2200 square foot block building built in 1938 by Ernest and Ruth Bell, in the historic hamlet of Medusa, in the town of Rensselaerville, in southwestern Albany County. The property is roughly 1.3 acres. At one point, the store covered all of the general merchandise needs of the surrounding township!

The store has a large deli area with all equipment. As well as shelving and counters. We installed a nine-door walk-in cooler in 2014 both to provide additional space for a large produce and beverage inventory, as well as to reduce the use of inefficient stand-alone coolers.

If you are interested in putting your hard work into this store, we would also put some skin in the game with super low rent and great support from the local community and owners.

This really is an amazing adventure – and we would love to discuss it with you further! If you have specific questions, please call or text.

Beginners and experienced welcome, but serious inquiry only.

Many thanks,
Jason
518-248-8884

This article is reprinted from a post from Listings Project, with permission of the lister.

Creative Economy Mixer: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Photo Highlights

January 13, 2019 By Maureen Sager

January’s #CreativeEconomyMixer was a hit! with over 220 in attendance Troy Savings Bank Music Hall we enjoyed beautiful installation created by Glowing Pictures, a performance by Albany Pro Musica, Signed up for the new ACE Jobhub, and received FREE headshots by Ska City Photography. We had delicious food from Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen as well as beverages from Rare Form Brewing Company and Schmaltz Brewing Co. We discussed preservation of the arts in our communities and Rensselaer County Historical Society shared the history behind the box seating at the hall, and more! The Mixer began with a Taste of Troy Food Tour and ended at 518 Craft, with drinks and swing music! A VERY SPECIAL thank you to our sponsors MVP Health Care, Rensselaer County Historical Society and Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region, and promotional partners, Troy Cultural Alliance and Albany Pro Musica. Produced in partnership with 2440 Design Studio and WMHT Public Media.

ACE/Center for Economic Growth Creative Economy Roundtable Tour

March 23, 2018 By Maureen Sager

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][rev_slider ACERoadShow2018][x_gap size=”15px”][cs_text]ACE and the Center for Economic Growth have concluded our 2018 Creative Economy Roundtable Tour.

This six-county tour, held in February and March 2018, brought more than 700 attendees to Capital Region cultural institutions and creative agencies for open discussions on our regional identity, business challenges and opportunities, and everything related to our region’s Creative Economy. At the sessions, facilitators also shared new data showing the economic contributions from the creative industries, one of the largest and most dynamic regional employment sectors.[/cs_text][cs_text]Special thanks to our event partners Fingerpaint and WMHT Educational Telecommunications, our event designer 2440 Design Studio, and our hosts: Overit, WMHT Educational Telecommunications, the Hyde Collection, Proctors, SPAC’s Hall of Springs, and Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House. ACE and CEG also thank the many local companies who provided refreshments for our Roundtable Tour, including Berben & Wolff’s, [forged], Fort Orange Brewing, Mazzone Hospitality, Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen, and 22 2nd Street Wine Co.

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ACE In Catskill!

November 21, 2017 By Maureen Sager

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Check out great coverage from this event! WAMC: “Catskill’s Role Ramps Up in ‘Creative Economy’” | Hudson Valley 360: “Lumberyard to Start Construction in Two Weeks”

Catskill is in the midst of a Creative Economy boom, with new restaurants, a tap house, boutiques and galleries, a performing arts complex, and reimagined historic sites. ACE recently went “Behind the Scenes” at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and LUMBERYARD in one of the coolest little villages in the region.

We met at LUMBERYARD for a tour and heard the exciting plans for the four-building complex that will house some of the most innovative programming and partnerships north of NYC, including the first-ever residency program with the renowned Brooklyn Academy of Music.

After that, we visited the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and learned about the innovative reinterpretation of the artist’s 1815 home. The Thomas Cole site has employed multimedia installations within the authentic historic spaces in innovative and engaging new ways. ACE members saw the paint chips that were a product of a paint analyst’s task of discovering wall colors in Cole’s time; stencils that helped recreate the hand-painted border by Cole; and stencils that the Cole estate’s floor cloth designer used to hand paint the entryway floor cloth from an historic design.

Presented by ACE. Special thanks to our event sponsors Crossroads Brewing Company and the Greene County Council on the Arts

Congratulations, 40 Under 40 Honorees!

March 16, 2017 By Maureen Sager

*Dan Cullen, Workforce Development Institute. Photo credit: Victoria Kereszi*

Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy (ACE) congratulates the 2017 honorees of the Albany Business Review’s “40 Under 40” list. This year, 10 of the 40 honorees are involved with ACE, or are leaders in the industry segments that compose the region’s Creative Economy. Among them:

Dan Cullen, regional director of the Workforce Development Institute (ACE Leadership)
Alejandro del Peral, founder and owner of Nine Pin Cider Works (Culinary Arts sector)
William Gamble, CEO and owner of Pinhole Press (Visual Arts and Handcrafts sector)
Dave Gardell, owner of the The Ruck/Rolling Stock Co. (Culinary Arts sector)
James Hardesty, medical strategy, Fingerpaint (Media sector)
Kristen Holler, executive director of the Albany Barn (Performing Arts, Media, and Visual Arts sectors)
Tony Iadiccio, executive director of the Albany Center Gallery (Visual Arts sector)
Kristen Holler, Albany Barn. Photo credit: Donna Abbott Vlahos, Albany Business Review
Cory Nelson, owner of Troy Kitchen (Culinary Arts sector)
Banni Singh, principal, D2D Green Design (Design sector)
Ali Skinner, director of strategic communications for CDPHP (Media sector)

“We’re really glad to see that so many of the ‘40 Under 40’ honorees are working in the Creative Economy,” said Maureen Sager, ACE’s project director. “Their businesses and organizations add so much vibrancy, excitement, and real competitive edge to the Capital and upstate region.”

ACE has recently begun working with the Culinary Arts and Agriculture industry. This group, estimated to employ 5,000 people in the region, is an integral part of the local Creative Economy, and ACE will have much more to announce about this sector in the coming months. Until then, toast these ’40 Under 40′ winners at Nine Pin Cider Works, Troy Kitchen, or the Ruck!