featured

The Cumberland Bay Market became an integral part of the neighborhood for Kris and Stacey Ambler when they moved to Cumberland Head. “We shopped there, never thinking to go to the chains for gas, essentials and meat,” Stacey explained. “We felt a connection to the store.” In 2018, when long time owners Brian and Mary read more

KC Reiter has left an enduring mark on the North Country over the past 35 years. Many of the region’s signs were hand carved and hand painted by Reiter in her Morrisonville garage, where she operates her business, The Art Works. The City of Plattsburgh, Village of Champlain, Rulfs Orchard, Meadowbrook Healthcare, Plattsburgh High School, read more

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), out of 100 new businesses, approximately 80% remain open after the first year; 50% after five years and after 10 years, only about one-third are still in operation. Beating the odds, Elizabeth Smith, owner of LaPet in Champlain, NY, who specializes in dog breeding, training, boarding, grooming, read more

Long time North Country residents were familiar with the overflowing bookshelves and cozy reading nooks of the Corner Bookstore on Margaret Street in downtown Plattsburgh. However, they may not have know that before the store hung out its green awning, the books were carted around in a van. Owner Nancy Duniho drove her “Rambler” around read more

WE ARE WITNESSING A DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT IN AMERICA. With an increasing number of young people spurning their hometowns for busier cities we are becoming more accustomed to the sight of vacant storefronts, a rising median age in our rural areas and a loss of vitality in what used to be bustling smaller towns. The North read more

THE NORTHEAST GROUP of companies, founded by Herb Carpenter, has been serving the North Country since the early 1980’s. Begun as a small printing company, it expanded into mailing and publishing. In 1999 a second-generation Carpenter joined the family business and helped drive a further expansion of services into fulfillment and distribution. But that growth, read more

In this complicated day and age, we often oversimplify complex topics by making them unidimensional. Marketers slot each of us into a category based on some of our shared characteristics. We vote for members of one or another political party as if one such dimension can possibly represent the richness of the human experience. And, read more

If the road through life was smooth, roadblocks and potholes would be unemployed. You could put yourself on cruise control, sit back and enjoy the ride. For a few of us, the road seems just that way, but for many, it has a few roadblocks and potholes that they need to maneuver around. For some read more

There was an era when infrastructure meant roads and bridges, and risk management was the purview of experts in insurance. Times have changed. More broadly, infrastructure is defined as “the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.” This definition often limits read more

CHESTERTOWN IN WARREN COUNTY is like most charming Adirondack small towns—it’s located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature and far away from its closest neighbors. Most folks are seasonal residents, resulting in limited access to grocery stores and other amenities. Considering the prevalence of vacation and second homes throughout the region, access to read more