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New Economy News | March 2023

Adirondack Buyer Days Kicks Off Next Week

Shopkeepers and retail buyers: we hope you'll join us and over 50 artisan makers for Adirondack Buyer Days — ANCA’s annual wholesale gift show.


Meet new vendors and shop new products at this year’s show. This business-to-business event showcases a variety of curated products made by local artisans — something for everyone who enters your store!


Sneak a peek at some of this year's products in our photo album. Buyer registration is free.

Buyer Registration

Connect with long-time Buyer Days vendors like LionheArt Graphics and up-and-coming artisan entrepreneurs from northern New York and New England. Register today:


Learn More & Sign Up

Adirondack Diversity Initiative

Nonviolent Communication Workshop


At this evening workshop presented by ADI in partnership with SUNY Canton, SUNY Potsdam and Paul Smith’s College, attendees will learn about the technology of nonviolent communication. Participants will learn how to make nonjudgemental observations, expand vocabularies around feelings and needs, and make requests to get needs met without violence.

Learn More & Register

Emerging Stewards Experience the Adirondacks


ADI’s Emerging Stewards Program — including our Alternative Spring Break and Claiming Space partnerships — offer students from BIPOC communities a variety of recreational and cultural experiences in the Adirondacks.


A recent six-day Alternative Spring Break at Camp Dudley in Westport (photo below) provided activities including a challenge course, snowshoeing, visiting Rising Moon Yak Farm and a service learning project at an Amish maple sugaring farm. Students also gained a historical perspective of different cultures in the Adirondacks.

Students from Gates Chili SAVVY program, Rochester, participate in ADI and SUNY ESF Timbuctoo Institute's Claiming Space program in February.

ADI partners with SUNY Potsdam’s Division of Diversity Equity & Inclusion Center for Diversity to offer the Alternative Spring Break program and SUNY ESF's Timbuctoo Institute to provide experiences through the Claiming Space program.

Learn More

Panel: Equity and Inclusion in the Adirondacks


On March 10, ADI Director Tiffany Rea-Fisher was a panelist for Equity and Inclusion in and Around the Adirondack Park, hosted by the NextGen Committee of the Lake George Land Conservancy. The panel focused on inequities in access and enjoyment in and around the Adirondack Park and discussed how we can ensure the benefits of land conservation are shared with all members of our community, what we can do to work towards a safer park, and more.

Read More

Small Business Opportunities

Free Marketing Workshops


ANCA, CITEC Business Solutions, and the SUNY Canton SBDC present a free, virtual workshop series for small businesses and nonprofits interested in launching, updating, or growing their marketing efforts.


Attend one or more workshops to learn how a marketing plan could grow your clientele and strengthen your bottom line.


  • Marketing Goals & Concepts: Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
  • Build Your Marketing Plan: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
  • Digital Marketing Basics: Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Learn More & Register

Building Welcoming & Belonging at Work


Learn how to create a space of welcoming and belonging in your workplace to attract and retain diverse talent, and understand the needs of your expanding clientele. This entry-point exploration offered through ANCA CPR and ADI will use different methodologies — including nonviolent communication — to learn how to better articulate feelings, needs, requests, and boundaries.



Free and open to all, including small business owners and staff, aspiring entrepreneurs and nonprofit personnel.

Learn More & Register

Featured Business for Sale: Stillwater Hotel


Where the road ends, the fun begins! Located in Lowville, NY, Stillwater Hotel sits on the shores of the Stillwater Reservoir and is a destination for a summer drive or winter ride.


Learn about this and other available businesses in the North Country by visiting our list of featured businesses for sale.

Learn More: Stillwater Hotel

SCBO Photo Gallery


Thank you again to all who joined the Center for Businesses in Transition (CBIT) and partners for the Small Communities. Big Opportunities. Conference on February 12-14.


Check out photos from the event on ANCA's What's Up North Blog.

View the Gallery

Local Food Systems

$558K Grant Funds Agroforestry Project


ANCA announced this month that we received a $558,000 federal grant to support climate-smart agroforestry projects on small farms in northern New York. The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant will help farmers, including North Country Creamery (pictured) diversify their operations while implementing farming practices that improve land, water and air quality across the region.

Read More

Changing the world one compost machine at a time


Learn about Compost for Good's background, current work and mission in North Country Public Radio's Mitch Teich's conversation with team members John Culpepper, Katie Culpepper and ANCA's Jen Perry. The team speaks about the environmental benefits of composting, as well as the economic opportunities of community-scale composting with drum composting machines.

Listen to the Story

Federal Farm Loan Workshop Offered in Malone


The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will host a workshop at its office in Malone, NY about various loan options offered by FSA as well as how to get started with the agency.


  • What: FSA Loan Workshop
  • When: Friday, March 31, 11:00 a.m.
  • Where: Franklin County USDA Service Center, Malone, NY


Call 518-483-2850 Ext. 2 to register.

Clean Energy Corner

Clean Energy Conference is Back!


This year ANCA is partnering with the Mohawk Valley Clean Energy Team to convene stakeholders and innovators as we explore incentives and opportunities, as well as challenges, related to state and federal policies.


With a focus on elevating local interests and marginalized voices, we will explore how we can work together to meet climate goals while advancing a clean energy economy that strengthens our businesses and communities.


What: ANCA Clean Energy Conference

When: June 1-2, 2023

Where: Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley, Utica, NY

Learn More & Register

Grants for Food Waste and Compost Projects


The USDA NRCS is offering grants to support municipalities and school districts interested in entering into cooperative agreements to develop and implement municipal compost and food waste reduction plans in rural, urban and suburban communities. Application deadline is June 15, 2023.


Contact ANCA's Jennifer Perry at jperry@adirondack.org for more information or for grant submission assistance

More on Community-scale Composting


Lewis County has launched an organics working group made up of members of the Development Authority of the North Country, the Tug Hill Commission, the Lewis Co. Planning Department, and Julian Mangano (pictured) — owner of Della Terra Farm and ANCA SOIL Loan Fund recipient. The group will explore options to earn points through the Climate Smart Communities program by creating an organics management plan, buying collection bins for residents, and requiring food scrap collection in municipal buildings.


If your community is interested in CSC certification or wants to learn more about organics recycling actions that can lead to certification, contact Jennifer Perry: jperry@adirondack.org

Clean Energy Communities


Congratulations to the following communities who are earning credit toward clean energy project grants through the NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities Program while saving money and greenhouse gas emissions!


  • Franklin County authorized Open C-PACE Financing
  • Town of Champlain completed Energy Code Enforcement Training
  • Town of Fort Covington completed Energy Code Enforcement Training
  • Town of Harrietstown completed Benchmarking - Advanced Reporting
  • Town of Westport completed Benchmarking - Advanced Reporting
  • Town of Westport completed Clean Heating & Cooling demo for installing a heat pump in their town hall
  • Town of Westport added a fully electric Chevy Bolt to their municipal fleet
  • Village of Champlain completed Energy Code Enforcement Training
Learn More

Welcome to ANCA!


We are happy to welcome two new staff to ANCA this month:


Mahala Nyberg has joined the ANCA CPR team in the role of Program Navigator and is helping small business access free and low-cost services to help them build strength and stability.


In his role as Clean Energy Communications Coordinator, Craig Basford will support the communications and outreach needs of our new North Country Clean Energy Program, which aims to bring clean energy and energy efficiency information, programs and incentives to residents across the region.

ICYMI: Here's What We're Reading

The Jobs Connection

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


  • Communications-Education Coordinator: Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation
  • State Land Planning Student Assistant/Intern: Adirondack Park Agency
  • Education Assistant: Adirondack Watershed Institute
  • Communication and Engagement Coordinator: GardenShare


Have an opening you want to promote? Send a web link to jobs@adirondack.org

Job Opportunities
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