GLENS FALLS — Developed by Park Street Hospitality, the same team that operates Doc’s Restaurant and The Park Theater, Park & Elm is a new multi-concept eatery featuring a gourmet food market, delicatessen and fine dining restaurant located in downtown Glens Falls. 

Park & Elm hosted an open house on Nov. 19 to celebrate the now open market and delicatessen featuring farm-to-table ingredients, local produce and dairy products, a deli counter with artisanal meats and cheeses, house-made breads, charcuterie, baked goods and desserts, as well as imported specialty products from across the globe. 

Park & Elm will have an in-house butcher with a focus on premium meats, such as organic and free-range poultry, certified angus beef, heritage bred pork, sustainably caught seafood and more. In addition, basic grocery necessities will be available for purchase. 

Fast-casual breakfast and lunch counter service will be available until 4 p.m., featuring a variety of breakfast items, deli sandwiches, soups, salads and house-made baked goods. There will be a prepared foods section that will include individual entrées and family-style meals to-go. 

Building on the reputation established by Doc’s Restaurant, Park & Elm will continue to elevate its high-quality food and beverage programs. Curated by executive chef, Matthew J. Delos, the restaurant will continue to showcase quality local ingredients, featuring the quintessential dishes that everyone knows and loves, while elevating the dining experience with creative flair and flavor combinations. 

Park Street Hospitality’s beverage programs have garnered attention throughout the Capital Region. Park & Elm will provide the ideal environment to elevate these programs through continuous innovation and creativity, including a state-of-the-art wine dispensing and preservation system. The dining room will also feature an expanded cocktail menu curated by lead bartender, Ethan McKee.

Park & Elm is located at 19 Park Street, Glens Falls, NY, 12801. The market will be open Tuesday – Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant will be opening mid-December and will mark the completion of Park & Elm.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Tammy Doucette Dream Vacations announces the addition of Debra Darby as an associate to its vacation specialist team.  

 Darby lives in Saratoga Springs, and rides out winters in Melbourne, Florida. She has a love of travel, and has organized cross-country trips by motorcycle, including a three-month ride seeing many National Parks along the journey. Darby has also booked flights and rides to the West Coast, and many other trips.

 “We welcome Debra to the team. With her passion for travel, adventure, and encouraging people to live their best life, we are thrilled to have her,” said Tammy Doucette, Dream Vacations specialist and franchise owner.

 As part of World Travel Holdings, one of the nation’s top travel retail networks, Dream Vacations offers consumers the lowest possible pricing and exclusive offers on cruise and land vacations through its relationships with every major cruise line and many tour operators.

 For more information or to book a dream vacation, please call 518-573-1924 or visit www.AdventuresbyDebra.com.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Helios Life Enterprises, a Saratoga Springs-based startup, is making some big waves. The company was recently invited to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200, where they showcased a unique product.

Out of thousands of applicants, Helios was selected to be among 200 startups at the event in San Francisco last month. The company showcased technology that can analyze voice recordings to see “how voice tone can truly change how we hear one another and understand one another,” said Helios co-founder and CEO Sean Austin.

Essentially, Helios can analyze audio and find potential disconnects between the words that are being spoken and the way they are actually spoken, among other uses. Austin said that tone accounts for roughly 38% of a given message.

The opportunity to attend the Battlefield 200 was an extremely valuable one for Helios, said Austin.

“It meant a lot,” Austin said of the invitation. “That was just really helpful with those connections, really helpful that they recognized what we were doing is pretty unique.”

Austin mentioned that Helios received strong, positive reactions from large companies such as BMW, and said he was told by several people that Helios was one of the most interesting companies at the Battlefield 200.

“We know we’re on to something, basically,” said Austin.

Helios also recently opened access to what Austin called their “entry-level product,” Comprehend: Composites, which was launched in partnership with Exabel.

“You don’t have to be an ultra-sophisticated super hedge fund, you can be investor relations, you could be someone who trades out of a smaller firm,” said Austin. “You can login, check how the call went that you care about for a company you’re covering, and you can see, visually, an answer. That is, to us and to me, an incredible jump into what a product is for us.”

Looking to the future, Austin said Helios will continue to grow, saying companies will realize the importance of having this advantage.

“We’ll keep building this thing so that it can sell, it can be valuable, it can be efficient. From seeing it, I very much think a company’s going to realize they need to have this advantage,” Austin said. “They can’t wait, and they will look to make a move, and Helios could be in the perfect position for that. We plan to be efficient, we plan to grow the company, and of course we’ll have conversations when it kind of makes sense to take it to the next level.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Partners in success companies Saratoga TODAY and Spa City Digital recently added new hires.

Dylan McGlynn joined the news team at Saratoga TODAY as a news reporter. A graduate of Suny Oswego, Dylan will be covering education, sports and business. Prior to joining Saratoga TODAY, Dylan was a general news reporter for GlensFallsToday.com You can reach Dylan at: dylan@saratogapublishing.com

Spa City Digital hired Katy Haggerty as a full-time general news reporter for GlensFallsToday.com.

Katy has a strong background in hospitality, having owned and operated a restaurant for 17 years. Katy can be reached at: kate@glensfallstoday.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Julie & Co. Realty announced Charles B. Goodridge and Jennifer Mirling as the newest members of the brokerage in Saratoga Springs.

A seasoned real estate professional, Charles B. Goodridge is a top producing Real Estate Associate Broker, consistently ranking him in the top 1% of the Capital District. He ensures that all objectives & expectations are exceeded with unparalleled client services and proven marketing strategies. Charlie resides in Saratoga Springs with his wife, Lynne, and their three children.

Jennifer Mirling resides in Saratoga Springs, where she has specialized in area real estate for over 3 decades. Jenny has a deep commitment to preservation, open space and the arts in the community, where she has proudly engaged in the city’s resurgence and enjoys connecting people to the area so they can feel like they are part of the community.

For more information about Julie & Co. Realty call 518-350-SOLD (7653), or visit www.JulieCoRealty.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company recently appointed A. Kishani Choudhury as Branch Manager of the Clifton Park Office.

Choudhury joined the bank in 2018 as a Business Development Officer and was most recently Branch Manager of the Schenectady Office.

 In her Clifton Park Office role, she manages the staff and branch operations to deliver quality customer service while strengthening established relationships. She brings almost 20 years of banking experience to the position.

Choudhury also serves on the Women In Business committee for the Southern Saratoga Chamber, as a member of Schenectady Business and Professional Women’s Club, a member of Business Network International, and as a children’s ministry leader in her church. She currently resides in Malta.

Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company is part of the Arrow Family of Companies, and provides banking, wealth management, and insurance at 11 locations in the Capital Region. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Discover Saratoga has announced they have been named one of the 2022 recipients of the 6th Annual Stella Awards by Northstar Meetings Group and its leading brands, Meetings & Conventions and Successful Meetings.

A total of 220 organizations from around the globe are being honored for consistently delivering quality service and innovation to meeting and event professionals. The list of winners, finalists and their profiles can be found at NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com/Stellas. 

Discover Saratoga was named a bronze winner in the Northeast category for Best CVB/DMO. The Stella Awards are the meeting industry’s highest honor, recognizing hotels, convention centers, conference centers, airlines, cruise lines, DMOs/CVBs and DMCs that consistently deliver quality service and innovation to meeting and event professionals. 

“What an honor,” said Darryl Leggieri, President of Discover Saratoga. “We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the top Convention and Tourism Bureaus in the industry. We’re so grateful to our hospitality partners for their service, and for making Saratoga Springs a popular destination for meetings and events.” 

This year, nearly 6,000 votes were cast from around the world for the 561 destinations, hotels and service providers nominated in 16 categories across six regions in the United States and worldwide. Winners were selected for achieving overall excellence, superb food and beverage, professionalism of staff, sustainability initiatives, and other critical aspects of the meetings and event experience. 

“Congratulations to all of the 2022 Stella Award winners and finalists,” said Loren Edelstein, vice president and content director for Northstar Meetings Group. “The strong resurgence we’re now seeing in meetings in the U.S. and around the world indicates meetings are back. And this year’s honorees demonstrate they’re not only back, but they’re better than ever. Thank you to the 2022 Stella Award winners for demonstrating their commitment to excellence in meetings, incentives, conferences and events.”