Thank you to all who joined ANCA and partners for our 2024 Clean Energy Conference on May 20-21 in Clayton, NY. Through tours, presentations and networking opportunities, over 140 conference participants gained insight, information and inspiration about regional efforts to advance New York's clean energy transition.

Building a Clean Energy Future

We were thrilled to welcome dozens of young people at this year's conference including students from Sackets Harbor Middle School (pictured below with an Alexandria Central School electric bus) and Clarkson University. These are our future clean energy workforce — our future contractors, entrepreneurs, teachers, policy makers and elected officials. We are grateful for their engagement in our Clean Energy Conference and hope they will join us again next year!

Thank You for Your Feedback

Did you attend the conference? As we plan ahead for next year's event, we'd love your feedback about this year's topics, networking opportunities, venue and more. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey below.

Climate Justice Fellow Shines

Earlier this month, ANCA Climate Justice Fellow Keeley Jock presented at the Adirondack Research Consortium about her research on the role Indigenous ecological knowledge can play in the protection of land and water.

Learn more about Keeley's study and perspective, as well as insights from Neil Patterson Jr., Executive Director of the SUNY ESF's Center for Native Peoples and Environment, in the Adirondack Explorer.

Celebrate the good work that's happening within the ANCA Community. You're invited to join ANCA staff, board, partners and constituents in history-rich Ticonderoga, New York as we celebrate the past year’s accomplishments and look ahead to a strong future for the Adirondack North Country.

What: 2024 ANCA Annual Meeting

When: July 26, 2024, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m

Where: Fort Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga, NY

Registration is now open!

Celebrating Silver Birch Cycles

Join Justin Oliver, owner of Silver Birch Cycles, in celebrating the grand opening of his new shop!

What: Silver Birch Cycles Grand Opening

When: Saturday, June 8, 2024

• 11:00-11:30 a.m. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 77 Main Street, Saranac Lake
• 12:00-4:00 p.m.Celebration & Biking at Mount Pisgah Recreation Center

Building Cooperative Connections

On May 4, several ANCA staff traveled to Syracuse, NY for the New York Cooperative Summit, where they engaged with other organizations working to expand cooperative development opportunities across the state. Among the summit presenters was keynote speaker Jay Ward (pictured below), who worked with ANCA, the Center for Businesses in Transition (CBIT) partnership and over 50 Ward Lumber employees to transition his family's building supply store to a worker-owned cooperative in 2021. We are eager to build on the connections and knowledge we gained at the summit and as the event's planning team to bring more cooperative ownership opportunities to our region.

For other ways to engage with our cooperative community, visit newyorkcooperative.org and click on "Community." Contact CBIT at transitions@adirondack.org to learn about local cooperative ownership resources.

Available Business Spotlight: The Caboose

Established in 2019 in the heart of the Central Adirondacks, The Caboose restaurant is must-stop destination for thousands of Adirondack summer residents and visitors to Inlet every spring, summer and fall. You could be the next owner of this real caboose on Main Street in Inlet, NY.

Learn more about The Caboose and other North Country businesses working with CBIT to find the right buyer on our Available Businesses page. View the real estate listing here.

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

It has been nearly 50 years since the U.S. government started officially honoring the accomplishments and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the month of May. For AAPI citizens, their American story is marked by significant contributions (that are often overlooked) — but also experiences with fear and hate. These moments include the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the internment of over 120,000 Japanese in concentration camps during World War II, and more recently the rise of anti-Asian racism and Xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is our moral responsibility to learn from our history — the good, bad, and the ugly. We must honestly reflect on our past to move more justly into the future. Here are a few resources to help you learn more about AAPI history, experiences and achievements:

• The Asian American Foundation: Anti-Hate Initiative
• Edsitement NEH Educational Site: lessons, videos, etc.
• Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center: check out the Care Package for poems, meditations, films, and more
• Federal Asian Pacific American Council
• K-12 Teaching Resources on AAPI from NYC Public Schools

Get Updates from ADI

Stay up to date on news from the Adirondack Diversity Initiative and other opportunities to engage in issues of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in our region. Sign up for the monthly ADI e-newsletter today. Read the May 2024 newsletter here.

May 5-11, 2024 was International Compost Awareness Week, and we saw lots of activities right here in the North Country that engaged community members in composting and food waste recycling.

Compost for Good (CfG) Compost Liaisons hosted workshops, open houses, Facebook Live sessions, blogs and more. The Whitten Family Farm and Cook Family Farm each hosted open houses, inviting community members to learn more about the value of converting food scraps to compost while building and strengthening relationships — our greatest regional asset.  

Reimagine Waste: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

CfG partnered with Adsit Mediaworks for another beautiful and engaging video telling the story of wasted food. The launch of the video aligns with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently updated food waste metrics that indicate American citizens continue to deposit millions of pounds of food in landfills, generating methane gas and other negative impacts. When made into compost, the same food scraps can be converted to a valuable resource that builds soil and creates jobs.

High Peaks Markets Move Outdoors

After a long North Country winter, it's time again for outdoor farmers' markets. Discover the local food, gifts, live music and community of the 2024 season at the High Peaks Farmers' Markets in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.

SNAP and EBT are accepted at both markets.

Learn more on the High Peaks Farmers' Market website, and follow its Facebook and Instagram pages to stay up to date with weekly market happenings.

ANCA is proud to support these important local food markets in the heart of our rural region.

Bike the Barns

Join ANCA and Bike Adirondacks for ANCA's 2024 Bike the Barns. This fully supported recreational road cycling tour highlights the rich agricultural movement of the North Country. The ride features farm stops and culminates with a finish line celebration with local food, beverages and live music.

• What: Bike the Barns
• When: Saturday, September 21, 2024
• Where: New York's Champlain Valley

Congratulations to all the communities who are completing actions and earning credit toward clean energy grants while also saving money and greenhouse gas emissions. Special congratulations to those communities that recently qualified for grants:

• The Town of Canton launched community campaigns for Clean Heat & Cooling, Electric Vehicles, and Community Solar
• Village of Chateaugay converted their cobrahead street lights to LED
• Village of Clayton completed a Clean Fleets Inventory, converted their cobrahead street lights to LED, and purchased Electric Landscaping Equipment. Additionally, they completed a Benchmarking Advanced Reporting and qualified for a free energy study!
• Village of Copenhagen completed a Benchmarking Advanced Reporting and qualified for a free energy study
• Town of Dannemora completed Clean Energy Upgrades Tier 1, 2, and 3 by installing LED lighting
• Town of Essex completed a Clean Fleets Inventory
• Town of Jay completed a Community campaign for Clean Heating & Cooling Tier 1
• Town of Martinsburg completed a Benchmarking Advanced Reporting and qualified for a free energy study
• Town of Peru converted their cobrahead street lights to LED

Special congrats to those communities that recently qualified for grants:

• Town of Dannemora: $10,000
• Town of Jay: $5,000

Don’t miss out — funding is limited! Contact ANCA's Clean Energy Team at energy@adirondack.org to learn how your community can take advantage of this opportunity.

Welcome to the ANCA Team

This spring, we are pleased to announce the addition of several new board and staff members who are helping advance our work across the North Country.

In March, the ANCA Board of Directors approved the nomination of Jaideep Khanna and Julian Mangano to their team. Learn more about Jaideep and Julian and the skills and expertise they bring to our board in our recent press release.

Earlier this week, Annabelle Daley will spend the summer with ANCA's Small Business Team for a community-based research fellowship through Colgate University. As our Summer Research Fellow, she will support various projects coordinated by our Small Businesses Program.

In May, we welcomed Ashley Garwood to ANCA as our High Peaks Farmers' Market Manager. We are excited about the organization and excitement Ashley brings to the farmers markets in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. Stop by to say hi at the market this summer!

We also welcomed John Holmlund (not pictured) to our team in late May. Equipped with a B.A. in physics and a B.A. and M.A. in mathematics from SUNY Potsdam, John brings his strong analytical skills to ANCA's work as our new Operations Coordinator.

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

• Stewardship & Outreach Manager: Ausable River Association
• Housing Counselor: Adirondack Roots
• Bookkeeping & Administrative Assistant: Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation
• Butterfly House Coordinator: Paul Smiths College VIC

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