Common ground

After a fire destroyed the business he owned with his son, Bert Weber was humbled by the outpouring of support from his neighbors.

Once Common Roots Brewing Company rebuilt its South Glens Falls restaurant and taproom, Weber and his family created The Common Roots Foundation to give back to the community that supported them.

“The Foundation supports groups that are doing things to support environmental or social justice issues; people in crisis — it could be a business, family or organization — and things that promote an active and healthy lifestyle,” said Weber, who before opening the business attended SUNY Adirondack’s StartUp ADK program. “If we can support groups that are in line with our ethos, that’s where we’re going to put our money.”

The Foundation offers two application cycles a year, funding gifts of up to $2,500. In its most recent, the Foundation received 17 applications and granted $21,000 to nine of the applicants. Recipients include Wait House, Glens Falls Youth Center, Tri-County Literacy, Habitat for Humanity, Up Yonda Farms, Crandall

Park Beautification Committee and World Awareness Children’s Museum, among others.

The nonprofit organization, which was recently backed by its first legacy member, Boralex, also offers a microgrant of $250 once a month to help with difficult issues that arise throughout the year.

Another Round

Since Common Roots’ new facility opened, the company’s following has grown significantly.

“In summer months, people are turned away because it’s too crowded, they’re waiting in line,” co-owner Bert Weber lamented.

So when property across Marion Street from the taproom was listed for sale, Weber bought it with plans to build a warehouse to store supplies sometimes difficult to secure given supply chain issues.

Then, Common Roots owners saw an opportunity. “We could do another taproom over there and event space; we get a lot of requests for weddings and it doesn’t make sense to rent out the taproom on weekends,” he said.

Work has begun on the new facility, designed to match the current building, with an anticipated opening in June 2023.

“It’s very exciting,” Weber said.

Use the QR code to read Common Roots’ StartUp story.

Students arrive at SUNY Adirondack eager to find themselves, to turn their potential into promise. They grow, expand their views and solidify their strengths. They graduate and head out into the world as innovative professionals, citizens who enact change and make a difference in our community.

The college bestows upon its alumni who demonstrate excellence in the areas of professional achievement, community service, service to ACC/ SUNY Adirondack and/or outstanding spirit, appointment to its Trailblazers Society.

Over the past two years, four alumni were named Trailblazers: Cassandra Moore of Glens Falls Hospital; Lisa Mitzen of Business for Good; John Strough, a longtime elected official; and Tanya Tobias-Tomis of Lake George Arts Project.

Moore is a 2005 graduate of SUNY Adirondack’s highly respected Nursing program and a 2021 Trailblazer. She is a service line administrator of Glens Falls Hospital’s Neurology & Stroke Program. Throughout the past 17 years, she has worked as a critical care nurse and nurse educator, and developed Glens Falls Hospital’s nurse residency and stroke programs.

Moore earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nursing Education and Leadership in a bridge program through Excelsior College in 2015 and, in 2016, returned to Glens Falls Hospital to help establish a nurse residency program in high-acuity areas. In 2018, she led a team in developing the hospital’s Stroke Program, of which she became director in 2020.

Mitzen, a 2022 inductee, is co-founder of Business for Good, a nonprofit organization that supports community organizations and busi- nesses. Profits earned by businesses Mitzen owns — including The Bread Basket and Hattie’s Restaurant & Chicken Shack — fund Business for Good, which donates to regional nonprofit organizations and helps entrepreneurs further develop their businesses.

For more than 15 years, she worked as a mortgage lending manager for companies including Countrywide Home Loans, MetLife and Paragon Home Loans. She is a 1989 graduate of SUNY Adirondack and a 1991 graduate of SUNY Utica.

Strough is a lifelong resident of Queensbury and longtime town supervisor. He was a high school teacher for 37 years, retiring in 2011. From 2004 to 2013, he served as a town councilman and, in 2013, as deputy town supervisor. He was elected as town supervisor in 2014 and is serving in his fifth term.

He served on SUNY Adirondack’s Board of Trustees, Warren County

Economic Developmental Council’s board, and several boards and committees dedicated to preservation of Lake George.

He is a 1971 graduate of SUNY Adirondack, a 1974 graduate of University of Buffalo and has pursued graduate studies at University at Albany and other institutions. He was inducted as a Trailblazer in 2022.

Tobias-Tomis is executive director of Lake George Arts Project, a nonprofit organization that promotes exposure and income opportunities to professional and emerging artists and provides quality arts programming to the Lake George region.

Over the past 23 years, Tobias-Tomis has held numerous arts administration positions in the region, including at The Hyde Collection and Saratoga Arts. She is vice president of the Board of Directors at Adirondack Folk School, a member of Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce Women in Business and, for more than a decade, has been a juror and steering committee member for LifeWorks’

Latino Community Advocacy Program’s Estamos Aqui fundraiser.

In the past, she served on Hudson River Mill Museum’s Board of Directors. Tobias-Tomis is a past Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader Scholarship award winner and has been an Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader award panelist, as well as an exhibition juror and guest speaker for many local and regional arts organizations.

Tobias-Tomis is a 1999 graduate of SUNY Adirondack, a 2001 graduate of University at Albany, earned a master’s degree from Skidmore College and was named a Trailblazer in 2022.

Heather Chase

Associate degree in Liberal Arts from SUNY Adirondack in 1994

Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from The College of Saint Rose in 2001

Master’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from University of Phoenix Doctorate (all but dissertation) in Organizational Leadership from University of Phoenix

Currently: Associate professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Hudson Valley Community College

When Heather Chase’s father was sick, they discussed starting a scholarship in his name. After he died, she decided to invest her inheritance in SUNY Adirondack.

As a member of the college’s Garnet Society, Chase is proud to leave a legacy for future generations.

“I inherited a sizable amount of money, I have a full-time job so it’s not money I’m going to use much