 This is a story about opportunity, stepping up to challenges and persevering in the face of adversity. The year was 1972. Al Barbagallo and his brothers had been picking vegetables and tomatoes on his father’s farm for several summers, even into their adult years.
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 Since 1980 The Skaneateles Festival-world class music by the lake, has brought classical music to the Finger Lakes region. Renowned talent has drawn audiences from the far reaches of the area. Venues have varied, with each providing just the right ambience. Whether in a barn, a library hall, an open field, or a vineyard, audiences have been treated to the uppermost levels of entertainment.
 Lydia Montgomery’s long-time vision of opening her very own sewing education and seamstress business was finally realized with the opening of “Lydia’s Daily Thread” in the Gear Factory at the corner of West Fayette and South Geddes streets in the westside of Syracuse.
 When Matthew Cullipher opened the Hope Café and Tea House in 2017, he had two missions that he was trying to accomplish. The first mission was to provide a variety of delicious food and beverages that replicated the taste and feel of countries such as Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, and Italy. That mission has been easily accomplished with more to come on that.
But as a non-profit entity, the second mission of the Hope Café was to help children and adults living in extreme poverty. While that mission may never be fully realized, Cullipher and his organization have made a significant improvement in the lives of people less fortunate than many of us.  Up until now, Stephanie McCall has created custom quilts as a one woman show. However, COVID shutdowns made her re-imagine her customers’ experience.
While the part of Stephanie’s business that required in-person consultations suffered very early on in the pandemic, she was able to adapt by changing her procedures. She re-organized her processes and notified her customers so that they would be aware that she was doing the very best she could to keep their product(s) safe.  What do you do when the Covid-19 pandemic literally shuts down your whole operation?
You get creative and pivot to an operation where you are staying relevant while fulfilling your mission. This is the situation faced by the Center for the Arts of Homer - and the approach they took to deal with that trying business period.  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has awarded more than $7.5 billion dollars through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program to live venue operators, promoters, arts organizations, talent representatives, motion picture theater operators, museums, and theatrical producers.
Over 10,000 live entertainment venues, small businesses and not-for-profit agencies have received funding through this program out of nearly 15,500 SVOG applicants.  Travis Barr and Alex Altomonte stepped into Melissa Zomro Davis's small Cazenovia office with a wish, a dream, and a legacy. Little did they know that their journey would not only change their lives, but also the many lives of the residents and visitors of this quaint little community.
The idea of owning a business is not a new one for Travis and Alex. In 1946 Travis's Grandfather opened the Brae Loche Inn, which is still owned and operated by his uncle and his uncle's wife. Travis's cousin is the also owner and operator of 20East and Cazenovia CutBlock.  During the peak of the COVID pandemic last holiday season, Skaneateles Artisans owner Teresa Vitale found herself in a similar position to many other retail brick & mortar businesses – revenue waning due to a lack of customers who were appropriately social distancing at home and either reducing their purchasing or relying on e-commerce outlets.
 At 6:30 in the morning, when most of us are asleep or enjoying our first cup of coffee, Drew D’Angelo arrives at Mazzye’s Meats to begin preparing the store.
He sanitizes the store, fills the cases and prepares the meat for the day. While there’s much work to be done, his favorite part of the day is just 90 minutes away when he’ll begin interacting with the customers. That’s when his passion for meat and food preparation becomes apparent. Not only does he enjoy talking with his customers about specific meats and various cuts of meat, he loves to help them understand the best way to prepare them. |
Empowering Entrepreneurship, Inspiring Success in Upstate, NY.
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Email: sbdc@sunyocc.edu
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Phone: 315-498-6070
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Onondaga Small Business Development Center. Partnership Program with the SBA, administered by the State University of New York. Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. All SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.
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