Dear Friends of the Saranac Lake Community Store:

In case you missed the article in the ADK Daily Enterprise last week, I wanted to share with you some very exciting news.  The village of Saranac Lake has been awarded $588,000 in Restore New York grants to be used for the redevelopment of the Depot Train Station Plaza. The money, administered through the village, will be used by HES Ventures for work on the property next to the HomEnergy building, including the demolition of existing buildings, asbestos removal and improvements to water, sewer and electrical infrastructure. Their ultimate goal is to construct a building that has 6,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor and apartments above.

Although many things will need to fall into place before this becomes a reality, not the least of which is completing our Offering, HES Ventures is very interested in having the Community Store as their tenant! And we’re very interested in making that happen.

Although there’s been a lull in our investment raising efforts due to the Holidays, I’m pleased to say that we’re ramping up for the Home Stretch. Our total as of today is $220,400 and we now have until June 17th to raise the balance. (We received an extension from NYS in December.) Here are some of the things we’ll be doing over the next few months:

•    We’re holding an Open House this Thursday from noon-4 pm at the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce for all those interested in finding out more about the store and/or purchasing Shares. And on Saturday, Feb. 2nd, we’ll be part of the Winter Carnival Festivities with an Open House at the Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce from 10 am to 2 pm. 

•    We’ve changed our Office Hours to be more “user friendly.”  You can now find us at our Office at 33 Depot Street from 5:30 – 6:30 on Thursday evenings and Saturdays from 10am – noon.

•    We’ll be holding share parties at various locations throughout the Tri-Lakes during the coming months. More information to come on that.

•    And in March (final date TBA), we’ll be hosting a Buddy Party and inviting the 300+ people who have already invested and asking them to bring a friend who hasn’t yet invested. We’ll have music, wine, beer and other refreshments, and an emcee to host what promises to be an inspiring and festive occasion.

We need everyone’s help to make this project into a reality. If you haven’t already invested, now is the time. If you’d like to help reach additional investors, let us know. We have a letter that you can adapt for your purposes. We can also provide you with multiple copies of the Offering Documents if that would be helpful.

If you have any questions or ideas, please let us know. 

Warm regards,
Melinda

Melinda Little
President, Interim Board
891-0197

PS – Thought you all might enjoy reading a recent article that ran on us in the Albany Times Union.  Just follow the link.

by: MARLENE KENNEDY Business Editor

It has been a long six months and they're not yet halfway to their goal, but the folks trying to establish a community-owned store in Saranac Lake aren't ready to throw in the proverbial towel.

To read the rest of the article, go to:

http://timesunion.com/ss.asp?s=654269&c=BUSINESS&b=

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