Your BottomLine Text Version
SeaComm Business Newsletter
2nd Edition 2024
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: High Peaks Brew
Located in Plattsburgh, NY
In an increasingly busy world, people look for convenience to go along with their schedules. That is why industries like technology, automobiles, and communications have all adapted to make life easier. The food and beverage industry has also worked to improve efficiency with increased numbers of mobile restaurants, otherwise known as food trucks. But what about coffee? The caffeinated beverage that is a staple among most people has also become mobilized. One such example is Rebekah Hilpl and her coffee truck High Peaks Brew in Plattsburgh, NY. Rebekah has steady clients and regularly attracts new customers wherever she pops up in the area. Her dream of becoming a business owner was realized four years ago and she hasn’t looked back.
Rebekah, like most adults, was a coffee lover, “Coffee was always a beverage that I had enjoyed,” she said. The thought of combining her aspirations to own her own business with her affection for the caffeinated drink led her to a great idea, but she had to learn. She said, “After doing lots of research about the coffee/food truck industries, I fell in love with the idea.” Rebekah found an old camper on Facebook marketplace and the owners were very generous. She told them about her plan to make a coffee truck and gave her the camper for nothing, which Rebekah took as a sign, “This act of kindness gave me more confirmation that I had chosen the right path!” With the help of her dad and cousin, renovations began in March of 2020, and in November of that year, Rebekah opened High Peaks Brew for the first time at the Cadyville Rec Park, serving coffee and homemade baked goods to the public. In the years since starting High Peaks Brew, Rebekah said she has faced many challenges. Every business owner faces difficulties, and with a coffee truck, there have been machinery issues, flat tires, water pump problems, but Rebekah always stayed strong and committed, “I've learned the most through the hard times.” When you can overcome the challenges of running a business and really enjoy the work you do, they say you don’t work a day in your life.
Rebekah’s favorite part of High Peaks Brew is connecting with her customers and the community. “For most people, coffee is the highlight of their morning and I love being able to be a part of that,” she said. Based on her popularity in Plattsburgh and the surrounding areas, and the fact she had to open a second coffee truck in December 2023, is proof that the community truly appreciates the service she is providing, “We mainly set up at various locations around Plattsburgh, but we also provide our services for weddings, corporate events, college orientations, bridal showers, and more.” Local businesses, like SeaComm, have also taken advantage of High Peaks Brew accessibility by sponsoring coffee. In April, Rebekah and her staff set up at the credit union’s Plattsburgh branch where over 200 people enjoyed free coffee.
When Rebekah opened her second coffee truck, SeaComm was right there to help her out. “My experience with SeaComm as a business member has been fantastic,” she said, “They provided me with funding to help complete the necessary renovations.” With the credit union’s assistance, Rebekah has turned her dream of a coffee truck into a thriving business with deep ties to the community, “Working with SeaComm has been great and I am incredibly thankful for their support.”
You can find High Peaks Brew’s weekly schedule of locations on their Facebook and Instagram pages @highpeaksbrew. Rebekah also send out a weekly email for those who don’t use social media. To get in contact for events or more information call 518-593-7672, or email highpeaksbrew@gmail.com.
"Successful entrepreneurs are givers and not takers of positive energy."
-Anonymous
Manager's Notebook
Competition: Sports Drives Innovation
Given that most sports rely heavily on physical capabilities, you might not assume that sports could also drive innovation. In practice, however, athletes who are scientists and inventors off the field have made numerous important contributions to sports and society as a whole.
Engineers and sports enthusiasts aren't the only ones who have cooking up new technologies, either. A farmer in southern Illinois, Arthur Ehrat, invented the breakaway basketball rim to stop players from destroying backboards when they dunked the ball. The original rim relied on springs from a John Deere tractor.
After a female jogger reached out to express her frustrations about women's athletic wear, designers Hinda Miller and Polly Palmer Smith purchased some jock straps, cut them up, and re-pieced them together to create the first sports bras. The sports bra has allowed more women to participate in sports and to perform at a high level.
Another legendary performance booster: Gatorade. Physician Robert Cade noticed that players on the University of Florida Gators football team consistently performed worse in the second half of each game. Dr. Cade theorized -- and later proved -- that dehydration was the problem and not just fatigue. Gatorade, named for the legendary team, was invented to replenish salt and sugar levels and quickly rehydrate the thirsty players.
Sports has had a big impact on safety as well. Today's helmets, whether for football or riding a motorcycle, are vastly superior to options of the past, thanks at least partly to investments in protective gear for athletes. Shawn Springs, CEO of Windpact and a former NFL player himself, recognized that many retired NFL players experienced significant neurological problems. His company now produces helmets that efficiently absorb and disperse energy to protect players and their most valuable assets -- their brains.
Student Loan Match Plan May Help Young Employees
Student loan payments have emerged as one of the primary obstacles to retirement saving, but a new plan may change that.
Provisions in the Secure 2.0 Act are designed to help the 28 million student borrowers pay their loans and start retirement savings.
The student loan match works much like employer match with a 401(k). Employers can match loan payments as contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan like a 401(k). That means employees would be able to save for retirement just by repaying their student loans. Employers would be able to match dollar-for-dollar or as a percentage of the annual pay.
It is still unknown how many employers will implement the benefit. In a 2023 survey by the National Association of Plan Advisors, fewer than 5 percent of the firms surveyed say they have or will add student loan matching.
Some research suggests that employees are more likely to stay with a company when loan match is in place, according to Money.com.
Quick Tip:
If you are in a good financial position, increase your student loan payments. This is the best way to pay off your loans faster.
Find more helpful tips and articles at seacommblog.com
Andrew Carnegie's Rise From Rags to Riches
Perhaps no one pulled on his own bootstraps as hard as the legendary industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie built America's steel industry, but he grew up in grinding poverty. Born in 1835 in Scotland, Carnegie and his poor working-class family shared a one-room weaver's cottage with another family. In 1848, the family decided to gamble on the U.S. and moved to Pennsylvania in search of a better life.
As a young man, Carnegie worked for pennies in the textile industry and later as a telegraph messenger. A hard worker, he rose superintendent of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad by age 24, earning $1,500 a year (about $50,000 today), and establishing himself an important cog in the booming railroad industry. During the Civil War, Carnegie was appointed the superintendent of the Union's military railways.
Around the same time, Carnegie started investing in railway projects and emerging oil companies. The Civil War created a huge demand for iron and steel, so Carnegie began investing in that industry as well. After the war, Carnegie focused on the steel industry. Steel was in high demand for rail lines and bridges, and Carnegie was able to leverage this demand into a steel empire.
Carnegie revolutionized the steel industry with his full embrace of the Bessemer process, which burns away impurities in pig iron to make lighter, stronger, and cheaper steel. At its peak, Carnegie Steel was the largest producer of pig iron, steel rails, and coke.
When he died in 1919, he was the richest man in America, but he also believed that "the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." Carnegie ultimately gave away 90 percent of his wealth to build what would become Carnegie Mellon University, as well as more than 2,500 public libraries.
Jerry Manor
Business Development Manager
jmanor@seacomm.org
800-764-0566 ext. 546
Christina Smutz
Member Business Loan Officer
csmutz@seacomm.org
800-764-0566 ext. 510
Locations
Main Office
30 Stearns Street
Massena, NY 13662
Malone Branch
3349 Route 11
Malone, NY 12953
Potsdam Branch
6 Sisson Street
Potsdam, NY 13676
Canton Branch
101 East Main Street
Canton, NY 13617
Ogdensburg Branch
3001 Ford Street Extension
Ogdensburg, NY 13669
Plattsburgh Branch
139 Smithfield Blvd
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
South Burlington Branch
1680 Shelburne Rd
So. Burlington, VT 05401
Essex Branch
125 Carmichael Street
Essex, VT 05452
Watertown Branch
20565 State Route 3
Watertown, NY 13601
Branch Managers
Joanne Langdon
30 Stearns St. Branch Manager
Christine Marshall
Malone Branch Manager
Elizabeth Holliday
Canton Branch Manager
Emily Clark
Ogdensburg Branch Manager
Ashley Allen
Potsdam Branch Manager
Morgan Smart
Plattsburgh Branch Manager
Jess Roach
Watertown Branch Manager
Joseph Feltz
Essex Branch Manager
Holly O'Brien
South Burlington Branch Manager
Business Development
Jerry Manor
Business Development Manager
Christina Smutz
Member Business Loan Officer
315-764-0566 / 800-764-0566
www.seacomm.org
Let us Spotlight your business!
We are proud of our business members and want to share your story! Contact Jerry Manor for more information. Call (315) 764-0566 or toll-free (800) 764-0566 or email jmanor@seacomm.org
SeaComm
30 Stearns St
Massena, NY 13662
*This publication does not constitute legal, accounting or other profesional advice. Although it is intended to be accurate, neither the publisher nor any other party assumes liability for loss or damage due to reliance on this material.