We’re thrilled to share that Snowfort was recently highlighted in the Albany Business Review (subscription required) in an article about us and two other people who recently relocated to the Adirondacks. Big ups to Luke Nathan’s for the excellent piece about our move to Westport, and our new venture here at Snowfort. When we relocated from Atlanta in 2022, we never imagined how quickly we’d find such a supportive community.
Settling in to Snowfort has been a true team effort, with help from incredible neighbors like Sawteeth Construction, who built our big new deck, and Rich Stockwell, who did an amazing job fixing our roof. We’re so excited about what’s in store and grateful for the help so far.
We’ve got an exciting Champ Camp program in the works for Indigenous People’s Day, and now we’re starting to plan some pop-ups for the holidays. This week Amy got our application approved for, uh… collecting sales tax. That’s weirdly exciting to me.
Thanks again to the Albany Business Review! We hope to host everyone in the new space soon!
Elevate Albany: 3 people, 3 perspectives on moving to the North Country
by Luke Nathan
It’s seldom easy to move to a new place. That can especially be true for people who have lived in larger metro areas who decide they want to come to the North Country, where subways and skyscrapers are replaced by longer drives and mountain trails. But as some newcomers to the region will tell you, there’s plenty to recommend about living here, too, things that longtime residents might take for granted. Below are the stories of three people who moved to the region within the past five years.
Adam Robinson
Age: 47
Job: Founder, Publishing Genius
Location: Westport in Essex County
In the fall of 2022, when Adam Robinson and his family moved to Westport, a small town in Essex County that abuts Lake Champlain, they left behind a home in an Atlanta suburb on a street with many other kids.
Robinson, who runs a small press called Publishing Genius, worried about whether it would be difficult for him and his wife, Amy, to find community for their two young children, then 1 and 4 years old.
Fortunately, he said, “it has not been hard at all.”
Robinson grew up in the Finger Lakes but later zeroed in on the Champlain Valley as a possible home for his family while reading “The Dirty Life,” writer Kristin Kimball’s memoir about meeting her husband and starting a farm with him in the area.
Upon moving to the North Country, the Robinsons became members of the Kimballs’ Essex Farm and embarked on their own labor of love. They purchased an old hardware store and snowmobile repair shop on Westport’s main drag and are in the process of converting it to a bookstore and children’s learning space, which they’ve named Snowfort.
It’s just down the road from The Mill, a former flour mill that another couple has transformed into an arts venue. There seems to be no shortage of ingenuity in this town of around 1,300 people.
“It still exceeds our expectations,” Robinson said. “We’re constantly pinching ourselves.”