Tagged: north country

What if you had to drive 50 miles just to pick up a pair of underwear?

The geographically isolated town of Saranac Lake, N.Y. has fewer than 5,000 residents and no "big box" stores like Target or Wal-Mart.

So the people there decided to create their own department store.

See the story from this weekend's episode of New York NOW:

Say you're a big state, in need of a lot of electric power. Specifically, you're the fifth largest power consumer in the nation.

And let's also say you have a newfound zeal for shutting down a large nuclear facility, one that's unsettlingly close to a major city (for these purposes we'll call it "Indian Point").

In this scenario, if your northern neighbor swooped in with an offer to provide you with hydroelectric power, produced by massive dams, you'd say yes - right?

JOHN YDSTIE, host: Honey, Stop The Car! - that's what we've been calling our summer road trip.

We've visited monuments and statues that honor local heroes or events. We've gone in Indiana to a spot where a former president was purposely dumped in the mud; to Colorado, where a statue to the town founder is a traffic hazard; and to California, where a stagecoach horse was killed in a robbery.

This morning, Emma Jacobs of member station WRVO takes us to upstate New York, where there's a most unusual monument to a favorite son.

EMMA JACOBS: When you cross a bridge straight into Gouverneur's tiny main drag, the first thing you see is a giant pack of Life Savers hanging above the village green. It's longer than a car, shorter than a limo. The foil wrapper is open at one end.

When you ask Gene Phrampus about the cost of operating his truck, he lets out a long depressed sigh, and then lays out his financial difficulties. Specifically, his fuel costs, which range from $45,000-$50,000 a year.

That’s as much as the median household income in the United States. After all the expenses of running his truck, what’s left for him isn’t much.

“Somebody at McDonald’s [who] gets a little check every week sometimes makes more than I do,” says Phrampus.

Across the thruway there are business devoted to helping businesses get started.

Syracuse has its "Tech Garden" business incubator, Rochester is home to High Tech Rochester, and Buffalo has UB's technology incubator. Each offering gives entrepreneurs  coaching and office space, in the hopes of nurturing a profitable venture that spurs job creation and economic growth.