Big thanks to the VBOC for highlighting us in their Holiday Gift Guide….and making the Troy Record!

WATERVLIET, N.Y. >> Looking for a last-minute holiday gift? The Watervliet Arsenal Business and Technology Partnership has a whole list of gifts that also support local veterans.

The partnership created a Holiday Gift Guide on its website at www.arsenalpartnership.com as a way to help shoppers find just the right gift while also showing their support for veteran-owned business. From a copy of former U.S. Rep. Christopher Gibson’s book “Rally Point” — Gibson is a retired military commander — or a ride on the Spa City Brew Bus to dinner at Clark’s Steakhouse in Schuylerville or a wooden flag from Veteran Made Woodworks of Troy, the guide includes unique items and experiences provided by veteran-led business throughout the region.

“For the past three or four weeks, you’ve been getting bombarded in your email from anyplace you’ve ever shopped online with gifts for her, gifts for him, gifts for the kids, gifts for mom, gifts for dad,” explained partnership President Peter Gannon, “so we thought, we’ve worked with so many veteran-owned businesses through the Veterans Business Outreach Center, why don’t we put our own little spin on this holiday tradition.”

The partnership launched the online guide on its website about two weeks ago.

“It’s like a little nod to what we do at the Veterans Business Outreach Center, being able to showcase and highlight some of our veteran-owned companies and the clients that we’ve worked with to see their businesses grow,” said Zach Yakel, client services and project coordinator for the partnership.

Other veteran-owned businesses featured in the guide includes The Salt Den in Latham, Hot Yoga Queensbury, Big Moose Deli and Country Store in Hoosick and Hair Journeys Beauty Salon in Albany.

“I think the other cool thing about this is that almost all these [businesses] have an option for an online gift card, too, so if down the stretch here during the last couple of days [until Christmas], if people are stuck you can [do that],” said Gannon.

Organizers said their hope for the guide is that it can help veterans grow their businesses while also encouraging people to shop locally.

“The goal of the program is that we want to see every veteran entrepreneur that we speak with grow their business,” explained Yakel. “We help from inception to development and growth, so this is a great way to kind of tip our hats to the men and women who have served our country. They are now not only contributing to our local economy, but in the holiday season, you’re able to give back to our veterans.”

Organizers said the guide will be active through Christmas Day, and they intend to expand the program out in the future.

View the original article at the Troy Record »

A huge shout out to our friends Jeremy and Andrea who just went through the fights of their lives and came out still undefeated! For those who don’t know Jeremy is a friend of ours, he happens to have 2 of our flags but might as well be a spokesman for us! He recently had emergency heart surgery and is recovering now, doing well. Cheers to Jeremy, father husband, law enforcement officer, Navy Veteran and more…Veteran Made has your 6!

Huge thanks to America F1rst Action with their purchase of 20 Old Tattered Flags! We visited Washington D.C. to attend their Christmas party…at the Trump international Hotel in DC!!

What an honor it was to meet Donald Trump JR and present him with our Veteran Made Presidential Flag! We attended the America First Action Christmas party, a night will will never forget!

We have had the opportunity to meet so many patriotic Americans from America Sherrif David Clarke to Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, Congressman Louie Gohmert and of course meeting Vice President Mike Pence! What an amazing time!

by Emily Marcason-Tolmie

Pressure and pride. These words are the foundation of Anthony Guadagnino’s Capital District-based business Veteran Made Woodworks. “Creating the American flag from scratch, from pieces of wood into something amazing, is something we take immense pride in.” Guadagnino, a U.S. Marine veteran and current Operations NCO for Recruiting in the New York Army National Guard, says he thrives under pressure. He receives between 80 and 100 orders for flags a month. The increased volume of orders doesn’t distract him, rather it encourages him. “People are choosing us to make them a flag and we are honored by their confidence in us,” he said. “We are doing right by the flag and in turn right for our customers. We use only high quality wood and products. Our reputation is speaking for itself.”

Guadagnino is receiving orders from customers across the country. Recently, a chief in the United States Navy contacted him hoping to present a Veteran Made Woodworks’ flag at a change of command ceremony involving the famed Blue Angels. Veteran Made Woodworks has made flags that currently hang in United States’ Embassies. He has shipped flags to Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. He has also made flags for more somber occasions, such as End of Watch ceremonies traditionally used to honor fallen law enforcement officers.

Veteran Made Woodworks is different from other woodworking business for two distinct reasons: patriotism and passion. “It means a lot to our customers that we are veterans, and still serving,” he said. “We construct our flags in the same way that we approach the military, with a high attention to detail. Guadagnino believes that the precise craftsmanship of each flag is all based on honor. “We are doing the flag justice,” he said. “We show it the proper respect because we live and bleed by that flag.” For example, when Guadagnino finishes a flag the edges of it are always smoothed and painted. “People notice the little things,” he said. “We are all about quality and affordable prices. There is no reason why customers can’t have both of these.”

Guadagnino has been dabbling in woodwork for years. When he was a boy he would go with his father, a general contractor, to work sites and learn by watching. He took his skills and refined them when he joined the military at age 18. “I’ve had one job since I was 18,” Guadagnino said. “I’ve served the military, working for the government, and it wears on you. I wanted to work for myself,” he said. He started his woodworking business two years ago after attending a Boots to Business seminar offered by the military. “I then spent a year after that class researching and deciding my best course of action. I wanted to go into this business with a plan,” he said. That plan has him now leading a team of five part-time people, each one from a different branch of the service or law enforcement, and each one contributing to the business in their own way. Two years ago he had no idea that the business would evolve to where it is today. “I’m in the trenches with my team,” he said. “I’m sweating with them. I’m cutting with them. I’m right there with them building,” he said. The business has evolved and gained speed quickly since its inception. Changes are on the horizon for Guadagnino. “Next year I can see myself running this business full-time,” he said.

Guadagnino attributes his business success to his military history: from infantryman to recruiter he has an arsenal of experiences that are a perfect match for entrepreneurship. The business is growing and he is enjoying every moment. “I work at least an hour before going to work every morning and between four to five hours every evening,” he said. “I am fortunate to work alongside a group of people that love this as much as I do. Really, at the end of it all, we are just a couple of friends making really cool stuff together.”

Customized engraving of flags is available upon request. There are flags available in stock on the website, but each order is treated with individual attention. The turnaround time on a custom flag order is currently at about 2 weeks or so. In addition to the flags, Veterans Made Woodworking make custom flag coin holders and some furniture.

Emily Marcason-Tolmie, a Saratoga native, is a writer, researcher, wife and mother. Emily and her husband, Ryan, are the parents to two wonderful little boys, ages 4 and 1.

This article was written by Emily Marcason-Tolmie and was originally published at Saratoga Weekly.

A recruiter for the New York Army National Guard, 35-year-old founder Anthony Guadagnino started the business two years ago after he made a wooden flag as a gift for a neighbor. He had been in the middle of doing contract work on his house.

Guadagnino enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1999 and served for six years, including a tour in Iraq in 2003.

“The thing that really fuels (our company) — we get regular patriotic Americans. More than anyone,” he said. “… We do some other stuff where we get a flag from somebody who has a memorial, or I’m buying it for this person or whatever the case is.”

His wife, Jessica Guadagnino, added that the Holiday Craft Fair allowed them to see customers’ reactions.

“It’s kind of exciting to see how people like his work,” she said.

This is an excerpt of an article from the Poughkeepsie Journal.