One of our long-standing Chamber members is Electronic Merchant Systems/KURV Processing, a team of experienced solution specialists dedicated to helping local businesses implement secure, convenient, and cost-effective payment processing solutions. Led by Director Steve Miller, the EMS/KURV Processing team proudly supports many businesses here in Irondequoit and also offers an exclusive member-to-member benefit to fellow ICC members.

Check out this Q&A with Director, Steven Miller, to learn more about EMS/KURV:

How many years has the company been in business? 15yrs

What type of business or services does EMS/KURV offer? Multiple solutions for accepting credit card payments including digital invoicing, e-commerce, point of sale systems, stand-alone terminals and more.

How did your business come about?  What made you choose to open your business? I was recruited to the credit card processing industry.

Why choose Irondequoit for your business’ home?:  Proud to be an Irondequoit resident, love this town, the people and the local businesses.

How many employees does your business employ?  8 people total

What do you want potential customers to know about your business? No matter who handles your businesses credit card processing please be sure to know an actual human that can login to your acct and assist when there is an issue. It’s your money so know who is responsible to insure its deposited to your account.

What community service has your business been involved in or organizations do you support/donate to?  We donate so many organizations but for over 20 years we have been a major sponsor of the local Polar Plunge for Special Olympics. 

To learn more about EMS/KURV and check out testimonials, head over to their website. 

Just as schedules pick up for the holiday season, there couldn't be a better time to introduce you to our November Featured Business of the Month, Woofie's of Rochester! Holiday travel or spending more time away from the home this season?  No need to feel guilty about being away from your fur-babies, Woofie's has you covered. 

Woofie's of Rochester is owned by Irondequoit residents Jessica and Bert Gallom.  Learn more about Woofie's and check out our Q&A with owner, Jessica Gallmon:

How many years has Woofie's of Rochester been in Business:    2.5 years

What type of services does your business offer?    We provide premium pet care services for dogs, cats, and a variety of other animals. These services include mobile grooming, pet sitting, dog walking, house sitting, and pet taxi needs.

How did your business come about? What made you choose to open your business?    After a successful career as a graphic designer and manager, I was looking for a shift to something more fulfilling.  Together with my husband, Bert, we set out for a change where we could take charge and feel empowered. I, deemed a dog whisperer by my children, felt a spark when learning about Woofie’s.  To say Bert and I are animal lovers would be an understatement! We can’t imagine life without our fur family and knew from the start that Woofie’s was the perfect fit!

Why choose Irondequoit for your business’ home:    We love living in Irondequoit and it made sense to have our home base be in the heart of our amazing community.

How many employees does your business employ? Are any local Irondequoit natives?    We currently have a team of 20 people, 5 of which live and/or grew up in our community.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business?    We are passionate about providing personalized and attentive care to your pets. We customize the care to your specific needs and take pride in going the extra mile. We have a robust app that tracks our GPS arrival/departure times including journal entries with photos/videos and a summary of what happened at your visit. All of this to provide peace of mind while you're away.

What community service has your business been involved in or what organizations do you support/donate to?    We always give back to local rescues at each of our events, whether by funds or our services.  We have partnered with Lollypop Farms to provide pet taxi services to low income families, donations and support of Verona Street, donations and grooming services to GRASP and Second Hand Rescue to name a few. As a brand we also partner with Farmer's Dog Fresh Food, Ancestry DNA, and Pet Telehealth to provide discounted options to our customers for premium care for their pets.

Are there any events you are hosting you wish to tell our community about?   During winter we tend to be quieter with events. We celebrated 21 years of our Woofie's brand on October 22nd at Irondequoit Beer Company. Proceeds went to Verona Street Animal Shelter.

You can find Woofies of Rochester online  or by calling (585) 206-4840.  You can also follow them on Facebook or Instagram. 

If you have met Ann Marie Depoian then you have been motivated by her upbeat and fun take on tackling life.  The Depoian Team celebrates their 25th Anniversary this month and Ann Marie's birthday is on Halloween day, so it was a no-brainer that they must be the October Featured Business of the Month!  Check out this Q&A with Ann Marie to get to know a little bit more about what make the Depoian Team Special:

What's your Business name?   Depoian Team 

Who is/are the owner(s)?  Ann Marie Depoian 

How many years has Depoian Team been in business?  25 years

What type of business/services does the Depoian Team offer?   Financial advisory services, including mortgage lending, debt management, insurances and investments.

How did your business come about?  What made you choose to open your business?   My husband Jeff got licensed first when we lived in Utica NY and our son was a toddler, while he worked full time as a restaurant manager, with the plan to leave that job and make financial services our full-time business, with me supporting in the back office. I got wrapped up in learning how it all worked and talking with the clients and listened to the stories of how we helped turn their financial lives around for the better and I was hooked! I knew I had to get my license too and help out to double our efforts. I was in licensing class 1 week after I had our daughter and a year later, I had the hang of it really well and we switched roles and I became the lead agent and Jeff became back office support as well as our office's NYS licensing teacher and coach, a notary and a CE administrator! We wanted everything in-house for our growing team and quality control is very important to us, because it's our name and reputation out there.

Why choose Irondequoit for your business’ home:  That's easy! It's where we live! Our home is in Summerville.

How many employees does your business employ? Are any local Irondequoit natives?  We have 30 agents and growing and they come from all over Rochester, the state of NY and various other states.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business?   That we are a complementary service & we're Fiduciaries which means we have NO Quotas, NO Products we must sell, No Conflicts of interest with the Vetted Financial companies we work with and we provide high level financial service regardless of people's net worth. We are certified woman owned and work with businesses as well as government agencies. We were founded on providing financial literacy to our clients so they can make more income and make informed decisions to become properly protected, debt-free, and financial independent. That is our mission statement.

What community service has your business been involved in? What organizations do you support/donate to?     We have been part of the National Human Resources Association of Rochester, NHRA for a couple of decades and are very active on the committee for the annual benefit auction, which adopts a different 501c3 company every year that helps put people back to work in some capacity. 

We were youth ministers for 16 years at IUCC, I'm a part of Stella, the Women's Foundation and the Women's Council. We'd like to do anonymous giving, personally. We have been part of the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce on and off and now sit on the board and we really like participating in and sponsoring the annual Joe Genier Charity Mini Golf Tournament.

Are there any events you are hosting you wish to tell our community about?   Yes! Our 25th anniversary ribbon cutting will be on Tuesday, October 28th at 8:00 a.m. 

We are honored to celebrate Whispering Pines Miniature Golf Course as our September Featured Business.  Jim and Greg Papas, owners of Whispering Pines, donate their historic Sea Breeze golf course annually to our J. Genier Charity Mini Golf Tournament in support of The Sunset House.   The Papas, who recently retired and sold Parkside Diner, remain the owners of the miniature golf course and continue to provide family-friendly entertainment.   Check out this Q&A with owner, Jim Papas:

Whispering Pines is the oldest golf course in the U.S.!  How long has it been in business?  95 Years!

What type of services do you offer?  Miniature golf.  (Okay! They also offer birthday parties and course rentals for events!)

How did your business come about?   It was started in 1930, it is the oldest miniature golf course in the U.S.A.  (The course was renovated in 2012)

Why choose a business in Irondequoit to own?  Irondequoit is a central location.  We also chose to be near the West Irondequoit school district and our parent’s residence.

How many employees does your business employee?  Are any Irondequoit natives?  Ten, all are from either East or West Irondequoit.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business?  We are real and affordable family-fun entertainment.

What community service has your business been involved in? What organizations does you support/donate to?   We donate to cancer organizations and support The Sunset House.

Are there any events you are hosting that you wish to tell the community about?  The J. Genier Charity Mini Golf Tournament is being held her on September 18^th.  Jose was a great customer of ours and is missed dearly.

Whispering Pines Miniature Golf Course is located 4383 Culver Rd. in the Sea Breeze area of Irondequoit.  The golf course is season and operates in the spring, summer and fall seasons. 

When Bar-Bill East came to Rochester there was a lot of excitement around the famous beef on weck and wing tavern. We at the Irondequoit Chamber are honored that Bar-Bill East chose to immediately become members. Nestled down by the bay on Empire Blvd, Bar-Bill East is a great place for outdoor seating in the summer to cheering alongside the Bills Mafia in the fall.

Check out this Q&A with their Marketing Director,  Kaileigh Falkner, and learn more about our August Featured Business of the Month:

How many years has Bar-Bill East been in business?   2 years at this location

Who are the owners?:  John Crook & Harry Crook

Type of business/services offered?   Restaurant known for our hand painted chicken wings & beef on weck. We are a full service restaurant & bar.

How did your business come about/What made you choose to open your business?   Our original location opened in East Aurora, NY in 1967.. we have since opened a spot in Clarence, NY (2020) and most recently, this location on Irondequoit Bay in Rochester (2023).

Why choose Irondequoit for your business’ home?:   John & Harry’s parents, Clark & Katie Crook, started their life together in Rochester so this location seemed only fitting as we expanded the restaurant. Restoring beautiful old buildings is a foundation of our brand and this space was a perfect fit for that.

How many employees does your business employ? Are any local Irondequoit natives?:  Our Bar-Bill East has 75 employees, 10 are Irondequoit natives.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business?  We are proud to be part of such a wonderful community!

What community service has your business been involved in? What organizations do you support/donate to?:   This past winter we held a canned food drive in conjunction with former Buffalo Bills player, Fred Jackson, to benefit the Irondequoit Community Cupboard, Inc. Every September we have featured a Golden Chicken Wing with all proceeds going directly to P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Are there any events you are hosting you wish to tell our community about?:  We host an annual Bar-Bill Charity Golf Tournament every August (we are coming up on our 6th year) at Byrncliff Golf Resort.  We are always looking for sponsors to join us!

...And as always, we are excited for training camp & football season! Go Bills!

____________

Bill-Bar East is located at 1129 Empire Blvd, Rochester, NY 14609 and open 11:30am to 10pm daily.  Check them out online to see their menu, merch, learn about their charity golf tournament and more. 

This month we are excited to recognize our Corporate Members from T-Mobile for Business. The T-Mobile for Business team has been actively supporting our chamber and the Irondequoit business community since becoming members. T-Mobile for Business is more than just cell phones. We are excited to introduce to everyone how their division differs from the typical store experience and how they are assisting small and medium size businesses achieve success through personalized solutions designed for them.

Here in Irondequoit, Benjamin Neumann – Business Account Executive and Dave Meyers – Business Account Executive, work closely with the E. Ridge Rd retail store manager, Nick Ebersold to make sure they are meeting the needs of our business community.

Since they do work as a team, we sent over a Q&A for so you can all learn more about them and they completed it collectively.  Check it out: 

Name and title of who is completing this form:

• Benjamin Neumann – Business Account Executive
• Dave Meyers – Business Account Executive
• Nick Ebersold – Retail Store Manager

What type of business/services does T-Mobile for Business offer?

• Phones, Tablets, Hotspots, Etc.
• High Speed Internet / Fail Over Internet
• Fleet/Asset Tracking Technology
• PBX Systems
• Security Cameras

How many employees does your business employ?  Are any local Irondequoit natives?   

We have 8 local team members working in our retail store.  Nick and Ben both personally live in Irondequoit and take pride in serving their own community.

What do you want potential customers to know about T-Mobile for Business?

We deliver telecommunications and technology solutions on America’s best network, with unmatched value and personalized support at the local level.  Our team can come directly to your business, sit down with you, and take the time to understand your technology needs.  We often meet companies who’ve been with the same provider for 5, 10, even 25 years—only to discover their bills are confusing, outdated, and full of missed opportunities for savings.

What community service has your business been involved in?  What organizations do you support/donate to? 

• Annual Mini Golf Tournament (Our side note: They were our 2024 Caddy Sponsor!)
• House of Mercy 

Are there any events you are hosting you wish to tell our community about? 

Nothing on the schedule now but be on the lookout for our next Business Networking Event getting scheduled soon!

We are happy to honor Professional Notary Services, Inc. this May as our Featured Business of the Month.  Professional Notary Services has been serving the people of Rochester for over a decade and has been a long time member of our chamber.  Please check out our Q&A with Professional Notary Services, Inc President, Marcy Tiberio: 

How many years have you been in business? 12 years

Type of business/services does your business offer?   We offer in-person mobile notary services nationally and remote online notarization nationally and internationally.

How did your business come about? What made you choose to open your business?   I really fell into it. I had left my previous place of employment and thought I would do notary work until I found something else and 12 years later – here I am! I t’s been such an honor to help so many with life milestones such as purchasing their home, starting their business or adopting a child.

Why choose Irondequoit Chamber?  I’m actually in High Falls but I live in Irondequoit and I wanted (the business) to be somewhere central and be a part of such a historic area.

How many employees does your business employ? Are any local Irondequoit natives?   I have over 1100 subcontractors nationally and three from my admin team are Irondequoit natives.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business? We can handle all your notarial needs.

What community service has your business been involved in? What organizations do you support/donate to?   I am a Girl Scout trooper leader and foster dogs. We support local classrooms through DonorsChoose, the Veterans Outreach Center and CASA of Monroe County. We are happy to support other local organizations upon request.

Professional Notary Services, Inc is located at 74 Browns Race Suite 202, Rochester, NY 14614.  You can learn more about their services online and you can also follow them on Facebook and other social media sites. 

We felt it was about time we honor Tiffany DelleFave, photographer/owner of Tiffany Ann Photography, and showcase her amazing new studio location.  Tiffany has been an active member of our chamber and throughout the Irondequoit community.  Tiffany is more than just your average photographer. We love her play-based, all inclusive approach to family photography.  Check out our Q&A with Tiffany to learn more:

How many years have you been in business? 15 years – March 15th

What type of business/services do you offer?  Play-based family photographer.  Specializing in family, High School Seniors, Cake Smash sessions, and small events.

How did your business come about? What made you choose to open your business? It started as a hobby. We had gotten a Sam’s Club special on a camera that I knew nothing about. Like most people, I got frustrated and put it in my closet for years to collect dust. One day I decided to take an online course to teach me about the camera. I was still a hobbyist at that point, but I started to charge small amounts as a side business for small events, etc.

I watched one of my favorite photographers grow her business and was so inspired, I decided I was ready to open my own business. She is still one of my biggest influences in the business to this very day. As I grew, I realized I really enjoyed being a laid back, play-based photographer.  So my whole style and studio is set up as sensory-friendly, low lighting.

Why choose Irondequoit for your business’ home: I was born and raised in Irondequoit and still live here with my family. This is my home.

How many employees does your business employ? Are any local Irondequoit natives?  Just little ole me.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business? A lot of families don’t know that a play-based photography session is even an option.  I care more about making kids comfortable than rushing through a session.

What community service has your business been involved in? What organizations do you support/donate to?  I donate as much as I possibly can. I support hospice, cancer charities, special needs events, Veterans, local HS events, etc.  I also hold a free "Selfies with Santa" event every year. This is a free event and fun for the whole family.

Are there any events you are hosting you wish to tell our community about?  My events are posted on my business socials, so stay tuned each month. It could be an event at the studio or a B1G1 gift card event.

To learn more about Tiffany and her business you can check out her website.  Follow her on Facebook and Instagram as well! 

Tiffany Ann Photography is located at 610 Titus Ave - Garage Unit, Rochester, New York 14617.

We are overjoyed to honor our long time member, Shelly Roberts, owner of Shelly's Sweet Shoppe as our March Featured Business of the Month.  Just the smell of her shop is delicious!  When we stopped in for a visit her display case was full of tasty green sweets for St. Patrick's day and it was so hard to choose just one.  We asked Shelly some questions about Shelly's Sweet Shoppe and here is what she had to say:

How many year have you been in business?  Seven years.

What type of business/services does your business offer?  We are a bakery.  (Note: Shelly is open for drop in business and also takes orders for individuals and parties)

How did your business come about?  My love of baking!

What made you choose to open your business? I had always wanted to own my own business and a bakery was a natural fit for me.

Why choose Irondequoit for your business home:   We live here and it is an amazing community with wonderful people!

How many employees does your business employ?  Three part-time. 

Are any local Irondequoit natives?  Yes, one and 2 have been Irondequoit residents for over 20 years.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business?  That we offer delicious treats, and love to provide personal service and are happy to help them celebrate their special life events!

What community service has your business been involved in?  I am on the board of Full Circle Home and volunteer for Daystar Kids.

What organizations do you support/donate to?  Too many to count! We honor as many donation requests as we possibly can. (We at the Chamber can validate this. Shelly has been a gracious donor!)

If you haven't had a chance to taste on of Shelly's delicious treats, stop in Wednesday – Friday 10am-5pm or Saturdays 9am-2pm.  Shelly's Sweet Shoppe is located at 624 Titus Ave. You can check out their gallery online.

We are overjoyed to honor Kharma Care LLC as our February Featured Business of the Month.  Kharma Care provides much needed, integrated child care and respite to the community.  Please check out this interview with Kharma Care's founder Dominique Martin-Hannah to learn more.

How many years has Kharma Care been in business?  1

What type of business/services do you offer?   Integrated Childcare services, respite and resource identification.

How did your business come about?  What made you choose to open your business?  I have a child with different abilities whom I struggled to find childcare for because of her disability. This gave me the vision of Kharma Care. The rest is history!

Why choose Irondequoit for your business’ home?   I chose Irondequoit for my business because it has always been a family-oriented, diverse community that I know and love, having grown up in the Rochester area. I also wanted a location that was centrally located within Monroe County, making it accessible to a wide range of families. When I spoke with the town about Kharma Care’s mission, the warm and welcoming response I received made it clear that Irondequoit was the perfect place to call home.

How many employees does your business employ?  Are any local Irondequoit natives?   We employee 24 people. 1 is a local native.

What do you want potential customers to know about your business?  I want potential customers to know that our childcare center is unique in that we welcome children of all abilities, and we are specifically trained and equipped to provide high-quality care for every child, regardless of their needs. In addition to our childcare services, we also offer respite care and help families connect with valuable local resources. Our goal is to support not just the children, but the entire family, by connecting them with the resources and services they need within the community.

What community service has your business been involved in?  What organizations do you support/donate to?   We have been a part of Webster Public Library’s Special Needs Parent Resource Fair. Kharma Care has an adopt a family program for the holiday season.

Are there any events you are hosting you wish to tell our community about?  We will be hosting a self-care Saturday every quarter for parents/guardians caring for a child with different abilities.

Kharma Care is located at 745 Titus Ave.  You can find them online and follow them on facebook or Instagram.