The Adirondack Tech Talk & Entrepreneurial Meetup on Thursday, September 25 brought a sharp mix of innovators, builders, and curious locals to RiverTrail Beerworks in Saranac Lake, NY. With the brewery’s doors opening at 5:00 PM and conversations flowing by 5:30, the gathering created a relaxed but thoughtful space to talk about where tech is headed in the region and who it’s for. PentEdge joined the crowd with a clear goal: explore how to better support mid-tier financial institutions looking to deepen their community impact.
While the Adirondacks aren’t always the first place people look for startup energy or fintech conversations, events like this show that innovation doesn’t need a skyline to thrive. Founders, tech enthusiasts, and community advocates filled the space, ready to share what they’re building and what they’re hoping to build next. For companies like PentEdge, this meetup wasn’t just about ideas, it was a way to listen.
Supporting regional institutions starts with understanding the real challenges they face. That’s why showing up matters.
Quick Hits from the Brewery Floor
- Mid-tier financial institutions often get left out of the modern tech conversation.
- These institutions are critical to local economies in places like Saranac Lake.
- There’s a false belief that they aren’t interested in innovation when it serves their people.
- The gap isn’t inspiration. It’s access to relevant, practical, scalable tools.
- Events like this help connect mission-driven businesses with the people doing the work on the ground.
Not Just a Meetup A Listening Session
Tech meetups can sometimes feel overly polished or abstract, but this one stayed rooted in the region’s personality. Organized by A2I at Adirondack Community Foundation, the event featured a fireside chat with founders, networking time, and casual exchanges between people who build, support, or dream of launching something new.
PentEdge came as a participant, not a speaker. We weren’t there to pitch. We were there to learn.
For companies focused on helping financial institutions thrive, listening is the first move. What stood out wasn’t just what people were building but how much they cared about community resilience, local ownership, and building tools that don’t erase the human side of money.
Looking for What’s Missing
Most of the big-city conversations around fintech revolve around scale, automation, and disruption. But in a room like this, the questions change. Growth is still the goal, but it needs to look different. And for financial institutions that have served the same town for 100 years, innovation doesn’t mean replacing people, it means reinforcing relationships.
PentEdge is focused on that middle space: where local banks and credit unions want to modernize but can’t afford a one-size-fits-all solution. Many of them serve thousands, not millions. That doesn’t mean their impact is small. It means their needs are specific.
Meetups like this one help us recalibrate. What do these institutions need? Are they hearing anything from their customers? What does meaningful digital support look like in a town with one main street and one high school?
What Was Shared and What We Took Away
No product demos. No flashy announcements. Just founders telling their stories, and attendees connecting over shared goals. That’s what made this gathering different.
The fireside chat format helped strip things back. People spoke plainly about where they’re stuck, what they’re curious about, and how regional collaboration might unlock something new. The crowd leaned in.
Here’s what we noticed:
| What We Observed | Why It Matters |
| People from a variety of industries showed up tech, nonprofit, finance | Community problems don’t come in silos solutions shouldn’t either |
| No centralized theme, but recurring talk of access, connection, and visibility | Mid-tier institutions want platforms that reflect real local context |
| The brewery setting created low-pressure space for high-value conversation | Authentic engagement doesn’t need formality just intention |
Why PentEdge Showed Up
We don’t believe you can design the right solutions for community-based institutions if you don’t stand where they stand. It’s not just about research or reports. It’s about proximity. The Adirondack Community Foundation, through A2I, is clearly investing in that. So we did the same by attending.
By being present, PentEdge is building a clearer picture of how to serve institutions who already serve so many. Our approach isn’t to assume, but to ask. Not to push, but to align. We’re in this to help build platforms and partnerships that feel local, not distant.
This event helped sharpen our focus and added valuable context to the work we’re doing.
Let’s Talk If You’re Thinking the Same Way
If you’re part of a financial institution trying to balance tradition and technology or just someone who wants to see communities grow stronger with better tools PentEdge wants to connect. We’re exploring this path with care, and we’re always open to new conversations that help us see what’s really needed.
Visit www.thepentedge.com or contact us if you want to talk through how your institution is growing, what’s getting in the way, or what kind of support might help you get there.
Cold Beer, Warm Ideas, Clear Direction
- Local events like this one are more than networking; they’re intel gathering for anyone building meaningful tools.
- The needs of mid-tier financial institutions are different, but no less important.
- Showing up is step one. Listening is step two.
- Technology doesn’t have to disrupt to help it strengthen.
- PentEdge is committed to that kind of progress, built from the ground up.
This meetup didn’t give us all the answers. But it gave us better questions and that’s a pretty good trade.