The Adirondack Civic Center Coalition is a not-for-profit organization formed by Glens Falls area professionals and business leaders to manage the facility first known as the Glens Falls Civic Center and later as the Cool Insuring Arena. It purchased the Adirondack Thunder in 2017.

The Civic Center is now known as the Harding Mazzotti Arena. The Colonie-based law firm secured the naming rights under a multi-year agreement announced in July 2025.

Civic Center Coalition did not give a reason for the change in leadership. Mead had been president of the Adirondack Thunder since July 2017 and manager of the former Civic Center since 2015.

Mead received the 2023-24 Blake Cullen ECHL Executive of the Year Award from the league in 2024, recognizing Mead’s work with the Thunder’s front office to promote the team and ensure a quality product on and off the ice.

Mead also served as chairman of the ECHL’s Board of Governors, and was part of the negotiations for the five-year collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association during a brief work stoppage just after Christmas this past season.

A 1992 Glens Falls High School graduate, Mead had previously been the operations manager for Blue Sky Sports Center, a chain of sports centers in the Dallas, Texas area, before moving back to the Glens Falls region.

Jeff Mead

Adirondack Thunder team president Jeff Mead, right, poses with ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin after receiving the league’s Executive of the Year Award at the ECHL summer meetings in 2024.

ECHL photo

Earlier this year, Mead went before the Warren County Board of Supervisors to discuss the arena’s need for a new refrigeration and HVAC system. County officials at the time agreed that the arena was a worthwhile investment, given that it generates about $21 million in annual sales revenue for the region, as well as $1.2 million in annual tax revenues. 

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