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Why is Buffalo Niagara Attractive for FDI?

by Christopher Finn, Research Manager

Global Company Motives for Investing in the U.S.

Global Company Motives for Investing in the U.S.

Incentives are a common tool utilized by states and regions to leverage job creation and investment amount from business attraction projects. For certain companies/industries, incentives are critical to a project’s success; however, in others they play only a supporting role.  In a recent blog post from the International Trade Administration, (ITA),  they state that in regards to companies investing outside their home country via Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), “…financial incentives (including tax or funding incentives) have played a minor role in company location decisions over the last nine years and are decreasingly important.”

If incentives are not driving these FDI projects, what are the primary criteria used during the site selection process? Two of the top three are assets of the Buffalo Niagara region that we use to market Buffalo Niagara to the world – Proximity to Markets and Skilled Workforce Availability.

These two factors, plus the others listed in the report,  drove many of the 75 FDI projects BNE attracted to our region. The educated/skilled workforce and university system pumping out thousands of new workers every year, factored with the ability to reach over 125,000,000 people in a 10 hour drive, makes Buffalo Niagara an ideal location for FDI.

Click here to read the full ITA blog post.

BNE Takes Buffalo on the Road…

Graham Smith, BNE Research Director, at US Commercial European Roadshow

Graham Smith, BNE Research Director, at US Commercial European Roadshow

by Christopher Finn, Research Manager

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National Branding & Investment (NBI) Expo in Eindhoven

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise has an aggressive travel schedule. As I type this blog post, two of BNE’s team members are in Germany attending Hannover Messe 2013, one of the world’s largest industrial technology trade shows. Each year BNE’s Business Development managers spend a significant portion of their time on the road, publicizing the assets of Buffalo Niagara. They attend trade shows, industry seminars, economic development summits; any event that will help us achieve our mission – attract investment to western New York. But how can dealing with hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees be efficient? This is a resource intensive effort that requires careful planning to ensure a maximized return on investment.

The most critical piece of traveling is pre-event due diligence and planning. BNE’s research department analyzes vendor lists, targeting operations for email campaigns that inform the companies of our presence at the show, offering the opportunity for individual meetings. Our marketing department creates customized collateral for distribution, targeting the exact needs of the specific show. If appropriate we can partner with other strategic partners to provide a more robust message. This could include legal, accounting, or commercial real estate professionals, or if it is a Canadian event, attending with our Canadian consultant, Lee Meister. In Germany, we are lucky enough to work with the US Dept. of Commerce, who has created matchmaking sessions between groups like BNE and companies that have a desire to expand into the United States.

We also do not limit the travel to just the event. We take the opportunity to arrange for meetings with site selectors, corporate real estate professionals, or targeted companies. Making these connections, in their own offices, helps build the relationships that create opportunities for our region. As one of the top sources for BNE “Wins” come from these personal interactions, we diligently work to enhance these networks.

Over the next six weeks, we’ll have attended another 10 shows/events. Even though trade shows are just one tactic we employ to attract businesses to Buffalo Niagara, they are a critical one to keep our project pipeline full.

Waterfront Development Update

In a recent blog post BNE highlighted that downtown Buffalo is seeing development and investment at an unprecedented level. With over $1.5 billion in completed projects and another $1.5 billion under construction or planned, the momentum our region is exhibiting cannot be denied.

The scale of investment is enormous, but just as impressive is vision of the larger, anchor projects. The redevelopment of the Inner Harbor and Canalside – undoubtedly the most anticipated and visible of these projects – will transform the land on the Buffalo River and around the First Niagara Center into a vibrant destination for residents and tourists to enjoy year-round. The 425 activities that were held in 2012 drew 500,000 visitors and in 2013 Canalside has a 70% increase in event programming already scheduled.

Continue reading →

Wetlands & Site Development

Lesta Ammons, a biologist from the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Buffalo Branch, spoke at this month’s breakfast meeting of the WNY chapter of the New York State Commercial Association of Realtors (NYSCAR). The topic of wetlands is a critical concern for commercial real estate and site development. While the issues of wetlands can pose challenges to site development, being properly educated and prepared can help mitigate any development delays.

- What are wetlands and why are they important? Continue reading →

Downtown Buffalo Development Map

The weather in Buffalo is gorgeous right now and we  hope you’re taking advantage of the sunshine! Download the recently updated downtown Buffalo development map and take a look at what’s building around us. With a little over $750,000,000 in investment/construction projects happening right now…we think you’ll have plenty to keep you in the sun.

Take a look at the origin of the map and our initial blog post by clicking this link.

The Trouble with Community Branding & Economic Development

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise’s mission is simple — attract business investment to Buffalo Niagara. However, marketing a region for business investment is challenging. BNE focuses on face-to-face meetings and personal interactions through out-bound familiarization efforts, but this must be supported with both traditional and non-traditional techniques. Improved website resources, branding, marketing materials, direct communication and now social media, all play a critical role. These efforts must be constantly critiqued and analyzed to determine what needs to evolve to meet today’s technology saturated economy.

Our partners at GIS Planning, providers of the technology for our commercial real estate and site selection platform,
http://www.buffaloniagaracls.com
., recently posted a presentation, The Trouble with Community Branding &Economic Development. This session, intended for elected officials, was hosted  at the 2011 National League of Cities’ Congress of Citiesat the Phoenix Convention Center. Speaker, Anatalio Ubalde, CEO of GIS Planning Inc. discusses the changing dynamics of regional marketing, focusing on what works, but more importantly what does not.
The last half of the video, starting at 23 minutes, includes Q&A with William Stafford, Senior Consultant, Nyhus Communications (nyhus.com) and Matt Leighninger, Executive Director, Deliberative Democracy Consortium (deliberative-democracy.net), the moderator of the session.
Research Manager

Downtown Buffalo Development Projects Map

 

Last week I met with consultants who came to Buffalo with a single purpose — to answer the question: “What is happening in downtown Buffalo?” I came to the meeting prepared with our industry-specific marketing brochures, our economic guide, tables and charts of data, but one map – Downtown Buffalo Development Projects – best captured the information they needed.
For this map we plotted three different “project types”: completed, under construction, or proposed. We then scaled the size of the points based on investment amount. Our mapping software also performs complex analysis. The hatched rings show the concentration and direction of each activity type weighted by investment.

For example, even though there are projects “under construction” throughout downtown, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus represents the most concentrated activity, weighted by dollar amount, but the ring is being pulled towards the large projects of Larkinville. We also shaded four areas that currently are seeing a high volume of activity or planned development. This exercise was limited to downtown projects and the hundreds of millions of dollars they represent. With the right data we may be able to open this up to the entire city.

BNE understands the effectiveness of providing data geographically and maps remain one of our most popular data delivery methods. We encourage you to look through the maps section of our website and I look forward to any feedback.
When you meet up with family and friends this holiday season and they ask what’s going on in Buffalo, we hope this data helps.
- Christopher Finn
Research Manager

Site Selection & the Internet

A primary objective of Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (BNE) is to assist location consultants or corporate real estate executives during “site selection”. Those unfamiliar with the industry often associate this term with real estate; however, the term encompasses a lengthy set of criteria that needs to be supported by a wealth of data. It incorporates tax and incentive data, knowledge of environmental and permitting concerns, demographic and labor market analyses, evaluating utility infrastructure, plus much more. A typical project sends BNE a multi-page request for information (RFI) and our response is a one-inch thick binder of data.

Distributed to select communities, the RFI document allows the site selector to compare regions at the quantitative level, absent of marketing campaigns or PR efforts. But how were the communities first chosen? In the internet age, site selectors are performing due diligence online and through their own databases. Communities are now being ruled out, before they knew they were a consideration.
While seemingly intimidating, this preliminary evaluation and elimination process affords an opportunity to economic development agencies (EDA) that are willing to invest in providing easy and comprehensive access to information. Present the data these executives are seeking, in their desired format, and a region may get included in the RFI phase. Jason Hickey, President of leading site selection firm Hickey & Associates, discusses in this webinar what site selectors look for when evaluating communities online. Also, this chart (below) breaks out the survey responses of corporate real estate executives when asked what data they are seeking from EDAs’ websites.
Buffalo Niagara captures every data point from this list on our website. Additionally, theBuffalo Niagara CLS website, features tools to extract the most critical data sets in a format this audience desires and expects. We’ve heard from top tier site advisors and peer organizations that our website and data platform serve as examples of best practices.
Last week I had the tremendous opportunity to present at the International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) annual conference with the vendor of our CLS platform, GIS Planning.  I discussed how BNE utilizes the platform for attraction purposes and how we market it to local agencies that assist small businesses to help local companies and start-ups. This brochure explains the site’s functionality and walks the reader through a case study.
We do not rely on these tools to close projects for us, but instead view them as an opportunity to get us in the door. We’ve seen it first hand over the past ten years, once our region makes the first cut, if we don’t win the deal, we win over the site selector. That is the number one way to get Buffalo Niagara involved with their next project.
- Christopher Finn
Research Manager

Shovel Ready: The overused & misunderstood term in economic development

It is clear Shovel Ready sites have and will continue to win projects for the Buffalo Niagara region. A full list of these locations can be found by clicking this link.
In 2008, President Barack Obama gave “Shovel Ready” traction when referencing projects eligible for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. While the origin of the term is vague, (this article from the Washington Post does some good research), in New York State it’s clear what “Shovel Ready” means and to BNE, the designation is one of our most powerful tools to market commercial real estate (CRE).

Operating under New York State’s department of economic development, Empire State Development Corp., the “Shovel Ready” program is the premier designation referring to the scope of due diligence a site  has proactively undertaken. As explained on the Shovel Ready website, “Having an economic development site certified as a “Shovel Ready Site” means that the local developer has worked proactively with the State to address all major permitting issues, prior to a business expressing interest in the location. This advance work creates a site where construction can begin rapidly, once a prospective business decides to develop a facility there.”

It was Shovel Ready sites, or those in the process of application, that immediately appealed to Yahoo! during their site location analysis. When we visit with corporate real estate agents and site selection advisors, they stress the importance of sites of this caliber. In December, three site location consultants presented to BNE economic development partners. One of the presenters, Michelle Comerford, managing director at Austin Consulting, focused on the appeal of these sites to her clients. She summarized the advantages of these sites as project speed, cost savings, minimized risks, and reliability.
Typically, when BNE is managing a significantly sized project evaluating real estate for a new build, the first round of questions boil down to a few basic needs:
1) Have the environmental studies been performed?
2) What permitting issues could arise at this location?
3) Does the utility infrastructure meet project requirements?
At its most basic level, Shovel Ready designation answers all of these questions. Even issues of costs and incentives will not arise until after these questions are answered because if there is no adequate location, why pursue the economics? Above all else, being NYS Shovel Ready Certified minimizes risks. Depending on the process stakeholders follow to achieve Shovel Ready status, a site even has the potential to be immune from procedural litigation as well.
What confusion surrounds this term? Within CRE, it often describes a location that a stakeholder feels requires minimal site preparation. If all that was required to achieve Shovel Ready designation was land clear of structures and vegetation, it would not be useful to BNE. The Shovel Ready application page, features a Self Evaluation Checklist to give you a sense of how comprehensive the due diligence process is for certification.
If you are a developer or land owner considering this process, you should know that BNE aggressively promotes these options to our target industries and BNE will be promoting Shovel Ready sites on our commercial real estate pages as well as our site selection web platform,
http://www.buffaloniagaracls.com
.
If you have any further questions regarding the program feel free to contact me or refer to ESD’s Shovel Ready website.
- Christopher Finn
Research Manager
Buffalo Niagara Enterprise