Category Archives: Buffalo, NY

Realizing the Vision for Buffalo Niagara

by Jenna Kavanaugh, Marketing Director

The vision of a new Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) focused on bioinformatics, life sciences, emerging technologies, clinical care, entrepreneurship, and research has spurred critical growth in the city of Buffalo. As a result, state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary facilities like the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute; the one-of-a-kind shared facility that boasts Kaleida Health Gates Vascular Institute, the University at Buffalo’s Clinical and Translational Research Center and the independent Jacobs Institute; and Roswell Park Cancer Institute are having a tremendous impact on the city’s economy, with more than 5,000 jobs created or relocated to this innovation hub since 2003, and another 5,000 expected in the next five years.

And today, another $1.5 billion in projects are underway. Fifty percent of this investment is directed to development on the BNMC while the remaining focuses around the central business district and Buffalo’s waterfront.

These include critical components like the University at Buffalo relocating its highly ranked medical school to the BNMC. Also on the site, the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital has just broken ground. To support these facilities, new medical offices and other operations are growing around the campus footprint, providing essential services and business infill.

One such facility is 505 Ellicott.  Uniland Development company plans to turn this warehouse, which is adjacent to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus into an innovation hub. The facility will provide a flexible open plan with loft-inspired collaborative work spaces. You can view Uniland’s plans at
http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1110212831017-146/Uniland_Introducing+505+Ellicott.pdf
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505 ellicot

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.

Access U.S. – A Great Resource for Canadian Business Expansion

By Carolyn Powell, Business Development Manager, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise

Every month, BNE releases an e- newsletter, Access U.S., which provides information for Canadian businesses considering a U.S. business expansion. Below are the top three most popular articles published in Access U.S. since June 2012.

1. Collecting Receivables in the U.S. - July 2012

2. Part 2 – The Dos and Don’ts of Crossing the U.S. Border - September 2012

3. “Snowbird” Tax Info: Canadians Filing U.S. Tax Residency – April 2013

If you are interested in receiving our monthly e-newsletter, Access U.S., click here to sign up!

Click here to read more informational articles on cross border business.

Buffalo Niagara GDP Reaches $45.99 billion

by Matt Hubacher, Research Specialist

Last month the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released advanced 2011 GDP data for 366 metropolitan areas across the nation.  At $45.88 billion, the Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY MSA (Erie and Niagara counties) ranks as the 56th largest metro economy in the country and the 3rd largest metro economy in New York State.

The regional economy of Buffalo Niagara, which has increasingly diversified throughout much of the past two decades, has been on a growth trajectory for three consecutive years and experienced the second highest rate of metro GDP growth (1.4%) in New York State in 2011, and falls within the second quintile of growth nationwide . Major gains in the Professional and Business Services, Trade, and Leisure and Hospitality sectors helped fuel this tremendous economic expansion.

Those interested in learning more about Buffalo Niagara’s economy and labor pool can consult Buffalo Niagara Enterprise’s recently updated 2013 Buffalo Niagara Economic Guide.  The Economic Guide serves as a detailed overview of the region’s economy and provides data and information on demographics, workforce, education, and transportation (and more), for use by businesses, researchers, students and practitioners

New 2013 Buffalo Niagara Economic Guide

The team at BNE looks forward to updating this publication each year. Next to our relocation guide, its one of our most popular tools. For 2013, we expanded the publication and added information about incentives, workforce development programs, r&d expenditures, patents, and more.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have feedback or recommendations regarding how we can enhance and improve the information in the economic guide.

2013 Economic Guide - New Features!

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 →

Downtown Development in Buffalo, NY

by Tom Kucharski, President & CEOdowntown map

Last fall talked about shovel ready sites and the impact that this designation of real estate development had on BNE’s economic development attraction efforts, primarily outside our urban core.  This month I would like to share some thoughts on the past, present and proposed development in downtown Buffalo.

Longtime residents or newcomers to our community might very well be surprised to learn that over the last decade 83 different development projects have successfully been completed in downtown Buffalo.  Covering a wide array of uses ranging from office and mixed use to commercial, residential, tourism and research & development space, these new structures are distributed across the geography of our central business district, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the Canalside/Waterfront district, the Larkin District and the fruit Belt Infill & Redevelopment area.  Just as remarkable is the more than $1.3 billion of investment associated with these projects in what can accurately be depicted as an impressive resurgence of development in New York State’s second largest city.

In both real estate and economic development, new potential investment often follows prior investment.  This dynamic is supported by the additional 20 development projects currently under construction in the city limits that represent an approximate investment of $339.7 million.  But it doesn’t end there.  Another 29 proposed projects are in the early stages of the development process representing an additional minimal investment of $577.5 million across the City of Buffalo.  So what can we discern from all of this development completed, underway and in the pipeline?

First, smart business people with money to invest (a rare thing in a lingering recession) are betting that our region is a good place to invest their hard earned dollars.  Developers and companies considering expansion are extremely risk averse.  The fact that so many projects with such large price tags are in, underway or contemplated for downtown Buffalo is a tremendous message to the economic development industry outside our community.  It speaks to the legitimacy of our potential in targeted industries like life sciences, advanced manufacturing, advanced business services and tourism/hospitality.  It is a compelling story that BNE tells as part of our marketing and business development outreach efforts and it is well received by our audience.

With this type of success come new challenges, some of which were revealed in the 2012-2013 Annual Market View presented by CBRE Buffalo.  This comprehensive review of four key commercial segments showed declining vacancy rates in office and industrial space.  These two markets share a cyclical cause and effect relationship with BNE.  If we succeed in our mission, available real estate comes off the market.  In order to succeed in our mission, we need available office and industrial space on the market.

Growth in the expanding health care industry is contributing to the increased absorption in office space, an encouraging sign for the region’s life sciences industry and our attraction efforts there.  Even with the exodus of major tenants from the 38-story One HSBC Center, office space is not expected to be as plentiful as it has been in recent years.  The 9.3 percent vacancy rate in our central business district is well below the national office rate of 15.5 percent.  Our ability to successfully place prospects into desired office space will be directly impacted by how quickly current and proposed projects come on line, and to what degree the trend of renovating older and historic buildings in the city continues.

Even more challenging to our attraction efforts is the steep drop in the industrial vacancy rate which is compounded by the fact that no new industrial space is anticipated to come on the market for at least the next twelve months.  That means companies who don’t have the time or the resources to build new may find it difficult to accommodate their needs in the pool of space remaining.  Despite all the new development I referenced earlier, new industrial construction would be a great addition to our tool-kit.

The degree of downtown development in a community is a widely considered variable in the economic development and site selection industries.  So much so that the development maps we maintain on our BNE website have become vital pieces of the marketing collaterals we provide to our client prospects.  To get a better sense of the downtown/economic development in our community, check out our two new updated maps, one that identifies these projects based on the various stages of their completion, and the other that identifies these investments by their industry type.

Workforce Development in WNY, One Step Ahead

BBillionBy Matthew Hubacher, Research Specialist

In his recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama presented several strategies aimed at strengthening the nation’s economy and creating new jobs for the millions of Americans who continue to struggle to find work.  One specific initiative cited by the President was the creation of manufacturing innovation institutes that will provide workforce training and development.

Among the most cited concerns from manufacturers who seek to hire new workers is the persistent skills gap – the difference between the skills possessed by a prospective worker and the skills needed to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of an existing job opening – that exists across the economy, and is particularly acute in the manufacturing sector.  This mismatch of training and education makes it extremely difficult for low-skilled workers to find and retain employment in a 21st Century economy, particularly in manufacturing where technical skills are at a premium.

Western New York is leading the way in developing an innovative manufacturing hub where local workers can hone and learn new skills, which will ensure that the local workforce has the training for jobs in growing subsectors within manufacturing.  As part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion promise, the Western New York Regional Council, with assistance from researchers from McKinsey & Company, Brookings Institution, UB Regional Institute and Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, conducted an exhaustive review of value-added interventions that will assist the region’s workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.

Among the several innovative strategies outlined in the Regional Council’s Buffalo Billion Investment Development Plan is the creation of a state-of-the-art facility to support the region’s manufacturing sector.   The proposed facility, the Buffalo Niagara Institute for Advanced Manufacturing Competitiveness, would provide services to local manufacturers in four specific areas: applied research and development, process excellence, export assistance and workforce training.  Specifically around workforce development, the Institute would work with manufacturers to “upskill” their workforce to perform operations that are more complex by utilizing shared equipment to provide hands-on instruction to help early and mid-career workers learn the tasks demanded by advanced manufacturing processes.  This targeted manufacturing workforce development initiative is in addition to general proposals by the Regional Council to align training, skills and education in the labor force at large.

Buffalo Niagara is one step ahead when it comes to preparing our workers for the jobs of the 21st Century.  With the leadership of the WNY Regional Development Council and the support of Governor Cuomo, Buffalo Niagara will remain a region that “Works.”

BNIA: A Bi-National Asset

Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BNIA)

Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BNIA)

by Matthew Hubacher, research specialist, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise

Convenience, reliability and cost of air transportation are all critical factors for both leisure and business travelers.  With over 5.1 million annual passengers, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BNIA) plays an essential role in the quality of life, business climate, and tourism industry of the region.  In fact, nearly one-third of BNIA passengers hail from Southern Ontario making it a true bi-national asset.

By providing 110 daily flights with non-stop service to 18 cities and 22 airports, BNIA is a convenient place from which to originate air travel.  Major passenger carriers Southwest, JetBlue, Delta, US Airways, AirTran, American and United escort passengers to top destinations across the country including New York City, Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago and Baltimore.

On time performance at BNIA is extraordinary and reliable.  Departing flights registered an 82% on-time mark and arriving flights touched down on-time 78% in 2011.  Only 1.75% of flights were cancelled in 2011, and planes have been grounded at BNIA for an average of only 4.25 hours per year since 2004.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Consumer Airfare Report, Buffalo Niagara air passengers enjoy an average one-way airfare of $170, among the least expensive in all domestic markets; it would cost more to fly out of nearly every other major U.S. market.

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport is a tremendous asset for the community of Western New York and Southern Ontario.  For more information, please visit BNIA’s website:
http://www.buffaloairport.com/
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