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Are Buffalo Niagara employers embracing diversity?

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Buffalo News - Matt Glynn | Tuesday, Nov 1, 2022

BUFFALO, N.Y. (Buffalo News) — Local employers are making headway on diversity, equity and inclusion, but they've still got work to do.

Those are some of the themes from the latest assessment by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, two years after the business group conducted an initial survey.

Dottie Gallagher, the Partnership's president and CEO, said the effort employers put into diversity can have a meaningful impact.

"Our future as a region and our economic prosperity depends heavily on building equity for everybody who’s in our community," she said.

In the latest assessment, 79% of companies said they had started their diversity, equity and inclusion work, up from 72% two years ago. Of the 21% that hadn't started, their reasons included a lack of commitment from leadership, and the small size of their companies. A total of 271 individuals in Erie and Niagara counties responded to the assessment.

There was a 120% increase in companies that had set measurable and concrete goals, Gallagher said. "There is still great room for improvement but the needle is moving in the right direction." Those goals include procurement; the percentage of employees who are Black, indigenous and people of color; marketing practices; and community outreach.

Read more here.

New wage mandates could put WNY brownfield projects at risk

By communications@thepartnership.org | August 7, 2024

BUFFALO, NY (The Buffalo News) — Developer Rocco Termini is angry. Architect Steve Carmina is upset. Developer and former U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs is worried. And commercial real estate broker Steve Blake is concerned.

All four have seen the impact of the state Brownfield Cleanup Program and its related tax credits on redevelopment activity in Buffalo, where remediation of polluted buildings and land have paved the way for new apartments, restaurants and stores.

And they say it could all come to a halt because of potential changes to the lucrative program coming out of Albany that would require them to pay higher prevailing wages to workers on those projects. And they’re lobbying Gov. Kathy Hochul to not sign the legislation that would put the prevailing wage requirement into effect.

Activating the supply chain for semiconductors

By communications@thepartnership.org | August 7, 2024

BUFFALO, NY (The Buffalo News) —Companies such as PVS Solutions and Materion Corp. already supply the semiconductor industry from their plants in Buffalo.

But there are a lot more businesses in the Buffalo Niagara region – as well as in Rochester and Syracuse – that could be suitable for the semiconductor supply chain, and might not even be aware of it.

New members, officers elected to Buffalo Niagara Partnership Board of Directors

By communications@thepartnership.org | July 26, 2024

A new chair, four new officers and 11 new regional executives were recently elected to the Buffalo Niagara Partnership Board of Directors. “Their vast expertise from various sectors, including public, private and nonprofit, will undoubtedly enrich our organization and contribute to our mission of fostering a stronger and more vibrant regional economy,” says Buffalo Niagara Partnership President & CEO Dottie Gallagher.