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A Buffalo recruiting firm is expanding its reach into international markets. A Niagara Falls organization is creating new connections between people looking for a second chance and employers looking for workers. A Western New York health center is opening its seventh location to bring care closer to the people who need it.

Employers and organizations across Western New York are finding new ways to respond to the opportunities and needs in front of them, and these are just three of the many stories behind our 2026 Economic Champions.

We share these stories because we believe the business community is better when people can see what others are trying. Sometimes an idea from another industry can make you look at a familiar problem differently. Sometimes seeing someone take a chance on a new approach is the encouragement you need to try something of your own. And sometimes it’s simply worth being reminded that progress doesn’t always come from doing things the way they’ve always been done.

Here are three organizations taking their own paths forward.

Finding opportunity beyond the usual market

For StaffBuffalo, international recruiting means adapting its approach to different markets. Candidate pools, hiring practices and expectations can vary from one country to another, and each search brings its own considerations.

The Buffalo-based recruiting firm put that experience to work this year for a global client, successfully completing placements in both Spain and the Philippines. The placements demonstrated StaffBuffalo’s ability to deliver successful searches across multiple global markets and expanded the range of recruiting work the firm can take on.

It’s a meaningful step for the firm, taking a capability developed here and putting it to work for clients in markets around the world.

Turning a workforce need into a connection

At Niagara Gospel Mission, the opportunity looked much closer to home.

The organization launched its New Mission Internship this year to prepare men in its programs for work in the hospitality and tourism industry. The idea builds on skills they’re already developing at the mission, from food preparation and cleaning to customer service, and connects those skills with employers in a major local industry.

That became especially real through a partnership with Rainbow Air, a fellow BNP member. Rainbow Air Operations Director John Cooper connected with the mission through a mutual relationship, and the company became interested in the internship and its focus on second-chance hiring.

Five men from the program have since been hired by Rainbow Air at different times. Two graduates have maintained the jobs they received while participating in the internship. Overall, 70% of the men who have completed the internship and are living in transitional housing are now employed.

Four of nine New Mission Initiative graduates, Niagara Gospel Mission

All nine of the program’s first participants have now completed the internship, and some are now helping lead it themselves. In a way, the program is creating another workforce path within itself – giving people the opportunity to move from participant to leader while helping prepare the next group. That’s a useful workforce story for a region where employers continue to look for new ways to find talent.

Growing by asking where the need is

For Neighborhood Health Center of WNY, growth started with a simple question: Where are people still struggling to get the care they need?

Before opening its seventh location, Neighborhood conducted a community needs analysis to identify where another location could make the biggest difference. That led the organization to North Buffalo, where it found a vacant former urgent care facility on Delaware Avenue and turned it into a new home for adult and pediatric primary care, nutrition and behavioral health services.

Ribbon cutting at Neighborhood's new Delaware Ave. location

The result is capacity for up to 18,000 additional patient visits each year, while giving people another option as four of Neighborhood’s other Buffalo locations reach capacity.

It’s a thoughtful way to approach growth: looking beyond where there’s room for another location and asking where the need is greatest, who needs care and where Neighborhood can have the most impact.

Neighborhood, a BNP Builder Member, has continued to hold itself to the same standard as it grows. The Health Resources & Services Administration has ranked it the top health center for quality in Western New York since 2021, and this year it earned seven Community Health Quality Recognition badges, including Silver Quality Leader recognition.

Compassionate care from Neighborhood's Dr. Ogle

Different paths to winning results

What makes these stories worth sharing is how many ways there are to approach a challenge and how looking at a familiar problem differently can lead to a new solution.

Organizations across Buffalo Niagara figuring out new solutions daily, testing new ideas and finding their own way forward. We hope these stories give you a glimpse of what’s happening around the region, and encourage you to consider challenges in your own organization from a different angle.

Economic Champions is BNP’s annual celebration of the businesses and organizations whose achievements are part of Buffalo Niagara’s growth.

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