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The True Cost of Child Care: Erie County NY (Final Report)
Lou Jean Fleron, Russell Weaver, Catherine Creighton — Oct 26, 2022
Funded by Erie County and supplemented with New York state funds allocated to the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, the study builds on the Phase One report issued earlier this year and analyzes data on the child care industry and workforce for both Erie County and the state.
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Combatting Inequality in Workplace Structures: Worker Cooperatives and Employee Stock Ownership Programs in Buffalo-Niagara
Kristin (Szczepaniec) Ksiazek, Annabel Bacon — Dec 7, 2020
This report engages with present forms of ownership and power in the workplace, using Buffalo-Niagara as a case study. Its broader thrust is that current crises have placed our society at a critical juncture where we must question “business as usual” and begin charting a course to a new, more democratic economy. In short, we need business structures and policies designed to pull us out of crisis, drive us away from inequality, and carry us toward shared prosperity for all. The …
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Distinguishing the Social Sector: A Buffalo-Niagara Labor Market Study
Sam Magavern, Kristin (Szczepaniec) Ksiazek, Russell Weaver — Sep 19, 2019
The study focuses on the two largest parts of Buffalo-Niagara’s social sector: nonprofit and government employers.
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THE REINDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE U.S.: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF AUTO WORKERS IN THE INDUSTRIAL RUST BELT, BSTGR 7 of 12
Evern Dincer — Oct 26, 2017
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Equity Preservation Final Report
Akanksha Chauhan, Melanie Colter, Mengbing Du, Luis Graveley, Jr, Mengyu Guo, Sena Kayasu, Jonathan Ladley, Cole Norgaarden, Claire Meyer, Thomas Pera, Ashley Pryce, Lucas Raley, Zach Small, Jessica Stevenson, Michelle Van Meter, Andrew Varuzzo, Olivia White, Vivian Zou, Joey Jiayun Zou, Jennifer Minner — Oct 25, 2017
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A Strategy for Prosperity: 2017 Progress Report Western NY
Western New York Regional Economic Development Council — Sep 30, 2017
This report on the progress of the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council (WNY REDC) Strategic Plan highlights what the organization is doing to create job opportunities and build a quality of life. They describe how by working hand-and-hand with New York State (NYS), our regionhas been successful in moving the needle on economic indicators and investment confidenceby advancing local strategies that directly align with NYS’s core strategies for …
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Initiatives for a Smart Economy 2.0
Mark Poloncarz — Jun 30, 2017
Just like its predecessor, I4SE 2.0 is organized in a manner that focuses on those sectors of the local economy identified by WNYREDC as growth sectors. It identifies initiatives within those sectors where ErieCounty can make a meaningful contribution. These sectors include: advanced manufacturing, smart growth implementation, workforce development, agriculture, bi-national logistics, energy, and tourism.The report also identifies specific initiatives that Erie County will undertake in other …
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"Locked in Buffalo's Socioeconomic Basement": An examination of Political and Institutional Racial Discrimination and its Effects on the local African American Community
Shanleigh Corrallo — Feb 14, 2017
This paper addresses the African American community in Buffalo, New York, and critically examines how local politics, interest groups and financial institutions negatively impacted the socioeconomic development of the city’s East Side.
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Buffalo Niagara's Strategic Plan for Prosperity, Buffalo Billion
Western New York Regional Economic Development Council — Jan 31, 2017
The Buffalo Billion Phase II plan looks back at the extraordinary strides Buffalo Niagara has made since2011. It describes the progress and impacts of Buffalo Billion Phase I investments; and using economicindicators, points to areas where we’ve seen progress and where there are still opportunities for growth.It gives a compelling account of why we need to continue to invest in the economic enablers and coresector strategies that we as a community developed. And, based on this momentum …
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One Region Forward A New Way To Plan For Buffalo Niagara
University at Buffalo Regional Institute — Jul 20, 2015
This document represents the culmination of three years of research, community engagement, partnership building and planning under the banner of One Region Forward. Within the pages of this plan, you will find the major research findings of what the data tells us about where the region is today and expressions of thousands of citizen voices on the direction people in the region want to see Buffalo Niagara go. Proposed strategies and actions, built by a team of 100+ subject matter experts, are …
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Talking Proud: Telling Buffalo's Stories
Sam Magavern — Nov 1, 2014
In 1978, the directors of the Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce met in a workshop to create a five year action plan to improve the region’s economic climate – in particular, to increase the number of private sector jobs. The Chamber decided that their prime strategy would be to upgrade Buffalo’s image, both among its own residents and nationally. Eventually, they created a “Buffalo Image Campaign,” valued at three to five million dollars, with radio, …
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Business Development in the Perry Choice Neighborhood
Center for Urban Studies, UB — Jul 26, 2012
This study provides an analysis of the number, composition, and types of businesses found in the Perry Choice Neighborhood. Understanding the dynamics and nature of the businesses the Perry Choice Neighborhood (PCN) is essential to building a vibrant community and forging a transformative plan (Map 1). Understanding the PCN business landscape is critical to formulating an neighborhood economic development strategy that will generate jobs and opportunities for the residents and that will provide …
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Establishment of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority Section 3 Business Development and Employee Training Center: A Concept Paper
Center for Urban Studies, UB — Jul 26, 2012
Project Name: Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority - Perry Choice Neighborhood Transformation Project This concept paper outlines a strategy to use the HUD Section 3 Act to “capture” business development and employment opportunities to empower and produce economic self-sufficiency among public housing residents and other very low- and very-low income groups and to use these resources to transform their neighborhoods into great places to live, work and raise a family.
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Empire State's Cultural Capital at Risk?
Cornell University ILR School — Jun 1, 2009
New York State is a world center for the arts and entertainment industry and its vast and uniquely diversified workforce is its main competitive advantage. Commissioned by the New York Empire State Development Corporation, this report examines the strengths and the challenges facing this industry and its workforce in the state, providing an assessment of the education and training infrastructure that supports this vital industry, and identifying issues that offer a potential role for …
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The Difference a University Makes: An Updated Impact Analysis of the University at Buffalo
Kathryn Foster — Jan 6, 2009
The following presents findings of an economic impact assessment of the University at Buffalo conducted by the UB Regional Institute at the request of the UB Office of External Affairs. This analysis updates and expands upon a 2007 economic impact study of the university (see The Difference a University Makes: An Impact Analysis of the University at Buffalo, August 2007, available at http://www.buffalo.edu/community/pdfs/UB_Impact_Analysis.pdf.) The assessment captures the economic …
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Brown to Green: Building a 21st Century Sustainable Community, A Strategic Plan for Regeneration of the Highland Avenue Community
Center for Urban Studies, UB — Jul 26, 2007
This proposal outlines a regeneration strategy for Niagara Falls’ Highland Avenue Community. The goal is to develop a strategic plan that identifies five priority projects that will function as catalysts that will spawn the community’s rebirth.
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Achieving a Greater Buffalo
Niagara River Greenway Commission Apr 1, 2007
This policy report argues that improving the quality of life for residents of all backgrounds living in Buffalo’s urban neighborhoods should be a central objective of any economic revitalization plan for the region. In the process of strengthening housing and employment opportunities in the urban core, Buffalo should strive to become a premiere destination for innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs seeking a low-cost, culturally vibrant place in which to live and work. The …
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Arts & Economic Prosperity III
Americans for the Arts — Jan 1, 2007
The findings from Arts & Economic Prosperity III send a clear and welcome message: leaders who care about community and economic development can feel good about choosing to invest in the arts. An input-output analysis model was customized for each of the participating communities and regions to determine the local economic impact their nonprofit arts and culture organizations and arts audiences. Because of the variety of communities studied and the rigor with which the Arts …
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Sustaining Arts and Culture in Buffalo Niagara
Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth — Dec 19, 2006
Like all nonprofits, arts and culture organizations are not immune to the inevitable shifts in fiscal health due to trends in the region’s economy and in charitable giving. In recent years, however, the shifts have turned sharply downward due to budget crises for one of the industry’s most important supporters – local government. With cherished arts and cultural assets in Erie and Niagara Counties struggling to make ends meet, the region is suddenly forced to …
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Framework for Regional Growth
The League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara Oct 1, 2006
The absence of a region-wide vision for conservation, development, and public investment has become an increasingly central concern of the Region’s leaders. For the past two to three decades—the last regional plan was completed in 1974—local and regional actions have occurred without the benefit of reference to a larger policy or planning framework. Important decisions regarding the location and pace of development, investments in economic development, the …
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Buffalo Child Care Means Business: Full Study Report
Lou Jean Fleron, Lauren Breen, Regina Grogan, Danielle Dimitrov — Jan 1, 2006
Buffalo Child Care Means Business presents the economic and business case for making Buffalo's children the focus of economic development. The 2006 survey of 117 businesses located in downtown Buffalo, New York, documents the business sector's present and projected reliance upon high quality child care services as a necessary component to optimum workplace recruitment, productivity and stability. This promising study highlights research specific to the Buffalo region measuring the …
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From Theory to Practice: The Quest to Radically Reconstruct Buffalo's Inner City Neighborhoods
Henry Louis Taylor, Jr. — Jul 26, 2004
Project Name: The Inner City Transformation Project The Inner City Transformation Project (ICTP) was launched in 2001 to develop a model of community development that can be applied to the radical reconstruction of distressed neighborhoods in metropolitan Buffalo and similar size cities in the United States. The project is based on the assumption that distressed urban neighborhoods now represent the epicenter of racism and social class inequality in the United States and that the quest to …
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Fruit Belt/Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Tax Increment Financing District
Center for Urban Studies, UB, Sam Cole, Richard Milgrom, Samina Raja, Henry Louis Taylor, Jr. — Jul 26, 2004
The Municipal Redevelopment Law entitles municipalities (individually or as joint undertakings) to issue tax increment bonds that are payable from and secured by real property taxes. This proposal seeks to establish a TIF (Tax Increment Finance) district for this the Fruit Belt and the adjacent Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
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The Fillmore Avenue Commercial Redevelopment Plan
Center for Urban Studies, UB, Antoine Thompson, Sam Cole, Henry Louis Taylor, Jr. — Jul 26, 2004
Project Name: The Fillmore Avenue Commercial Redevelopment Project The Fillmore Avenue Commercial Redevelopment Plan provides a vision for the Fillmore Avenue commercial corridor that is one of a vibrant, thriving passageway that serves as the cultural commons for the Martin Luther King, Jr. neighborhood and a Gateway to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. The Fillmore commercial corridor will be a symbol of the vibrancy of King’s Dream and a place that brings people together from …
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Transition and Renewal: The Emergence of a Diverse Upstate Economy
Rolf Pendall, Matthew Drennan, Susan Christopherson — Jan 1, 2004
During the 1900s, the U.S. transitioned from an economy based largely on manufacturing to one in which almost all jobs are in services. This transition has rearranged the economic fortunes of regions throughout the nation: Locations in the Sunbelt and on both coasts prospered in the 1970s as traditional manufacturing centers in the Midwest declined. But such “rust belt” states as Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan rebounded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the hemorrhage of …
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Fruit Belt Redevelopment Plan Preliminary Study
Center for Urban Studies, UB — Jul 26, 2002
This study follows two earlier works published by the Center for Urban Studies, The Turning Point: A Strategic Plan of Action for the Fruitbelt/Medical Corridor (March 27, 2001) and Fruit Belt/Medical Corridor Tax Increment Financing District (February 12, 2002). The original report argued that better social, economic and physical connections could be established between the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC), a wealth generating district within the city, and the adjacent Fruit Belt …
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Small Business: Big Challenge
Ramon Garcia — Jan 1, 2002
In recent years, the contributions of small business to the American economy have become increasingly apparent. Small firms are a significant source of new jobs, and play crucial roles in the development of new technologies and provision of economic opportunities. Small businesses may be especially critical to the regional economies of upstate New York, where a number of large employers have either moved their operations or scaled back their workforces. As a result, it is …
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The Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural District & Cultural Corridor: A Strategic Plan and Action Agenda For the Masten District
Center for Urban Studies, UB — Jul 26, 2001
The purpose of this report is to develop a strategic plan and action agenda for Buffalo’s Masten District, which is based on the turning point threshold concept. Every neighborhood has a turning point threshold, which is that point where a snowballing effect takes place that transform the neighborhood when investments rise above it. The ultimate goal of this project is to outline a plan, which if successfully implemented, will push the Masten District beyond the …