Buffalo Next: What to know about the week ahead
COMPILED BY DAVID ROBINSON
March 20, 2022
Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy – from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
A quick read of news from the past week and a look ahead at what’s coming next.
Craft beer is big – and a pair of local breweries have initiatives in the works to get even bigger.
Not big enough. As work on the new Thin Man Brewery at 156 Chandler St. comes to a head, there are a few changes in store – mainly because no one took into account the length of the delivery trucks.
Rocco Termini’s Signature Development Buffalo is asking the Buffalo Planning Board on Monday night to allow it to more than double the length of its loading dock to 67 feet from just 25 feet because the 48-foot semi-trucks that the brewery will receive wouldn’t fit otherwise without blocking the right-of-way.
The brewery is sandwiched between other buildings that Termini also built on the street – including the Tappo Day Club – as part of more than $40 million in development on the street in the past six years.
Pressure Drop wants to be more than a brewer. Lexi R. Craine is asking the Planning Board for a special-use permit for Pressure Drop Brewing Co. – an Old First Ward microbrewery that began producing beer in 2017 but doesn’t have a tasting room – to expand.
The brewery plans to open a bar, restaurant and outdoor patio at 1672 Elmwood Ave., with interior seating for 58 and 20 outdoor seats.
Week 2 of Kaleida Health union talks: Western New York’s largest health care provider and the Communications Workers of America Local 1168 and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East will sit down in Buffalo for their second week of joint bargaining.
The two unions, which represent about 6,300 Kaleida workers, met with the health system for the first session Wednesday when the bargaining committee presented Kaleida with a 247-page noneconomic proposal. They also met Thursday, and will continue meeting two-days-a-week until the bargaining schedule eventually gets expanded.
The two sides are working toward a new master agreement, with the current three-year deal set to expire May 31. Negotiations will likely go well past that date, however.
“Since I’ve been part of it, the earliest that we’ve ever ratified the contract was in early July,” said James Scordato, 1199SEIU’s vice president of the Western New York hospital division.
Networking for local salon and barbershop owners. 2021 43North startup competition winner ShearShare is hosting a networking event for salon, spa and barbershop owners.
ShearShare, a tech company founded by husband and wife team Tye and Courtney Caldwell in Texas, matches licensed beauty and barbering professionals to unused salon space.
The event is from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Monday at Seneca One tower. Visit the company’s Instagram page, @shearshare, for more information and to RSVP.
Upstate New York Business Leader Survey results revealed. The Siena Research Institute, which conducted the survey in partnership with the Business Council of New York State, collected input from more than 500 upstate business leaders.
The Buffalo Niagara Partnership at 8 a.m. Wednesday will host a “CEOs Speak” webinar to discuss results of the survey. The event is free to Partnership members and the cost is $50 for nonmembers.
CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK
Tech company plans for jobs expansion. AML RightSource, a Cleveland-based company that expanded into Buffalo in 2019, announced Friday it is expanding its presence in Western New York. AML, which helps banks and financial services companies detect fraudulent transactions, will be adding 363 jobs in Buffalo and plans to expand its office space in downtown’s Seneca One tower.
500 more jobs are coming to Moog. Moog Inc. is expected to create 500 new jobs through a $25 million expansion that will help it upgrade its local facilities and add new equipment. New York has agreed to provide the company with up to $15 million in Excelsior tax credits if Moog meets its hiring targets.
Yogurt facility planned for Town of Batavia. La Fermiere, a family-owned French yogurt and desserts company, plans to build a $25 million plant in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, with an eye toward opening it in summer or fall 2023. The plant is expected to have 150 jobs within five years.
Daemen joins movement from college to university. Daemen College in Amherst became Daemen University on Thursday – the latest Buffalo Niagara institution to take advantage of a new state definition of what qualifies as a university. The new definition has started a trend toward small, private colleges seeking university designation to boost their reputations and enrollment.
ICYMI
Five reads from Buffalo Next:
How a business accelerator in Buffalo aims to make entrepreneurship accessible to all: EforAll opened its Buffalo office in May and is helping entrepreneurs from Buffalo’s underrepresented communities grow their own businesses. Their goal is to transform Buffalo one small business at a time.
How Silo City hopes to create a new neighborhood along the Buffalo River: Generation Development Group, the firm behind the planned conversion of the American and Perot malting warehouses into several hundred apartments and commercial space, is seeking to transform an area better known for its grain, shipping and industrial past into a trendy new place for living.
How Mercy Hospital strike set the stage for key contract talks at rival Kaleida Health: The Catholic Health contract reached in the fall sets a benchmark that Kaleida Health officials will need to consider as they negotiate with their workers. Kaleida’s master agreement that covers about 6,300 of its workers expires May 31.
Big changes coming for Athenex: A new focus and major cuts to costs, workforce: The Buffalo biopharmaceutical company will undergo a major shift to slash its expenses by 50% and focus on “promising cell therapy programs,” while selling off “non-core” assets. The attempted turnaround has already begun with Athenex selling off its lease at the state-funded drug manufacturing plant in Dunkirk.
Record low unemployment in January is sign of a tight job market: The bottom line: There are plenty of jobs available for workers who have the skills to fill them, but many people still aren’t ready to jump back into the labor pool.
The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the region’s economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Deputy Business Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.
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