Target Industry Action Agendas Released

Last week, the Partnership released its 2010-11 target industry "action agendas," which will guide our business development work for the next year. Our economic development work focuses on five "targeted" industries - industries that, for some specific reason, are growing or are poised for growth in Buffalo Niagara. They are: advanced manufacturing, agribusiness, life sciences, logistics and professional services, and the potential for job creation in these sectors offers the greatest return on the investment of our time and resources.

Over the past twelve months, Partnership staff has engaged in outreach meetings with over 400 Buffalo Niagara employers, soliciting feedback on the direction in which the Partnership should be headed. These meetings have been instrumental in the creation of the action agendas, which really have a dual purpose: (1) focusing our time and efforts on high-impact deliverables that will help provide opportunity for our members - and their industries (and, as a result, the regional economy) - to grow; and (2) identifying and strengthening the Partnership's role in each sector.

The effectiveness of the action agenda vetting and implementation is evident. Some highlights from the last year's work:

(Agribusiness) Defeat of the proposed NYS "Farmworkers" Bill, which would have devastated family and larger farms in Upstate New York;

(Logistics) Coordination with a number of local entities in logistics of an Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Customs Matters and Trade Facilitation (ITAC-14) tour of Buffalo Niagara international bridges, which included high-ranking officials in Homeland Security, Commerce, Transportation and U.S. Trade Representative;

(Life Sciences) Creation of the Buffalo Niagara Life Science Resource Guide and Directory - digital and print editions;

(Manufacturing) Presentation of the Partnership's 2010 Renewable Energy Series in March and April, 2010, focusing on opportunities for Buffalo Niagara companies in the wind supply chain;

(Professional Services) December's adoption of a "tiered incentives" program by Erie County IDAs that based the awarding of incentives on various criteria, including local sourcing.

In addition, key relationships in each of the industry sectors have been created over the course of the past year that help to ensure that the work needed to be done in Buffalo Niagara is, indeed, being done. A major component of the Partnership's day-to-day work is collaborating closely with industry groups and other entities also working to grow the regional economy. Whether its our partnership with Medtech in the life sciences industry, our aligned advocacy efforts with the Erie and Niagara County Farm Bureaus in agribusiness, or the joint events we put on with World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara to talk logistics, the Partnership can add the "big picture" economic development perspective to whatever the initiative.

In the end, our target industry work comes down to our "ABCs" (as does everything else we do) - Advocacy, Business Development and Connecting. These are the areas where the Partnership is a resource for our members as we work to strengthen Buffalo Niagara's business climate.

Guest Blog: How Does the World See You?

How you look shouldn’t matter, but it does. Named The Halo Effect by psychologists, if your visual message is positive, the person you’ve just met will assume the other aspects about you are equally positive. Therefore, a professional who takes the time to maintain a professional appearance presents the image of being able to perform adequately on the job.

No professional should be without at least one outstanding dress suit. It’s a wardrobe basic and must be well-tailored, classic in color and flattering to the body. The focus is fashionable yet conservative.

The question is not how does the world see you? It’s how do you want the world to see you?

1) Identify your goal.
2) Dress the part for the job, the company, and the industry.
3) Wear colors which are flattering to your hair, skin tone and eye color.
4) Wear styles which are flattering to your body type.
5) When in doubt, dress up not down.
6) Don’t dress for where you are, dress for where you want to be!

If you are one of almost 15 million unemployed Americans, the first impression you make on a potential employer is the most important one. Take a look at this video for additional advice on making a first impression that's modern and memorable.

This blog was written by Molly McGowan, Investor Relations Associate at the Partnership.

DISCLOSE... but first, we fundraise!

If you are one who keeps tabs on politics, as I do, you often shake your head at the sheer arrogance of some of our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle. From our friends in Albany literally getting indicted while holding elected office to the blatant favoritism of unions in HR 5175/S.3295 (click the link for our position), a.k.a. the DISCLOSE Act, it's amazing what our politicians think they can sneak by the general public.

This story, however, is one for the ages. Not only is DISCLOSE a “transparent attempt to rig fall elections" (per Sen. Mitch McConnell), the Senate Democrats are hosting a high dollar fundraiser in NYC the NIGHT BEFORE THE VOTE... If only our Buffalo Bills QB had that kind of gumption. The Senate Democrats control the Floor Calendar (what gets voted on, and when), but with most of their members too busy fundraising outside of DC, they couldn't schedule a vote until Thursday. The Senate Majority is simply banking on the fact that the public is 1) not paying attention, or 2) doesn't care. It is time to prove them wrong.

I urge you to call out our U.S. Senators on this arrogance, and tell them to defeat the DISCLOSE Act tomorrow. Contact them here and here.

Guest Blog: Why Should Anyone Be Led By You or Me?

Effective leadership is the key to success in any setting, with the intent to establish a clear vision and provide the tools required to achieve it.

As an opportunity to equip area young professionals with the skills necessary to become productive leaders within their own careers and communities, Buffalo Niagara 360 (the Buffalo Niagara Partnership's young professionals program) collaborated with Medaille College to offer a Business Leadership Series focusing on the qualities needed to become a leader in any organization.

Close to 40 people, including Buffalo Niagara 360 members as well as Medaille College students and alumni, participated in the first of the four-part series that took place Monday, September 20. Attendees were able to mingle with other local professionals and enjoyed an informative presentation by William Weeks, a clinical associate professor and chair of the Management and Leadership Program at Medaille College.

Weeks highlighted various points, outlining the importance of the leader-follower relationship and traits that distinguish a dynamic leader. Weeks additionally stressed the importance of being authentic and self-aware, evaluating one’s ability to lead others if they were not fully conscious of who they are.

A troubling situation can occur when there is little differentiation between a manager and a leader, causing miscommunication and little consistency when executing tasks. Weeks explained the need for the creation of fractals within organizations, or a smaller replica of the whole.

By preparing the next generation of business and community leaders with the essential skills needed to succeed, it ensures continued growth in our region, which is what the Buffalo Niagara Partnership constantly strives for.

For more information on how to get involved with Buffalo Niagara 360 and find out about upcoming events, visit www.buffaloniagara360.org.

Future dates for the Business Leadership Series:

November 15, 2010 – Medaille College Buffalo Campus

February 7, 2011 – Medaille College Amherst Campus

April 11, 2011 – Medaille College Amherst Campus

This blog was written by Public Relations intern Stephanie Hamm, who attended this program as a young professional.

Lobbying in DC with the Great Lakes Chambers

Last week, I had the opportunity to head to Washington as part of a coalition of chambers of commerce from throughout the Great Lakes region. Our coalition, representing over 30 chambers in the mega-region, has visited DC a number of times over the past few years to visit Congressional reps, to educate them on the challenges and opportunities of the Great Lakes economy. This time, with Congress at home campaigning, we spent our time presenting our Great Lakes agenda to various agencies within the Obama administration.

First off, we were thrilled with the access. Our DC-based lobbyists advising us on the trip emphasized the importance and uniqueness of our ability to get the appointments - for two days we met with key contacts in the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Transportation, Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency. The meetings, themselves, were extremely encouraging - to be honest, current leadership in Washington and the business community haven't typically seen eye-to-eye on a lot of things, so we weren't sure what to expect. It became quickly apparent that we were creating a number of mutually-beneficial relationships. Each of the agencies have a host of programs on which they need to educate the business community, and we - the chambers - have access to the business community. In addition, as a group we can provide feedback to the agencies on the effectiveness of the programs, and the needs of employers going forward.

Key topics covered on the trip include transportation funding, which is set for some significant debate early next year, federal investment in innovation and sustainable, renewable energy - all components of the Great Lakes agenda.

I've said it a lot - while lobbying in business-unfriendly New York State can be frustrating at times, working on our federal agenda through the Great Lakes coalition is amazingly refreshing. We spend a great deal of time engaged in what we call "playing defense" - advocating against Downstate, special interest-driven proposals that make economic development and job creation more and more difficult. The pro-active work on the Great Lakes agenda is particularly rewarding - really opening your eyes to the possibilities that positive attention to the region can create.

Tuesday, September 14, is Primary Day!

There are important primaries in almost every party (you must be a registered member of a party to participate in this election), including a race for the Republican Governor candidate, Conservative Governor candidate, Democratic Attorney General candidate, Republican U.S. Senate races (both seats) and a bevy of local primaries throughout Erie and Niagara Counties.

The Partnership is actively supporting the following candidates in tomorrow's election; we believe they share our focus – improving the business climate in New York State and Western New York:

60th NYS Senate District: Rory Allen (vs. Antoine Thompson)

144th NYS Assembly District: Joe Golombek (vs. Sam Hoyt)

Ellicott District, Buffalo Common Council: Reverend Darius Pridgen (vs. Curtis Haynes)


Dr. Rudnick did a "Primary Day Primer" detailing why we are supporting these three candidates, which you can read here. We've created an Election Day page on the Partnership website that shows how you can find out where to vote, who's running in your neighborhood, and what else we've been doing in the political arena, including our fundraiser for Jack Quinn and how our local elected officials scored on Unshackle Upstate's Legislative Score Card.

Primary Day elections are 100% about getting out the vote, often the more organized campaign emerges victorious because they got their voters out. Help ensure that the candidates you chose to support enjoy that success by voting tomorrow. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

If you have any questions about our supported candidates, or any other candidates up for election in your neighborhood, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to give you more information!

So, please – GET OUT AND VOTE – and forward this to your family and friends to do so as well!

Running government like a business

We hear candidates talk a lot about how their intent, if elected, is to run government "more like a business." Of course, those slogans always get the opponents reminding voters that government is, indeed, NOT a business, and can't necessarily be run like one. Then, given how recently whatever the most recent Wall Street or oil spill scandal has happened, the "run government more like a business" tagline can be interpreted as being a good or bad thing.

From the Partnership's perspective, while government does not exist to make a profit (as private sector business does), there are certainly many opportunities to bring business principles into government. Streamlining operations to be more cost-effective, focus on strong customer service and eliminating waste are tried-and-true private sector strategies that are certainly applicable in government. While there's admittedly a trend (especially in New York State) toward big, expensive government, candidates with a plan to change that through instilling business principles deserve your attention.

The interesting thing to remember about government is that we - voters - are not only the "customer," but we're also the boss. And acting as the boss is where we can really bring business concepts into government - particularly in hiring. Every couple years, we get the opportunity to determine whether we want to re-hire someone who's already been on the job, or fire them and replace them with someone else (in business, we'd call this a "review"). Unfortunately, too many voters do not take this relationship, and the opportunity resulting from it, seriously.

This year, we are faced with some pretty poor examples of job performance in Albany. For the past two years since we've put the current group of elected officials into office, state government has done little beyond pushing its hand deeper and deeper into our pocket. Spending in two years has risen by $16 billion (yep - billion), with taxpayers footing the bill. Here in WNY, our elected reps failed to deliver (for perspective - labor and business both agree this is the case) a no-cost initiative that would've spurred 20,000 new jobs for our community - that being UB2020. The job just isn't getting done.

In the case of Senator Antoine Thompson, who faces a candidate in Rory Allen that we like a lot (small businessman, understands what it takes to create jobs and the impediments that Albany puts in the way of that) in next week's primary election, there's so much more. A taxpayer-funded trip to Jamaica during the legislative session that his staff was instructed to cover up?! Wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars sending ridiculous mailings (including birthday cards) to residents?! How about sponsoring legislation that would help Antoine, himself, benefit financially from a car accident he was in years earlier?! If you were the boss of a company, would you keep an employee like this? Well, we are the boss of the company called New York State government.

If we're going to instill one business principle into New York State government this year, it should be hiring and firing based on work performance and qualifications. Special interests continue to have success at putting people into office who will do their will because the largest special interest of all - taxpayers - don't take advantage of their role as boss. This is the year for voters, particularly Upstate voters, to demand better job performance. We do that at the polls.

Governor Paterson signs "proceeds" bill

Let's face it, this year has not been the greatest for Upstate interests in Albany. The state's 2010-11 budget increased spending by some $6 billion, including $1.2 billion in new taxes (a total of $414 per person over the last two years). Economic development programs that benefit Upstate job creation were decimated through a reduction in funding (Empire Zone) and deferrals of tax credits that were already promised to employers - and included in their budgets. That's a big part of the reason why the Partnership has taken such an aggressive political role in making change in Albany this election day.

This week, however, score one for the good guys!!! Legislation was signed by Governor Paterson that will allocate funds derived from the sale of unallocated expansion power and replacement power through the New York Power Authority to economic development initiatives within 30 miles of the Niagara Power Project - potentially $10 to $25 million per year.

How it works: take Yahoo! for example. Part of Yahoo!'s incentive package to come to Niagara County was an allocation of hydropower. Of course, they're not up and running yet, but you can't re-allocate that hydropower to someone else - so that power is temporarily sold into the electric grid. Those funds - aka "proceeds" - are collected by the New York Power Authority (that's the $$$ that you heard last year as being "swept" by Albany to fill budget gaps). This legislation, which has been a priority of the Partnership for a number of years, re-invests that cash into our community in economic development projects and initiatives through a Western New York Economic Development Fund.

Especially given the difficulty in doing business in Upstate New York caused by poor economic development policy from Albany, this is a HUGE lift for the Buffalo Niagara region. There, of course - as with all of these types of legislation - are specifics to be sorted out, and the Partnership will continue our heavy advocacy to ensure that the program reaches its optimal effectiveness, but we are ecstatic to have found success here. Particularly in light of Albany's failure to come through for UB2020. Thanks to the "proceeds" bill sponsors Dennis Gabryszak in the Assembly and Bill Stachowski in the Senate for carrying this legislation to passage.

Why is the Partnership supporting Assemblyman Jack Quinn?

It's been mentioned quite a bit on this blog that the Partnership is aggressively amping up it's political involvement this election season, with one goal in mind: to bring the New York State Senate to a more Upstate-friendly majority. A main cog in accomplishing that goal is electing Assemblyman Jack Quinn to the Senate for the 58th Senate District (encompassing Hamburg, Lackawanna, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, South Buffalo and Eden).

Quinn's race is being viewed state-wide as the difference maker in who hold the Majority in next year's Senate, but that's not the only reason he deserves our support. Quinn has been one of the most savvy and effective representatives of the Buffalo Niagara employer community, actively engaging Partnership members on legislation and issues regarding Western New York and working with Partnership staff on developing his policy positions. In our book, that earns Quinn more than an endorsement and a PAC donation. That's why on Thursday, September 16th, we are hosting a fundraiser for his campaign at Pettibone's in downtown Buffalo. For significantly less money than New York State spends in one-tenth of a second ($438 per .1 seconds v. $99) your support will help Assemblyman Quinn drastically slow down the Empire Center's $pend-o-meter...

Assemblyman Quinn's 5-Point Plan focuses on cutting spending and taxes, pension reform, job creation, Medicaid reform and ethics reform; all areas the Partnership and our state-wide coalition, Unshackle Upstate, have weighed in on. Not only does Quinn's plan address the expanding deficit and increased spending our state is facing, he provides responsible and logical areas of wasteful spending that need to be reigned in.

Quinn's pension reform plan is a shining example of how to address the pension "double standard" New York's taxpayers are facing every day. His job creation plan is more than just political "we need jobs" doublespeak we hear so often; he lays out areas where New York needs to improve and invest, especially in 21st century manufacturing and emerging technologies like the life sciences.

New York currently spends $1 Billion a week on Medicaid, Quinn's plan cuts $8 billion annually. Taxpayers have seen more than their fair share of corrupt politicians. Quinn's plan ends the dysfunction and corruption that leads to late budgets, pay to play schemes and the extreme waste of our tax dollars.

Again, Quinn has earned our, and your, support this November. Special interests in Albany and downstate will be doing all they can to ensure the status quo remains after this election. Join us on September 16th and help the largest yet least-represented special interest of them all, the Upstate taxpayer. See you there!