Positive Buffalo Area News
June 7, 2007
Did You Know?
By Paul Wolf, Esq.

*Employee shortage - There is always a lot of concern expressed about the shortage
of jobs in WNY. According to a recent Business First article, area life sciences
companies are having a difficult time recruiting technicians to assist researchers.
Hundreds of positions are projected to be needed in coming years. Gaymar Industries
in Orchard Park is looking for 20 technicians with associate degrees. Startup
company PersonaDX is looking for 5 lab technicians and 100 in two years, maybe
sooner. Kaleida Health has 440 openings for lab positions. Area colleges are
seeking to address the demand by beefing up programs and attracting student
interest in the field. The problem is a national issue as across the country, 44
percent of laboratories are experiencing difficulty in hiring lab personnel.

*Bear Metal a steel fabricator started in 1999 and located in Buffalo has recently
expanded. The company, which was located in a 5,000 square foot building, recently
moved to a 15,500 square foot building. Employment will be increasing from 6
employees to 10 to handle an increased workload and sales are projected to increase
from $500,000 to $1 million. One of the problems faced by the growing company
according to founder Barrett Price is finding qualified welders. Price has had to
look to Alfred State College Welder’s Training School in Wellsville for workers.

*Hauptman-Woodward located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus with a staff of
79, has the second largest concentration of structural biologists in the country.

*Block Club, a new free bi-monthly, full color magazine recently released its
first issue. The magazine started by 20-year-old Patrick Finan is called Block Club
to reflect Western New York’s strong sense of community. The magazine, which is
aimed at a wide audience will spotlight locally based businesses. 20,000 copies of
the free magazine are being distributed at locations on Elmwood, Hertel and Main
Street.

What: “Bizarre Bazaar” Fundraiser for the 2007 Buffalo Infringement Festival
When: Saturday, June 16, 2007 from 8 p.m. till quite late
Where: Soundlab, 110 Pearl St., Buffalo, NY (www.bigorbitgallery.org)
How much: suggested donation $5 and up (tickets at the door only; no advance sale)

MORE THAN A DOZEN ARTISTS + ONE INDOOR GARAGE SALE = “BIZARRE BAZAAR”, A FUNDRAISER FOR BUFFALO’S THIRD ANNUAL “INFRINGEMENT” FESTIVAL, SATURDAY, JUNE 16 AT SOUNDLAB

The 2007 Buffalo Infringement Festival is just around the corner (July 26-August 5) and the infringing has already begun! On Saturday, June 16, 2007, join a motley gang of musicians, comics, actors, media artists, and other rogue spirits at Soundlab (110 Pearl St.) for a wild night of fun and fundraising.

Like the festival itself, the benefit will feature a wide range of artists working in many genres and media, all of them “under the radar” in one way or another. The action-packed lineup includes music by Baby Machines, Draconians, Laura Jean and Friends, Ramforkinus, Drivers to Warsaw, and Jack Toft and the Vegetables; theater and performance by Alemaedae Theatre Productions, Caesandra, The Rated-R Rockstar Josh Smith, and Kathleen Foster; and short films and videos by Scott Andrew Kurchak, Ron Ehmke, Andrew Michalski, and Morphine Heart Productions.

As if the action onstage weren’t enough, this “Bizarre Bazaar” will feature an assortment of (truly odd) odds and ends. Call it a Chinese auction, an indoor garage sale, or anything else you like: we call it a great way to walk away with some weird stuff at bargain-basement prices. Want to play it safer? There’s also a 50/50 raffle, guaranteeing some lucky so-and-so will score some cold, hard cash.

The festivities begin at 8 p.m. and continue until the last weary audience member leaves the room, begging for more—all this in exchange for a donation to the festival. (We’re asking folks to cough up a mere five bucks, more if they can afford it.)

For more information on the fundraiser and the festival, click here.

The Central Terminal hosts its First Annual New York State Wine & Cidre Festival on Saturday, June 23,2007 from 1to 6pm.  Great architecture encompasses the finest New York State wines and cidres, some of Buffalo’s most exciting restaurants, local farmer’s products and a variety of entertainments with plenty of free and secure parking.  Over 30 wineries and cideries providing 100 available samples will be available on the Central Terminal’s concourse, an event not affected by the weather.  Presale tickets are $20; day of event admission is $25, available at participating restaurants: Ulrich’s, Steel Drum, Samples, and Bistro Europa.  These restaurants will be on site selling food ranging from Central Europe to the Caribbean, from unique to familiar.  Local farmers will have for sale their own maple syrup, jellies & jams, cheese, baked goods and herbs & flowers.  Proceeds will be used to continue the restoration of the national Historic Landmark Buffalo Central Terminal.

From my friend Jon:

My company is hiring a Buffalo-based sales position. Myriad Genetic Laboratories (MYGN). It is an outside sales position that covers Buffalo to Jamestown to Olean to Niagara Falls. Great pay + bonus + benefits. This is a growing company that specializes in biotech and genetics.

Email me your resume at jkeller@gmail.com

Plus a couple new postings at Rich Products:

Executive Assistant

Senior Internal Auditor

Thanks once again to Paul Wolf for providing us with this information!

May 15, 2007   Did You Know?  By Paul Wolf, Esq.

* Nanodynamics a Buffalo technology company started in 2002 has grown to 107 employees and is seeking to build a new plant with funds raised by way of an initial stock offering. Nanodynamics has 19 patents and 35 patent applications. The company is focusing its research efforts on clean technology solutions for today’s global challenges, such as the development of electricity producing fuel cells and ceramic water filtering technology.

* Netex Services a bulk mail service company has expanded from a 4,500 Square foot site on Kenmore Avenue to 20,000 square feet of space in North Tonawanda. The company also has a 1,000 square foot location in downtown Buffalo. Last year the company handled 8 million letters and packages, this year they are expecting to handle 25 million. With mail rates increasing and becoming more complicated the growing company is planning to double its existing 15 person staff in the next six months.

* Two apartment buildings in Buffalo, the Bennett Apartments located on Benwood near Main Street and the Edge Park Apartments on Amherst Street near Delaware were sold for a combined $3.2 million. The two apartment buildings have a total of 82 units A West Seneca apartment complex located on Indian Church Road with 104 units was sold for $4.75 million.

* Daeman College is building a new $10 million academic facility for academic research and community programs in Amherst. The 45,000 square foot building will be the first free-standing “green” building on a Western New York college campus.

So, it looks like the Sabres’ season is just about over.  Short of a miracle comeback, tomorrow will be the last game of the season.  It’s hard to believe that a season that started out so hopeful will end short of the final goal.  A friend of mine always talks about pride, image and how the Sabres’ mean more to the city than just another sports franchise.  And he’s right.  The Sabres team this year has represented the hope of the city and what could be.  And that’s what makes it so hard.

So, after the last game is played, what will we do?  I hope that we’ll do what Buffalo has always done.  I hope that we’ll get up and continue to work harder toward that goal.  I hope that we’ll keep our flags on our cars, houses and still wear the t-shirts and hats (and jerseys) we bought as a show of support.  Buffalo is all about getting up tomorrow and fighting…so let’s fight…

Square blue plus sign

Originally uploaded by urbanmkr.

Our thanks to Paul Wolf, Esq., who provides us with these updates.

• Buffalo based Appraisal.com Inc., (located at 620 Main Street), a national provider of real estate appraisal software is growing. The company has a staff of 60, most of whom work for the Buffalo office, with plans to add an additional 40 new employees over the next year.
• According to the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, WNY supports 650 high-tech companies that employ 5,400 workers, and employment in this sector has grown 5.8% annually.
• The Upstate Niagara Cooperative consisting of 420 local dairy farmers is seeing the benefits of their new $32.5 million plant which opened last year in West Seneca.  Upstate’s sales grew by 9% last year to $500 million.  Employment at the plant grew by 10 workers to 142.  The plant processes about 110 million pounds of raw milk each year.  Yogurt has become the plant’s fastest growing product, distributed to customers in nearly every state.
• The University at Buffalo, North Campus, is experimenting with hydrogen powered cars.  Two Toyota Prius’s modified to run purely on hydrogen, are being driven by campus staff.  The vehicles are fueled at new hydrogen fueling stations located on the campus.
• The UB computer science department started in 1967 is one of the oldest computer departments in the country.  Among its notable graduates is Robin Li, who earned a master’s degree in computer science in 1994 and went on to found Baidu.com, the most popular Chinese-language Internet search engine in China.  Faculty have made key contributions as well such as Sargur Srihari, director of UB’s Center of Excellence in Document Analysis and Recognition, who has developed hand writing recognition software that is being used by the U.S. Postal Service to sort millions of pieces of mail.

UB’s Center for the Arts

Originally uploaded by caffeinatedgonzo.

Revitalize Buffalo has paired up with Buffalo 2032, Buffalo Jaycees and New Millennium Group for a presentation by UB’s President Simpson and Professor Shibley on the growth and future of UB.

Wednesday, May 2nd, 6:30 PM (program begins at 7), Karpeles Museum (Elmwood & North)

Don’t miss your chance at having input in UB’s future!

Our thanks to Paul Wolf with the City for providing us this news!

• M&T Bank has made it to the prestigious Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations based on revenues.  With $4.3 billion in revenues, M&T ranks number 496.  The Buffalo Niagara region has not had a company on the Fortune 500 list since 1994.
• Astronics Corp., an East Aurora-based aircraft lighting and electronic systems maker won orders in the amount of $17 million from five different airlines to supply systems that allow passengers to run their laptop computers and others electronic devices by plugging them into seat outlets.  The biggest order was worth $9 million from an Asian airline.
• Logistics Dynamics, an Amherst-based company that manages shipments for product manufacturers and distributors, increased sales 132% in the first quarter of 2007.  Sales in 2006 were between $6-8 million and are expected to grow in 2007 to $12-15 million.  The company anticipates adding 30 positions to its current workforce of 25 in the next few years.
• An information technology firm has opened for business at 715 Main Street, at the corner of Main & Tupper.  IT Solutions has leased 7,000 sq. feet of space in a building that has been vacant since 2005.  IT Solutions provides web hosting, web design, hosting, web design, network monitoring and security and offsite data backup. The firm has three employees in there twenties who are part of a new generation of Buffalo businesses. Owner Steven Murphy can be contacted by e-mail at steve@buffaloits.com steve@buffaloits.com> or by phone at 852-0523.

Thanks Paul!

sapphire blue

Originally uploaded by fubuki.

Tonight, join the Buffalo Old Home Week gang at McGarretts (Elmwood & Bidwell) for cocktails, 5 PM. It’s a great way to meet new friends and catch up with old friends.

And make sure to stop at one of the restaurants pre or post happy hour, participating in the Dining Out For Life in Buffalo. All of the restaurants give between 25-50% of their profits and the money goes right to the two local AIDS organizations in town. It’s usually busy, so make reservations!

See you out tonight!