Business/Economy

With millions of dollars awarded over five years, the 43North business competition has succeeded in generating excitement and publicity. Its track record in creating local jobs has not been as stellar. Charlotte Keith  has been reporting on their results for Investigative Post. While there have been some notable shortcomings, she says the competition is doing a better job at identifying companies more likely to remain in Buffalo.

SparkCharge will be at UB this morning, looking for engineers and scientists and others for its portable electric car charging system. The visit follows last night's victory in the 43North business competition where the company claimed the $1 million dollar prize.

The City of Lockport was informed Wednesday it is one of ten municipalities throughout the state selected for $10 million grants, as part of a competitive bidding program conducted through the state's Regional Economic Development Councils.

With eight companies in line to share $5 million in prize money, tonight's final of the 43North business competition has produced enough excitement to sell out Shea's Performing Arts Center. The event arrives as scrutiny builds over the number of jobs produced by the competition. In an interview with WBFO, 43North president Alex Gress says the event has succeeded in creating an "entrepreneurial ecosystem" that is drawing much-needed venture capital to the region.

Almost since its opening four decades ago, there has been debate over the limitations of the Buffalo Convention Center. The conversation moved to another level recently with the release of a feasibility study which identified two potential locations for a much larger convention center.  During his monthly appearance on WBFO's Press Pass, Jim Fink of Business First says the study's results aren't sitting well with some in the local business community.

President Donald Trump on Monday hailed a tentative agreement involving the United States, Canada and Mexico that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. While it's not yet a done deal, early local feedback suggests an updated deal will be especially good for New York State's economy, especially in agriculture.

The results of a much-anticipated study on a future convention center in downtown Buffalo were revealed Thursday. While delivering the results of the study, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and others shared the opinion that doing nothing is not an option if the region is to remain in the business of attracting meeting events, and the millions of dollars they bring.

The state Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, is out with his annual report on Wall Street profits, and he finds, not surprisingly, they are up.

Businesses can take years to start, but dozens of local people spent the weekend learning how to take their first steps at the University at Buffalo's Hayes Hall.

Buffalo's Planning Board is the agency controlling the local housing boom, new buildings, rehabbed buildings, expanded buildings. On Monday, the board dealt with two industrial expansions.

An app service known as Aira offers blind or visually-impaired users the opportunity to use their smartphone as a second set of eyes, in order to perform tasks including shopping. Wegmans has become the first supermarket chain in the nation to offer the service.

Unionized workers from across a number of industries are parading through Buffalo to mark Labor Day.

The debate over immigration reveals a wide divide in the national conversation. While some argue foreign-born workers are taking American jobs, others cite economic numbers disputing that rhetoric. An advocate with the organization New American Economy points out how the immigrant work force has been a benefit to the Buffalo region.

State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s summer tour of New York brought him to Cheektowaga on Wednesday afternoon for a visit with one of the region’s high-tech employers.

When it comes to convenience, Buffalo parks rank well above the national average. According to a new report from The Trust for Public Land., 85 percent of Buffalo residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park. When it comes to spending on parks, Buffalo is behind the norm.  The national median for park spending is $83 per resident; in Buffalo, that number stands at $69 per resident.

From a new bowling alley on Pearl Street to the arcade games popping up on Main Street, recreation is a now a key element of development projects in downtown Buffalo. As Jim Fink of Business First points out during WBFO's Press Pass, the focus on games reflects the growth of the downtown residential population.

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation's board of directors voted Monday to select Sinatra and Company Real Estate as the developers who will build on two remaining vacant parcels on the South Aud Block at Buffalo's Canalside.

Shares of Tesla lost approximately nine percent of their value Friday, as the high-tech company moves forward amid concerns including a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, comments made by founder Elon Musk and a report that Tesla may not, after all, purchase all the output from the Buffalo-based factory it now shares with Panasonic.

Philip Smith is a physical education teacher in the Buffalo school system  -- and a longtime renter.

But he wanted to build some capital, so he started looking to buy a house. “I was a renter for six or seven years, so I was sick and tired of not gaining any equity in my money and just paying my landlord.”