Business development manager Alan Rosenhoch gets together a few papers, sends off a quick email, and heads to his car in the covered parking garage. Today he’s on the fourth floor. He puts directions into his phone, though he doesn’t reference them much—he’s good with directions and has been to this business before. He’s headed to a meeting about 45 minutes away.
Other than one vehicle not using its blinker while turning right, the ride goes as planned and he arrives at his meeting with Aakron Rule, a recent win. During the beginning of the meeting, his phone buzzes. It’s an email invitation to a new meeting immediately after this one back in Buffalo. Though the tour of the factory runs a little long, the first meeting goes as planned. He hops back into the car, and plugs in directions—which he skeptically follows this time.He doesn’t know what the next meeting is about. He doesn’t know what company is behind the meeting. He doesn’t even know if he’s meeting with a company, actually. The email had the name and headshot of the man he is to meet in a Tim Horton’s seating area. He arrives a few minutes early. He orders a chamomile tea. Before he’s served his tea the person he is to meet approaches. They exchange handshakes and find a table. Another person arrives soon to join them.
Alan quickly learns that this is about an Asian pharmaceutical company that’s interested in expanding to the Buffalo Niagara region. They already have draft paperwork filled out and five year plans printed. The discussion leads to the company requesting to schedule some additional meetings, but they’re in town for less than 48 hours, and must see Niagara Falls for part of that while they’re here. On top of that, it’s nearing 5 p.m., leaving virtually no time to execute an agenda for the next day.
This is the anatomy of a project.
Alan and the prospects spoke for a little over an hour that day. The very next morning they came into our InBN office along with two other team members, including the CEO, for a series of meetings lasting over three hours. They met with lawyers and accountants, discussing a wide array of topics they might need to consider—and that was just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come over the next handful of months.
Our economic development projects are simultaneously unpredictable and unsurprising. They each have facets and challenges unique to them. But they each boil down to common denominators, as well.
Our projects can start out of the blue like Alan’s, or come from a predictable lead generation source. They can take off like Alan’s, or they can take months just to get out of infancy. Or they can never leave that stage. They’re different in that way. But they’re the same in that they are all curious about the benefits of the Buffalo Niagara region, and how their business would bloom in our backyard.
Projects, or opportunities, are classified in three categories: Inquiry, lead, and project. Each of the categories signifies an escalating level of interest in the region, and seriousness in possible execution. There is some overlap and discretion by our business development team, but an opportunity doesn’t have to start as an inquiry, and just because it’s labeled a project doesn’t guarantee success. Alan’s opportunity was immediately labeled a project.
It is always rewarding to be the ambassadors of this beautiful region. Buffalo Niagara has so much to offer a company looking to expand or relocate, and we’re privileged every day to make that pitch.
Eventually, the goal is to turn a project into a win. That would mean the company would be coming to or expanding within the eight counties we represent, signaling not only a win for InBN, but the Buffalo Niagara region as a whole.
