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Invest Buffalo Niagara’s Chief Executive Office Tom Kucharski recently celebrated his 25th anniversary leading the organization. Additionally, he has logged over 40 years of economic development experience.
We thought we would use this as an opportunity to gain his insights on economic development in the Buffalo Niagara region.
How has economic development changed in the last 25 years?
In many ways, the role of a regional economic development organization like Invest Buffalo Niagara has broadened. While project management and business attraction remain our core focus – and we excel at them – our work has taken on new dimensions.
Our team is leading efforts in industrial real estate development, securing federal funding to position Buffalo as a hub for the semiconductor industry, and attracting talent relocations through Be in Buffalo. We are reshaping outdated perceptions of our region and helping local companies grow through initiatives like Economic Gardening.
Best productivity practice?
I make (and try my best to stick to) a weekly ‘focus list’.
What is Buffalo Niagara’s best asset?
Buffalo possesses many great assets – affordability, international access, advanced manufacturing know-how, etc. And we’re the group charged with touting them each and every day. But to me, our people top the list, and I am grateful for our staff, investors, partners, workforce, and community members that help make all of our momentum possible.
Most impactful book you’ve read?
D-Day by Stephen Ambrose
What is the biggest challenge Buffalo Niagara faces in the world of economic development?
To put it simply: Product. If you don’t have a site where a company can land, there is no project. However, we’re working to address that challenge.
In some ways, we’re a victim of our own success. Ten or 20 years ago, we had no shortage of sites and buildings. But now, with so many new companies coming to the area and local ones expanding, we’re running out of places to put new opportunities. Companies exploring Western New York love what we have to offer – from our low costs to the reliability and affordability of our utilities. We just need more sites and buildings where they can land. That’s why we spearheaded the WNY Industrial Real Estate Study completed by Newmark. The study found 58 actionable recommendations – each of which is either already completed or in progress. And there are many stakeholders in our community who are at the table making this progress happen – including ourselves at Invest Buffalo Niagara, elected officials, commercial developers, bank lenders, and more.
The same can be said for our workforce. There was a time when our community exported talent because there were not enough well-paying jobs for them here, but thanks to our resurgence that is very different today. We now are in need of attracting those individuals back, as well as folks completely new to our region. That’s what our organization’s talent attraction initiative Be in Buffalo is tasked with doing. Through Be in Buffalo, we are introducing – or reintroducing – a new Buffalo Niagara to an entire generation of people with the skills needed to build an economy of the future.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Go Bills!
