Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I always hated these articles that made it look like all of upstate was dying, when it was just Buffalo. Yes, other cities lost population, but not their metro regions.
"Living in the Buffalo Niagara region has its perks, and one of them is a shorter commute to work.
Workers here spend an average of just under 21 minutes commuting to work, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That’s about five minutes shorter than the average trip to work nationwide.
That’s an extra 10 minutes for every work day that Buffalo Niagara residents don’t have to spend getting to and from their jobs. And those minutes add up: It saves local workers about 50 minutes a week, or about 43 hours a year, on average.
And commuting, after all, is a largely solitary affair. Despite rising gasoline prices and decades of encouragement to carpool or take public transportation, the vast majority of workers continue to drive themselves to work alone.
The census data showed that 73% of Buffalo Niagara workers drive alone on their commute, slightly more than the 68% of all U.S. workers who drive themselves to work. Just 6% of local workers carpool, which was less than the 8% who share rides nationally."
"Living in the Buffalo Niagara region has its perks, and one of them is a shorter commute to work.
Workers here spend an average of just under 21 minutes commuting to work, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That’s about five minutes shorter than the average trip to work nationwide.
That’s an extra 10 minutes for every work day that Buffalo Niagara residents don’t have to spend getting to and from their jobs. And those minutes add up: It saves local workers about 50 minutes a week, or about 43 hours a year, on average.
And commuting, after all, is a largely solitary affair. Despite rising gasoline prices and decades of encouragement to carpool or take public transportation, the vast majority of workers continue to drive themselves to work alone.
The census data showed that 73% of Buffalo Niagara workers drive alone on their commute, slightly more than the 68% of all U.S. workers who drive themselves to work. Just 6% of local workers carpool, which was less than the 8% who share rides nationally."
There is no traffic because the city has the infrastructure for twice the population.
IBM occupied much of the space but its plans for an innovation and commercialization with 500 jobs fizzled. https://www.wkbw.com/news/i-team/i-t...uffalo-billion.
There were supposed to be 500 jobs at the cost of 55 million to taxpayers.
There is no traffic because the city has the infrastructure for twice the population.
IBM occupied much of the space but its plans for an innovation and commercialization with 500 jobs fizzled. https://www.wkbw.com/news/i-team/i-t...uffalo-billion.
There were supposed to be 500 jobs at the cost of 55 million to taxpayers.
It is for the metro area, not just the city.
Also, it looks like a replacement has been found for the building.
"In a little over three years, Odoo Inc. has gone from having eight employees in Buffalo to almost 200.
Now, the business software company is guaranteeing to New York State – in exchange for much of the space inside 40 Fountain Plaza – that it will grow by another 350 employees by 2028. It is poised to triple its space and then its size in Buffalo.
So how has the company grown so quickly here?
It comes down to the demand for the business application software and the commitment to Buffalo as a place where the company can provide needed services to support that increase in business.
The 20-year-old Belgian-based company has its North American headquarters in San Francisco. Its main product is integrated business applications tailored for small- and medium-sized businesses. It’s been growing at an over 60%-plus clip annually for the last six years.
Odoo’s private investors have valued the company at more than $3 billion, two years after it reached “unicorn” status – when a startup is first valued at more than $1 billion.
“The numbers don’t lie, and the growth is there, and our hiring strategy obviously reflects those numbers,” said Nick Kosinski, the managing director of US East at Odoo.
And Odoo is not just bringing any old jobs to Buffalo and its undersized tech sector.
“You’re coming into this role and you’re going be learning a lot of cool stuff out of the gate and skills that are going to be relevant 10 to 15 years from now,” said Kosinski, a Williamsville native. “That goes a long way.”
Odoo recently purchased seven floors at 40 Fountain Plaza – space that the state originally acquired for an IBM innovation center that never lived up to its lofty promises to create 350 high-paying, high-tech jobs.
Instead, as IBM shrunk its Buffalo operations, the state sold that space to Odoo for $1 – in exchange for a job creation target of 70 new positions each year over the next five years. IBM will soon be reduced to leasing one floor in the building.
Odoo will occupy 103,099 square feet of space and move its existing operations from Seneca One by Oct. 2, Kosinski said.
"With low occupancy rates for offices and the fact that we would face significant annual losses from the amount of vacant space in the building, the deal with Odoo – a company that’s been successful since expanding to Buffalo and is ready to create hundreds of new jobs – is a clear winner," said Jason Conwell, a spokesperson for NY Creates, a state economic development entity.
While the deal with Odoo won’t exactly create a tech hub either, the company plans to bring in positions with an average salary range between $65,000 and $75,000.
Kosinski said the focus will be on hiring business systems analysts and project managers implementing the software that the sales staff sells. The company just sent out 18 offer letters to potential software engineers in Buffalo.
Kosinski believes in the city where he grew up and all that it offers to a company such as Odoo. And he was able to convince Odoo’s management that Buffalo could support an operation that includes hundreds of highly trained employees.
“Ultimately, you have a city hungry to evolve and they’re going to work with you to make happen what needs to happen,” he said. “Taking advantage of the mindset that the city has, it’s like putting rocket fuel in the engine of your company.”
What types of jobs are here
Odoo began operating in Buffalo in June 2020 with eight salespeople. From there, Odoo added business systems analysts, support staff, software engineers, recruiters, marketing and then additional sales teams.
Other teams now employed in the Buffalo office include professional services, technical and client support, technical writers, event planners, education experts, accounting and finance and admin. Kosinski said the company is also thinking about bringing some research and development positions to the U.S. but much of that work is still done in Belgium and India.
The growth in Buffalo has exceeded expectations and annual budgeting. And the company does not anticipate that stopping anytime soon.
“With this expansion, Odoo is looking to strengthen its presence in Buffalo and make greater contributions to the region’s economic growth,” Conwall said. “The new jobs resulting from the expansion will not only stimulate the local economy but also create exciting career opportunities for Western New Yorkers.”
Odoo has a team of recruiters who go to universities and career fairs to get the word out about the company. They focus on workforce development through partnerships with colleges, like Villa Maria College in Cheektowaga, and training providers to create curriculum to prepare people – some from marginalized communities – for jobs at the company.
“We’re hoping that people will look to go to school or learn a skill that will have a rather immediate return on investment,” Kosinski said. “I want to be able to say to people looking for a job that there is an Odoo career path.”
Why Buffalo?
Buffalo became an appealing place for Odoo to take root as it dealt with the challenges it faced in San Francisco, where costs are much higher and the competition for tech talent is fierce.
Odoo opened that first North American office in 2010. The company saw growth in San Francisco over a decade, but in 2019, Kosinski was tasked with finding another office for Odoo to help diversify and scale operations.
That became a difficult thing to do in San Francisco, where the Silicon Valley's competitive environment made it difficult to recruit and retain talent.
He evaluated bigger ticket cities like Charlotte, N.C.; New York; Minneapolis; and Tampa, Fla. – and they all had a buzz to them – but the major differentiator for Buffalo is that it was so cost-effective and not as many businesses were looking to locate to the city. He said a lot of people brush it off as too cold or not connected enough.
But Kosinski saw the positives – cost of living, quality of life, fewer software companies to compete against, a network of accessible people to help get things done and many universities to work with in the area.
“If people just look beyond some of these assumptions and look at the hard facts, it’s actually quite the incredible place to run a business,” Kosinski said. “Inch by inch, this city is becoming a more desirable place to live, work and play. I’m thankful to be part of the ecosystem.”
Relationship with major developer
Odoo will soon leave the 36,800 square feet on the 25th and 26th floors it occupies at Seneca One.
Three years ago, the company started with just 3,000 square feet, and Kosinski asked developer Douglas Jemal for flexibility. Some landlords would not have acquiesced to a company with a small budget and fewer than 10 employees, but Jemal saw the company’s potential, Kosinski said.
In fact, the Douglas Development president and his head of development, Paul Millstein, were encouraging and went out of their way to find out what Odoo needed to be successful.
“Douglas is not your run-of-the-mill developer – his heart is in the right place and his end goal is to find ways to bring Buffalo back to life,” Kosinski said. “He could have nickel and dimed us and played the role of a traditional landlord, but he didn’t.”
As the company grew, it required more space and other amenities. Odoo went from one floor to two. And Jemal was supportive when Odoo decided it was moving out of Seneca One into an even bigger space.
A spokesperson for Douglas Development said they're seeing a number of companies like Odoo grow quickly while occupying Seneca One.
“He knew that if he gave Odoo what it needed, it would grow and need more in the future,” Kosinski said of Jemal. “Even if we grew up and left Seneca One, at the end of the day, he knows that if we continue to do very well, the chances of another software company coming into town and leasing space from him will be that much greater."
They made them an offer they couldn't refuse. They sold them the space that the state (aka taxpayers) paid $55 million for $1. That is just the way it is here, you have to give away the store to compensate for the high taxes, bad weather, onerous regulations and union organizing. IBM is an iconic American company and for whatever reason couldn't make a go of it.
They made them an offer they couldn't refuse. They sold them the space that the state (aka taxpayers) paid $55 million for $1. That is just the way it is here, you have to give away the store to compensate for the high taxes, bad weather, onerous regulations and union organizing. IBM is an iconic American company and for whatever reason couldn't make a go of it.
Yet, if you actually read the article, they selected Buffalo in part due to its cost of living. So, some of this may be a matter of actually doing research on the areas involved.
They made them an offer they couldn't refuse. They sold them the space that the state (aka taxpayers) paid $55 million for $1. That is just the way it is here, you have to give away the store to compensate for the high taxes, bad weather, onerous regulations and union organizing. IBM is an iconic American company and for whatever reason couldn't make a go of it.
Yet, if you actually read the article, they selected Buffalo in part due to its cost of living. So, some of this may be a matter of actually doing research on the areas involved.
Low cost of living = paying desperate people under the market rate like call centers do. Getting a $55 million investment for $1. Tech companies can easily move whenever they want.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
