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.
It was another month of steady gains across the Buffalo Niagara labor market in October.
The state Department of Labor reported Thursday that the two-county area picked up 6,300 jobs in the private sector, a 1.3 percent increase from a year ago. With 100 more positions related to government, the area added 6,400 nonfarm jobs, up 1.1 percent.
Notable industries with employment gains included: goods producing, construction, services, and trades and transportation. Jobs in leisure and hospitality and restaurants and bars accounted for the majority of job losses.
The Albany and Syracuse metropolitan areas matched Buffalo's 1.3 percent private-sector gains, adding 4,800 and 3,500 jobs, respectively. Rochester was up 0.9 percent with the addition of 4,100 jobs.
There was also a 26,600 person increase in the state’s civilian labor force, the largest monthly gain recorded since March 2004.
New York state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.0% in October 2018, matching its lowest level on record (last reached in May 1988), according to the preliminary figures released labor department. Rates for individual metropolitan areas will be released next week.
More than 800 now work at Tesla factory in Buffalo
Tesla Inc.’s Gigafactory 2 on South Park Avenue in Buffalo is now home to more than 800 full-time employees and is ramping up production.
That means new capital investments from Tesla as it fills up the 1.2 million-square-foot factory with high-tech manufacturing equipment. It also means the continued fast growth of its workforce, which is expected to grow steadily at least through 2019.
Tesla led local journalists on a guided tour of the facility this week. It was the first time reporters have been given access to the plant since it was inherited by Tesla in its 2016 acquisition of SolarCity and thus represented a flood of new information after years of sparse updates through quarterly earnings statements, which mostly focus on Tesla’s electric car and lithium ion battery segments.
The tour was led by director of operations Ryan Nungesser – the top on-site employee – but subject to restrictions on direct attribution or quotes. Here are the important takeaways:
• After inheriting an empty factory shell, conceiving of a new flagship ‘solar roof’ product and building a business that involves everything from electrical components to installation crews, Tesla’s vision of an integrated solar solution is now a reality. Rows of highly automated machines take solar cells made on-site by partner Panasonic (which is responsible for roughly half of the 800-person headcount), and turn them into glass shingles designed to last for the life of a house. Even in weather like Buffalo's.
Tesla had to work through bottlenecks in developing, testing and making those shingles, which were responsible for delays in its production schedule. But it now believes it has a repeatable, efficient process to start making the shingles in much greater volumes.
Tesla also sells traditional rooftop modules made by Panasonic in Buffalo through its branded company stores.
• The factory now runs all day, seven days a week, with production workers alternating 12-hour shifts.
While machines are responsible for much of the technical manufacturing work at the factory, humans play a big role inspecting, assembling and packing the parts. About 85 percent of the workforce comes from Western New York.
• Tesla employees declined to specify how many panels are made in a week or a month and also did not directly quantify the demand for the product, but they said there is a long waiting list of customers that will keep the factory busy for years. The long-awaited ramp up in production has officially arrived, with Tesla managers expecting to stand up new manufacturing lines and hire new production workers as fast as they can.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk has never visited Buffalo but is involved in the operation, taking part in weekly meetings with the engineering and production staff.
• Tesla is fulfilling solar roof orders throughout the U.S., though Western New Yorkers have to do their shopping online for now. Tesla uses its own stores to sell its vision for a holistic clean energy model – creating electricity from a roof, storing it in a Tesla Powerwall battery and using it to power homes and vehicles – but New York state law only allows franchised and independent dealers to sell cars, and Tesla only wants to sell its own vehicles. The company remains locked in a lobbying battle to win legislative approval for more company-owned dealerships in New York.
In the meantime, here is an online calculator where you can get a quote for a Tesla solar roof on your house.
In all, the production ramp and continued demand are welcome signs for a project that ranks among the most important and controversial in the history of Western New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo committed $750 million to SolarCity back in 2014 to build the factory, but bid-rigging allegations regarding the construction of the facility led to the eventual felony conviction of Louis Ciminelli and the downfall of general contracting giant LPCiminelli. Meanwhile, SolarCity’s business model was faltering beneath regulatory challenges and extensive debt until Tesla purchased the company for $2.6 billion.
Around that time, Musk introduced a new product – an entire roof of electricity-generating shingles – which would become Tesla’s flagship energy generation product. But in 2016 it was just a prototype.
Tesla is now ahead of job creation targets it reached with New York state. When fully scaled, it expects the factory to produce enough solar cells to do more than 150,000 new residential solar installations every year.
That seemed like a long shot in 2016, with Musk standing in front of Tesla fans at an event in Los Angeles and unveiling the solar roof prototypes. Two years later and it’s actually happening.
NEW YORK MANUFACTURING INDEX RISES A COUPLE POINTS IN NOVEMBER
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index edged up 2 points to 23.3 in November.
The November reading, based on firms responding to the survey, indicates “business activity continued to grow at a solid clip in New York,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a news release issued Thursday.
A positive index number indicates expansion or growth in manufacturing activity, while a negative reading points to a decline in the sector.
The survey found 36 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 15 percent said that conditions had worsened.
Survey details
New orders and shipments increased “moderately,” while unfilled orders “held steady,” the New York Fed said.
Delivery times continued to “lengthen somewhat,” and inventories moved higher.
Labor-market indicators pointed to an increase in employment levels and longer workweeks. The prices-paid index remained elevated, and the prices-received index was “little changed.”
Looking ahead, firms remained “fairly optimistic” about the six-month outlook.
The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.
More than 800 now work at Tesla factory in Buffalo
Tesla Inc.’s Gigafactory 2 on South Park Avenue in Buffalo is now home to more than 800 full-time employees and is ramping up production.
That means new capital investments from Tesla as it fills up the 1.2 million-square-foot factory with high-tech manufacturing equipment. It also means the continued fast growth of its workforce, which is expected to grow steadily at least through 2019.
Tesla led local journalists on a guided tour of the facility this week. It was the first time reporters have been given access to the plant since it was inherited by Tesla in its 2016 acquisition of SolarCity and thus represented a flood of new information after years of sparse updates through quarterly earnings statements, which mostly focus on Tesla’s electric car and lithium ion battery segments.
The tour was led by director of operations Ryan Nungesser – the top on-site employee – but subject to restrictions on direct attribution or quotes. Here are the important takeaways:
• After inheriting an empty factory shell, conceiving of a new flagship ‘solar roof’ product and building a business that involves everything from electrical components to installation crews, Tesla’s vision of an integrated solar solution is now a reality. Rows of highly automated machines take solar cells made on-site by partner Panasonic (which is responsible for roughly half of the 800-person headcount), and turn them into glass shingles designed to last for the life of a house. Even in weather like Buffalo's.
Tesla had to work through bottlenecks in developing, testing and making those shingles, which were responsible for delays in its production schedule. But it now believes it has a repeatable, efficient process to start making the shingles in much greater volumes.
Tesla also sells traditional rooftop modules made by Panasonic in Buffalo through its branded company stores.
• The factory now runs all day, seven days a week, with production workers alternating 12-hour shifts.
While machines are responsible for much of the technical manufacturing work at the factory, humans play a big role inspecting, assembling and packing the parts. About 85 percent of the workforce comes from Western New York.
• Tesla employees declined to specify how many panels are made in a week or a month and also did not directly quantify the demand for the product, but they said there is a long waiting list of customers that will keep the factory busy for years. The long-awaited ramp up in production has officially arrived, with Tesla managers expecting to stand up new manufacturing lines and hire new production workers as fast as they can.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk has never visited Buffalo but is involved in the operation, taking part in weekly meetings with the engineering and production staff.
• Tesla is fulfilling solar roof orders throughout the U.S., though Western New Yorkers have to do their shopping online for now. Tesla uses its own stores to sell its vision for a holistic clean energy model – creating electricity from a roof, storing it in a Tesla Powerwall battery and using it to power homes and vehicles – but New York state law only allows franchised and independent dealers to sell cars, and Tesla only wants to sell its own vehicles. The company remains locked in a lobbying battle to win legislative approval for more company-owned dealerships in New York.
In the meantime, here is an online calculator where you can get a quote for a Tesla solar roof on your house.
In all, the production ramp and continued demand are welcome signs for a project that ranks among the most important and controversial in the history of Western New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo committed $750 million to SolarCity back in 2014 to build the factory, but bid-rigging allegations regarding the construction of the facility led to the eventual felony conviction of Louis Ciminelli and the downfall of general contracting giant LPCiminelli. Meanwhile, SolarCity’s business model was faltering beneath regulatory challenges and extensive debt until Tesla purchased the company for $2.6 billion.
Around that time, Musk introduced a new product – an entire roof of electricity-generating shingles – which would become Tesla’s flagship energy generation product. But in 2016 it was just a prototype.
Tesla is now ahead of job creation targets it reached with New York state. When fully scaled, it expects the factory to produce enough solar cells to do more than 150,000 new residential solar installations every year.
That seemed like a long shot in 2016, with Musk standing in front of Tesla fans at an event in Los Angeles and unveiling the solar roof prototypes. Two years later and it’s actually happening.
The unemployment rate in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy region was one of the lowest in the state in October, at 3.1 percent. That was a percentage point lower than a year prior.
Part of the drop was because the region added 4,800 private-sector jobs last month compared with October 2017.
The sectors with the most growth included educational and health services, which added 2,800 jobs, mostly in health care and social assistance. The construction industry added 1,300 jobs.
"That was a large growth for the month of October," said Kevin Alexander, the Capital Region labor market analyst at the state Department of Labor. "Warmer weather likely contributed to that."
Columbia County had the lowest unemployment rate in October at 2.7 percent. The statewide unemployment rate was 4 percent.
Locally developed trivia game co. expects to top $1M in sales this year
Buffalo is a good place to launch a gaming company, from venerable Fisher-Price to recently-acquired Kan Jam to fast-growing Buffalo Games.
Add a new entrant into that category.
You Gotta Know Games – run by the three-person team behind Say What Communications and Trending Buffalo – first introduced the You Gotta Know Buffalo Sports Trivia Game in 2015. They followed that with similar games in Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, along with a more general trivia game for the Buffalo market.
Last week You Gotta Know Games released new sports games for fans in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston, New York, Seattle, Toronto and Washington, D.C., along with games for fans of the collegiate Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
In all, You Gotta Know Games expects its 22 games to generate more than $1 million in sales in 2018. Each game sells for $19.95 and consists of 500 questions. They're available at the company's website and on Amazon.
"What we learned when we put together the Buffalo sports game back in 2015 is how fun it was to remember and relive these incredible memories,†said David Gram, one of the company principals. “In many ways, we were our own test market. Being a fan isn’t just about statistics or championships, it’s remembering the players and coaches, the games and plays, and even the odd events that make a team part of a wider community."
Tony Hoffman and Brad Riter round out the company's leadership team.
L3 LINK TRAINING & SIMULATION TO MOVE TO NEW LOCATION IN KIRKWOOD
KIRKWOOD, N.Y. — L3 Link Training & Simulation plans to move its Binghamton–area operations to a new site on Industrial Park Drive near its existing facility in the town of Kirkwood in Broome County.
It also plans to add to an existing structure and will occupy a total of 105,000 square feet of space on-site, Empire State Development (ESD) said in a news release.
The company — a division of New York City–based L3 Technologies Inc. — specializes in aviation training and simulation and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and other communications and electronic systems.
L3 expects to move all 120 employees to the new location and will create at least 13 new jobs.
The company plans to be operating at the new facility in the first quarter of 2019, with the entire project set for completion by August.
In order to ensure that L3 Link Training & Simulation remained in New York state, ESD is providing up to $1.5 million through a Regional Council capital-fund grant and through the Excelsior jobs program in exchange for job-creation commitments. The Agency, the rebranded name of the Broome County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), will also provide incentives for the project. The total project cost is pegged at $9.46 million. The Agency’s board of directors oversees both the IDA and the Broome County Local Development Corporation (LDC).
About L3
L3 has about 31,000 employees worldwide. It develops advanced defense technologies and commercial solutions in pilot training, aviation security, night vision and EO/IR, weapons, maritime systems, and space.
The company reported 2017 sales of $9.6 billion, ESD said.
“Moving to this new facility reinforces our position as a leader in aviation training and simulation and will help us continue to make valuable contributions to both the Binghamton economy and military training,” Lenny Genna, president of L3 Link Training & Simulation, said in the ESD news release. “An important part of L3’s heritage began in Binghamton nearly a century ago with pilot training pioneer Ed Link. We look forward to continuing to operate here with the strong support the local and state legislators and development leaders who helped make this move possible.”
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.
