Buffalo Niagara seen as potential part of economic ‘super region’
By Bill Michelmore
- NEWS NIAGARA BUREAU
Updated: 05/09/08 9:54 AM
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- “You’ll see investment and development [in Southern Ontario] like nowhere else. We in Western New York need to embrace that growth and become a part of it.” Kenneth M. Franasiak, president of Calamar Development
The Buffalo Niagara region is in a perfect location to become a major player in what a leading developer calls the “Northeast super region,” an economic powerhouse stretching from Toronto to New York City to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“We are located in a very dynamic area,” Kenneth M. Franasiak, president of Calamar Development, said Thursday at an economic summit in North Tonawanda.
Putting the bigger picture into a regional perspective, Franasiak said the “Golden Horseshoe” from Toronto to Rochester is home to 9.6 million people, the third largest population area in North America.
“These are the demographics investors look at when they’re considering moving into an area,” he told about 100 people in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Erie Avenue.
Over the next 20 years, southern Ontario will be like the west once was, Franasiak added. “You’ll see investment and development like nowhere else,” he said. “We in Western New York need to embrace that growth and become a part of it.”
Halifax enters the picture, Franasiak said, because research indicates that Nova Scotia will replace New York City as the major seaport to import and export goods within the next decade.
“New York City is so congested it will become a secondary port on the Eastern Seaboard,” he said. “Companies will be able to ship traffic faster to and from Halifax.”
The third annual power breakfast, coordinated by the Niagara County Center for Economic Development, featured a dozen business leaders who spoke on a wide range of topics.
The Niagara Falls International Airport was seen as a key component in tapping into the growing prosperity of southern Ontario.
“With rising fuel costs, we’re in a great position to bring more traffic into the airport,” said William Vanacek, aviation director with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. “We have almost two miles of runway that can accommodate any aircraft in the world.”
A new $30 million passenger terminal is being built in anticipation of more planes and more people. The official groundbreaking will be held next Friday and construction is on schedule to be completed by the summer of 2009, said Lawrence
M. Meckler, the NFTA’s executive director.
The Seneca Nation will continue to be part of the area’s growth in the coming years, said Philip J. Pantano, director of public relations for the Seneca Gaming Corp.
“We’ve created much more than a tourist attraction,” he said, referring to the $450 million Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, which employs 3,000 people.
“Most of the employees live in Niagara County and recycle their wages into the local economy,” he said.
The $20 million Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course being built on Creek Road in the Town of Lewiston will open next year and create 44 jobs, with a total payroll of $1.4 million, Pantano added.
“We’re only about halfway done in developments in Niagara County,” he said. “We have more land to work with and we believe strongly in the future of Niagara Falls and Western New York.”
