MY VIEW
Frank J. Hotchkiss: Let’s rename Buffalo the Emerald City
Over the years Buffalo has been referred to by many names, the Queen City, the Nickel City, the City of Light and the City of Good Neighbors. I believe it’s time to call Buffalo the Emerald City.
Buffalo and the surrounding region have the potential to become the greenest location on the Great Lakes. The Emerald City will be the city that recognized the opportunity and seized the moment to build the yellow brick road to prosperity as the largest green manufacturing and services city in the United States.
An economy requires a solid foundation to sustain our families and our communities, and to provide opportunities for future generations.
The opportunity before us is the solution to the pain which we live with on a daily basis. As more than 200 former co-workers, friends and neighbors lose their jobs at ArcelorMittal; as our children,
such as my eldest son, move away looking for employment; as our elderly struggle to remain in their homes choosing between heat, food or medication; as entire neighborhoods are turned into vacant lots, we must and can change the direction of our economy. A manufacturing-based society solves the problems of unemployment, provides opportunity for our children to remain and keeps our elderly in their homes, helping to stabilize neighborhoods.
Buffalo and Western New York are in a competition to capture the new manufacturing businesses as our old established industries fade from the scene. We need to transition from “brown” smokestacks of old to “green” smokestacks of the future. How do we accomplish this? Every community across the country is preparing or presenting their packages of what makes them the most desirable location for new jobs. I believe Buffalo and Western New York can compete on this level; however, we must move to a higher level and make Buffalo and Western New York the place to be.
Recently The Buffalo News expressed support for the governor’s proposal to create thousands of jobs in renewable energy manufacturing for New York. In 2007 the Western New York Apollo Alliance and the Blue Green Alliance made the same proposal and for the past two years we have continued to fine tune this plan. Within a short time it could become a reality.
The Western New York Apollo Alliance is planning the creation of a green energy campus and manufacturing center. The center, while being built on sound business principles, also will include incentives for businesses of the future to successfully locate in Western New York.
A green energy campus can provide training and educational facilities coupled with a functioning energy lab and a manufacturing incubator. This will provide the ability to tailor a work force to the needs of a manufacturer while providing facilities for continuing education.
Additionally, the center can provide the support services needed to develop new product manufacturing and to develop a complete supply chain for businesses locating here. The center can provide the reason for business to come to Western New York.
As New York is poised to receive millions of dollars for increased weatherization opportunities, and a proposal to weatherize an additional million homes advances in Albany, the question must be asked, are we prepared to produce the materials required to accomplish this work? If we move quickly, Western New York can be the locus of that manufacturing.
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