Business First of Buffalo articles from January 2000

Business First of Buffalo archives from January 2000

Introduction.
January 3, 2000... This edition of Business First is devoted to Market Facts 2000, your source for detailed information about the communities, business sectors and demographic trends that make our region what it is today. Readers familiar with earlier...

ADVERTISING AGENCIES.(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... The largest advertising agency in Western New York is Eric Mower and Associates, 360 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, with 1998 gross income of $5.48 million. Another six firms reported incomes in excess of $2 million. Below are the region's five...

AIR CARRIERS.(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... A total of 15 airlines serve Buffalo Niagara International Airport. US Airways is the dominant carrier, accounting for 37.7 percent of local passenger traffic in 1998. Below are the five busiest airlines locally, according to the Niagara...

ALDEN, TOWN OF.
January 3, 2000... Alden is a rural town in northeastern Erie County, sandwiched between the Town of Lancaster on the west and Genesee County on the east. Its population in 1998 was 10,861, making it the 26th-largest community in Western New York. Included...

ALLEGANY COUNTY.
January 3, 2000... Allegany is the southeasternmost county in Western New York. Its 1998 population of 50,997 ranks sixth in the region. Only Wyoming and Orleans counties have fewer residents. The county seat is Belmont, a village that had a 1998 population...

AMHERST.
January 3, 2000... Amherst, the largest suburb of Buffalo, is directly northeast of the city. It has grown to become the second-largest community in Western New York, with a 1998 population of 110,788. Included in the town is Williamsville, a village with a...

ASSEMBLY.
January 3, 2000... Western New York has 15 representatives in the Assembly, the 150-member lower house of the state Legislature. Republicans held a narrow 8-7 edge over Democrats in the regional delegation in January 2000. Below are Western New York's...

AURORA.
January 3, 2000... Aurora is a town located directly east of Orchard Park in Erie County. Its population in 1998 was 13,209, making it the 23rd-largest community in Western New York. Included in the town is East Aurora, a village that had a 1998 population...

AUTO DEALERS.
January 3, 2000... The largest auto dealer in Western New York is West-Herr Automotive Group, 5025 Camp Road, Hamburg. West-Herr sold or leased 10,209 new vehicles in 1998. Twelve other dealers had sales/lease volumes of 1,000 or more. Below are the region's...

BANKS.
January 3, 2000... M&T Bank is Western New York's largest bank, based on the $6.80 billion in deposits that it held within the eight-county region in mid-1998. according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. M&T's deposits equaled 32.7 percent of the Western...

BANQUET FACILITIES.
January 3, 2000... Business First research in 1999 identified eight Western New York banquet facilities that had seating capacities of more than 1,000. Heading the list was the Adam's Mark Hotel at 3,500 seats. Below are the region's five largest banquet...

BATAVIA, CITY OF.
January 3, 2000... The City of Batavia is the county seat of Genesee County, as well as the largest community in the three Eastern Tier counties of Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming. Batavia's 1998 population was 15,784, ranking 21st among Western New York's...

BIRTHS AND DEATHS.
January 3, 2000... A total of 19,904 births were reported in the eight-county region in 1996, the latest year for which full figures are available from the state Health Department. Births easily outnumbered the region's 16,567 deaths during the same year....

BUFFALO.
January 3, 2000... Buffalo, the county seat of Erie County, is Western New York's best-known and largest community. It also is the central city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Buffalo's 1998 population of 300,717 was nearly three...

BUFFALO BILLS.
January 3, 2000... The Buffalo Bills have run up the third-best record in the National Football League during the past decade. The Bills won 101 games and lost 59 between 1989 and 1998, for a winning percentage of .631. Only San Francisco (.769) and Kansas City...

BUFFALO BISONS.
January 3, 2000... The Buffalo Bisons won successive Triple-A baseball titles in 1997 and 1998. The Bisons were champions of the American Association in the former year and the International League in the latter. Below are the Bisons'...

BUFFALO SABRES.
January 3, 2000... The Buffalo Sabres saved their best for last in the 1990s. The Sabres qualified for the National Hockey Leagues Stanley Cup finals in June 1999 for just the second time in their history. They lost the best-of-seven series to the Dallas Stars,...

BUSINESS FIRST ECONOMIC INDEX.
January 3, 2000... The Business First Economic index uses data from eight statistical categories to measure the level of business activity in Erie and Niagara counties. The overall score is tied to a benchmark of 1,000 points. Any score above that level indicates...

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Cattaraugus is the central county of the three that form the region's Southern Tier. Its 1998 population of 85,086 ranks fourth out of the eight counties in Western New York. The county seat of Cattaraugus County is the Village of Little...

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS.
January 3, 2000... Business First research in 1999 identified Ernst & Young, 50 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, as the largest certified public accounting firm in Western New York. Ernst & Young's total of 87 local certified public accountants easily topped the list....

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2000... The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is the biggest chamber of commerce in Western New York. The Partnership, which is based at 300 Main Place Tower, Buffalo, has 3,500 members. It is one of eight chambers of commerce in the region to have at least...

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Chautauqua County forms the southwestern corner of Western New York. Its 1998 population of 138,103 made it the region's third-largest county, behind Erie and Niagara. The county seat is Mayville, a village that had a 11998 population of...

CHEERTOWAGA.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Cheektowaga is a suburban town that lies directly east of Buffalo. Its population in 1998 was 97,899, ranking third in Western New York. Only Buffalo and Amherst are larger. Included in the town is a portion of Depew, a village with a 1998...

CITIES AND TOWNS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Buffalo easily tops the population rankings of Western New York's cities and towns. Its 1998 population of 300,717 was almost 190,000 more than the figure for runner-up Amherst. Below are the 27 cities and towns in the region that had at...

CLARENCE.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Clarence is an Erie County town located northeast of Buffalo and directly east of Amherst. Its 1998 population was 22,976, making it the 12th-largest community in Western New York. Clarence's town supervisor, as of January 2000, was Daniel...

CLIMATE.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2000... Average temperatures in Western New York range from July highs in the 80s to January lows in the teens. Snowfall in a typical year is 91 inches. Below are general facts for Buffalo's National Weather Service station, which is near Buffalo...

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... The University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York, is far and away the largest university in Western New York. UB had 14,130 full-time undergraduates and 4,889 full-time graduate students in the 1999-2000 school year, for a...

COMMUTING.(times in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Residents of the Town of Niagara have the shortest commutes of anyone in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area The typical worker who lives in the Town of Niagara travels 15.3 minutes to his or her job, according to a 1990 U.S. Census...

CONTRACTORS, ELECTRICAL.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Ferguson Electric Construction Co., 333 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, ranks No. 1 on the regional list of electrical contractors with 300 employees. Two other firms reported workforces of at least 100. Below are the region's five largest...

CONTRACTORS, GENERAL.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2000... The Louis P. Ciminelli Construction Cos., 369 Franklin Street, Buffalo, is the largest general contractor in Western New York. Its 1998 billings totaled $201 million, which was nearly three times the figure for its closest competitor. ...

COST OF LIVING.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2000... A 1998 Business First study found that the cost of living in the Buffalo area was lower than in most other large urban centers. Business First studied the cost of living in all 47 metropolitan areas that had populations of more than 1...

CRIME RATES.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... A total of 7,152 violent crimes were reported in Western New York in 1997, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. Fully 5,100 occurred in Erie County, equaling 71 percent of the regional total. Erie County had a...

CROSS-BORDER TRAFFIC.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Truck traffic between Western New York and Southern Ontario reached a record level in 1998, an indication of the strength of U.S.-Canadian trade. Nearly 2.27 million trucks rumbled across the Lewiston-Queenston, Peace, Rainbow and...

CUSTOMS BROKERS.
January 3, 2000... Tower Group International Inc., 128 Dearborn Street, Buffalo, is the dominant customs broker in Western New York. it has a workforce of 270, which is more than double any of its competitors. Below are the region's five largest customs...

DEPEW.
January 3, 2000... Depew had a 1998 population of 16,675, making it the largest village in Western New York. Approximately two-thirds of the Erie County village is located within Cheektowaga, while the other third is in the Town of Lancaster. Depew's...

DEVELOPERS.
January 3, 2000... The region's largest commercial developer is Benderson Development Co. Inc., 570 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. It controlled 15 million square feet of completed and ongoing Western New York projects at the close of 1998. Ten other developers ranged...

DUNKIRK, CITY OF.
January 3, 2000... The City of Dunkirk is located on the shore of Lake Erie in north-central Chautauqua County. Dunkirk's 1998 population was 12,952, ranking third in Chautauqua County, behind Jamestown and Pomfret. It was 25th among all, cities and towns in...

EDUCATION LEVELS.(higher education levels in Western New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... All eight counties in Western New York fall below the national level of college-educated adults, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The federal census in 1990 reported that 20.3 percent of Americans who were 25 or older had bachelor's...

ELMA.(demographic information on Elma, New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Elma is an Erie County town that is directly south of the Town of Lancaster and east of West Seneca and Orchard Park. Its 1998 population was 10,575, making it the 27th-largest community in Western New York. Elma's town supervisor, as of...

EMPLOYERS, LARGEST.(government employment statistics for New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Big government is the largest employer in Western New York. The State of New York has 18,845 full-time workers in the eight-county region, the United States of America has 13,000 and Erie County employs another 7,545. No other employer has...

EMPLOYMENT TRENDS.(non-agriculture jobs in Erie and Niagara Counties, New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... Regional employment growth has been painfully slow in the 1990s. The Buffalo-Niagara Falls area had an average of 547,900 nonagricultural jobs in 1990. The ensuing recession cut the figure to 527,800 by 1993. A gradual recovery brought the...

ENGINEERING FIRMS.(largest engineering firms in Western New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... The company with the distinction of being the largest engineering firm in Western New York is URS Greiner Inc., 282 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. It had 40 licensed engineers in late 1999. Below are the region's five largest engineering firms,...

ERIE COUNTY.
January 3, 2000... Erie is the most heavily populated county in Western New York, containing about three-fifths of the region's residents. Its 1998 population of 934,471 was 716,000 higher that that of the runner-up, Niagara County. The county seat is...

EVANS.
January 3, 2000... Evans is a rural town on the shore of Lake Erie in southwestern Erie County. Its population in 1998 was 17,287, making it the 17th-largest community in Western New York. Included in the town is Angola, a village that had a 1998 population...

FOUNDATIONS.
January 3, 2000... Western New York has eight foundations that have net assets of more than $10 million each, according to Business First research. Topping the list is the John R. Oishei Foundation of Buffalo at $230 million. Below are the region's five...

FREDONIA.
January 3, 2000... Fredonia is a north-central Chautauqua County village that had a population of 10,016 in 1998. It ranked fourth among all villages in Western New York. All of Fredonia is located within the Town of Pomfret. Fredonia's mayor, as of...

GENESEE COUNTY.
January 3, 2000... Genesee is one of two counties that lie directly east of Erie County. Its 1998 population of 60,654 ranks fifth in the region. The county seat is the City of Batavia, which had a 1998 population of 15,784. The Genesee County...

GOLF COURSES.
January 3, 2000... The regions most challenging golf courses, based on men's slope ratings, are the Crag Burn Club in East Aurora and River Oaks Country Club in Grand Island. Each has rating of 135, according to the Buffalo District Golf Association. Below...

GRAND ISLAND.
January 3, 2000... Grand Island is an Erie County town surrounded by the two channels of the Niagara River. Its population in 1998 was 18,361, making it the 16th-largest community in Western New York. Grand Island's town supervisor, as of January 2000, was...

GROCERY STORES.
January 3, 2000... Fifty-eight percent of Western New Yorkers do most or all of their grocery shopping at Tops Friendly Markets, according to a Business First-Goldhaber Research Associates Poll in March 1999. That's more than double the share held by Tops' major...

HAMBURG, TOWN OF.
January 3, 2000... The Town of Hamburg is an Erie County community bordered by Lackawanna on the north and Orchard Park on the east. Its population in 1998 was 52,729, making it the sixth-largest community in Western New York. Included in the town is...

HOME BUILDERS.
January 3, 2000... The largest home builder in Western New York is Marrano/Marc Equity Corp., 2730 Transit Road, West Seneca, with 1998 regional gross sales of $28.5 million. Another four firms reported gross sales in excess of $10 million. Below are the...

HOME PRICES.
January 3, 2000... The average home in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area sold for $89,233 in 1998, up 2.6 percent from $86,934 in 1997. Below are the average home prices in selected Buffalo neighborhoods in 1998, as compiled by the Greater Buffalo Association of...

HOME SALES.
January 3, 2000... Low interest rates helped local real estate agents set a sales record for the decade in 1998. The Greater Buffalo Association of Realtors reported a total of 9,096 transactions in 1998, breaking the previous high of 8,826 units, set in...

HOSPITALS.
January 3, 2000... Buffalo General Hospital, 100 High Street, Buffalo, is Western New York's largest hospital. It has 772 acute care beds. The only other facility above 500 beds is Erie County Medical Center, 462 Grider Street, Buffalo. Below are the...

HOTELS.
January 3, 2000... The Adam's Mark Hotel, 120 Church Street, Buffalo, is the largest hotel in Western New York. Its 490 rooms include 89 singles, 394 doubles and seven suites. A total of nine hotels in the region have at least 200 rooms and suites. Below are...

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
January 3, 2000... Western New York voters elect four members of the U.S. House of Representatives every two years. The delegation, as of January 2000, included three Republicans and a Democrat. Below are Western New York's representatives in the House,...

INCOME LEVELS.
January 3, 2000... The combined incomes of all residents of Western New York in 1997 was $35.91 billion, according to estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Erie County accounted for 64.6 percent of the regional total. Its residents earned a...

INDUSTRIAL PARKS.
January 3, 2000... Business First research in 1998 identified the South Buffalo Industrial Park, South Park Avenue and Hopkins Street, Buffalo, as the largest industrial park in Western New York. It encompasses 675 acres. Below are the region's five largest...

INSURANCE AGENCIES.
January 3, 2000... The largest insurance agency in Western New York is Lawley Service Inc., 120 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, with a 1998 premium volume of $94.7 million. Eight other agencies had volumes in excess of $20 million. Below are the region's five...

JAMESTOWN.
January 3, 2000... Jamestown, which is located in southeastern Chautauqua County, is the largest community in the county. It also is the central city of the Jamestown Metropolitan Statistical Area. Jamestown's 1998 population was 32,166, ranking ninth among...

KENMORE.
January 3, 2000... Kenmore had a 1998 population of 15,911, making it the second-largest village in both Erie County and Western New York. Only Depew is bigger. Kenmore is located entirely within the Town of Tonawanda. The village shares its southern border...

LACKAWANNA.
January 3, 2000... Lackawanna is an Erie County city located on the shore of Lake Erie. It is directly south of Buffalo. Its 1998 population was 19,220, ranking 14th in Western New York. Lackawanna's mayor, as of January 2000, was John Kuryak. The city hall...

LANCASTER, TOWN OF.
January 3, 2000... The Town of Lancaster is a suburban community in central Erie County, bordered by Cheektowaga on the west and Clarence on the north. It was the 10th-largest community in Western New York in mid-1998, with a population of 30,878. Included...

LANCASTER, VILLAGE OF.
January 3, 2000... The Village of Lancaster had 11,087 residents as of July 1998, putting it third on the list of Western New York villages. The Village of Lancaster is located entirely within the town of the same name. Most of its western border is shared...

LAND AREA.
January 3, 2000... The eight counties of Western New York cover 6,448.5 square miles. Below are the land areas of each county, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Allegany County 1,030.3 square miles Cattaraugus County 1,309.9 square miles...

LAW FIRMS.
January 3, 2000... Two giant law firms in Western New York have more than 100 attorneys each. Hodgson Russ Andrews Woods & Goodyear, 1800 One M&T Plaza, Buffalo, reported a total of 125 attorneys in early 1999. Phillips Lytle Hitchcock Blaine & Huber, 3400...

LEWISTON, TOWN OF.
January 3, 2000... The Town of Lewiston is located on the eastern shore of the Niagara River, north of Niagara Falls. Its population in 1998 was 15,805, ranking 20th in Western New York. It also is the fifth-largest community in Niagara County. Included in...

LOCKPORT, CITY OF.
January 3, 2000... The City of Lockport is the county seat of Niagara County, as well as the county's third-largest community. The city's 1998 population was 22,650, putting it 13rd among Western New York's cities and towns. The City of Lockport's mayor,...

LOCKPORT, TOWN OF.
January 3, 2000... The Town of Lockport surrounds the city of the same name in eastern Niagara County. The town, which had a 1998 population of 18,526, is about 18 percent smaller than the city. The Town of Lockport holds 15th place in the population rankings...

MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES.
January 3, 2000... Marriages outnumbered divorces by better than a 2-1 margin in Western New York in 1996, the latest year for which full figures are available from the state government. The state Health Department recorded 12,078 marriages in the...

METROPOLITAN AREAS.
January 3, 2000... There are three metropolitan areas in Western New York, as determined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Erie and Niagara counties. Its 1998 population was...

MILEAGE.
January 3, 2000... MILEAGE Below are distances between Buffalo and other cities in New York. Mileages are based on the routes usually followed by motorists. Albany 301 miles Binghamton 211 miles Ithaca...

NEWSPAPERS.(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... The Buffalo News is Western New York's dominant daily newspaper, reaching nearly 10 times as many readers as any other local publication. Its paid circulation is 230,287 on weekdays, 322,514 on Sundays. Below are the region's five largest...

NIAGARA COUNTY.
January 3, 2000... Niagara County is the northwestern cornerstone of Western New York. Its 1998 population of 218,070 ranks second in the region. Only Erie County has more residents. The county seat of Niagara County is the City of Lockport, which had a 1998...

NIAGARA FALLS.
January 3, 2000... Niagara Falls, the major tourist attraction in Western New York, is the largest community in Niagara County and fifth-largest in the eight-county region. Its 1998 population was 56,768. The city is bordered on the south and west by the...

NIAGARA REGION.
January 3, 2000... The Niagara Region is the unit of government responsible for the eastern portion of Ontario's Niagara Peninsula. It includes the cities of St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, Ontario, and adjoins New York's Niagara County and the northern portion...

NONPROFIT AGENCIES.
January 3, 2000... People Inc., 1219 North Forest Road, Williamsville, topped the 1999 version of Business First's annual list of Million Dollar Nonprofits. People Inc. had revenues of $43.26 million in fiscal 1997, the latest year for which figures were...

NORTH TONAWANDA.(statistical information on North Tonawanda, New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... North Tonawanda is a city located in southwestern Niagara County. Its southern border is defined by the Erie Canal. The city's 1998 population was 32,947, ranking second in Niagara County and eighth in Western New York. North...

OLEAN, CITY OF.(statistical information on Olean, New York)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 3, 2000... The City of Olean, which is located in southeastern Cattaraugus County, is the largest community in the county and 18th largest in all of Western New York Its 1998 population was 16,170. The mayor of Clean, as of January 2000, was James...

ORCHARD PARK, TOWN OF.
January 3, 2000... The Town of Orchard Park is an Erie County suburban community that is bordered on the west by the Town of Hamburg and on the north by West Seneca. Its population in 1998 was 24,415, making it the 11th largest community in Western New York. ...

PARKS.
January 3, 2000... Allegany State Park, located south of the Allegheny River in Cattaraugus County, is easily the largest park in Western New York, covering 65,000 acres. Four others range between 1,000 and 15,000 acres. Below are the region's five largest...

PAY LEVELS.
January 3, 2000... Eight different types of local companies paid average salaries of more than $40,000 in 1996, according to a Business First computer analysis of payroll statistics. But roughly twice as many industry groups -- 17, to be exact -- paid average...

POLITICAL PARTY ENROLLMENT.
January 3, 2000... Democrats easily outnumber Republicans in Western New York There were 446,558 registered Democrats in the eight-county region in April 1999, compared to 334,456 Republicans, according to the state Board of Elections. Democrats held the...