As part of our ongoing work in the growing discipline of Food as Medicine and thanks to a generous grant from the HighMark BlueCross BlueShield Fund, BNMC has launched a Food as Medicine centered “40 Days to Wellness” program to take place on the campus beginning in August. The project will be done in collaboration with partners at Kaleida Health, Roswell Park, Urban Fruits and Veggies, Osteria 166, the Mindful Institute, Queen City Couriers, DietID, and the University at Buffalo.
We are currently recruiting chronically sick and stressed healthcare workers and neighborhood residents to participate. Throughout the 40-day program, qualified participants will receive medically tailored meals, along with hands-on nutrition education, mindfulness training, and dietitian guidance to develop healthier lifestyle habits and improve quality of life.
The program aims to help participants build sustainable healthy living habits, improve health and quality of life indicators, and reduce healthcare service utilization.
We are delighted to share the news that City Forward: How Innovation Districts Can Embrace Risk and Strengthen Community, a new book by Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) President and CEO, Matt Enstice with Mike Gluck, was published today by Island Press.
The book tells the compelling story of the establishment and growth of Western New York’s premier innovation district.
Innovation districts and anchor institutions—like hospitals, universities, and technology hubs—are celebrated for their ability to drive economic growth and employment opportunities. But the benefits often fail to reach the very neighborhoods they are built-in. As CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Matt Enstice took a different approach. Under Matt’s leadership, BNMC has supported entrepreneurship training programs and mentorship for community members, the creation of a community garden, bringing together diverse groups to explore transportation solutions, and more. Fostering participation and collaboration among neighborhood leaders, foundations, and other organizations ensures that the interests of Buffalo residents are represented. Together, these groups are creating a new model for re-energizing Buffalo—a model that has applications across the United States and around the world.
City Forward explains how BNMC works to promote a shared goal of equity among companies and institutions with often opposing motivations and intentions. When money or time is scarce, how can equitable community-building remain a common priority? When interests conflict and an institution’s expansion depends upon parking or development that would infringe upon public space, how can the decision-making process maintain trust and collaboration? Offering a candid look at BNMC’s setbacks and successes, along with efforts from other institutions nationwide, Enstice shares twelve strategies that innovation districts can harness to weave equity into their core work. From actively creating opportunities to listen to the community, to navigating compromise, to recruiting new partners, the book reveals unique opportunities available to create decisive, large-scale change. Critically, Enstice also offers insight into how innovation districts can speak about equity in an inclusive manner and keep underrepresented and historically excluded voices at the decision-making table.
Accessible, engaging, and packed with fresh ideas applicable to any city, this book is an invaluable resource. Institutional leadership, business owners, and professionals hoping to make equitable change within their companies and organizations will find experienced direction here. City Forward is a refreshing look at the brighter, more equitable futures that we can create through thoughtful and strategic collaboration—moving forward, together.
All proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to further diversity, inclusion, and equity-related efforts throughout our community, You can purchase a copy here.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus(BNMC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Edward F. Walsh, Jr. (Ted) as the new Chairperson of the Board of Directors. An active champion of community development and growth, Ted brings over 44 years of experience in leadership to the BNMC Board and is poised to lead the organization as it advances the next wave of Buffalo’s economic development. He succeeds David Zebro, who led BNMC to create one of the most environmentally sustainable areas in the City of Buffalo, while creating numerous opportunities for businesses and organizations in the medical and technology fields.
BNMC President and Chief Executive Officer Matt Enstice said “Ted brings a wealth of experience in leadership to the BNMC Board which will be invaluable as we continue to move the organization forward building on our legacy of innovation and entrepreneurship to advance our region’s economic, social, and environmental agenda. Our mission to create an innovation community in Buffalo that provides essential support for everyone, particularly those in historically underserved communities seeking to start or grow their business will flourish under Ted’s stewardship. Ensuring access to entrepreneurship for everyone is the essential next step for our community as we continue to drive our region’s resurgence. Ted is uniquely positioned to lead that effort.”
As it has grown and managed Western New York’s premier medical campus and Innovation district, BNMC has been a long-standing supporter of startup companies, particularly those engaged in the fields of environmental sustainability, providing the essential support that has enabled their businesses to thrive. As part of its work in developing a sustainable innovation district in Buffalo, BNMC has helped to develop and nurture enterprises such as GObike Buffalo and Shared Mobility, Inc. To broaden this effort, in 2021, BNMC partnered with the national organizations EforAll and Eforever, to bring their proven programs to Buffalo. In April of 2o22, a cohort of 14 Buffalo entrepreneurs graduated from the EforAll program which provided hands-on training, mentorship, and support to each new business. The group will now join the Eforever program which will continue to provide resources and support as these nascent companies grow and develop. Program graduates will form the heart of Buffalo’s growing Innovation Community comprised of businesses large and small in a range of disciplines, leading the region’s next wave of economic development.
Speaking about his appointment, Ted Walsh noted “It has never been more important that our city engage in a significant effort to ensure more equitable access to the opportunity to start or grow a company. We need to support and develop entrepreneurs in every kind of business, not just those in the fields of science and technology, to ensure that our community’s continued economic development is built on a solid, diverse foundation across a range of disciplines. I look forward to leading BNMC in this vital endeavor.”
Ted Walsh has held several leadership positions at numerous organizations throughout Western New York including Chair of the Board at Kaleida Health, United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, Goodwill Industries of WNY, Nichols School, and the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care. In addition, he also serves as Treasurer of the John R. Oishei Foundation and as Chairperson of the Josephine Goodyear Foundation.
Ted has been recognized for his many outstanding accomplishments, both in his professional achievements as well as his dedication to serving the WNY community. In 2018, the Walsh family was recognized by NFJC with its annual family award. In 2013, Ted received recognition as a Red Jacket Award winner from the Buffalo History Museum. In 2011, he was honored to be Canisius College’s Business Executive of the Year Award recipient, a Goodwill Industries of WNY award recipient, and a Florence M. Conti Award recipient. In 2008 Kaleida Health dedicated the Edward F. Walsh, Jr. Emergency Department at the Buffalo General Medical Center in his name. In addition, Ted and his wife Ginna Remington Walsh were named the United Way Philanthropists of the Year by the Alexis de Tocqueville Society.
Ted graduated from Nichols School in 1972 and Williams College in 1976 and began his insurance career that same year with the Continental Insurance Company. He joined Walsh Duffield in 1977. As Chief Executive Officer, Ted is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the firm.
Ted lives in Buffalo, New York, with his wife, Ginna. They have raised their two daughters, Liza and Ellie, in Buffalo. They are proud grandparents of Avery, Haley, Grant, Addison, and Colette.
About Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
For more than twenty years, The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus organization (BNMC) has been a driving force of Buffalo’s economic renaissance. Throughout its management of the growth of Buffalo’s premier innovation district, the BNMC has foregrounded smart economic, social, and environmental development. Today, the BNMC is focused on the next phase of Buffalo’s ongoing resurgence, cultivating inclusive innovation in partnership with our community. In 2021 BNMC spearheaded the initiative to bring the national programs EforAll and Eforever to Buffalo. These proven programs support aspiring entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to help them start or grow a business. Program graduates will form the heart of Buffalo’s growing Innovation Community comprised of businesses large and small in an array of disciplines and leading the region’s next wave of economic development and growth. www.bnmc.org.
Left: Hervé Tullet, Traits points taches giboullage (Lines dots stains scribbles), is located at 847 Main Continuous Improvements Make the Campus a Destination, a Resource, and a Connector for All in Western New York.
BNMC Inc, the organization that operates the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and its innovation community, recently announced a range of initiatives to enhance the safety and beauty of the Campus.
In collaboration with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, BNMC has added three striking new murals to the area by internationally renowned artist Hervé Tullet and celebrated local artists Muhammad Zaman and Ashley Johnson. The Zaman and Johnson murals are being incorporated into pedestrian safety improvements along Ellicott Street that BNMC worked with GObike to implement. The BNMC will seek to expand its public art program and safety initiatives throughout the area in the coming years.
Jamie Hamann Burney, Director of Campus Planning and Implementation said, “Our Campus is a magnet for innovators, researchers, and healthcare workers, and sees over 1.5M patients and visitors every year. We’re also part of a larger surrounding community and we strive to create places where everyone can gather and connect in a safe environment. Bringing great art to the Campus all the while making it safer for all who rely on its resources is a win-win for everyone. Look for more exciting projects coming soon.”
This year’s largest mural is by the internationally renowned artist, performer, and beloved children’s book author Hervé Tullet, and was executed in tandem with his largest exhibition to date, Shape and Color, which was on view at Abright-Knox Northland this summer. The BNMC mural, entitled Traits points taches giboullage (Lines dots stains scribbles), is located at 847 Main Street and is the second-ever public mural by the artist. The site was selected in part because it will live on the Campus, a site for healing, but also because of the many diverse cultural activities that BNMC champions and supports. The artist’s design is based on original works that were included in the AK Northland exhibition. The mural outline was printed on polytab, a mobile and flexible non-woven fabric, and completed at Buffalo Arts Studio by Jump Start program students who learned Tullet’s techniques that allowed them to complete the mural while also helping them develop their own portfolios as they contributed to the production of a major work of public art.
In addition, two other new murals have been added to the Campus. These murals serve not only to beautify the area and highlight the voices of leading local artists, but also to improve crosswalk and intersection safety. They have been produced in collaboration with GObike Buffalo and the Albright-Knox, with funding support from the Ralph Wilson Foundation and the University at Buffalo. Christina Orsi, Associate Vice President for Economic Development at UB said “We are thrilled to continue to support improvements that make the BNMC campus a leading destination for our community of innovators. Together, we forge greater connections with the surrounding community in a place where our differences become our strengths to enable lasting impressions and impacts in Western New York and beyond.”
Ashley Johnson’s work at Ellicott and Virginia Streets
Let’s Walk Together (detail), Muhammad Zaman at the Innovation Center
The murals are designed by artists Ashley Johnson and Muhammad Zaman. Johnson and Zaman working at 640 Ellicott Street and the intersection of Ellicott and Virginia Streets respectively, have each wp-contentlied their signature styles to the spaces.
Walk Together is an abstract work by Zaman at the crosswalk and pathway to the BNMC’s Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott. It is based on the concept that sharing a path together connects people to one another, echoing the importance of the connections made in the building and throughout the Campus community every day.
Artist Ashley Johnson is working on an abstract design on Ellicott and Virginia that evokes BNMC’s role in leveraging economic development on the Campus for the benefit of the overall community. With shape and color, the work explores the connectivity and interrelationships that make communities thrive.
“Through our Healthy Streets Initiative, we have been able to work with institutions and residents across the city to inexpensively develop temporary traffic calming solutions to immediately address safety needs,” said Justin Booth, Executive Director for GObike Buffalo. “We were hwp-contenty to partner with the BNMC and Albright-Knox to deliver this innovative project to do more than improve safety but beautify our city while doing so.”
The BNMC also worked closely with the City of Buffalo to plan and implement additional complete street improvements on the Campus this year. The City reconstructed Virginia and Burton Streets, widening the sidewalks, adding bike lanes, and installing mid-block pedestrian crossings on both Washington and Ellicott Streets.
Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll), the nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate economic and social impact through inclusive entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurs Forever (eforever), a nonprofit focused on supporting established small businesses, announces their partnership with the nonprofit Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) to launch their free programs in Buffalo this fall. Together, these organizations will work to provide under-represented individuals with the training and support needed to start, grow and sustain their businesses.
“There’s a great need for organizations like EforAll and eforever in our community, especially as we aim to recover from the pandemic’s impact,” said BNMC CEO Matt Enstice. “A survey conducted by Buffalo Niagara Partnership (BNP) found that 93% of Buffalo area businesses have seen a revenue decline, most by 50%. Through the implementation of these organizations, we will be able to revitalize our region and build a more equitable place for future startups, beyond the technology industry.”
To help launch these initiatives, BNMC connected with financial partners, including lead sponsor KeyBank. “EforAll and eforever are exceptional organizations that will bring dreams to life and bring great opportunity and transformational change to the community,” said Elizabeth Gurney, Director of Corporate Philanthropy at KeyBank and Executive Director of the First Niagara Foundation. “We’re thrilled to work alongside BNMC to bring these initiatives to Buffalo, and remain dedicated to supporting our citizens, investing in their future, strengthening our regional economy and helping Buffalo and all of the communities we serve thrive.”
EforAll helps to start and grow small businesses or nonprofits across a wide range of industries, including personal and professional services, food, retail, manufacturing and technology. The program offers a unique combination of immersive business training, dedicated mentorship from local business and community leaders, and access to a large professional network – along with the opportunity to win seed money.
To oversee EforAll Buffalo, former External Affairs manager for the City Hall Division of Citizens Services, Juweria Dahir, has been hired as the Executive Director. In her former role, Dahir served as a liaison between various city departments and nearly 500 block clubs, identifying and implementing neighborhood development projects from beautification to restoration initiatives.
“EforAll has done inspiring work for various communities in the U.S.,” said Dahir. “I’m eager to lead this organization in Buffalo as we have many talented and creative entrepreneurs who simply need the support and training that only a program like EforAll can deliver. My priority will be to seek out like-minded community partners who share our vision for a more inclusive and entrepreneurial Buffalo.”
Among the over 500 businesses started by EforAll participants, 74% are owned by women, 58% are owned by people of color, 46% are owned by immigrants, and 39% are owned by people who were previously unemployed. These businesses generated over $25M in revenue and created 720 local jobs in 2019.
With a successful track record of helping established small businesses in their continued growth and development, eforever will provide support to existing Buffalo businesses through professionally moderated monthly peer-to-peer group meetings. Peer group members share their entrepreneurial journey with others on a similar path and work through a progressive three-year competency program, ensuring that they build necessary skills for long-term success. Together, these nonprofits will service local communities to build thriving businesses and neighborhoods.
“Over the past eight years, we’ve served entrepreneurs in 27 communities in Southwestern Pennsylvania, including our recent expansion into Massachusetts, connecting small business owners with the people and skills they need to thrive,” said A.J. Drexler, CEO at eforever. “We’re excited to extend the same support to Buffalo, as they recover from the pandemic.”
On May 4, BNMC hosted a press conference announcing the forthcoming launch of these initiatives. Attendees included EforAll CEO David Parker, eforever CEO A.J. Drexler, KeyBank Corporate Responsibility Manager Kawanza Humphrey, Dean at the University of Buffalo Robert Shibley, and others.
Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) is a nonprofit organization that partners with communities nationwide to help under-represented individuals successfully start and grow a business through intensive business training, mentorship and an extended professional support network. To date, EforAll alumni have launched more than 500 businesses and created more than 700 local jobs. Programs are available in both English and Spanish. EforAll is currently available in Longmont, Colorado, Northwest Arkansas, and the following Massachusetts communities: Berkshire County, Cape Cod, Fall River/New Bedford, Worcester, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, and Roxbury. To learn more about EforAll, please visit www.eforall.org.
About eforever
Entrepreneurs Forever (eforever), a program of the Mansmann Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, supports small business owners and entrepreneurs who live or operate in evolving communities. Entrepreneurs Forever gives entrepreneurs the power to persist by providing know-how, skills, training, and support in the form of professionally facilitated peer-to-peer small groups that meet monthly. Eforever welcomes partnerships with referral agencies and underwriting sponsors. To learn more or become a member, visit entrpreneursforever.org.
About Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) seeks to re-imagine our city’s future through the dynamic intersection of technology, health, discovery, and collaboration. The BNMC is an enterprise focused on cultivating inclusive innovation in partnership with our community. We do this by improving infrastructure, managing our sustainable transportation system, creating a culture of health and wellbeing, facilitating and nurturing innovation, and working with our partners to drive equitable economic development and growth. www.bnmc-old.local.
About KeyBank
KeyBank’s roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of wp-contentroximately $176.2 billion at March 31, 2021. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of wp-contentroximately 1,100 branches and more than 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.
We are thrilled to announce BNMC Spark – the BNMC’s micro-grant program that funds creative ideas and strategies to support partners and stakeholders within the neighborhoods surrounding the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. This year, we are delighted to partner with the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust (FBCLT) to make ten awards of up to $4,000 each.
We invite community members and organizations to submit proposals to receive funding for projects and initiatives that advance the goals of BNMC, the FBCLT, and the local community. Our key goals include:
Building an inclusive and collaborative culture of innovation that drives economic development and creates vibrant, healthy communities.
Ensuring our district is attractive, welcoming, and accessible – a quality place to work, live, visit and invest in.
Learn more about the projects we funded in 2019 and 2018. Watch our 2019 video featuring some of our Spark grantees.
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has selected the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BMNC) as one of five U.S. locations to pilot the Complete Trip – ITS4US Deployment Program. The Complete Trip – ITS4US Deployment Program challenges communities to identify ways to provide more efficient, affordable, and accessible transportation options for underserved populations that often face greater challenges in accessing essential services.
If you’re like us, you are constantly getting barraged with information – emails, social media, texts, and constant news alerts about the COVID-19 pandemic and the resources available to businesses and individuals. We have started this page as a place for you to find accurate, timely information that can help your business today. Many of our colleagues and partners are doing a great job collecting this information – we are going to link to their resources as opposed to recreating the wheel. Please let us know of resources or information that you think should be added.
Upcoming Webinars
In our final IC Success Zooms, Kyria features home schooling tips and resources on Tuesday, May 5th, and grants, loans and business resources on Thursday, May 7th. RSVP for these free community conversations today!
Additional Resources
The BNMC team is available to help make connections and provide information. Contact Sam Marrazzo at smarrazzo@bnmc-old.local.
For nearly 20 years, the BNMC Inc. has been an organization built around the concept that bringing diverse groups of people together drives innovation and builds community. Throughout that time, “together” has meant in person. Moving to a remote workplace may have challenged our work, but it definitely hasn’t stopped our dedication to leveraging opportunities to solve problems, strengthen partnerships, and continuously learn from each other.
How are we doing this? We’ve shifted all of our work councils to virtual meetings, ensuring that our partners are still able to “see” each other and benefit from longstanding relationships. We continue to manage and monitor the parking and transportation system across the Campus, and continue to keep the grounds clean and safe for the essential staff, patients, and visitors that are on the Medical Campus each day. Our team is also still advancing planning efforts around infrastructure, healthy food access, building operations and management, and community-building on and around the Campus.
We will never get used to seeing the Innovation Center empty, our usually bustling building stilled as our friends and colleagues adhere to social distancing and working from home, but we continue to engage with our tenants and partners. We have moved some of our programming and social gatherings online, and our next series of IC Success begins virtually tomorrow. We are also offering a small business seminar for our Neighborhood Explorer business this week in partnership with Lumsden & McCormick.
We continue to join our peer districts around the globe through the Global Institute for Innovation Districts for regular video calls to stay in touch. It is sobering to hear from our European colleagues, especially those in Switzerland, just 10 minutes from the Italian border, but encouraging to see the research and discovery around COVID-19 also coming from these districts. We discuss how this pandemic makes all of our focus on innovating and strengthening transportation and energy systems, building healthy communities, integrating technology, and encouraging creativity even more necessary, and wonder what it will look like moving forward. Some of the work being done in Buffalo to fight COVID-19 was featured in GIID’s recent blog.
We’ve also recently partnered with Mission:Ignite and Say Yes Buffalo to provide home computers for students in the Buffalo Public School district, creating a connection that helps increase access to technology and education for students who did not otherwise have that opportunity. We are looking for individuals and companies to support this effort to ensure even more kids have access to computers at home – for $150 Mission:Ignite can refurbish and certify a computer.
We are proud to have helped launch a telemedicine platform for sleep apnea with partner and longtime Innovation Center tenant Dr. Dan Rifkin. We have been working on this together since last year in partnership with Topcoder, UB School of Business MIS students, and Buffalo State’s International Center for Studies in Creativity, but the timeliness and importance given today’s landscape of effective telemedicine makes last week’s launch especially gratifying.
We share all of this to say that, like most of you, we continue to do what we can to grow and improve our little corner of the world, while taking care of ourselves, our families, and our community.
We will get through this in the same way we have all worked to rebuild Buffalo – together.
BNMC Inc. Partners with Mission:Ignite & Say Yes Buffalo to Provide Home Computers for Buffalo Public School Students
More Support Needed to Increase Available Computers
BUFFALO (April 6, 2020) – Three Buffalo not-for-profit organizations partnered to provide desktop computers to Buffalo Public School students who would otherwise not have access to this technology at home. More than 65 families will receive computers through an initial donation of $5,000, and the partners are seeking additional donations from individuals and corporations to reach even more families. For the cost of $150, Mission:Ignite will refurbish and certify a computer, and Say Yes will distribute to their families.
The first 20 computers were distributed on April 6th at P.S. 89 Dr. Lydia T. Wright School of Excellence and P.S. 80 Highgate Heights Elementary, with additional computers delivered on April 16th to South Park High School, PR 74 and iPrep Academy.
“When I thought about education shifting to homes when the schools began closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my mind immediately went to the technology gap,” said Sam Marrazzo, BNMC’s Chief Innovation Officer. “I knew that Mission:Ignite could help provide the hardware, so we reached out to Say Yes to see if they could help with the connection to the families. We hope to see other companies and individuals step up as well to help make sure kids have access to technology during these times.”
“We immediately agreed to help when we got Sam’s call,” said Christine Carr, Executive Director for Mission:Ignite. “Providing technology solutions for kids is our core mission. We are able to build computers relatively quickly to meet the tremendous needs of our community.”
“We were thrilled that BNMC and Mission:Ignite wp-contentroached us with this idea,” said David Rust, Executive Director of Say Yes Buffalo. “Our team has been providing basic needs to the 500+ families in Buffalo that we serve, and we know that parents are concerned that their kids will fall behind in school without access to the right technology.”
Say Yes Buffalo Family Support Specialists and BPS Principals will work to determine families with the highest need to distribute the laptops. The first 20 computers were distributed this morning.
Mission: Ignite, Buffalo’s source for affordable technology and refurbished computers; the BNMC, Inc., an organization focused on furthering economic growth, igniting urban revitalization, and building a strong thriving community; and Say Yes Buffalo, dedicated to strengthening the Western New York economy by investing in the education of Buffalo’s future workforce.
Congratulations to M&T Bank on its feature in Buffalo Business First for the establishment of new tech company Nota! Nota – a digital banking solution — functions like any other fast-growing startup in the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center. The only difference? It was created by one of the region’s largest companies. To read more about M&T’s new tech company, CLICK HERE! (Pictured: Paul Garibian, who leads M&T’s new tech startup, Nota.)
Big things are hwp-contentening on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus! As REDDY BikeShare celebrates 2019 being its fourth and most successful season – including its bike fleet hitting 200 and expanding to Niagara Falls – the Innovation Center tenant gears up for another successful season with even more in store for the 2020! (Not to mention handing out some free REDDY memberships to some lucky Buffalo bikers!) CLICK HERE to read REDDY’s full Buffalo Rising feature and learn more about what they have going on!
If you’re thinking about making the switch to an electric car, you might be nervous about winter driving. Not to worry! Here are some quick truths and tips about driving your electric vehicle (EV) through a New York winter, with tons more info here. TRUTHS
Your range will decrease in the winter. Because batteries operate less efficiently when they’re cold, your EV will get fewer miles per kilowatt-hour in the winter. However, the range for gas powered cars also decreases by as much as 22% in the winter!
Snow and ice are not usually a problem for EVs. Because the battery often makes up the floorboard of the vehicle, EVs have a low center of gravity and evenly distributed weight, which makes them stable and easy to maneuver, and increases traction on snow or icy terrain.
TIPS
Precondition your vehicle. Warm up your car while it’s still plugged in so that you don’t deplete your battery’s reserves. Getting into a warm car also means you don’t have to crank the heat as much once it’s unplugged!
Use the special heating features for your vehicle. If your car offers heated seats and steering wheels, use them! They will use less energy and allow you to comfortably keep the cabin temperature slightly lower.
Drive efficiently. Use regenerative breaking to capture any energy that might otherwise be lost and avoid speeding as it increases drag, which decreases mileage.
Park and charge somewhere warm. If you must park outside, try to find a sunny spot to keep your battery warm.
There are lots of reasons to switch to an electric car: they’re more fun to drive, cheaper to fuel, and way better for the environment than gas guzzlers. You already live or work near a charging station, but if you’re still waiting for a sign to make the switch to electric, this is it.
From November 1st until the end of the year, National Grid customers in upstate New York who purchase an electric car are eligible for a $500 Visa gift card as a special bonus!
This $500 is enough to cover charging for 12,000 driving miles, jump start the installation of your own at-home charging station, or go for a wintertime getaway in your brand new electric car. Learn more and wp-contently for your gift card here.
Curious about electric cars but don’t know where to start? Drive Green with National Grid is a program to help you learn everything you need to know about driving on electricity. Whether you’re planning on buying a new car soon or you’ve still got plenty of life left in your old gas guzzler, your next car should be electric!
For more information about Drive Green with National Grid, or if you have any questions about electric cars and this special end-of-the-year offer, please call us at 1-800-287-3950 x7, or email us at drivegreenuny@greenenergyconsumers.org.
BNMC Inc. and partners highlight improvements that support biking and commuting options across the Medical Campus, promoting health, environmental responsibility, and pedestrian-friendly streets.
BUFFALO, NY – The BNMC Inc. will
officially open its new secure indoor bike parking at a breakfast gathering on
Friday, May 17th at the culmination of National Bike to Work Week as
they celebrate those who commute to work by bike and help to build a
bike-friendly culture on the Medical Campus.
The BNMC Inc. has more than doubled the indoor bike parking available to employees who work on the Medical Campus with the opening of the new bike parking with lockers in the parking garage at 854 Ellicott, adjacent to Oishei Children’s Hospital, Buffalo General Medical Center, and the Gates Vascular Institute. In addition to lockers for the cyclists use, there is a bike vending machine stocked with bike-related amenities, such as tubes, patch kits, and lights, to aid commuters.
This adds to the secure bike parking in the renovated shipping container and bike fix-it station at the corner of Ellicott & Virginia Street that the BNMC Inc. installed in 2013. GObike Buffalo will manage the indoor parking as part of its longtime partnership with the BNMC.
The Medical Campus already has the
densest bicycle parking in the City of Buffalo with 333 spaces (an increase of
100 spaces over last year) and secure bike parking, two Reddy Bikeshare
stations with a total of 12 racks with bikes available for short term use, and
free parking zone anywhere on the Medical Campus to allow users to park closer
to their destination on any public rack or infrastructure without a fee.
WHEN: Friday, May 17th 7:00 AM – 10 AM
Brief remarks begin at 9:00 AM from:
Mayor Byron Brown
(invited)
Matt Enstice, President
& CEO, BNMC
Allegra Jaros, President,
John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital
Justin Booth,
Executive Director, GObike Buffalo
Jennifer White, Communications
Director, Reddy Bikeshare
LOCATION:
854 Ellicott Street (corner of
Ellicott & Goodrich) on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
WHO:
BNMC Inc. is hosting the
event in partnership with GObike Buffalo and Reddy Bikeshare to celebrate bike
commuters and those using active commuting options to get to work.
There
will be a bike train beginning at City Hall for anyone looking to ride as a
group to the event on the Medical Campus.
Collaborating partners in transportation
planning will be on hand to share information about transportation options,
programs and amenities on the Medical Campus that encourage employees to try
biking, walking, transit, and carpooling. Partners include GObike
Buffalo, GO Buffalo Niagara, Reddy Bikeshare, NFTA, and others.
Free breakfast and coffee provided by Ashker’s
and lloyd taco truck.
BNMC to Explore Ways to Create Greener, Safer and More Accessible Main Street Through Smart Infrastructure
When the City of Buffalo begins its $13 million streetscape improvement project on Main Street this spring, the BNMC team will work alongside them to identify opportunities for integrating smart transportation infrastructure and technology into the design to create a greener, safer, and more efficient streetscape ready for future transportation advancements.
The Smart Corridor Plan will focus on opportunities for improving multi-modal traffic efficiency, emissions reduction, access and mobility, and safety by incorporating leading-edge technology such as Internet of Things sensors, artificial intelligence, and streetscape design in the corridor’s transportation system. Design elements and technology improvements to be considered are wireless communications; sensing technologies; dynamic traffic control and crossing signalization; smart parking technologies; transit technologies including real time data and systems coordination; and renewable energy and energy efficiency wp-contentlications. Specific recommendations and anticipated costs for improvements to the City’s central thoroughfare between Goodell Street and Humboldt Parkway will be included.
The BNMC received $75,000 in funding for the project from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New York State Department of Transportation.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) is inviting local community members and organizations to wp-contently for grant funding for projects that help to strengthen the community in neighborhoods adjacent to the Medical Campus. Through BNMC Spark, a micro-grant funding pilot, the BNMC will award a total of $30,000 in 2018 with maximum grants to individual organizations for $5,000 for project grants and $2,000 for program grants. BNMC Spark grants are designed to help organizations address funding needs or gaps for programs or projects that can be completed in 2018. Learn more at www.bnmc-old.local/spark or by calling Marc Pope at 716-218-7358.
The newly opened $270 million John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital was a page turner in the latest chapter of the burgeoning downtown Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
So was the December opening of the University at Buffalo’s $375 million new home for its Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
The completion of the new projects mark a turning point for the 120-acre campus at the epicenter of Buffalo’s renaissance.
In 2002, the campus was in its infancy with just three companies. Now boasting 4.5 million square feet of development and $1.4 billion in investments, the campus has moved beyond just medical institutions. It has taken shape with a diverse mix of health care, life science and technology companies, becoming fertile ground for entrepreneurs and their startups.
There is still more to come.
Campus planners are aiming for BNMC to rival medical campuses in places like Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Among the next steps are strengthening ties with higher education and the private sectors.
“We are so well positioned with all the institutions and assets that are here and now want to embrace the excellent universities and colleges,” said Matthew K. Enstice, CEO and president of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Inc. “We plan to build out” – meaning renovate – “more space for them to have a location so they can interact and be a part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that we have here.”
A big part of that vision is twp-contenting into local small and large companies, especially mature ones, and including them in the campus’ vision for its innovation district. “The world is changing so quickly in technology, that we’re putting a structure in place to help multiple, different companies innovate,” Enstice said.
Here’s what’s coming next on the Medical Campus:
• Design work is expected to start for renovation of existing buildings on the former Osmose Holdings site. In 2016, BNMC bought the 4.4-acre parcel, which is located at the northern edge of campus at Ellicott and Best streets and has parking for 200. It is expected to be a magnet for mature private-sector companies, along with universities and colleges, but will not be a second incubator, BNMC officials say.
• Ellicott Development Co. has a $4 million adaptive reuse development project underway at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, just north of the campus at Main and Best streets. To the south, Ellicott is planning a six-story retail and office building at 1091 Main St.
• Along the western edge of the campus, design work will begin for a redo of a critical stretch of Main Street from Goodell toward Canisius College. Meanwhile, a $7.5 million overhaul of Allen Street, including redesigned sidewalks and widened sections of the street, is expected to begin. Work will be done in phases, stretching from the eastern end of Allen toward Wadsworth.
• Workers will put the finishing touches on the exterior of UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, which opened to students earlier this month at 955 Main St. Final terra cotta panels are being installed on the Washington Street side of the building by spring. Most of the university’s labs are being moved in from mid-January through mid-March. With the medical school fully operational, 2,000 faculty, staff and students will be there daily.
• The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s newly renovated Allen Medical Campus Station has been integrated into the medical school. The station features “Gut Flora,” a colorful public art sculpture by Shasti O’Leary Soudant, and a newsstand opens this month. A one-block tunnel that serves as a pedestrian passageway to Washington Street will open beneath the medical school.
• The campus’ ninth pedestrian skybridge will be designed and constructed later in the year. It will span High Street, linking the Conventus medical office building to the UB Medical School. The new $1.5 million connector comes after three other skybridges just opened in November: one from Conventus to Oishei Children’s Hospital, another from Children’s Hospital to Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute, and a third leading out the back of Children’s Hospital to a new parking ramp at 854 Ellicott St.
• By late May, the $40 million, 1,825-space parking ramp behind Oishei Children’s Hospital at 854 Ellicott will be completed. The top half of the eight-story ramp has been under construction since late 2017. The bottom half of the eight-story ramp opened Nov. 10 with Oishei Children’s Hospital.
• The 128,000-square-foot Thomas R. Beecher Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott St. will be completely full by the end of March.
After Amherst native Matthew K. Enstice wrwp-contented up stints in the entertainment industry that took him to Broadway Pictures in Los Angeles and “Saturday Night Live” in New York City, his career dramatically swerved back to Buffalo.
He landed at the helm of the nonprofit organization overseeing the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Now, 17 years later, Enstice finds himself at the pulse of the expanding campus footprint, as he guides a shifting momentum in the campus’ growth.
With a collective projected workforce of 16,000 this year, the Medical Campus continues to make its mark – from hospitals to clinical and research facilities.
“We deliver health care here, and we’re going to do high-end health care here, but it’s changing,” said Enstice, president and chief executive officer of BNMC Inc. “Health care, as you know it, is a very, very different place. As that changes and evolves, you’re going to see opportunities in our community to utilize technology to develop companies for the future.”
The Medical Campus is already home to startup companies, entrepreneurs building businesses and high-tech companies. The momentum shows no signs of tapering off.
The future vision for the campus reflects a dedicated shift toward making room for local companies as they cut their teeth on new initiatives. The Medical Campus also looks to expand its innovation district to a 4.4-acre site on the northern edge of campus that once was the home of Osmose Holdings.
A visionary with high energy, Enstice is related to the prominent Jacobs family. His late father-in-law, Dr. Lawrence D. Jacobs, was a neurologist and world-renowned researcher specializing in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Often wearing a blue or white button-down shirt and khakis, he is known for his casual attire and carefree manner. He rarely breaks out a tie or suit.
Enstice recently met with The Buffalo News inside the campus Innovation Center to talk about the campus’ growth and future.
Q: What do monumental projects such as Children’s Hospital and the UB medical school say about the future of the campus?
A: People talked in years past that Children’s wasn’t moving over and there was a lot of controversy. But I think it showed how the community coming together can do great things, and that’s what Children’s is a true sign of.
Right now, the (medical school) has a major presence in the city. That, to me, is a game changer that I don’t think we can define right now.
I was sitting there at the opening, looking right out the window down Allen Street, and it was just amazing to envision what is Allen going to be like. What was so wild to see, was that I used to never see people walking there and there must have been 20 or 30 people coming out of that subway. It’s just the fact that we have so much traffic starting to develop down here. And that’s a real positive.
It’s just the beginning of more opportunities for our community to leverage these great assets and great organizations being here on the campus.
Q: How does Buffalo’s regional health care hub fit within the national mix?
A: I think that we’re one of the leading innovation districts. I just don’t think about it as health. If you look back to what Jerry Jacobs commissioned for looking at the future of medicine, it’s changing dramatically. And I believe we’re very well positioned because of our computer science school, our school of engineering and our ability to be leaders in the technology field. That’s what I think of.
So, we’ve been on the map. Having Children’s and the medical school down here, puts it on the map even more.
What we need to figure out how to do, and what we really want to do, in our next phases of development is to integrate the school of engineering and the schools of business.
How does Canisius College play a role here? How does Niagara University play a role here? How does Buffalo State College play a role here? We are so well positioned with all the institutions and assets that are here. So we plan to build out more space for them to have a location so they can interact and be a part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that we have here.
Q: What kind of involvement?
A: Let’s look at the future of medicine and all the work that we’re doing in energy, all the work that we’re doing in transportation. What’s the major driver behind those industries as they’re changing? It’s technology. We’re well positioned in building our community out to have a technology foundation that can enable health care, energy, transportation.
I’m talking this campus. We have all the resources. I don’t think we’ll build a building for a college. We want to build an environment where local businesses, big companies, are going to have a presence here.
Our plan is to build out space to embrace the local economy. I think, for too long, a lot of local businesses have not been engaged, because there hasn’t been a vehicle.
I believe that if you look across as to what’s going to help strengthen local companies, they have to be a part of what we’re doing. I think we can all help one another. That is what this is all about. How do we build a platform and a foundation in technology for everybody? Tech is not the next chapter. It’s the current chapter. It’s really what is going to be our great opportunity for the future.
We’ll use the footprint of the existing (Osmose) space that we have. As of right now, we are not planning to build a new building in the near future. We are planning to renovate the existing space. I think, over time, various companies will start to come in, but within the year is our goal is to start to see this development really start to take off.
Q: What would you say to naysayers who didn’t think this vision for the campus would ever materialize in the fashion that it has so far?
A: If you stay together and you’re straightforward and honest with one another, great things can hwp-contenten. That is at the core of what builds all the great stuff that’s down here on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus … If you look at the 4.5 million square feet of development, the $1.4 billion worth of investment, that was because people worked, planned, developed together.
Q: What is the greatest challenge facing the campus?
A: I think the greatest challenge is that people continue to work together and support one another … I think the biggest challenge you have is that sometimes people forget what got you here.
Q: Parking is a constant complaint or concern, and there’s a huge push to get people to use public transit more.
A: We have off-campus shuttles running. We have public transportation being utilized and programs in place. And it’s starting to work. People are actually trying it and it’s working. While it’s not perfect, it is an option. And so to me, we will always have a parking spot here for every patient and visitor that comes down here.
What we would hope to see is that more people live in and around the campus, in and around the subway station.
The mayor continues to talk about reinvesting in Main Street with infrastructure. He’s committed $10 million so far, going toward Canisius. We want to see the mayor continue on that and go all the way and connect us to Canisius College. … I believe if you continue to do that, you’ll see more residential units pop up on Main Street. You’ll see more people using the transit. That’s what we want to see.
Q: There are signs of spinoff development in Allentown. But for the Fruit Belt neighborhood, there always seems to be an undercurrent of concern, gentrification, trying to preserve the Michigan Avenue corridor, and a push for more parking. What do you foresee for the Fruit Belt?
A: For the Fruit Belt, I hope that there’s continued investment there in the infrastructure. The mayor has done a great job at fixing the streets, the sidewalks, the trees and the lights. I hope they continue to do that because I want to see more people invest in that neighborhood. … We believe that will be a positive if the community is part of the solution there.
I’m really intrigued by what’s going on in Masten, Fruit Belt and Allentown – to me, they’re very similar in the sense that they’ve always been engaged in a part of the process with what’s going on with the campus. Everybody’s always talked about it. Everybody’s had a light on it.
What I’m interested in is what is going on to the north. We believe there’s going to need to be more of an engagement there. I think it’s a community that people maybe have not paid as much attention to. But they’re on the border of all this stuff that’s going on here. So, it’s probably already hwp-contentening and we don’t know it.
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) to Create Smart Corridor for Main Street
Plan to be developed to integrate smart transportation infrastructure and technology to create an innovative, greener, safer, and more accessible street
Buffalo, N.Y., January 11, 2018 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) has received $75,000 in funding to develop an innovative solution for smart transportation infrastructure and technology, on Main Street along the BNMC, in downtown Buffalo. The BNMC project will complement the City of Buffalo’s ongoing Complete Streets initiative.
The project, Creating a Smart Corridor Plan for Main Street in Buffalo, N.Y., will focus on the current conditions, best practices and opportunities for improving energy efficiency, emissions reduction, access and mobility, and traffic safety on a densely populated section of Main Street. The study will result in specific recommendations and anticipated costs for improvements to the City’s central thoroughfare that runs from downtown, northeast to the City’s northern suburbs.
The study, which is being funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and New York State Department of Transportation, supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s nation-leading energy goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030.
The study will be conducted at the same time that the City of Buffalo is beginning the design process for a large-scale $13 million streetscape improvement project on Main Street from Goodell Street to Ferry Street, adjacent to the Medical Campus. The BNMC and the City of Buffalo plan to work together to identify opportunities for the implementation of smart transportation infrastructure and technology at the same time. The primary goal of the project will be to create a more innovative streetscape to ensure a greener, safer, more efficient and integrated transportation system for the future.
Main Street in the City of Buffalo, already a densely populated, mixed-use street with a multiple transportation options, has undergone a tremendous amount of new development, particularly near the thriving BNMC. It has been identified as a top priority for reconstruction though multiple planning efforts. As the area grows, there has been increasing interest in updating aging infrastructure, adding traffic calming measures, improving pedestrian and bicycling access and infrastructure, and improving access to the Metro Rail Stations along Main Street.
According to William Smith, Director of Access and Planning for BNMC, “The funding affords us the ability to identify opportunities to improve the street for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists while at the same time, to plan for the future with new technologies such as sensing technologies, wireless communications, autonomous vehicles, and dynamic and smart parking technologies that can help Buffalo become a model of efficiency, safety, and more sustainable environmental wp-contentroaches.” He added, “The timing is ideal, as we have the opportunity to work with the City of Buffalo as they embark on streetscape improvements that may allow us to integrate our recommendations simultaneously, vastly improving Main Street for all.”
“The Main Street corridor through the Medical Campus area is ripe for infrastructure improvements to compliment the development that continues to transform this area. My administration has led the way in initiating the transformation of Buffalo’s transportation network following the Complete Streets model that accommodates bicycles, pedestrians and motorists in an equitable manner. Working with the BNMC on this grant will afford the opportunity to advance the Complete Streets model with the latest technology,” Mayor Byron W. Brown said.
Work on the Smart Corridor Plan will begin this year and include developing an RFP process to choose a subcontractor who will work with BNMC and the City on smart corridor design considerations, anticipated benefits and associated costs; developing a project steering committee to guide the project, ensure coordination among stakeholders, provide relevant data, insight and information, and to review and comment on project findings; and developing a Smart Corridor recommendations report which will include a review of existing plans, technologies and conditions, an outline of best practices and potential opportunities, and specific recommendations and anticipated costs.
As part of its effort to develop a set of recommendations on design and technology considerations, BNMC expects to focus on elements including wireless communications; sensing technologies; connected and autonomous technologies including connected safety systems; dynamic traffic control and crossing signalization; smart parking technologies; transit technologies including real time data and systems coordination; and renewable energy and energy efficiency wp-contentlications.
In addition to the City of Buffalo, BNMC expects to work with representatives from BNMC member institutions, transportation service providers, utility companies, surrounding neighborhoods, and local and national experts in the field of smart transportation and city planning. The overall project is expected to be completed in 12 months.
About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. www.bnmc-old.local.
There’s a new gateway to the BNMC, for both pedestrians wp-contentroaching from the Allentown neighborhood, as well as transit riders disembarking at the Allen-Medical Campus station. UB’s new building, the state-of-the-art Jacobs School of Medicine, provides employees, students, and neighbors a new experience as they enter the Medical Campus. Transit riders come up the escalator into a gleaming new station, complete with bright public art and digital wayfinding. The Medical School, Buffalo’s signature transit-oriented development, allows passage through to the Medical School today, and will soon help connect employees and patients to many of the buildings across the BNMC. In addition, the Washington Street side of the transit station has reopened, providing easy access into the heart of the BNMC.
Learn more about our healthier, sustainable and more affordable transportation options at GoBNMC.org.
Take a peek inside the new home of UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the BNMC! The $375 million, 628,000 sq. foot building is eight stories high and located at 955 Main St. between Allen & High Streets. The BNMC is thrilled welcome the 2,000 faculty, staff and students to our Campus in January! For more information on the Medical School and upcoming move, visit medicine.buffalo.edu.
It’s been clear for awhile that ACV Auctions needed an office.
Turns out it didn’t need to leave the building.
The fast-moving technology startup, which offers a software platform for wholesale used car auctions, signed a lease Monday for a 10,000-square-foot office in the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center. The space will be renovated by building owner Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Inc. and the company expects to move in by spring.
Company CEO George Chamoun said the space will be a large open floor plan with conference rooms and a modern tech vibe – including no executive offices. Chamoun and other managers will sit among the rest of the company’s employees.
The office is expected to accommodate up to 130 employees, which means it’s likely to be full soon. Chamoun said ACV will keep its various smaller offices around the building for personnel overflow.
Overall, ACV Auctions currently has 160 full-time employees.
That’s a far cry from the company’s formation in 2014, when Joe Neiman, Dan Magnuszewski and Jack Greco announced they had co-founded the company. Since that time, the company has raised about $21 million in private capital in three separate fundraising rounds. It also won the $1 million grand prize in the 43North business competition in 2015.
Since it was founded, ACV’s home base has been the Z80 Labs technology incubator, which is on the Innovation Center’s ground floor. Its team now takes up a sizable chunk of that real estate, while engineers, sales teams and others have separate offices in smaller rooms around the building.
Chamoun said the move gives ACV its own branded space without the tremendous logistical hurdles of an extensive real estate search. Various local technology firms have taken years to find the right mix of price and parking combined with a modern technology vibe in downtown Buffalo.
The third floor office also has large windows looking out to the burgeoning medical campus, with views of new buildings like the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Kaleida Health’s new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.
“The landlords here have been great to us, and this allows us to continue doing our job right now,” Chamoun said. “It’s a great location and allows us to put around own brand around it.”
According to Chamoun, ACV’s job is to continue establishing its presence in new territories throughout the United States. ACV hires employees in each of its territories – including 33 territory managers – and then seeks to build a market of wholesale dealers and buyers, who can do real-time auctions on an wp-content instead of bringing vehicles to a physical auction.
The company has now extended south to Florida and has begun fielding requests from new territories. It is in the preliminary stages of considering a large new injection of funding in 2018 to accelerate growth.
Chamoun said ACV’s revenue is up 600 percent from 2016 and the company is hitting its financial milestones.
The company is also developing new products toward the goal of being a comprehensive solution in the wholesale automotive world.
“Buying and selling wholesale is all about trust,” Chamoun said. “We are building a product portfolio that’s built around trust for both buyers and sellers.”
Update on the BNMC Inc.
