Published: May 08, 2008 09:26 pm      

NIAGARA COUNTY: Less government could mean more business

Developer said area’s overwhelming infrastructure hindering investment

A prominent Wheatfield developer on Thursday encouraged leaders in Niagara County to strongly consider consolidation as a way to help make the area more attractive to the investment community.

Addressing the crowd gathered at Niagara County’s third annual Summit for Economic Success held in North Tonawanda, real estate developer Kenneth Franasiak said reducing the cost of the infrastructure in Western New York was vitally important to capturing investment dollars that are currently being lost despite the region’s proximity to the Toronto area, one of the fastest growing population and commercial centers in all of North America.

“These are issues that need to be addressed now,” said Franasiak, the president and chief executive officer of Calamar Enterprises Inc., Niagara County’s largest real estate development company.

While proximity to the border, the current value of the Canadian dollar and the availability of cheap property make Niagara County an attractive spot for business owners, Franasiak said its 20 municipalities, 10 school districts, 20 fire departments and five hospitals all add up to an infrastructure too costly for private investors to support.

“We, as an investor, see cracks,” he said.

Franasiak, developer of the $250 million Woodlands Corporate Center in Wheatfield, called for increased cooperation from leaders in Niagara and Erie counties and stronger consideration for what he called “strategically forced regionalism.”

Without it, he said, the region will not be able to capitalize on the billions of dollars of cross-border commerce taking place in and around Toronto, an area that he said is poised to become a veritable “wild west” of commercial development in a matter of years.

“We’ve got to look at our neighbors for cooperation,” he said.

The Summit for Economic Success, sponsored by the county’s Office of Economic Development, brings together business owners and community leaders for a discussion about promising development projects and available business assistance programs.

Thursday’s session included a pair of local development success stories — both private and public.

Phil Pantano, a representative from the Seneca Gaming Corp., outlined the company’s quick rise from a convention center turned casino in Niagara Falls to one of the county’s largest employers. Since 2002, the Gaming Corp. has spent $800 million on construction in Western New York, including $450 million in Niagara County. Today, the corporation’s casino and 26-story hotel complex in Niagara Falls attracts 8 million visitors and employs just under 3,000 people, 60 percent of which live in the county, according to Pantano. While unable to disclose any specific plans for the future, Pantano said the Gaming Corp. is in the process of developing a master plan for the remaining 26 acres of its 50-acre parcel in downtown Niagara Falls. In addition, Pantano detailed the company’s plans for Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course, a $20 million project in the Town of Lewiston that will result in the creation of 44 new jobs with a total payroll of $1.4 million once completed, according to Pantano.

“This is just one other reason for people to visit Niagara County, to come back to Niagara County and to stay for a longer period of time,” Pantano said.

Getting more people to Niagara County is the goal of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s own high-profile venture, the new terminal at Niagara Falls International Airport. Officials from the NFTA provided an overview of the project, which they estimate will have a $90 million impact on the local economy once completed. NFTA officials said the new terminal will serve as an attractive and cost effective alternative to larger airports, especially in the current era of out-of-control fuel prices. They are hoping to build upon the recent success of Myrtle Beach Direct, the low-cost carrier that offers flights to South Carolina from the existing airport in the Falls. The formal ground-breaking ceremony for the new terminal will take place next week with completion expected in 2009.

“There is dirt moving right now,” said William Vanacek, the NFTA’s director of aviation.

Overall, Niagara County economic development officials reported many positive gains in 2007, a year in which the county’s Industrial Development Agency recorded roughly $170 million in private capital investment, nearly double the amount from the previous year, according to Legislator and Economic Development Committee Chairman Richard Updegrove, R-Lockport.

To continue to attract business to the area, the county plans to remain focused on marketing efforts aimed at attracting Canadian investors and businesses from Georgia, Florida and other water-starved states.

In addition, the county plans to take advantage of a $1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that will allow it, in cooperation with the City of Niagara Falls, to perform much-needed brownfield revitalization projects.

Franasiak, whose company has benefited from various incentives offered by the county’s IDA over the years, said county economic development officials, while often maligned in the public, deserve credit for providing the tools needed for investors like him to succeed in a difficult business climate.

“It takes an enormous amount of effort to attract a single business to the county,” he said.