Local and Minority Hiring Practices

Abstract

This brief discusses various strategies to ensure a diverse and local workforce at the Canal Side project on Buffalo’s waterfront. To make the project as advantageous to the community as possible requires the use of exact language in contracts governing the development, active participation of local neighborhoods, a monitoring system to track efforts made by developers and jobseekers and then distribute the results to the community, and civic oversight to hold the businesses accountable and oversee the program for effectiveness. Canal Side plans to offer over 1 million square feet of space as a shopping district, hotel, and entertainment center, including a Bass Pro shop. The agency developing it promises, among other things, the addition of 1,000 new jobs, $9.5 million in annual sales, and the replacement and renovation of Memorial Auditorium and the Donovan building.