Podcast 176 - From Rust Belt to Tech Hub: Buffalo's 25-Year Transformation with Tom Kucharski

Making Buffalo cool again (no pun intended)

2 Jun 2025 — 2 min read

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson sits down with Tom Kucharski, President and CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara, who has led the organization's transformation efforts for 25 years. Kucharski shares how Buffalo evolved from being the 8th largest U.S. city in 1960 to experiencing devastating industrial decline, and then orchestrating a remarkable comeback that includes the first population growth in decades.

He discusses the region's competitive advantages including clean hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, the 43 North Finals business plan competition (the largest in the country with $1 million prizes), and securing the nation's only semiconductor tech hub designation. The conversation covers Buffalo's evolution into a hub for manufacturing, life sciences, and technology, while addressing new challenges like housing shortages that come with rapid growth and success.

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Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers

Build regional coalitions first - stop internal competition between municipalities before marketing externally
Create anchor programs like large business plan competitions to attract and retain entrepreneurs
Leverage unique natural assets (like clean hydroelectric power) as competitive advantages in site selection
Develop collaborative relationships across university systems to present unified research capabilities
Focus on adaptive reuse of existing infrastructure rather than always building new
Create advisory committees that include economic developers in utility and power allocation decisions
Address housing supply proactively as economic growth accelerates to prevent affordability crises
Measure and track talent attraction sources to understand what's working in recruitment efforts
Develop granular, site-specific approaches during economic downturns to prepare for future growth
Pursue federal designations and funding opportunities that validate your regional strategy and provide implementation capital