Partners

City of Buffalo

Buffalo is the second largest city in the State of New York, and the hub of the Buffalo-Niagara region. The City’s attractive quality of life, low-cost of living, and diverse economic base make it a wonderful place to live, work, and do business.
Located along the shores of Lake Erie, Buffalo has a prime spot along the Canadian-American border, less than 100 miles from Toronto.
The City of Buffalo remains fiscally strong. Since 2006, its residential property tax rate has been reduced by 15.2%, and commercial by 16.2%.
Buffalo is rich with history and museums, professional sports, vibrant neighborhoods, top notch restaurants, theater, and more. And thanks to a strong base of well-educated and skilled employees, Buffalo remains a strong stable business region.

Empire State Development

Empire State Development (ESD) is New York’s chief economic development agency for the promotion of sustainable economic growth through job creation and business investment. To create a more vibrant small businesses community that works for all New Yorkers, ESD’s Division for Small Business supports small business innovation and investment through a wide array of programs and initiatives.

New York Farm Bureau

New York Farm Bureau (NYFB) is a non-governmental, volunteer organization financed and controlled by member families for the purpose of solving economic and public policy issues challenging the agricultural industry. Representing approximately 30,000 member families across the Empire State, NYFB serves as the voice of New York agriculture in Albany and in Washington, D.C. NYFB is guided by its grassroots policy development process, which begins at the county level with problem identification and culminates at the state annual meeting, where resolutions are voted upon by members to form the organization's policy.
New York Farm Bureau is comprised of 52 county Farm Bureaus and is a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

New York State Small Business Development Center

The New York State Small Business Development Center (NYS SBDC) provides entrepreneurs and small business owners in New York with the highest quality, pro-bono, confidential business counseling, training and business research. The statewide network of 24 regional centers and dozens of satellite locations is a partnership between the State University of New York, the City University of New York, private universities, the State of New York and the Small Business Administration. The programs of the SBDC, targeted to the needs and strengths of individual localities, foster entrepreneurship and innovation and help small business owners achieve their dreams and create jobs across the state.

Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce

The Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce is the principal business, civic and economic development agency for the Rensselaer Gateway communities. Founded in 1900, the Chamber represents more than 1,200 diverse businesses and community organizations employing nearly 49,000 professionals. The Chamber serves all its members — from sole proprietors to corporations with thousands of people — with programs and services designed to inform, educate and assist them in reaching their full business potential. The Chamber is an active advocate in municipal, state and national business and government organizations and effectively represents its membership on public policy issues. In addition, the Chamber is one of three founding members of the Tech Valley Chamber Coalition.

Retail Council of New York State

The Retail Council of New York State is a full-service association representing thousands of members ranging in size from sole proprietor to national chain. The Council helps merchants and related businesses save time and money on products and services, including credit card processing, NYS Workers’ Compensation Insurance, New York Statutory Disability Insurance, energy savings, workplace law consulting, marketing support and government relations advocacy.
Inform. Guide. Advocate. The Retail Council is the association for New York’s merchants.

Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce

The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce has served as a voice for business growth and community advancement since 1900. The membership organization represents 2,300 Capital Region businesses that employ more than 105,000 area residents. The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber serves as a catalyst for growth and prosperity for its members and the Capital Region by providing leadership, advocacy and services.

Buffalo-Niagara Partnership

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is comprised of regional employers, working together, for growth in our region. Everything the Partnership does is focused on growing business - individual businesses, and the entire business marketplace of Buffalo Niagara. We focus on helping existing companies move their business to "the next level," and on what it will take to bring more business to the region in the future.

Center for Economic Growth

CEG is the premier economic development organization in New York’s Tech Valley and serves as the Capital Region’s designated Regional Technology Development Center. A private, non-profit, membership-based organization, CEG creates economic impact by working with partners in business, government, and education on strategic initiatives to grow local companies, attract new industry and investment, and prepare communities for future growth.

Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association

The Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association is dedicated to promoting the profitability of New York's on-premise alcohol beverage licensees. For more than 70 years we've been working to improve conditions for our industry. We are the foremost advocates of the on-premise beverage alcohol industry, involved in advancing the interests, businesses, image, and future of our industry.

Food Industry Alliance of NYS

The Food Industry Alliance of New York State, Inc. is the only statewide voice for all sizes of food stores in New York. The membership includes multi-state chain operations, regional grocers, independent grocers, convenience stores as well as grocery wholesalers and cooperatives. FIA has approximately 800 members which operate close to 10,000 retail stores.

New York Association of Convenience Stores

A progressive, member-driven organization that leads, safeguards, and forges a favorable environment for New York State's diverse, dynamic community of neighborhood convenience stores. NYACS provides return on membership investment by continuously delivering vital knowledge, a unified voice on legislative and regulatory issues, access to business solutions, and ways for members to share ideas, address common challenges, and build relationships.

Organization of Latino Entrepreneurs

The organization of Latino entrepreneurs (Olé) was created by the New York State Small Business Development Center (NYS SBDC) to serve the needs of the Latino entrepreneurial community. Olé operates within many of the regional NYS SBDC offices.

Our main objectives:

Support and promote the growth of Hispanic-owned small businesses
Deliver expert counseling and training to meet the needs of existing and aspiring Hispanic business owners.
Encourage and facilitate investment in Hispanic-owned small businesses.
Create jobs and generate growth in the Hispanic community.
Raise the profile of Hispanic business owners.
Provide a forum to raise awareness of Hispanic business issues.

Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in New York’s Capital Region with 2,700 members who employ more than 60,000. Home to the Historic Saratoga Race Course and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the summer home of the NYC Ballet, Saratoga County is a global destination for tourists, talent and trade. The Chamber is a vocal and visible promoter of all of its members and every community within Saratoga County as a leader in tourism promotion, business to business networking, advocacy and economic development, talent retention and recruitment and small business counseling.

United Way of Buffalo & Erie County

The United Way of Buffalo & Erie County brings people, organizations, and resources together to improve community well being. Every year, we invest millions of dollars in local programs and services that help people in need in our three key areas of focus: Education, Income, and Health & Wellness. We connect important resources – donor designated contributions, volunteers, training, and technical assistance – with area nonprofit agencies that directly benefit local people and families, and our Not For Profit Resource Center serves as a strategic hub for providing support and guidance to nonprofits throughout Western New York.

United Way of the Greater Capital Region

United Way of the Greater Capital Region improves lives and community conditions by bringing people and resources together around issues that require a collective response. United Way’s focus is on education, income, health and basic needs, which are the building blocks required for a good quality of life. United Way’s work involves raising funds and recruiting people and organizations who bring the passion, expertise and resources to change lives and achieve measurable social improvements across our community.

Women Presidents' Educational Organization-NY

The Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO) is a regional affiliate of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s premier third party certification organization for women owned businesses. The mission of the WPEO is to create increased access to business opportunities for WBEs. Our programs develop skills and knowledge for WBEs, advocate in the public and private sectors, foster relationships between WBEs, corporations and the government, and provide certification services. WPEO provides full service third party certification to women entrepreneurs in the New York, Northern New Jersey (including Princeton and points North), Southern Connecticut and the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas.

Association of Small Business Development Centers

ASBDC is the national association recognized by the federal government, by statute, as the representative of America's Small Business Development Center (ASBDC) Network. The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program is the most comprehensive, efficient, and effective small business assistance network in the nation, with over 1,000 centers. The SBDC network delivers free nationwide educational assistance to strengthen small/medium business management, thereby contributing to the growth of local, state and national economies.

Meetup

Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities. Meetup's mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

SCORE

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. A valuable network of 13,000+ volunteers offering confidential business mentoring services at no charge, SCORE volunteers have the knowledge and experience to help any small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur get the help they need. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and has been mentoring small business owners for more than forty years.