Commerce

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS It’s easy to sound like a knee-jerk, anti-business agitator when calling for the breakup of Big Tech. These are America’s biggest and most innovative companies. China is trying to build many, Europe any. Consumers love them. What’s

A decade after a federal probe exposed the U.S. Census Bureau for hiring serious criminals to enter the homes of unsuspecting Americans to gather statistics for the decennial count, the shocking practice continues. As the agency prepares to employ half a million

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS Why have housing costs skyrocketed in the past few decades? To what extent do these costs keep people from moving to prospering cities in search of opportunity? And how can we combat this issue through both local

In early August, Census told U.S. News & World Report, it was ‘actively working through flexibilities’ to see if it could hire alien workers Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department

Critics of Uber Technologies — the tiny San Francisco company with the mammoth equity valuation that is threatening America’s local taxi companies — are calling the firm’s business model so ‘crooked’ and ‘off-tilt’ that it’s financially crushing its business partners.

Rumor has it that Rep. Brian Higgins, the six-term Democrat of South Buffalo, is “inclined to prefer” taking a position as Delaware North‘s top federal lobbyist, rather than to run for a seventh term in the House of Representatives, a

BY FELIX CIAMPA Amazon’s decision to withdraw its plans to build a second headquarters in Long Island City sparked dire predictions from many observers. Some argued it would now be impossible to attract significant commercial development in Western Queens, or

Seneca Holdings, the private equity arm of the Seneca Nation of Indians, has been without a formal Chief Executive Officer since June of 2017, when Dave Kimelberg changed his title to Strategic Advisor and, according to his LinkedIn profile, returned

Buffalo developer Larry Quinn has, at times, been a catalytic force for change in Western New York — whether in real estate, major league sports, or education policy.  He is universally respected across the political spectrum, perhaps aside from small

BY MICAH MORRISON The Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes is over and the winner is Queens, New York. And some place in Virginia called National Landing. And Nashville, Tennessee. New York and Virginia will split Amazon’s second headquarters, while Nashville gets a consolation

It looks increasingly likely that Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s administration is preparing to back a $1 billion investment in a new NFL stadium in downtown Buffalo.  Just last month, Terry Pegula hired Chris Schoepflin, the former Empire State Development official, to

Sources say that Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge would be “inclined to agree” with Cuomo administration recommendations that it would be wise for the firm to open a content production studio at the Niagara Falls Conference Center.  The move would

President Donald J. Trump’s administration has announced its intention to separate the ongoing multilateral North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Canada and Mexico. The President intends to conduct bilateral talks with Canada and Mexico on independent negotiating tracts. Local

One of New York State’s most aggressive Tea Party organizers is calling on President Donald J. Trump to end the North American Free Trade Agreement ahead of midterm elections later this year.  Matthew Ricchiazzi, the Buffalo-area political activist and publisher, argues

M&T Bank’s new CEO Rene Jones has just recently taken the helm — a top 20 American bank by market capitalization and Western New York’s largest employer — but local activists are already ridiculing the CEO for a perceived leadership

The late M&T Bank CEO Robert Wilmers was as close as one could come to reigning over Western New York as its titular monarch.  The installation of Rene Jones as Wilmers’ successor at the Bank is of no small consequence

Billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, the founder and chairman of Paychex, the Rochester area firm valued at more than $25 billion, is open to merger talks with Buffalo based M&T Bank, whose market capitalization stands around $28 billion, a source familiar

In recent years Mayor Byron Brown‘s administration, under the direction of Parking Commissioner Kevin Helfer, has seen parking fines as a source of revenue growth. The administration has increased parking fines and expanded parking fee hours for on street parking along Hertel Avenue, before quickly