Written on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 3:01pm by Christopher Smith | 4 Comments

Buffalo Niagara Partnership Messaging Failure

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The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is hosting an event next week to celebrate local companies which have been in business for more than fifty years in Buffalo and Western New York. They are calling it the “Endurance All-Stars“.  Let’s consult with Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster to define what “endurance” means:

The ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity

or

The act or an instance of enduring or suffering <endurance of many hardships>

Well, if that isn’t a reaffirming message about the benefits of doing business in Buffalo and WNY, I don’t know what is!

What’s funny is that the Buffalo Niagara Partnership is using their Twitter account to unveil the “businesses” in Buffalo which have some how managed to endure 50 years in Buffalo.  Some of the celebrants:

Cradle Beach Camp

Catholic Charities of Buffalo

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Cazenovia Park Baptist Church

I imagine the awards ceremony goes something like this:

The award for greatest ability to suffer through and endure 50 years of decline, misery and a horrible business climate in this shit hole of a region goes to…

I think it’s telling that the majority of the celebrants are non-profits, churches, colleges and government agencies.

So, the messaging of this event is that it’s a horrible struggle to stay in business locally and most of those who have been able to do it are not in the business of making a profit.  Let’s see how their sister organization, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise will decorate this pig with lipstick.

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4 Comments

  1. Ethan says:
    May 29, 2009 at 8:02 am

    that dude with the bowtie pretty much sums up the entire post, doesn’t he? An anachronism with an obsolescence wrapped around his neck.

    that said, as a former employee of Cradle Beach Camp, I must commend them on their endurance award: they definitely do good work.

  2. Hugh says:
    May 29, 2009 at 9:38 am

    I think your spin here is a little shortsighted. I went to the Partnership’s website and looked at the program – it looks like they’re really talking about companies that have survived pits and valleys in the national and global economies, more than just “surviving in downtrodden Buffalo” as you simplified it to be. It’s a success story for a business to survive 50 years in any environment, wouldn’t you say? I think that’s the point they’re actually making. Believe me, I like a little partnership bashing from time to time, but your assessment on this one is off target. Celebrating businesses that have survived wars, regime changes, recessions, NAFTA, the transition into a global economy, the transition of the world wide web – that actually seems like a pretty positive thing. Call me an optimist.

  3. Buffalopundit says:
    May 29, 2009 at 10:37 am

    Hugh – I haven’t done the math, but as these started coming up on Twitter yesterday, I was struck by how many of them were non-profits or monopolies. Should we really be patting National Fuel Gas for staying in business for 50 years, when they’ve got a distribution monopoly and overwhelmingly dominate supply? Should we give a medal or a monument to the United Way for existing, or ECMC? What’s next, a congratulatory pat on the back to the police and fire departments for sticking it out over the last 50 years?

  4. KevinP says:
    June 1, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    Hey, my company has been around since 1952! Sadly, we are not part of the joke that is the BNP, so we will go without recognition.

 

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