Expand your Business to Buffalo Niagara

Karl Kolbe was born and raised in the Buffalo Niagara region. However, for the last seven years he has been brewing beer in Sacramento, California. Though craft beers captured his palate, Buffalo Niagara always had his heart.

When he decided he wanted to open his own brewery, he knew the City of Buffalo was the place. He and some partners went in on the business together, and thus, Pressure Drop Brewing was born. They will be brewing around eight beers at a time from 40 recipes, alternating them based on season. Their IPA-heavy beer will be ready in October.

Zoom Zoom is a ride-sharing company founded in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The company founder began offering rides during his time at university. As the business grew, Walid began building a back-end platform and app for ride-sharing customers. Walid realized the opportunity to expand his business to a similar market in the U.S., offering a more local option for ride-sharing customers.

Incentives: Startup NY

Sparq (formally Rural Sourcing) provides outsourced software development services to build, deploy and optimize critical online applications. The company operates eight sites through the United States and was seeking additional market expansion to fulfill current business obligations and capture additional market growth opportunities. The company was interested in investigating a potential region’s IT ecosystem, workforce and higher education, operating costs, and quality of life benefits.

LegWorks aims to develop and supply all components of a complete prosthetic leg solution for lower limb amputees and currently sells an innovative prosthetic knee joint called the All-Terrain Knee. LegWorks is a for-profit social enterprise, enabling amputees globally to walk with confidence. Many of the advances in the prosthetic limb industry are out of reach for those in need. In the developing world, only one out of ten people in need have the access or means to secure these new innovations. LegWorks has found a need in the global marketplace for better, more functional devices at a lower price point.

Microart, a company out of Markham, Ontario, manufactures circuit boards used in the aerospace, medical device and electronics industries. The company has a growth mindset, which has allowed the Canadian headquarters to grow to 279 employees and helped drive the need for a U.S. expansion. Acquiring a U.S. company was Microart’s preferred way to start their U.S. operations and they identified a company in Buffalo that was well suited to their operations and needs.

Sucro Sourcing is a multinational company refining sugar for mills, processors, distributors and industrial customers. Before considering a permanent expansion in Buffalo Niagara, the company first set up a pilot project in the Gateway Trade Zone. At the completion of that pilot project, the company was satisfied and willing to further consider a permanent presence in Western New York. The company was also considering Miami, Florida for the project.

Incentives: Empire State Development Excelsior Tax Credit ECIDA tax abatement NYPA hydropower National Grid grant