Accelerate your Start Up Company in Buffalo Niagara

PatCom Medical is an early-stage Canadian medical device company focused on improving patient comfort during evaluation and treatment of communication and swallowing disorders. PatCom’s small diameter endoscopes, advanced light and camera technology, and patented Esophageal Introducer allow for easy intubation and more accurate testing, including Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES), Videostroboscopy, and Reflux testing.

With 80% of the company’s sales in the U.S., having a physical presence in the States became a top priority. The company was looking for a region with a strong life and health sciences ecosystem, specifically within minimally invasive surgery innovation, as well as potential for academic partnerships.

FroggaBio is a Toronto-based leading distributor of laboratory products, supply instruments, reagents, and disposables. FroggaBio serves customers within academic and industrial research institutes, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals. Company leadership originally considered a U.S. expansion in 2013 and they began engaging with Invest Buffalo Niagara (InBN). At that time, the company incorporated in the US, but decided not to pursue its own bricks and mortar location.

Universal Logistics is a third generation, family-owned business established in 1949 with 87 employees and five locations across Canada. Over these 70-plus years, Universal have grown and prospered by delivering innovative logistics solutions while still maintaining a family value approach to caring for their clients. Universal’s complete package of logistics services includes international freight, North American trucking, U.S. and Canadian customs brokerage and warehousing/distribution.

In 2009, Universal’s U.S. sales represented only 3-4% of the company’s overall sales, and they worked through a U.S. partner to provide their U.S. brokerage services. However, it was identified that a significant value-added client need would be met by establishing their own U.S. customs brokerage presence. A U.S. office would enable clients with product imports or exports, either to or from the U.S., to receive a single and trusted source for their U.S. customs brokerage, trucking, and distribution requirements. The solution was to take advantage of one of the two options available at the time: a ground level, start-up operation or an acquisition of a U.S. company. In a stroke of good luck and perfect timing, their existing U.S. partner in Buffalo proposed to sell their company and this created the optimum opportunity to make a fast track, strategic acquisition of an established U.S. customs broker.

Plug Power is a fuel cell company that is “reimagining the energy ecosystem.” The company is building an end-to-end hydrogen power ecosystem including hydrogen production, storage, and delivery with the goal of assisting in the clean energy transfer and decarbonizing the modern economy. Plug Power’s fuel cells will enable the adoption of zero-emission freight transport and logistics handling equipment. The company already had operations in the Albany, NY area and was looking to expand its production capabilities further.

Incentives: Excelsior Job Tax Credits, IDA Tax Abatements, NYPA: Hydropower Allocation, WNY Power Proceeds Program

Kemper System, a German-based manufacturer of Kemperol, a liquid resin based waterproofing and surfacing system, sought to establish a North American-based production headquarters to increase its competitiveness in the U.S. market. Location, specifically market access, was crucial in their site location decision as Kemper desired to significantly shorten the eight-week lead time to ship product from Europe to the United States. The company also wanted to be close to their large customer base in the U.S. Northeast.

Kemper required a move-in ready site and a competitive incentive package as they were also considering Florida and North Carolina. Furthermore, the availability and cost of the local workforce was a key factor in the decision-making process. The company requested detailed labor statistics to familiarize itself with the availability and cost of labor in Buffalo Niagara.

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.