Who Is Benefiting From All This Building?

by Renee Daniel, Independent Contractors Guild of WNY, INC

Let me start by saying we have attended several meetings lately, all of them attesting to how wonderful it is that there’s such building going on in Erie County and the City of Buffalo. Affordable housing, new rental units, and all the money that has been put into these projects and yet I lead with the same question in mind. WHO IS BENEFITING FROM ALL THIS BUILDING? With all this building that’s going on, what is the unemployment rate in the County and City of Buffalo in terms of its residents? Because from where we are sitting the almost 100 individuals who have graduated from our skilled trades training programs cannot find employment. In addition, local contractors from the City of Buffalo, not the suburbs, are finding it difficult when it comes to winning bids. They’re not being hired as general contractors, prime contractors or subcontractors for all this wonderful work right here in our face, in our neighborhood, in the City of Buffalo.

So, if residents aren’t being hired, then the Buffalo codes are not being followed or enforced. So, what’s the point? Are we just building so that people can move to Buffalo and pay these really expensive rents and buy these homes that are not affordable? But wait, we’re supposed to be building affordable homes, but who can afford them if they don’t have a job? So, here’s my question or more like here’s our position.

Buffalo has seen a surge in publicly funded construction, yet there’s a real disconnect between who the projects are supposed to benefit and who is actually getting the work. When city-based contractors and residents who’ve already completed recognized work force training programs aren’t being hired, it raises serious questions. The County and City of Buffalo has made substantial public investments in construction projects and workforce development initiatives intended to expand economic opportunities for city residents and strengthen locally based construction companies. Despite these investments, there is growing concern that trained city residents—particularly graduates of City-, State-, and federally supported workforce training and apprenticeship pro grams—are not being hired on publicly funded construction projects. Similarly, city-based construction companies report limited access to work opportunities on projects financed with public funds, raising questions about compliance with local hiring, M/WBE, DBE and workforce participation requirements. If our city residents and companies are still being sidelined, the issue isn’t workforce readiness—it’s monitoring, enforcement, and transparency.

So, here are a few core questions that naturally follow: Who is handling:

• Compliance with local hiring, MWBE, and workforce participation requirements

Who is tracking local hiring and residency on each project?

Are workforce graduates being referred, interviewed, or bypassed entirely?

• Accountability for developers and prime contractors receiving public dollars

Are prime contractors meeting participation goals—or simply reporting compliance on paper

What consequences exist when commitments aren’t met? Oh, that’s right, there is the old waiver provision or bypassing it altogether and just taking the fine which is minimal at best?

• Effectiveness of the County’s and City’s investment in training programs if graduates aren’t placed

• Equity and economic impact, especially in neighborhoods that were promised access to these opportunities

Buffalo has successfully developed training pipelines and contractor capacity. How ever, without meaningful over sight, enforcement, and transparency, these investments fall short of their intended impact. It is time to call for:

• Clear tracking of local residency and workforce participation on public projects in harmony with Buffalo City Code Section 96-13 (H), the New York State Labor Law Section 220-I which requires all contractors and subcon tractors working on public or specific covered private projects to register with the NYS DOL. Registration is mandatory before submitting bids or starting work to ensure compliance with labor laws and Erie County Local Law 2-2006 which requires all capital projects submit an Apprenticeship Utilization Certification, which certifies the final participation of persons participating in Apprenticeship Programs under the contract. Such certification shall be submitted prior to final payment for the project (change this to submission before starting the project)

• Verification that workforce training graduates are being hired

• Transparent reporting of compliance with hiring and MWBE goals

• Accountability measures when public commitments are not met (Remove all waiver forms and applications; increase monetary penalties so it makes an impact and becomes a deterrent to complacency relative to the law.)

Public construction should not only build structures, but it should also build careers, busi nesses, and communities, particularly for the residents and contractors of the City of Buf falo. This is not a labor short age issue Buffalo has trained workers ready for employment. This is not a contractor capacity issue, City-based companies exist and are qualified. This is a compliance and enforcement issue.

Public funding requires public benefit. Compliance must be measured, not assumed. Workforce pipelines must connect to actual job placement. Reporting without enforcement undermines public trust.

If training graduates and local companies are not being hired, the system is failing.