UB Institute For Local Governance And Regional Growth Releases First State Of The Region Report

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A major new report, developed by the University at Buffalo Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth in collaboration with more than 200 community leaders, highlights some strengths in the Buffalo-Niagara region, points to areas where the region needs to do better and calls for collaborative, cross-sector action to enhance the region's quality of life and competitiveness.

The institute released "State of the Region: Performance Indicators for the Buffalo-Niagara Region in the 21st Century" today (Nov. 17, 1999) at a press conference and meeting of regional leaders and decision-makers in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

"What drives the 'State of the Region' project is the axiom that 'You can't manage what you can't measure,'" said John B. Sheffer, II, institute director. "A critical and distinctive aspect of the report is that it not only measures essential aspects of regional performance, but also suggests ways for different sectors of the community to jointly manage those aspects of our performance and promote regional excellence.

"We see 'State of the Region' as an unprecedented tool for Buffalo-Niagara," Sheffer added. "It's practical, it's accessible, it's useful to a wide spectrum of regional leaders and residents."

The 275-page report presents 98 baseline measures, or indicators, of regional quality of life across 11 key subject areas: economy, education, environment, equity, government, health, human services, planning and land use, public safety, regional assets, and technology and information. Each indicator also proposes goals and action steps for improving regional performance.

Development of "State of the Region" was shaped by 11 task forces comprising more than 200 members from across Western New York and Southern Ontario and representing an array of backgrounds and fields. Each task force identified eight to 10 priority indicators from among hundreds of potential measures.

Task force chairs, selected for their expertise and leadership in each area, were:

• Economy -- Marsha S. Henderson, Western New York district president, Key Bank N.A.

• Education -- Muriel A. Howard, president, Buffalo State College

• Environment -- Errol E. Meidinger, UB professor of law and co-director, UB Environment and Society Institute

• Equity -- Lana D. Benatovich, executive director, National Conference for Community and Justice

• Government -- Mary Lou Rath, New York State senator

• Health -- Donald W. Rowe, public health director, Genesee County Health Department

• Human Services -- Robert M. Bennett, president, United Way of Buffalo and Erie County

• Planning and Land Use -- Gail Johnstone, executive director, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

• Public Safety -- Michael A. Battle, judge, Erie County Family Court

• Regional Assets -- Richard T. Reinhard, principal, Niagara Consulting Group

• Technology and Information -- David M. Straitiff, president and chief executive officer, Syrinex Communications Corp.

"We've been awed by the task forces' contributions and leadership," said Kathryn A. Foster, UB associate professor of planning and director of research for the institute, who with Barry Boyer, UB professor of law, co-directed the "State of the Region" project. "What we once thought would be a three-meeting commitment turned out to be six months of intensive dedication. The project has confirmed Buffalo-Niagara's enormous stock of human capital."

"It's a first in our area," noted Bennett, human services task force chair, "to have a group of community leaders like this rally around the university on a project to strengthen the region as a whole. We have committed to the 'State of the Region' project for the long haul, with one common agenda: to support regional improvement.

"We're proud of this collaboration. We think it says a lot about what our region can do together. We hope it will encourage larger segments of the regional community to pull together behind the report and contribute to the joint efforts that will follow."

UB President William R. Greiner reiterated: "This kind of university-community connection is a natural for UB. The university offers resources to do the analysis that the 'State of the Region' project entails, we serve as a neutral forum for regionwide collaboration, and we have an ongoing commitment to serving the region.

"When we can match such support with the enthusiasm and experience of key community leaders, we think that's a great model for all kinds of things we can do together for our region."

Foster and Boyer indicated that many "State of the Region" findings counter common negative perceptions of conditions in the Buffalo-Niagara region.

"It's a pretty hard-hitting report," said Foster. "Where there are clear needs for improvement -- for example, in the strength of the region's technology-based business sector, distribution of poverty, teen pregnancy rates and job growth -- 'State of the Region' pulls no punches. Some of those areas will come as no surprise to many regional observers.

"On the other hand," she continued, "Buffalo-Niagara does well in a number of areas -- foreign exports, technology infrastructure, support for arts and culture, and environmental chemical releases. Our findings on some of these measures may challenge conventional wisdom about the region's strengths and weaknesses."

Added Henderson, chair of the economy task force: "It's a realistic picture -- not uniformly bad, not uniformly rosy. Most of all, it's a reminder that we as a region can control our destiny. We think the regional community will find a number of strengths to build on, as well as some important challenges to tackle."

Johnstone, planning and land use task force chair, noted: "'State of the Region' gives our community a baseline we haven't had before. This first report, particularly, is more than just a snapshot of where we are -- it identifies a set of measures the region should look at regularly. And it documents not just where we have been or where we are, but where we can go.

"The real value of this process is that we will look again to see how we're doing next year, and the next, and in years to come, adding or refining measures as we go. 'State of the Region' is intended to be a dynamic document, changing as the region changes."

In some cases, Boyer pointed out, what the project team and task forces couldn't find was as revealing as what they did find.

"One of our primary conclusions is that we as a region need to do a much better job of identifying, collecting, and fitting together data at the regional level," Boyer said. "The task forces identified a number of issues that may be critical, but for which good information either isn't collected at the regional level or comes from different sources and can't readily be pieced together."

Howard, who chaired the education task force, cited regional literacy as an example. "The task forces in both education and human services were interested in assessing Buffalo-Niagara's levels of literacy, but the data we needed weren't available.

"Some of the other task forces had similar items for the 'State of the Region' 'wish list' -- for instance, good data on bias crimes, which both the equity and public safety task forces were looking for. Finding ways to fill those gaps will be high on the agenda for future rounds of the 'State of the Region' effort."

"We've learned a lot that's telling and insightful about the Buffalo-Niagara Region in the course of this effort," said Boyer. "We've also found that we still have a lot to learn. We are eager to have the region and its communities and organizations take an active role in this continuing effort."

He added that groups in environment, health and human services already have begun looking at assessment and strategy initiatives associated with the 'State of the Region' project.

The release of "State of the Region: Performance Indicators for the Buffalo-Niagara Region in the 21st Century" will be followed by widespread distribution of the report to many regional decision-makers. Copies will also be available in public libraries and can be purchased from the institute.

As consensus develops around goals and action steps, the institute will promote collaborative efforts to achieve specific goals. An institute conference to be held Feb. 3, 2000, will examine community responses and assess the next steps.

In addition to supporting community efforts that spring from the 'State of the Region' initiative, the institute plans to issue periodic performance updates, with the first annual progress report slated for release in November 2000.

"We hope this effort will generate some provocative discussion and action," Foster said. "We want 'State of the Region' to be a document that sits open on the desk, not closed on the shelf."

"As with most important initiatives," Sheffer added, "follow-up is the name of the game. The institute is eager to facilitate the 'State of the Region' effort on an ongoing basis.

"It's also essential that other stakeholders in the region take this information in hand and use it as a foundation for working toward the greater good of the Buffalo-Niagara Region. We look forward to working with them to that end."

For more detailed project information, visit the project Web site at http://regional-institute.buffalo.edu/sotr/default.html. Reports may be ordered from the institute by calling 716-829-3777.