New York Fed president says Buffalo has a lot to build on

As Western New York struggles to regain its economic momentum from the pandemic, John Williams thinks the region should capitalize on what it has to attract more workers.

"Clearly, here in Buffalo, it's actually a major metropolitan area," said Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "It has a lot of the advantages of a major metropolitan area, in terms of hospitals, education, in terms of entertainment.

John Williams (copy)

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said the data aren’t showing significant layoffs or job reductions stemming from AI.

"So I think that it's building off, people want to live in cities," he said. "We're seeing that.

"After the pandemic, people were saying, 'I don't want to live in cities. I want to live spread out,'" he said. "Now, people are moving back to cities, so I think for Buffalo, it's about saying, you've got this really valuable asset, and that people want to come together. They want to enjoy the quality of life things you have in a major metropolitan area, and trying to leverage that."

Those additional workers might include people recruited to the area for a career opportunity, or students who graduate from local universities and choose to stay here, he said.

Williams on Tuesday wrapped up a two-day tour of the region, with stops at places including Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, the National Comedy Center and the Cummins engine plant near Jamestown. His last stop was at the University at Buffalo.

Williams, who sits on the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee, uses trips like these to gather input from people in the Federal Reserve's second district. He uses that feedback alongside statistics as he analyzes the health of the economy.

Here are some other thoughts Williams shared about the region:

Affordability concerns

Williams said during his visit, he heard a lot about how the current state of the economy is affecting people in different ways, such as the affordability of housing and transportation costs, depending on their income level.

But he said employers are increasingly recognizing the impact these issues are having on their workers.

"Employers are saying, 'Hey, I've got employees who are paid on the lower end of the pay scale, and they're really struggling, and it's showing up in absenteeism, or it's showing up in other effects,'" he said. "If you can't fix your car, if you can't get childcare, it affects that."

It's an issue where the interests of employers, nonprofits and government leaders are in alignment, Williams said.

John Williams

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams talks with Associate Professor of Economics Yun Pei, right, at the UB Student Union theater on Tuesday.

Canadian trade worries

Williams said in his conversations with local business people, tariffs overall were not a major discussion point, but those businesses were on "high alert" about tariffs impacting Canada, given the cross-border connection.

"The thing we've typically heard is, there's a lot of uncertainty," he said. And that uncertainty makes it more difficult for them to make decisions, he said.

Similarly, the region is also feeling the effects of fewer visitors from across the border, Williams said.

"Tourism has come down quite a bit from Canada," he said.

Capitalizing on Micron

Williams acknowledged the investments being poured into building up the tech sector in upstate New York, with Micron Technology's planned chip fabrication complex near Syracuse as a driving force.

"I think it's still early days," he said. "You think about Micron, you think about some of these other things – as this continues to grow, are we actually seeing the jobs and businesses and that take hold?

"I worry a little bit whenever there's a big surge in investment in one sector," Williams said. "They don't want to forget the other aspects of this. This is still very much a service economy. So not losing track of one of the benefits of living in metropolitan areas that you have a lot of really great services, including entertainment, the arts, which of course Buffalo has, right? And so I think that you want to get that really strong balance."

"We've studied for a long time, what's the secret sauce of a vibrant, healthy economy, and it's really about having all the pieces fit together," he said. "I think the technology is part of it, but the other is just making sure this is a place where people want to live and work."

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