❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

How a Buffalo business weathered a record-breaking storm

Jan 19, 2023
Inventory loss “could have been a lot worse,” said Johanna Dominguez of Put a Plant on It. But merchants suffered as shoppers stayed home.
Vehicles sit buried in snow and abandoned in downtown Buffalo, New York, the day after Christmas. The storm's cost surpassed $1 billion.
Joed Viera/AFP via Getty Images

How a Buffalo child care center saved itself by closing temporarily

Nov 25, 2022
The worker-owned co-op shut down in the spring due to staffing shortages. It reopened by raising wages and tuition.
A classroom at The Rose Garden Early Childhood Center. The worker-owned co-op closed down to revamp its pricing and wage structure.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

How this couple makes up to $4,000 a month dumpster diving

Nov 4, 2022
Erin and Dave Sheffield of Buffalo, New York, met dumpster diving at a local university. Now they've taken their hobby to the next level.
Dave, left, and Erin Sheffield. The Sheffields often find valuable items in trash bins that they can sell or give away.
Courtesy Erin Sheffield

How the pandemic pushed this nonprofit worker to start her own businesses

In addition to her day job, Jennifer Barton of Buffalo now sells mugs and other goods she makes, plus owns a community art studio.
Jennifer Barton at her studio in Buffalo, New York.
Brandon Watson

Why this Buffalo manufacturer is "a little bit excited" about an economic slowdown

The tight job market means it's been years since Matt Gehman has hired new qualified employees at MMG Industrial and Metal Locking Service.
"We cannot hire people and bring them in and plug them in. It’s 100% on-the-job training at our expense," says Matt Gehman, above at his facility in Buffalo, New York.
Brandon Watson

On Buffalo’s east side, inflation intensifies the daily struggle to buy food

“I have to get less food,” one shopper said. “So I plan very carefully with my food stamps.”
Shoppers at a mobile farmers market in east Buffalo, New York, where many residents struggle with access to grocery stores.
Brandon Watson

What we found in Buffalo, NY: Courage, innovation and a larger story behind the data

Nov 2, 2022
“This was the first time I saw the data match to a human experience,” says Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist.
Nela Richardson, ADP chief economist, talks with "Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal inside Taste of Soul, a restaurant in Buffalo, New York. “I think there's a detachment between the number, the data, and the people who those numbers represent,” Richardson says.
Brandon Watson

For public good, not for profit.

At a historic Buffalo, NY, inn, fair wages mean there's no such thing as a labor shortage

Nov 1, 2022
Joseph Lettieri, co-owner and operator of InnBuffalo off Elmwood, almost sold the hotel in 2020. Now, it's the busiest it's ever been.
InnBuffalo Off Elmwood co-owner Joseph Lettieri said business is the busiest it's ever been.
Courtesy Ellen Carlstrom

Rebooting a multibillion-dollar business after tens of thousands of layoffs

Nov 1, 2022
Jerry and Lou Jacobs, co-CEOs of global hospitality company Delaware North, say inflation is a bigger concern than labor right now.
Jerry, left, and Lou Jacobs are co-CEOs of Buffalo-based company Delaware North. Inflation requires the business to be agile and flexible, Lou Jacobs says.
Brandon Watson

How a pandemic layoff and career pivot made this Buffalonian "the happiest I've ever been"

Nov 1, 2022
A few months into the pandemic, Sam Heansel was laid off from her graphic design job. She's been working at a pet store for two years.
Sam Heansel during her shift at Elmwood Pet Supplies.
Brandon Watson