UB Institute Announces Feb. 3 State Of The Region Conference

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Following widespread positive reaction to its November 1999 report, "State of the Region: Performance Indicators for the Buffalo-Niagara Region," the UB Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth will hold a conference Feb. 3 dedicated to examining the report's findings and encouraging area players and partnerships to develop specific strategies for regional change.

The conference will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Buffalo Convention Center.

The program will include morning and afternoon sessions dedicated specifically to the 11 subject areas of the report -- economy, education, environment, equity, government, health, human services, planning and land use, public safety, regional assets, and technology and information. The agenda also will include plenary sessions in which the institute will provide updates on State of the Region efforts to date and invite comments from participants.

The focus of the event, says institute Director John B. Sheffer, II, is to identify local and regional organizations and coalitions to take the lead on performance improvements in the 11 State of the Region subject areas.

"Our watchword for the State of the Region project has been that 'You can't manage what you can't measure,'" says Sheffer. "The report itself offered assessments of regional performance on a range of measures, as well as proposed performance goals and some action steps to help achieve them.

"The next step -- which is what this conference is about -- is finding ways to manage what we've measured and to make our measurements even better. We are asking leaders and organizations throughout the Buffalo-Niagara region to commit to take action and move toward these goals."

The 275-page State of the Region report resulted from a year-long consultative process involving more than 200 leaders from the eight counties of Western New York, as well as Southern Ontario. The volume presents 98 baseline measures, or indicators, of regional quality of life across its 11 key subject areas. Each indicator also proposes goals and action steps for improving regional performance.

"Unlike some other institutions around the country that have undertaken similar projects, the institute committed early on to soliciting broad community and regional involvement in this effort," Sheffer says. "We knew from the beginning that the institute alone couldn't produce the breadth of expertise and analysis needed for a comprehensive regional assessment, so we asked a great many knowledgeable people to take part in developing the report.

"Likewise, now that we have this baseline assessment in hand, we know that the institute alone can't create the many diverse kinds of regional effort that the report calls for. At the Feb. 3 conference, we will turn back to the community and say, 'Here's what we've learned. What would you like to do about it, and how can we help?'"

Early reaction to the report has been very strong, note project directors Barry B. Boyer, UB professor of law, and Kathryn A. Foster, UB associate professor of planning.

"We have been delighted at the positive reaction we're getting from around the region," says Foster. "Several key organizations -- the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, the American Red Cross, Leadership Buffalo, Buffalo Rotary and a number of others -- have expressed interest in working on some of the crucial areas identified in the report, or have said they plan to use the report in developing their own agenda for the year ahead.

"The level of enthusiasm and engagement we're seeing suggests that Buffalo-Niagara is ready to roll up its sleeves and tackle some tough challenges together."

Boyer added: "We already know of groups in environment and health that were involved in shaping the report initially and that plan to carry on the work they began at that time. Others are coming out of the woodwork to say that they also want to be involved. We are really encouraged that this State of the Region process can and will support the kind of dynamic change so many people and groups in the region have called for."

Copies of the report may be ordered by calling the institute at 829-3777. An online version also is available at http://regional-institute.buffalo.edu/sotr.

For more detailed information about the Feb. 3 conference program, call 829-3777. The registration deadline is Jan. 27.