Press/PR
For inquiries, contact Erin Kelly, Director of External Relations ekelly@wedibuffalo.org/716.800.2280
Press
May 9, 2022
West Side Bazaar to receive $950k in federal funding
Monday, Congressman Brian Higgins announced $950,000 in federal funding for the West Side Bazaar. The new space is expected to see the number of small businesses double from 12 to 24 and will include seats for almost two hundred people and a new kitchen. Construction is expected to start this summer with an opening date sometime next year.
Buffalo News: May 7, 2022
Several projects remain in the works, Somers said. Westminster Economic Development Initiative has committed to opening a microfinance office on Bailey Avenue, and Urban Fruits & Veggies intends to start a hydroponic garden in the neighborhood.
Smiley News: May 5, 2022
Coming to a new country already has its own host of challenges, and the circumstance of that migration may pile on more. In a country like the United States, breaking into business and expanding work can often be hard for those that don’t have a background in the country or credit to support them. The West Side Bazaar, a food court in Buffalo, is looking to change that.
Bon Appétit: April 25, 2022
Unlike the grain silos and Buffalo’s eponymous hot sauce-slicked wings, the West Side Bazaar was born of 21st-century Buffalo. Inside, instead of videos and DVDs, you’ll find floor-to-ceiling racks of imports: patterned silks, beaded necklaces, and jewel-tone tops embroidered with gold thread that shimmers under fluorescent light. Restaurants flank the opposite side of the bazaar, and the scent of Sudanese sambusas and Chinese shrimp-pork shumai fills the large market.
Buffalo Business First: March 1, 2022
The 11th annual class was narrowed down from nearly 150 nominations, meaning that only 20% of those nominated made the cut, including WEDI's Senior Director, Economic Development, Yanush Sanmugaraja.
Buffalo Business First: February 18, 2022
Fifteen people and seven organizations were chosen from nearly 50 nominations for championing diversity and inclusion. Among those: Westminster Economic Development Initiative of Buffalo.
USA Today: February 9, 2022
In some of America’s smaller Rust Belt cities, refugees once piecing their own lives back together have helped boost struggling economies.
Buffalo News: February 7, 2022
The population of the Buffalo Niagara region is growing again – and it's flipping
many of the basic underpinnings of the local economy.
Buffalo News: February 5, 2022
For more than five years, Carolynn Welch, executive director of the Westminster Economic Development Initiative, has had a front-row seat watching how immigrants have shaped and enriched the City of Buffalo.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: January 10, 2022
Across the nation, the results of the 2020 census were the source of hand-wringing and political debate. But in Western New York, they were cause for unbridled celebration.
Spectrum News: January 4, 2022
The West Side Bazaar is known as a melting pot of business owners from around the globe, but many of those entrepreneurs had to rebuild following a burglary in late November. Please note that Carolynn Welch is the executive director of WEDI, not Erin St. John Kelly, who is the director of external relations.
Press Releases
May 9, 2022
“Small businesses, including these operated by Western New York’s immigrant and refugee population, enrich our community culturally and economically,” said Congressman Higgins. “This federal funding secured for WEDI will be critical in completing the West Side Bazaar expansion project, which will allow the organization to serve a greater number of up-and-coming, traditionally underserved entrepreneurs in the Western New York community.”
December 9, 2021
The $7.5 million capital campaign is now past the halfway mark with contributions from M&T Bank, The John R. Oishei Foundation, and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
August 16, 2021
KeyBank, in partnership with the First Niagara Foundation, is donating $1.5 million to support the Westminster Economic Development Initiative's new West Side Bazaar Project. This transformative gift is part of KeyBank's $40 billion National Community Benefits Plan and is symbolic of the bank's longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
July 29, 2021
Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced the approval of H.R. 4502, a package of seven appropriation bills making investments in federal programs and initiatives including infrastructure, education, small business, and job opportunity, among other priorities for America and Western New York, including $950,000 for the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) to support the expansion of the West Side Bazaar. Watch the announcement or read the press release.
June 29, 2021
Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced federal legislation, which includes $1.7 million to help small businesses in Western New York, has crossed an initial legislative hurdle. A House Appropriations subcommittee approved a bill including $950,000 for the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) to support the expansion of the West Side Bazaar and $750,000 for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at SUNY Buffalo State to help small businesses in Western New York expand e-commerce and grow an online presence.