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City promotes 'Hire Buffalo' program

Buffalo Mayor Brown is asking every business to hire one unemployed person. The reward? Some favorable publicity.  The Mayor said the job training and placement agencies are starting "Hire Buffalo"to take advantage of what he says is an improving economy.   

Business First proposed the deal because its sister paper in Atlanta persuaded 13,000 businesses to hire unemployed in six months.

Business First newspaper will provide recognition through announcements in the weekly paper.

The paper's president and publisher Jack Connors said the idea started in his sister paper in Atlanta about two years ago where 13,000 people were hired in six months and honored in the paper.

"It was highly successful," said Connors. 

Mayor Brown said there are 22,000 businesses in this area that could shift someone from unemployed to employed.

"Just think about it, if just one employer of the 22,00 employers that we have in Western New York hired just one person, that would 22, 000 people hired in the Buffalo area which would make a tremendous impact on our economy," said Mayor Brown. 

Brown said the program could reach out to the suburbs, as well.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.