Business First takes a look at WNY’s economic rebound, featuring Tom Emmerling
June 2023 – Tom Emmerling recently met with Western New York’s newest C-Level leadership for a conversation about the state of WNY’s economy. A recap was featured in Business First of Buffalo.
Recruitment, retention big part of WNY economic rebound
The pandemic has come and mostly gone, but its effects continue to belabor employers. Buffalo Business First Publisher John Tebeau recently sat down for a conversation with leaders in mental health, accounting and legal industries to find out how.
Joining Tebeau were Mike Allaire, incoming CFO, Our Lady of Victory Charities; Kevin Cross, managing partner and chairman, Lippes Mathias LLP; Erin DiGirolamo, CEO, Horizon Health Services; and Tom Emmerling, managing partner, Dopkins & Co.
Photo credit: Joed Viera, Business First of Buffalo.
The local economy, the leaders said, has its successes post-pandemic but has not come roaring back yet.
From his perch in accounting, Emmerling sees that Western New York companies are doing well, with some exceptions, such as those in the hospitality and manufacturing industries,
“What concerns me is their hesitancy to make long-term investments,” he said. “It is a reflection of their worry about what is happening.”
Emmerling said what is unusual is not the change in interest rates, it’s the rate of change of interest rates, the fastest he can remember.
Lippes Mathias tracks activity across its various practice groups to get a sense of how the economy is doing and in the last few months Cross has seen a reduction in banking and real estate.
“The interest rates are most impactful at the residential level and then commercial and industrial sectors. It doesn’t stop our clients from doing what they want to do, but it is slowing them down.”
