From Hire to Higher: The Impact Across Buffalo Startups

Nearly ten years ago, Buffalo, NY began its renaissance with major reconstruction and redevelopment throughout the city. By 2012, construction on Canalside had begun, along with the LECOM Harborcenter from 2013-2015, which includes hockey rinks, a parking garage, restaurants, a hotel, and retail space. In 2017, Explore & More Children’s Museum was built at Canalside and officially opened to the public in 2019. The waterfront space has continuously grown with restaurants, a museum, sand playground, merry-go-round, kayak and paddleboard rentals, a bike park, and more. Along with this development came more excitement about the economic growth of Buffalo: old, dilapidated buildings were being remodeled and utilized, nearly 50 new breweries popped up just within downtown while the revitalization of paved bike paths, dog parks, and local spots like the Japanese Garden became popular, the famous grain mill silos were turned into a Labatt Blue Six-Pack. Buffalo had re-appeared on the radar, on national maps, in articles, and on lists of “Best Cities to Visit.”

As Buffalo reignited its economical flame, a spark of technological growth had become an offshoot. People wanted to invest in a city that was unique and opportunistic, with a collaborative and inclusive startup community. Enter 43 North: an accelerator in Buffalo, NY that invests $5 million annually through one of the world’s largest startup competitions. Since their inception in 2014, 43 North has quite literally put Buffalo on the international startup map, making moving to WNY a pinnacle to one’s startup success. But once a new company relocates and puts their assets at stake in an unknown region with no market share or credibility, who will they co-depend on to flourish, grow, and succeed?

From up-and-coming entrepreneurs to national powerhouses ranking among the Fortune 500, Imagine Staffing works as a partner to their clients by transforming their business goals into realities through comprehensive talent and workforce solutions. They provide traditional talent acquisition practices along with Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Managed Services Programs (MSP/MVP) options that are tailored to an organization’s exact recruiting needs. From direct placements for Executive-Level searches to temporary large-scale industrial needs and all verticals in between, Imagine has the capacity, capability, and internal resources to fulfill all their clients’ needs. Although Imagine Staffing is a national staffing and recruitment firm, their headquarters resides in Buffalo, NY and has since their inception in 2009. Along with the growth of Buffalo, Imagine too has impacted the local community by greatly aiding in the startup landscape – proving that price isn’t the only thing that matters.

Imagine Staffing has helped numerous startup companies in recent years, growing strong partnerships that include consulting over Buffalo’s expansive and diverse talent pool and coming to the aid of their clients during the challenges of the pandemic, followed by The Great Resignation. The employees at Imagine understand that the foundation of a startup may not yet be poured (metaphorically and realistically) and take honest concern in a company’s new and evolving culture, framework, and strategy. It is imperative that businesses understand one of their most important assets to shape results is their employees. Imagine Staffing strives to earn relationships with new startups by proving they’re not like other recruiting firms.

“We have one startup that originally came to us with an Account Executive role, and we’ve hired a few more positions for them since then; one of those specific candidates has completely changed the culture of their organization for the better, and that client is forever grateful.”, explains a Client Development employee at Imagine Staffing.

“A meeting with a new company isn’t a one-and-done. It includes hours of effort put into multiple meetings to gain trust and ensure that our comprehensive strategy is going to work. Plus, we understand that they have so much at stake – the costs are greater on so many levels. It forces you to put yourself into that framework of the entrepreneurial mindset to achieve their goals.”

Imagine Staffing understands that the competition is tough, trust is a huge factor, and there’s significant consultative transfer that goes into the process. Some of the startups that Imagine Staffing currently works with include MemoryFox, CrowFly, ZIZO Technologies, Arbeit Software, Garland Technology, Insiuss Health, ShearShare, and Kickfurther, among others. Here’s what some of those companies had to say about Imagine Staffing:

Megan Baldi, Chief of Staff, ZIZO Technologies:

Hiring for a startup is exhausting! I love how flexible and agile they [Imagine] are in sourcing the perfect candidate in our ever-changing environment. Most startup employees are filling multiple roles and it leaves little time for screening and sourcing quality candidates. Imagine delivers pre-screened and interested candidates right to my inbox, making it much easier to quickly find the right fit. I also love that Imagine is a part of our community. Whether it’s running into each other at community events or having their support for everything we do, I always feel like they are cheering us on from the sidelines, whether they’re actively placing with us or not.

Matt Hughes, Sales Manager, Kickfurther

Imagine Staffing has helped Kickfurther by providing a solid group of talented, motivated candidates with unique skillsets as we’ve continued to quickly grow. They clearly understand Kickfurther’s needs, which has alleviated the process of searching and hiring by putting talent right in front of us and allowed our organization to scale at the rate we need to. The process has been incredibly efficient, from finding candidates to coordinating interviews – Imagine has made everything seamless, including their flexibility with our schedules.

I’m excited about what the future holds between Kickfurther and Imagine. Our organization continues to grow, and our needs for top talent in a variety of departments continues to expand. Working with Imagine’s team has provided us the confidence and comfort in knowing that, as crazy as the market has been these past couple of years, we’re still able to see some of the top talent out there.

Imagine Staffing is also the Official Talent & Workforce Solutions Partner of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. They are heavily involved in volunteering within the WNY community and have recently made a generous donation to the Western New York Impact Investment Fund, which makes investments that generate both financial and social returns while helping to accelerate the economic resurgence of Western New York. This includes job creation and preservation, landfill reduction, environmental sustainability, neighborhood revitalization, agricultural development, and more.

If you’re interested in learning more about Imagine Staffing or having an initial conversation, you can visit their website at https://www.imaginestaffing.net/, email hello@imaginestaffing.net, or give them at direct call at 716-218-7819 and ask for Tammy Hink, Director of Revenue.

References 43 North. (2022, 4 25). Retrieved from https://www.43north.org/ WNY Impact. (2022, 4 25). Retrieved from https://wnyimpact.com/