Press 2022
WKBW Channel 7 News: December 15, 2022
Hard hat tour of the new West Side Bazaar
Mercedes Wilson went to the West Side Bazaar and received a hard hat tour. She talked with executive director, Carolynn Welch and WEDI co-founders Betsy Mitchell.
Niagara Frontier Publications: November 12, 2022
Higgins: $375,000 for Westminster Economic Development Initiative
“WEDI has an incredible track record of supporting aspiring entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds,” Higgins said. “The recent fire at West Side Bazaar was devastating for the small businesses operating there and heartbreaking for the community. These funds will help WEDI continue to do what it does best, launch new businesses and sustain them, all over the region.”
Spectrum News: October 12, 2022
Community mobilizing to support West Side Bazaar vendors impacted by fire
For 11 years, the West Side Bazaar stood on Grant Street as a center of cultural exchange. Four retail stores and seven restaurants are now left without a place to do business after a fire broke out on September 20.
WBFO NPR: October 6, 2022
Buffalo, What's Next?: New Americans and Struggle at the West Side Bazaar
Today on Buffalo, What's Next? podcast, we hear from Akec (A-ketch) Aguer of the Nile Restaurant on Grant Street inside the now burnt and temporarily shut down West Side Bazaar.
WGRZ Channel 2 News: September 22, 2022
West Side Bazaar is searching for temporary kitchens after fire
After an accidental fire caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage Tuesday morning, the West Side Bazaar is searching for kitchens for its restaurants to use temporarily.
September 20, 2022
Fire shuts down West Side Bazaar
One of Buffalo’s popular places to eat international foods and shop local is shutting down following a fire early Tuesday morning. Flames swept through the West Side Bazaar building at 25 Grant Street. Smoke and water caused damage to restaurants, clothing, and jewelry vendors.
National Trust Community Investment Corporation: September 13, 2022
NTCIC Summer Recap: Partnership with WEDI's Capital Campaign
The West Side Bazaar expansion project represents the eleventh and final investment supported by NTCIC’s current Irvin Henderson Main Street Revitalization Fund. This fund provides $2 – 4 million in innovative NMTCs for smaller-scale historic rehabilitation projects, maximizing the benefits of both credits within the transaction and helping offset the transaction costs by connecting projects to an experienced team of real estate professionals that understand the needs of small deal financing and provides the NMTC financing in a structure that has no origination or sponsor fees.
August 30, 2022
Construction begins on new West Side Bazaar
Construction on the $11.5 million project to move the Bazaar to Niagara Street is now underway. The West Side Bazaar will move from its 3,200 square-foot home on Grant Street to an old factory with more than 16,000 square feet. The project has been in the works since March of 2021.
WGRZ Channel 2: August 30, 2022
Town Hall: West Side Bazaar
Executive Director Carolynn Welch speaks with Channel 2's Andrew Wooten about the expansion of the West Side Bazaar and its impact on the community.
Buffalo Business First: August 17, 2022
West Side Bazaar lands $925K from Erie County for expansion
The Westminster Economic Development Initiative received $925,000 from Erie County to expand its West Side Bazaar project. The agency is among 36 grantees tapped by the Erie County Cultural Capital Grant Program.
Buffalo News: June 7, 2022
With Black Restaurant Week nearing, Andrew Galarneau offers some of his favorite dishes
Neighborhood revitalization experts say thriving businesses with ownership in the community are key to bringing blocks back. If you’d like to help aid long-term improvement of the economic conditions on Buffalo’s East Side and elsewhere, spending more money at Black-owned businesses there will help.
WKSU Public Radio News for Northeast Ohio: May 20, 2022
Ohio agency that invests in immigrant businesses faces a funding crunch
In an interview with Buffalo News, Carolynn Welch, executive director of the Westminster Economic Development Initiative, said the immigrant and refugee population has revitalized certain neighborhoods like Grant Street. “The community has become a safer community,” she said. “We've seen the economy grow as opposed to continuing to stagnate.”
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
'Breath of fresh air': Residents impressed by design idea, engagement for Bailey
Green Initiative
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
The Buffalo food court making a difference
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
How One Upstate New York Food Court is Changing Hundreds of Live
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
Meet the 30 Under 30 Winners for 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
Westminster Economic Development Initiative honored at IDEA Awards
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 these Rust Belt cities hit by population decline, refugees are bringing revitalization
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
Buffalo Niagara is growing again. How do we capitalize on it?
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
Carolynn Welch knows firsthand how immigrants enrich Buffalo
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
After decades of decline, Buffalo boasts a 'Refugee Renaissance'. Can it last?
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
Buffalo's West Side Bazaar flourishing after recovering from bulgary
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.