WEDI News
November 26, 2024
Empire State Development Announces the Opening of The Monroe in Buffalo
Empire State Development today announced a ribbon cutting marking the official opening of The Monroe, a $8.4 million rehabilitation project in Buffalo that converted the iconic Record Theatre complex to 17 affordable apartments and 11,400 square feet of commercial and retail space. There are six commercial spaces in the complex, including two international restaurants run by graduates of the Westminster Economic Development Initiative’s West Side Bazaar incubator.
July 25, 2024
TIME Magazine's World's Greatest Places 2024
TIME magazine recognized Buffalo's AKG as one of the world's greatest places while highlighting other Buffalo projects like the West Side Bazaar and the Richardson Hotel.
May 28, 2024
A Visit To Buffalo Convinced Me It's One Of The Best Affordable Cities In New York
The Westminster Economic Development Initiative ("WEDI" for short), was founded in 2006 as a literacy initiative serving Buffalo's West Side neighborhood, and since then, the organization has launched six community-based programs that serve Buffalo in different capacities.
April 1, 2024
For our Most Buffalo Story of the Day, 2 On Your Side is taking you on a field trip to the new West Side Bazaar. WGRZ Channel 2 Buffalo got to talk with the Executive Director about this year's WEDIFest.
March 26, 2024
JPMorgan Chase, Pathstone join effort to support regional entrepreneurs
CapitalConnectNY.org has received a $250,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase, which will fund training and technical assistance in preparing businesses to seek capital and connect them to the appropriate funders, using online and digital resources, including the CapitalConnectNY.org portal. The portal was created by a consortium of four Community Development Financial Institution Fund financing organizations, including Launch NY, The Enterprise Center at PathStone, the Westminster Economic Development Initiative and Pursuit.
March 8, 2024
Chartwells dining partners to offer "pop-up" food vendors at Buffalo State
The semester-long pop-ups are part of a partnership between Chartwells Higher Ed college dining service and the Westminster Economic Development Initiative, the non-profit behind Buffalo’s Downtown and West Side bazaars.
February 15, 2024
Buffalo State University and WEDI partner to bring authentic cuisine to campus
Buffalo State University and Westminster Economic Development Initiative are partnering to help support small businesses get their roots in Buffalo, but to also bring authentic cuisine to the campus.
Visit Buffalo Niagara: February 2, 2024
Incubating Buffalo's Global Food Scene
West Side Bazaar brings people together from near and far.
National Trust for Historic Preservation: January 25, 2024
West Side Bazaar had long needed more space to grow. For years, the small-business incubator housed about a dozen restaurants and retail shops in a 3,200-square-foot former Blockbuster Video on Grant Street in Buffalo, New York. With just a 47-seat capacity, the market accommodated 90,000 visits a year. WEDI had plans in motion to find the bazaar a larger home. The organization purchased an early 20th century warehouse on Niagara Street in 2018 that once housed a Prohibition-era bootlegging operation run by the Illinois Alcohol Company.