Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 3rd 2008, 8:44am By queenseyes

When Buffalo eventually reinvents itself, what will our business climate look like? Every day we see growth in the medical industry. We have also seen a spike in tech. These are both great industries to cast our lines towards for sure, but what else is out there that could take advantage of our climate, our natural resources and our labor force. Just this morning I received a very interesting email from The Wind Action Group. The email contained a shout out from a Canadian solar boat company expressing an interest in setting up shop in Buffalo. That, I thought to myself, would be an excellent fit for our city's future. Not only does it support green technology - it would also take advantage of our waterfront.

Apparently the Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company located in Orillia, Ontario, has been in contact with one of our favorite pro-waterfront boat builders, John Montague. The company is considering moving their production operations here, and have expressed an interest in a location along our Outer Harbor. From the email correspondence:

"Our primary product is a zero-emission solar-powered recreational vessel called the Loon, the first such commercially-available boat in the world, which we are presently redesigning and preparing for full-scale production in spring 2009 with enhanced features and functionality. It is a very capable and remarkable 8-passenger vessel which will redefine recreational boating as we know it. We have had significant interest in exporting this product to other countries and unlike any boat before it, we are designing it to be easily packed into a standard shipping container (four per container) for easy export. We have been reading of your efforts in Buffalo and would like to meet with you and your group to talk to you more about our plans to potentially relocate in NY."

As we all know by now, projects like the windmills and the future addition of hydro turbines in the Niagara River have sparked an interest in Buffalo becoming a place where alternative energy can be harnessed and capitalized upon. Every time we see a company like the Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company looking to possibly relocate here, we should help them in any way that we can. The solar boat company recently secured a $500,000 grant from NYSERDA - a grant that will be used to continue to develop the boat pictured above called the Loon. The company is looking to team up with other local renewable energy producers, wherever they choose their future home. It is also looking for additional funding opportunities to advance the production effort's launch.

What should Buffalo's role be in attracting these sort of companies? Are we prepared to break down a business model in order to realize what the future reward is when compared to initial investment? Does John Montague have the help he needs when it comes to wooing a business from Canada? Or do we throw a feather into the air and hope that the winds of change carry it in the right direction?

Contact information for Tamarack can be found here. Here is the company's website. I say, strike while the iron is hot.