Money

To start off this morning, we'd like to offer a big welcome to Investigative Post, an investigative journalism project for western New York, hosted by Jim Heaney, formerly of the Buffalo News.  They crew starts off with a bang: a debrief on the governor's plan to spend a billion dollars in economic development money in Buffalo.

And today in your Trail Mix:

Business incubation ain't easy.

A small town wins the first round in the fight to ban drilling.

Plus, a thaw in sales forecasts at the Syracuse auto show.

Correction: We originally referred to one of NxtArrow's incubator clients as "WorkSmart Solutions" in this story, but as founder Michelle Maria Nicholas notes in a comment below, the name of her firm is "WorkSmart Small Business Support, LLC." The Innovation Trail regrets the error.

One trip around the sun ago, NxtArrow launched in Buffalo.

To recap, this for-profit private business incubator offers free rent and other services for any business willing to move to western New York.

While the venture saw some success in its first year, it also experienced some growing pains.

The month of March is around the corner, and in the minds of auto dealers, it not only brings warmer temperatures, but also customers back to their lots.

And after a few years of hard times and sluggish sales, they’re more optimistic going into their busy selling season.

“The spring season is one of our best parts of the year for selling vehicles. And I think this year we have something to look forward to,” East Syracuse Chevrolet salesman Perry Richardson said at this past weekend’s Syracuse Auto Show. He’s worked the show for two-decades.

In an audit released Wednesday, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli cited Broome County's Industrial Development Agency (BCIDA) for a conflict-of-interest.

The problem: George Akel, the IDA's chairman of the board, is also part owner of a company involved in one of the agency's big ticket projects.

The comptroller says that's a no-no.

The move to downtown Syracuse was three years in the making for Nicole Samolis. That’s how long it took her to convince her husband to forgo their home in the suburbs.

The couple lives in the newly renovated Dey’s Plaza. The building was once a large department store, and then failed as an office building.

But since it was converted to apartments a few years ago, there’s been a waiting list to get in. Samolis was sold on the place by its view of Syracuse landmarks like the county courthouse.

This is a how the city of Rochester describes its Inner Loop:

The Inner Loop Expressway rings the City of Rochester’s Central Business District like a noose, strangling the downtown area from adjacent vibrant densely-populated neighborhoods. 

The above is from a failed 2009 application [PDF] for $22.5 million in federal transportation funding. Late last year, the city struck out again with the feds - this time in a bid for a $14.7 million TIGER grant.

Now, in a letter to City Council, Mayor Tom Richards wants to spend $2 million for another shot at filling in the city's sunken expressway.