BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The new Highmark Stadium Community Benefits Oversight Committee gathered Monday for a second public meeting.
The group's focus is to ensure that the Western New York community benefits from the Buffalo Bills new $1.5 billion stadium.
Being a part of the oversight committee is a role that Reverend Mark Blue, the President of Buffalo's NAACP, takes seriously.
"This is very important to our community, to the life of our community," said Rev. Mark Blue, who was elected chair of the committee on Monday. "We will ask those questions, we will dig into the information, we will make sure that all in that agreement is being done. That's our job."
Front and center Monday was an update on where the stadium project stands in meeting workforce inclusion goals for minority, women, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
While the stadium construction project is currently hitting its workforce goals for minority-owned businesses, it is still behind on including women-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
Still both Reverend Blue and Penny Semaia, Buffalo Bills Vice President for Stadium Relations, believe progress has been made on reaching the workforce-related goals established in the Community Benefits Agreement. Semaia says he remains optimistic that the goals will be met.
"We are excited to see how it's projecting," said Semaia. "We are pretty confident that the public will see a continuous pattern of growth."
Reverend Blue believes the addition of Community Engagement Coordinator, Developments by JEM, and Compliance Consultants, Modern Times Inc. with AA Report Writing & Consulting has helped get the word out to interested contractors.
"We have more opportunities for more minorities to be a part of this, to learn, to help build capacity, and I believe with the outreach that is being done, and the team working with the contractors, that have been looking into, and doing the outreaches, it's going to be an opportunity," said Reverend Blue.
The New Highmark Stadium Community Benefits Oversight Committee will also play a role in how the Buffalo Bills pledge of $3 million annually in the community benefits agreement will be dispersed into the Western New York community.
"Poor communities, and other organizations that can help build by giving them the opportunity, or giving them funding," said Reverend Blue. "Especially children, children are our future, to give them a leg up, not a handout, but a leg up, and that's one of the things that we need to have today."
The Highmark Stadium Community Benefits Oversight Committee agreed on Monday to meet monthly moving forward.
