BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County's Level Up pilot program is a new initiative for business owners who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and operate a business in a low income zip code in Western New York.
Erie County legislature chairwoman April Baskin said the pilot program is a separate pipeline for business owners to take advantage of opportunities with the communities benefits agreement.
Larry Stitts, owner of Golden Cup Coffee, urged all minority contractors to "have a good product and do good work," because he said "you can't level up, if you don't get up."
Ron Raccuia, Buffalo Bills chief operating officer, is happy to see this program and that the team is supporting it. He said "the opportunity will give them the resources to compete. We've got to do a better job of getting them involved, we've got to change the rules of the game a bit, and we've committed to doing that."
Darius Myles owns a general contracting firm in Niagara Falls. He admits that it is not always easy for minority contractors to get the big jobs.
"The skill and abilities of different minority-owned companies are certainly there, but a lot of it is cash flow. Sometimes it's management, sometimes it's dealing with some of the larger companies who kind of want to just squeeze smaller companies, and that's quite frankly what happens a lot," Myles said.
Thurman Thomas, the NFL Hall of Fame running back who now owns 34 Group, Inc., added: "Level up meets small businesses where they are at rather than exclude them to where they're not. I take pride in being both a Bills player and the owner of 34 Group, a certified MBE."