Strictly Business

From Business Today:

The jobless rate for February in the Buffalo Niagara region dipped to 8.8 percent, the lowest level for that month since 2008, but it's nothing to crow about. That  rate is still the highest for any February since 1992. Yet experts have said it is going to be a slow climb out of the job loss hole the Great Recession dug for everyone. At the least, the local economic boat is turned and is heading in the right direction.

Six Sigma is the business efficiency program that started with improving processes in manufacturing facilities, but has evolved to encompass all organizations. The University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has a Six Sigma program for its undergraduate and graduate students, and the school is reaching out to local businesses to offer their services. For $4,900, a engineering student studying Six Sigma will spend 12-16 hours a week for two semesters at the business and develop an efficiency plan. The students will be under the guidance of a Six Sigma expert. So far five businesses have jumped at the opportunity.

The interest in hydro-fracking, the system in which underground shale is cracked to release natural gas, has never been higher. The economic boom that the process has yielded in the Marcellus Shale region has been met with ecological concerns about the pollution the process creates. The University at Buffalo is hosting eight free lectures on the topic at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, beginning this week. A senior economist from the Amnerican Petroleum Institute will be the first speaker.

Who is getting hired, promoted and honored?