Buffalo Bills CBA report shows $3.6 million invested in Western New York

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Golden Cup Coffee co-owner Larry Stitts has been running the cafe with his wife for more than a decade.

“The Golden Cup is my passion,” Stitts said. “We’re dedicated to the community. We’re here to serve the community and we’d love to be anywhere but here on the East Side on Jefferson Avenue.”

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His company is one of many to benefit from the Buffalo Bills’ Community Benefits Agreement. It’s a legally binding agreement that provides that the community as a whole will benefit from the stadium’s construction. The goal is for the community to receive at least $3 million in investment each year.

The Buffalo Bills released their first of many CBA reports on Monday, said Penny Semaia, vice president of stadium relations.

“That first year, the goal was $3 million, and we were able to reach $3.6 million,” Semaia said.

He said the money invested is divided into three pillars:

• community and civic programs
• economic development
• youth and education

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“We’re excited because we have the history of what we’ve continued to do, but also the potential opportunities for more things to come along and contribute to the continued growth of Western New York,” Semaia said.

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Through this agreement, Golden Cup Coffee was able to participate in Erie County’s Level Up program, created in partnership with the county and Legislature Speaker April Baskin. Level Up is a comprehensive service initiative for underserved business owners in Erie County.

Stitts participated in the Taste of Diversity program, a six-week pilot project that trained five restaurants to work in a fast-paced kitchen in a stadium-like concession environment.

“Five companies participated in the ECC for six weeks and they studied us to see how we operated and it was a very successful project,” Stitts said.

He said he hopes one day his coffee will be available in the new stadium.

“Because we’ve been involved from the beginning and we want to see what happens at the end,” he said.

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Collin Bishop, communications director for FeedMore WNY, said the CBA further strengthens the partnership between the organization and the Bills, including through community food drives throughout the year.

“We need more resources and more partners like the Bills to continue to do the work that we do,” Bishop said. “I think the CBA is going to continue to build on the long-standing relationship that we have with the Bills and the Bills Foundation is going to continue to do great work in the community and support FeedMore Western New York and all of our needs.”

Baskin shared the following statement with 7 News regarding the CBA report: