Flock, today I attended a ribbon cutting.

Correction: I attended the ribbon cutting of the year here in Niagara Falls. A ribbon cutting with City Officials, County Legislators, State Senators, Priests, kids that climb on rocks…

That’s right: I was as the TReC by Niagara Global Tourism Institute ribbon cutting.

For those not in the know, TReC is a business incubator/coworking office space: the first of its kind in Niagara Falls.

TReC is actually part of the larger 616 Niagara project (named after its address) constructed by TM Montante. The turn-of-the-century buildings were completely revitalized. (Which obviously could not be said for the now demolished Johnnie Ryan building that was just up the street).

Since NGTI is an offshoot of Niagara University, there was a lot of purple at this event. University President Father Maher opened the show up today with some great talking points. Calling TReC a “living example of experiential learning leading to the revitalization of Niagara Falls.”

With Niagara U’s whole marketing push focusing on the “Power of Niagara”, you could be sure that this private-public partnership is strong.

Speakers included NGTI head Pat Whalen, State Senator Rob Ortt, and Assemblyman Angelo Morinello.

Oh, and #ThomasBurns was MCing this event.

There were so many great speakers and talking points, but the one that made me physically jump over several people was Mayor Paul Dyster.

If you’re not familiar with Mayor Paul “dad-joke” Dyster’s speeches, you’re missing out. He opened with an incredibly obscure in-joke about a Photoshopped image of some Empire State power players on camels by asking Howard Zemsky and Governor Andrew Cuomo when he would get his own camel. Seriously, I wrote an entire post about it in 2017.

His speeches are genuine, and a little goofy, but I love them (and will miss them when he retires at the end of the year).

Dyster did not disappoint at today’s ribbon cutting, starting off by talking about the old days where “work could be slave to the man” regarding free time. He then said the line I want mailed to every manager on the face of the earth:

“Oftentimes if you sneak up on a Millennial on their laptop or phone and think they’re goofing off you’ll find out that they’re actually working.”

He stressed how the modern era makes it impossible to escape work, effectively making everyone “on-call” 24/7. So for all you Millennials and Zoomers out there, rest assured there’s at least one Baby Boomer that gets it.

He also pulled out the dream goal he’s been pushing for a while: to make Niagara Falls the “Tourism Technology Capital of the World.” TReC really does bring us closer to that, and it really is a great goal to aim for.

Also, Mayor Dyster went on an…interesting tangent. Bringing up the War of the Currents between Tesla and Edison, Dyster asked what would have happened in TReC existed for Tesla back then.

His postulation? America would not have hunted for oil, electric would reign supreme, and we wouldn’t be in our current Climate Change predicament.

Flock, he literally said an 1890s version of TReC could have prevented Global Warming. I think TReC should put that on their marketing.

That being said, it probably would fit in with TReC’s marketing. Two of my favorite bullets from the included amenities list are “Fax Machine (what’s that?)” and “TELEX (just kidding).” This entire space feels so modern, with some great industrial-chic repurposing just adding to the feeling that you’re in a psuedo San-Fran or NYC.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Niagara University if Father Aidan Rooney wasn’t on hand to bless the building.

Then it was time for the ribbon cutting.

So, if you’re looking for a great coworking space in Niagara Falls for your business, obviously TReC is the place to go.

What do you think flock? Are you as excited about TReC as I am? Leave a comment down below, and be sure to check out TReC’s Facebook Page!

-Sheepie ❤