Niagara County's Industrial Development Agency has signed off on four projects expected to lead to more than thirty new jobs and a private sector investment of $11 million.  The projects include renovations to the Comfort Inn The Pointe Hotel in Niagara Falls; conversion of the Moore Business Forms building in the Falls to a Courtyard by Marriott hotel; construction of a visitors center at the Lockport  Cave and Underground Boat Ride and renovations to Lockport's Old City Hall by The Flight of Five Winery.

The January unemployment rate for the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area was 9.6%.  The previous year, it was 9.1%.

Several UB graduate and professional degree programs made the cut for this year's ranking of "America's Best Graduate Schools" by U.S. News & World Report.

"Accounting Today" Magazine has ranked a pair of Western New York accounting firms among its top 100 CPA firms in the country.  The Bonadio Group and Freed Maxick CPA's both made the cut.