The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) is a medical center of health care, life sciences research and medical education institutions, co-located on in Buffalo, New York. The BNMC was founded in 2001 by a consortium (including the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center). This project comprises one of the five "Strategic Investment Areas" that make up Buffalo, NY's Queen City Hub Plan, the city's strategic plan for urban redevelopment. History The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC, Inc.) is the umbrella organization created in 2001 by the institutions within the Medical Campus in Buffalo, New York. Since then, the campus has grown to over seven institutions, including Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo General Hospital and the University at Buffalo School of Medicine. The not-for-profit organization was created to foster conversation and collaboration among member institutions, their employees, and the community. It also coordinates activities related to sustainable planning, development and enhancement of the 120-acre space which includes working to create a distinct, innovative environment that provides opportunities for entrepreneurship and active and healthy living. The Medical Campus encompasses 6.5 million square feet of existing clinical, research, and support space today. There is more than two million square feet under construction totaling an investment of more than $750 million in private and public funding. Some 12,000 people work on the Medical Campus today, and that number is expected to rise to nearly 17,000 by 2017. On an annual basis, more than 1.5 million patients and visitors go through BNMC's doors. In January 2016, The Buffalo News reported the Buffalo-Niagara region's unemployment in December 2015 was only 4.9 percent, the lowest level in nine years according to the New York State Department of Labor. The low unemployment was attributed to large building projects such as SolarCity and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus which fueled a hiring boom for construction workers with job growth running at an average pace of 1.6 percent which is more than double the rate of hiring during 2014 and nearly three times stronger than the employment gains during both 2012 and 2013. As of the beginning of February 2016, minority and women-owned businesses have been awarded more than $55 million in contracts for work on the UB Medical School building under construction on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Future It is estimated that by 2017, combined with the initiatives of Roswell