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Most people would rejoice to hear that fewer people are moving out of Western New York.
But for Greg Fierle, CEO at Cook Moving Systems Inc. of Cheektowaga, declines in interstate moves gets a different reaction - and not what you might expect.
"Ten years ago, 90 percent of our business was moving famines. Now it's half of our business," he said. "The other half is doing things like office moving, distribution work and home deliveries."
Though the residential moving business is down Cook Moving is seeing business grow through diversification and some acquisition. The company recently expanded business in the Western New York region and is in the process of building a new facility at its Florida division. Locally, the company expects to add three or four positions this year.
"There's no doubt," the economy is improving, Fierle said. "In Western New York, we've got about 100 employees, an increase of probably 30 to 35 percent."
Small and mid-sized companies around the country see business and the economy looking up, according to the TEC Confidence Index and quarterly survey of more than 2,300 CEOs conducted by TEC International, a membership group for chief ecutives. According to the survey:
* More than two thirds of CEOs say economic conditions are better than a year ago.
* Most firm expect the pace of economic growth in 2005 to be strong enough to justify...