VOL 26 ISSUE 14, April 7, 2025
Pictured above: Delaware North CEO Jerry Jacobs Jr., and his wife, innovation philanthropist Alice Jacobs, were named to Buffalo Business First’s “Power 250” list.
Influential leadership runs in the family, and the Jacobs family has once again been recognized for their deep commitment to the community in Western New York and beyond.
Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs, CEOs Lou Jacobs and Jerry Jacobs Jr., and Jerry’s wife, innovation philanthropist Alice Jacobs, were each named to Buffalo Business First’s “Power 250” list, an annual ranking of leaders positively impacting Western New York and its future.
Jerry and Alice were recognized jointly as No. 1 in the Power 250 list – the first time in the list’s 13 years that a couple was named to the top ranking – for their significant contributions to the Buffalo business environment, the hospitality industry and the community. Their collaborative efforts have not only propelled Delaware North to new heights but also promoted opportunities for creativity and inclusivity in Buffalo.
The Buffalo Business First article delves into their achievements and impact on Delaware North and the broader community.
An excerpt from the article is below.
“It’s very important to us that we are a big part of the community, not just because it makes us meet or achieve our personal values and view of ourselves or what type of people we want to be, but it’s also really important to our associates that they belong to an organization that is a community partner, that cares and reaches out to show it,” Jerry Jacobs Jr. said.
“We need to do more than just write checks and more than just sit on boards. We need to get out and do more,” he said. “When you talk about power and influence and things of that nature, it’s really about investment and engagement and how it influences – if that even exists – making a difference.”
Efforts in the community have a full-circle effect when it comes to growing the local economy as well, which ultimately helps not just Delaware North but companies across the region.
“From my perspective, it’s about creating pathways for the people of our community, pathways to careers to success,” Jerry Jacobs Jr. said. “But what really needs to happen is – more than it exists today – is for the leadership of the community to coalesce in a way that we plan those pathways on a collaborative basis.”
That starts with education, where both have held leadership positions on school boards, and with the University at Buffalo, where Jerry was recently appointed chair of the UB Council, and at Say Yes Buffalo, where Alice sits on the board.
“Education is really, really important to us because as going back to Jerry’s talking about the pathways for people in our community, it starts with education,” Alice said. “We’ve been big supporters of Say Yes to Education from the beginning. … It’s critical to the health of our community and to successful pathways further on.”