Buffalo, N.Y. – Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee Thurman Thomas has joined with workwear brand Carhartt to honor the men and women working on the construction of the Buffalo Bills‘ new Highmark Stadium. Thomas, well known in Western New York both for his football legacy and post-retirement business efforts, is also co-founder of the 34 Group commercial construction company, which serves as a general contractor for the stadium project.
The partnership seeks to recognize those building the 62,000-seat venue set to open for the Bills’ 2026 season. Since ground was broken on June 5, 2023, hundreds of local workers—including skilled tradespeople from Thomas’s company—have been involved in constructing the estimated $2.2 billion facility.
Thomas highlighted the importance of these workers in an interview with Bills On SI: “We just want to point out the men and women who are the backbone of the sports industry, especially when you’re talking about building new stadiums across the United States,” Thomas said. “These are the people who wake up every single morning and go to work to make this the best possible sporting venue that they can possibly build. That’s exactly what’s happened here with the Buffalo Bills and Highmark.”
He emphasized community involvement in staffing: “We wanted it to be community built. We wanted to get as many workers from the Buffalo area that could participate in building this new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. It’s hard to get 1400 workers out there at one time, but we wanted the majority of them to be in Buffalo. Then, we would work our way outside of that, but it started here in the community, first,” Thomas said.
On including local labor throughout construction he added: “It’s the community stadium, because the community is really the one that’s building this,” said Thomas.
Carhartt’s contribution includes a $300,000 investment aimed at supporting young people in Buffalo pursuing careers in skilled trades.
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