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Local Leaders Look Forward To Major Investment In The Rochester Area

Michelle Faust
/
WXXI News

Nearly a billion dollars will be invested in the Rochester area over the next several years.

That was a point made by speakers at the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation meeting on the State of the Economy that was held Tuesday.

That money includes about $600 million from the photonics initiative, which involves a technology that uses light and optics in a number of high-tech applications and electronics.

Rob Clark, the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Rochester is a key figure in the photonics initiative, and he spoke at the downtown meeting on the economy. He notes that this area already has a strong foundation in optics.

“We have 80 companies in the area, small to medium enterprises that are working in the field of optics, so we have a great workforce in technical expertise and deep knowledge, so it’s a great opportunity for us.”

Local officials anticipate that the photonics work could eventually result in the creation of several thousand jobs.

Speakers included not only people from the local business sector, but also Leonard Brock, who is Director of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty initiative.

Brock says that in order for this region to succeed, it has to be a viable community for everyone. 

“I think it’s absolutely critical that we address issues of poverty because if you have a community for which poverty is one of the major plagues and then you have an economy that has these new innovations it becomes a tale of two cities which the mayor makes reference to quite often.”

Brock says poverty needs to be addressed while we are also talking about growth.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.