By Samson Weinberg
There’s no doubt that Rochester, New York is growing. As younger families move to the city and there becomes a greater demand for jobs and entertainment, new companies are discovering the advantages of rooting themselves in Rochester. Rochester has the advantage of being relatively close to big hubs with plenty of financial opportunities while remaining lowkey enough to remain affordable for newer companies. The state wants those companies to move to Rochester and is making efforts to further incentivize them. Long-term economic development plans, with state investments and job creation programs offering specific advantages to not simply businesses in general, but the specific types of businesses that Rochester wants to attract.
A targeted approach to attracting companies is crucial to Rochester’s long-term plans. While restaurants, for example, are important to any city, they won’t necessarily add a lot of jobs to Rochester. Nor will they necessarily last. For Rochester to grow its job opportunities and sustain those jobs for the long-term, it’s important that businesses within certain sectors settle in the city. Rochester is, in particular, targeting tech companies for a number of different reasons. Currently, three different companies have answered that call. They include CloudCheckr, a company that specializes in cloud management, Mastodon Design, which manufactures communication hardware, and Calero Software. These companies are either moving to or expanding in Rochester, and are bringing plenty of jobs with them. Obviously, the state and Rochester, in particular, are making practical and financial concessions in order to attract these companies. Let’s look into why these companies are ideal for this type of project, and what they’ll bring to the table in turn.
Why Tech Companies?
CloudCheckr, Mastodon Design, and Calero Software are diverse companies and are different from each other in various ways. However, they do have one thing in common: they are all tech companies. It’s important that tech companies, versus other types of businesses, settle and expand in Rochester. There is a national demand for tech companies, and that demand will only grow as the nation becomes more dependent in technology. For example, as 82% of companies are relying on the cloud to save money, cloud management companies like CloudCheckr will become increasingly necessary to the running of a healthy and financially successful business. Tech companies, in general, have contributed to the growth of the nation’s economy in recent years, and it stands to reason that they will contribute to the growth of a state or city as well. There is certainly a good deal of money in tech; currently, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is valued at $286.25 billion. As there are 100 billion searches each month on Google, that number can only be expected to grow over time. Tech also provides a wide variety of job opportunities. While programmers and IT specialists are the primary recipients of tech jobs, there are also opportunities for sales professionals, corporate professionals, and of course laborers who can contribute to the upkeep of an office environment. As long as tech companies thrive in Rochester, these jobs will continue to exist.
What Can These Companies Contribute To Rochester?
So, what can CloudCheckr, Mastodon Design, and Calero Software contribute to the economic landscape of Rochester? By 2025, it’s expected that CloudCheckr can add 400 jobs to the city. Mastodon Design, in turn, should around 235 jobs to the community. Finally, Calero Software is expected to bring about 100 jobs. This is just the growth expected within the next few years or so. Over time, even more growth can potentially occur, especially if these companies flourish within Rochester in particular. Furthermore, CloudCheckr has connections with major companies like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Its partnerships with such tech titans make it an attractive opportunity for Rochester professionals looking to expand into the tech world. Of course, Maston Design, in turn, works with the U.S. Department of Defense, which of course offers a good deal of stability. It’s undeniable that there are financial incentives for these companies to choose Rochester as their expansion sites. Calero will receive $1 million in state aid, and CloudCheckr will receive $8 million in tax credits — but only if they create the jobs that they promise. Therefore, these companies are not getting something for nothing from Rochester. They must fulfill their promises, and create opportunities within Rochester.
Why Do These Companies Wish To Expand In Rochester?
What is the appeal of Rochester to these tech companies, outside of the state aid and tax credits promised? As previously mentioned, the city offers a lot in terms of location. While it is not too close to New York City, it is within the same state and therefore offers easy access to this major city. Tech companies have long been drawn to cities that offer an opportunity for expansion. These companies require a good deal of space in order to create the jobs they promise — though not all of them must be exactly within a specific office or warehouse, as people can conduct business from almost anywhere thanks to current technology. Rochester is not overly populated or overgrown in terms of professional development. There isn’t too much competition present for tech companies, which allows them to organically grow and put a real stamp on the city. It’s important for tech companies, in particular, to have a strong presence in the locations wherein they expand. Locations like Rochester are not so small that they require too much aid from the companies that expand within them, but are still open to growth.
Rochester is home to many small businesses (of which there are roughly 28 million in the U.S.), but the presence of these companies in Rochester is exciting and will ideally present new jobs and financial opportunities for Rochester residents. While it may seem like a risk at first, particularly since 70% of all business partnerships fail, it is in fact a calculated risk for the city and the state, made with the city’s economic future in mind.
Tags: job growth, jobs, tech
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Rochester is certainly a mecca where clever companies get to empty taxpayer pockets. UofR and their happy collection have COMIDA bonding their ify deals the Dorm Authority wouldn’t touch. We have Photonics, the Vacuum on the Lake too. Hundreds of jobs according to Lying Louise and Baby Cuomo, Millions of tax $$$ and there are 7 jobs and ZERO income, but it’s cheaper than what Tesla scored from the Buffalo Billion.
COMIDA was so embarrassing it had to change its name after the Board of Directors walked off.
What was the name of that fly by night company that got a chunk of Midtown dirt for their new headquarters and tons of tax $$$ Windblow or some such.
Sorry, I been around a while and I no longer believe.
If a miracle comes to pass and Kodak reopens May 1 there isn’t enough power to light the lights. Russel, Beebe and Station 5 are gone. Rochester makes virtually no electrons.
That don’t bring industry.
How’s B&L doing lately, or Xerox? Industry saw the handwriting on the wall and left town.
Nobody will come to Arnie Rothchild’s dream theater if they can’t make a living in Rochester, and transient office tech jobs don’t last.
Rochester is Detroit lite.