Letter to Penny Pritzker, Secretary of the Department of Commerce - Designate Rochester and Finger Lakes as Manufacturing Communities

Letter

Dear Secretary Pritzker:

We are pleased to write in support of the application submitted by the City of Rochester for the Rochester-Finger Lakes region to be designated a Manufacturing Community through the Economic Development Administration's Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) Program.

For over 100 years, four large manufactures, Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Lomb, and General Motors, employed nearly one-fifth of the local workforce and had an impact on half of the region's economy. Up until the mid-1990s, the region led the State of New York in manufacturing, exports, job creation and other economic measures. Manufacturing job losses that occurred with the downsizing and offshoring of these large employers hit the region particularly hard, and from 2000 to 2010, over 43,000 manufacturing jobs were lost.

Despite these challenges, manufacturing, particularly in optics, photonics, and imaging, as well as other advanced manufacturing sectors, remains critical to the Finger Lakes economy. In particular, the Finger Lakes region is home to the most robust, sophisticated and highly integrated optics, photonics and imaging supply chain in the nation. The area's manufacturing sector is resurging in the form of smaller industries, and especially advanced manufacturing and the fields of precision manufacturing, optics, and photonics. According to the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster, a local industry trade association, the region houses more than 75 optics, photonics and imaging companies employing 17,000 people resulting in over $3 billion in annual sales. By coordinating efforts and building on areas of strength, including an educated workforce, world-class educational and research institutions, the region's manufacturing ecosystem, and key infrastructure like Eastman Business Park, we can accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing in the region and create new manufacturing jobs throughout the greater Finger Lakes area.

Securing a federal designation as a Manufacturing Community through the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership Program will give the Finger Lakes Region increased access to federal funding and support that is critical to strengthening the existing advanced manufacturing clusters of precision manufacturing, optics and photonics in the greater Rochester region. As part of this proposal, the City of Rochester is leading a consortium of academic institutions and training centers, local governments, and community, economic development and workforce organizations to implement a strategic plan for redeploying the legacy physical and human assets in the 9-county Finger Lakes Region.

The strategic plan will include leveraging the extensive physical assets in the region, including the facilities and equipment at Eastman Business Park and other idle or underutilized manufacturing sites. The plan will also utilize the region's strong network of private and state universities, colleges and community colleges to assist in the technological and business planning and workforce training activities required to successfully revitalize the region's manufacturing ecosystem. A federal designation as a Manufacturing Community will not only open up preference consideration for up to $1.3 billion in federal economic development funding for the Finger Lakes region, but will also help generate additional opportunities for private foreign and domestic investment that will further position the region as a magnet for new manufacturing companies, strengthening the area's economy and creating much-needed jobs.

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