Rochester’s colleges drive jobs and economic growth

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Public and private institutions of higher learning are one of the Rochester/Finger Lakes region’s most powerful economic engines, fueling billions in annual output and supporting tens of thousands of jobs. Here are some of the powerful ways in which they do it.

“MCC has a longstanding history of championing innovation and leading workforce and economic development across our region, state, and nation,” said Dr. DeAnna R. Burt-Nanna, Ph.D., president of Monroe Community College (MCC). “From the early 1990s, with the establishment of the Downtown Campus to fit the influx of students, to the new Advanced Technology Center opening in 2026, the college has consistently led the way in addressing the needs of the community to spawn economic growth.”

MCC now serves as the Workforce Component Lead for Semiconductor Talent and Employer Partnership Upstate New York (STEP UP), which is part of the NY SMART I-Corridor, one of the twelve nationwide Tech Hubs created through the federal CHIPS and Science Act funding.

“Additionally, through programs at the Finger Lakes Workforce Development (FWD) Center, housing at MCC Downtown Campus, the College is prepared to meet the region’s evolving workforce needs,” Burt-Nanna said, noting that programs at the FWD Center focus on industry 4.0 technologies, skilled trades, health care, and information technology.

A Lightcast Economic Report (FY 2022 – 2023) showed MCC’s operations, alumni outcomes, and student spending added up to $915 million in added income and supported about 9,808 jobs in the local service area. The report also showed that for every $1 of public investment in MCC, taxpayers receive $2.80 back in added tax revenue and savings.

“MCC creates opportunities for Monroe County residents to earn industry-recognized credentials and start in-demand careers that provide family-sustaining wages,” Burt-Nanna said. “By helping local residents escape poverty, we enable them to contribute to other parts of the community, which fosters further economic growth.”

At the University of Rochester, a key driver of economic development is the sheer number of employees  – about 38,000 currently at the university and its affiliates. A 2021 economic impact report completed by the Center for Government Research identified the University of Rochester and its affiliates as the largest private employer based in upstate New York and the seventh largest private employer in the state.

“The study found that of the top ten private employers in New York State, six of those are universities with health systems,” said Mike Kennerknecht, the University of Rochester’s economic development coordinator and assistant director of state relations. “Eds and meds are drivers for the New York State economy and have been for some time. We’re the largest health system in all of upstate New York, and so just by that, we have a significant economic impact on the region.”

Kennerknecht also points to the university’s ability to regularly attract more than $400M in sponsored research annually from sources ranging from private corporations to the National Institutes of Health, as a critical driver of economic growth.

“The research that’s being done at the university is helping to create companies, and since 2005, there’s been more than 50 startup companies that were formed and licensed and commercialized technology that was developed here at the University of Rochester,” Kennerknecht said.

He identifies two University of Rochester affiliates that are economic development difference makers as well: Excell Partners, a seed-stage venture capital fund that invests in high-tech, high-growth startups in upstate NY, and NextCorps, a nonprofit incubator and accelerator.

“On the startup side of things, from 2018 to 2024, NextCorps helped raise 773 million for startups, 531 startups have been served over those years, and 962 jobs have been created,” said Kennerknecht, who calls NextCorps’ Luminate program a tremendous success story.

Luminate is an accelerator, investment fund, and competition that focuses on companies developing optics, photonics, and imaging-enabled technologies. Since 2018, it has invested $18.8M in over seventy startups.

“A lot of these companies that come to participate are staying in the region,” Kennerknecht said. “And a lot of that comes from optics being part of the DNA of Rochester – it goes back to Kodak and Xerox and our Institute of Optics here at the University of Rochester, which has awarded more than half the optics degrees in the United States.”

At the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), the school’s Strategic Plan (2018–2025) reports a total economic impact in the region of $800 million annually. One of the many ways the school supports economic growth is via strong industry partnerships, such as those in microelectronics, which is the design, fabrication, and study of very small electronic devices, like microprocessors, which are built from semiconductors.

In October 2022, U.S.-based semiconductor company Micron Technology announced that it will be investing up to $100 billion over 20+ years to build a semiconductor fabrication complex in Clay, New York, just north of Syracuse. While the company may have been a new name to some in the region, it was not to RIT.

“RIT, interestingly enough, has had a forty-plus year relationship with Micron, which dates back to 1982 when we launched our bachelor’s degree in microelectronics engineering, which was the first in the nation,” said Christopher Harris, assistant vice president, government and community relations and the Rochester Institute of Technology. “We’ve had students and faculty working with Micron since they were in their infancy.”

Harris  said when Micron announced its new facility, RIT welcomed them with open arms and began helping them navigate the process of building and expanding in New York. Micron expects to begin ground preparation this calendar year following completion of state and federal environmental review processes, per its official New York expansion webpage.

“Even though the project is in Central New York, the Rochester region’s fingerprints are all over the decision to come here,” Harris said. “And I believe that Rochester and the Finger Lakes region are going to play a key role in terms of the talent pipeline for Micron.”

In addition to their undergraduate and graduate degree programs that prepare graduates for careers in the semiconductor industry, RIT is in the process of developing non-degree certificate programs as well.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Micron, and we’re also thrilled just to see New York finally at the center of so much advanced manufacturing attention,” Harris said. “When our students graduate, we love it when they stay in New York, but many of them choose to take opportunities in other states. As Micron comes online and other big investments in New York State come to fruition, it’s going to be exciting to keep more of our students in New York.”

Caurie Putnam is a Rochester-area freelance writers.