Tag: greater rochester chamber of commerce

Chamber reveals Top 100 fastest-growing Rochester companies

top100-logo-2016_20fc381275e2e168960122f88f348bc2Rochester’s 10-year-old IT and software developer Avani Technology Solutions Inc. has taken the No. 1 spot on this year’s Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce Top 100.

The chamber on Tuesday revealed the region’s 100 fastest-growing privately owned businesses, which will be honored Nov. 1 at the 32nd annual Rochester Chamber Top 100 awards dinner at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

System engineering and photonics technology company Precision Optical Transceivers was the second fastest-growing company in the region, while construction management and design build contractor Taylor, the Builders rounded out the top three.

Sameer Penakalapati, president, Avani Technologies
Sameer Penakalapati, president, Avani Technologies

“This year’s Rochester Chamber Top 100 list shows the fabulous success and amazing diversity that exists in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region’s economic engine,” chamber President and CEO Bob Duffy said in a statement. “Service companies appeared most on the list, followed by construction, technology, manufacturing and financial. The 100 companies combined for more than $12.1 billion in total revenue and employed nearly 23,000 people in the Rochester area.”

To be eligible for the Top 100, businesses must be independent, privately held, headquartered in the nine-county Finger Lakes region and have revenue of at least $1 million in each of the three most recent fiscal years. The program recognizes Rochester’s reputation as a region of innovation spurred by a strong entrepreneurial spirit, officials said.

“I attribute Avani’s success to leveraging technology platforms to serve our customers and employees better, faster and more responsively,” Avani CEO Sameer Penakalapati said. “We are also constantly adding new skills and competencies and focusing on areas that matter most to our customers. Staying focused and frugal while growing the business is also important.”

Todd Davis, CEO, Precision Optical Transceivers
Todd Davis, CEO, Precision Optical Transceivers

This is the fifth time Avani has appeared on the Rochester Chamber Top 100 list; last year the company ranked 14th. The company has 425 employees, including 30 in Rochester.

“A large contributor to our success has been our customer-facing model. Whether in production, engineering or sales, our team members go the extra mile to fulfill customer needs and build strong relationships along the way,” Precision Optical CEO Todd Davis said. “Our customers feel confident in our products and expertise, which I believe is crucial when building long-term partnerships.”

Davis also credits the company’s unique culture and employee benefits for Precision Optical’s success.

Jim Taylor, partner, Taylor, the Builders
Jim Taylor, partner, Taylor, the Builders

“It is rooted in the philosophy that happy employees will take care of their customers and the business will in turn take care of itself,” he explained. “We strive to ensure that our employees feel happy and fulfilled within their roles.”

Precision Optical—which made its Top 100 debut this year—was founded in 2011 and has 37 Rochester-based staffers.

“The people who work here helped us land high on the Rochester Chamber Top op 100,” said Taylor President Karl Schuler. “There are so many talented people in this world. We have some and the competition has some. You can’t control the talent level of your competition, but you can control your own effort and commitment to excellence. Hard work will always beat talent. Know what you don’t know, learn something every day and work hard.”

Karl Schuler, partner, Taylor, the Builders
Karl Schuler, partner, Taylor, the Builders

Taylor, the Builders was founded in 1984 and has 32 local employees. The company is headquartered in Penfield and has appeared on the list four times.

“Rochester Chamber congratulates the Top 100 businesses and wishes them continued success and growth,” Duffy said.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer

ABC event to connect employers with new American community

action-for-a-better-community-logoAction for a Better Community Inc. has teamed with the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the Office of Adult Career Education Services to present a unique learning opportunity for hiring managers.

A “New American Employer Lunch & Learn” event will give human resource personnel, executives and management professionals a chance to learn about the diverse “new American” community in Rochester.

Attendees will engage with a panel of peers, local workforce development program representatives and members of the new American population to hear strategies and success stories for recruiting, hiring, managing and retaining employees from the new American community.

“The Rochester area is rich with community members seeking jobs, companies across a variety of industries that need workers and workforce development programs that provide hands-on training to help people fill these positions,” said Melissa Molongo, ABC’s Office for New Americans (ONA) navigator, in a statement. “However, new Americans often face barriers to obtaining employment due to discrimination, foreign certifications being unrecognized in the U.S. and a lack of guaranteed jobs after spending months in an English language and/or skill-based training program.”

The ONA Immigrant Community Navigator Program is funded by the state Office for New Americans, which defines new Americans as any person who is currently residing in New York State and was not born in the U.S. The program works with community partners to organize events, roundtables, community conversations and trainings to improve access to services for the new American population.

The event will be held June 15 in the Flower City community room of Five Star Bank’s City Gate location.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021

Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer

ON Semiconductor Corp. completes $6.6 million expansion

ON Semiconductor has completed a $6.6 million expansion at Eastman Business Park, a move expected to create 34 jobs and retain 185.
ON Semiconductor has completed a $6.6 million expansion at Eastman Business Park, a move expected to create 34 jobs and retain 185.

ON Semiconductor Corp. on Wednesday officially opened its $6.6 million expansion at Eastman Business Park, a move that is expected to create 34 new jobs at the facility over the next two years.

The expanded test and assembly operation has been several years in the making, beginning when ON Semiconductor in 2014 purchased Truesense Imaging, a Rochester-based provider of high-performance image sensing devices, for some $95 million in cash.

“A few years ago when we acquired Truesense, when I first came (to Eastman Business Park), I can tell you it was a little depressing,” said Mark Goranson, senior vice president of global operations. “We saw the old Kodak buildings that were largely empty and we were talking about trying to make this business cost competitive.”

One of the areas ON Semiconductor officials were considering was Japan, Goranson said, because of the cost-effective nature of doing business there. The company’s now Rochester general manager Michael Miller worked with local and state government, Greater Rochester Enterprise Inc. and others to make the move both cost-effective and viable for the long term.

“Many of you know that part of the success in this area comes from the fact that this region—only one of three in the state—won $500 million just a short time ago under an initiative called the Upstate Revitalization Initiative,” Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a press gathering at ON Semiconductor this week. “The Finger Lakes Forward initiative has brought new money, new energy and new excitement to this area, and that is part of what we’re talking about here today.”

The state’s investment in ON Semiconductor includes a $4.3 million Finger Lakes Forward URI grant, as well as $1.7 million through the Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program, in exchange for job creation commitments.

“These are good-paying jobs that we desperately need in this area so you can support a family (and) send your kids to one of the outstanding educational institutions in this area,” Hochul said. “So this is a quality-of-life place to work.”

Phoenix-based ON Semiconductor is focused on energy efficient innovations in an effort to reduce global energy use. The Rochester site develops and manufactures image sensor devices for commercial, industrial and professional imaging applications, including machine vision, surveillance, traffic monitoring, medical and scientific imaging and photography. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)
Phoenix-based ON Semiconductor is focused on energy-efficient innovations in an effort to reduce global energy use.  (Photo by Velvet Spicer)

Phoenix-based ON Semiconductor is focused on energy-efficient innovations in an effort to reduce global energy use. The Rochester site develops and manufactures image-sensor devices for commercial, industrial and professional imaging applications, including machine vision, surveillance, traffic monitoring, medical and scientific imaging and photography.

The expansion includes both a Class 100 clean room and a Class 10 clean room, a requirement for image sensors. A ballroom design, or open concept, allows flexibility for new products and ease of design change. Automated equipment will help increase output at the expanded facility.

“We understood what it took to keep this facility here. We knew the work that was going to be involved,” Miller said of his pitch to officials. “The grant money that was received … enabled quite a bit of work here.”

The company employs 185 at its Lake Avenue facility and more than 30,000 worldwide. The Lake Avenue facility also houses the American Institute for Manufacturing (AIM) Integrated Photonics headquarters and its test, assembly and packaging facility, which is slated to open later this year.

“One of the things I’m really proud of is the teamwork we have in this community because Mark and Michael and ON, they had choices. The fact that they expanded here makes a difference,” said Bob Duffy, president of Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, noting that the AIM Photonics center was another factor in ON Semiconductor’s decision to expand in Rochester.

“I want to thank Mark for his leadership and for recognizing that there’s no place like Rochester and nobody does it better than Rochester, New York,” Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said. “I want to let you know you have a great team here.”

Warren toured the facility a year ago following a chance encounter with Miller, she noted, a tour that enlightened her to the work being done at the facility.

The Rochester site develops and manufactures image sensor devices for commercial, industrial and professional imaging applications, including machine vision, surveillance, traffic monitoring, medical and scientific imaging and photography. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)
The Rochester site develops and manufactures image-sensor devices for commercial, industrial and professional imaging applications, including machine vision, surveillance, traffic monitoring, medical and scientific imaging and photography. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)

Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo, who grew up in the Kodak Park neighborhood, said she remembered the area in its heyday, as well as during its downturn.

“To see the transformation and what’s happening now in Kodak Park is a testament to what we all know: that Monroe County and the City of Rochester and the people in Rochester and Monroe County have the heart, we have the spirit, we have the talent,” Dinolfo said. “The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well right here at Eastman Business Park and you are really making it happen.”

The ON Semiconductor project builds on and continues the success and rebirth of EBP, the site where Kodak began manufacturing photographic film and paper more than a century ago. Today, the campus supports about 100 companies, employing more than 6,000 people.

“What this is going to end up doing for us is make us more competitive, because we’ll have assembly test operations here now so we can have faster time to market. We’ll actually have much improved quality because we don’t have to ship the product back and forth,” Goranson said. “So we expect much improved quality operations and costs.

“So with all of these advantages we decided to go with the investment here and expand the factory here, largely due to Michael and his team and the government of New York,” Goranson said.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer

Chamber offers opportunities for volunteerism

chamber-impact-logo-final_20fc381275e2e168960122f88f348bc2The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce is encouraging volunteerism and community service through a new series of events.

Rochester Chamber’s IMPACT program will include four events in 2018 including World Read Aloud Day on Feb. 1; food sorting and warehouse work at Foodlink April 12; grounds cleanup and beautification at Willow Domestic Violence Center June 13; and fall grounds cleanup and maintenance at Seneca Park Zoo Oct. 9.

All Rochester Chamber members are eligible to participate in the events.

“Foodlink could not serve those in need and increase healthy food access for all of our neighbors without the support of thousands of loyal volunteers that spend time in our distribution center, kitchen and out in the community assisting our programs,” said Foodlink Executive Director Julia Tedesco. “We look forward to hosting a chamber IMPACT event this April and engaging with more volunteers through the Rochester Chamber website.”

Member organizations and local nonprofits can post their volunteer opportunities on the Rochester Chamber website, where submissions will be reviewed and posted upon approval.

“While we are passionately focused on providing the highest quality business services for our members, Rochester Chamber is also passionate about our community,” chamber President and CEO Bob Duffy said. “The chamber IMPACT program gives our member organizations a chance to give back while working side-by-side with Rochester Chamber staff members who serve them every day.”

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer