The Buffalo News: Turning photonics into jobs in Rochester with
state's help
Published:
Friday, March 18, 2016 - 10:02
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="383"]
Singulus Timaris tool at SUNY Polytechnic Institute Colleges of
Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering in Albany is similar to one
that Photonica will use at Rochester hub, where Photonica and
Avogy plan to employ hundreds. Photo courtesy of
Photonica[/caption]
When Vice President Biden and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo came to Rochester last July to announce plans for a $600 million hub for photonics in the city, the hope was that the research center would be a magnet for companies within the industry.
This week, the photonics manufacturing initiative landed its first two companies – Photonica and Avogy – which pledged to bring 800 jobs in Rochester and spur the creation of more than 600 other jobs at other companies that provide supplies and services to the manufacturers.
The project will use a model similar to the Buffalo Billion economic-development effort in which the state builds and helps equip the factories that the companies occupy.
“That’s going to be transformational for us,” said Robert J. Duffy, president and CEO of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and Cuomo’s former lieutenant governor.
The state agreed to spend $75 million to build “clean rooms” and purchase production equipment for the companies.
Photonica, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company that makes visual and display technology that is used in ultrahigh-definition televisions and large video displays, pledged to create 400 jobs at its research operations at the photonics hub and advanced manufacturing operations at Eastman Business Park. The company currently has some operations at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering in Albany.
Avogy, a Silicon Valley company that is developing inexpensive yet highly efficient power electronics technology that can be used in devices ranging from laptop chargers to data centers and electric vehicles, promised to employ nearly 400 workers, with an average annual salary of more than $80,000, within five years of its opening.
