Seligman’s very big plan for the very big deal

This city has gone through a stunning loss of industrial
jobs, so it’s not surprising that the photonics institute announcement
dominated the news last week. We’ll be the headquarters! We won a national
competition! The vice president of the United States came to town! And
Rochester has been celebrating ever since.

I’ve been celebrating, too. It’s about time. I’m tired of us
being kicked in the face. I’ve been mad ever since the company formerly known
as Gannett decided that we weren’t good enough to house its national
headquarters. Xerox has shrunk. Bausch and Lomb has
been bought. And Kodak? How could company executives let that
happen?

At long last, somebody recognizes our value.

No one knows yet how many jobs the institute will create, and
the jobs won’t all be located here. We’ll be the headquarters, the hub of the
research and development, but the manufacturing
itself, the jobs that grow out of the institute, could be anywhere. Being the
headquarters could attract companies in that industry to locate here, though.
Community leaders’ words of enthusiasm aren’t hyperbole. This is a big deal.

And as happy as I am about our selection as the photonics
institute’s headquarters, I’m almost as happy about what University of
Rochester president Joel Seligman did soon after the formal announcement.

In the media frenzy leading up to that announcement, there
were reports that the institute’s headquarters would be in the suburbs, at the
Canal Ponds Business Park in Greece. The big announcement to-do, with the vice
president beaming his high-wattage smile, was held in the business park.

But Seligman, whose institution was involved in bidding for
the headquarters, was having none of that. “Rochester,
and I mean the City of Rochester, will be the headquarters for this
effort,” he said at the big announcement. “There are discussions
going on. We’re looking at places like the Sibley building as the potential
headquarters.”

And when the Democrat and Chronicle editorial board
interviewed Seligman and SUNY Polytechnic president Alain Kaloyeros after the
announcement, Seligman was stronger: “There’s a high likelihood that the
business headquarters will be located in Sibley,” he said. “They’ve got the
space, and if we’re going to revitalize Rochester, it starts on Main Street.
Literally, it starts with the Sibley Building.”

The Sibley Building isn’t a done deal. Nobody has promised,
so far, that the photonics headquarters will be anywhere in the city. But
Seligman has done what too many community leaders have failed to do over the
years. They may insist that the city and its health are important. But then
they build in the suburbs, which nibbles away at that
health.

City elected officials, in administration after
administration, have pleaded and preached. And to get development, they’ve been
forced to offer incentives, tax breaks that other city taxpayers have to make
up for.

There have been successes, of course. Over the years, a few
business leaders have recognized the importance of a healthy downtown – have
understood that downtown’s health has a profound impact on everybody in the
region – and so companies like ESL and Nothnagle have moved their headquarters
in. New companies have sprung up in the core of downtown and in the High Falls
area.

And slowly, the momentum has been building. A growing number
of commercial and residential developers are creating new apartments, condos,
and office and retail space downtown. A small step at a time, downtown is
overcoming the loss of retail and big-deal professional firms.

And now a key non-government community leader – someone who
has enormous influence in regional development – has thrown down the gauntlet.
“If we’re going to revitalize Rochester, it starts on Main Street.”

I’m not anti-suburb. Not everyone wants to live or work in
the city. But if the city fails, we all do.“If we’re going to revitalize Rochester, it starts on Main Street.” Thank
you, Joel Seligman.

This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2015.