Mayor Duffy has Invested in the Economic Development of our City:

• Revitalizing Downtown 
  Thanks to Governor Spitzer and to Arunas Chesonis, Midtown will be demolished and the world headquarters of PAETEC will be built on part of the old Midtown site. 
   
  With the support of ESL Chief Executive Officer David L. Fiedler, ESL Federal Credit Union — one of the largest and most successful credit unions in the country — chose downtown Rochester to build a new, six-story corporate headquarters. 
   
• Rebuilding and revitalizing Rochester, street by street and neighborhood by neighborhood.  
  Launched an aggressive demolition campaign to eliminate a backlog of vacant, unsalvageable buildings and funded it with $5.8 million. 
   
  Not only did we eliminate our backlog, but we exceeded our goal, taking down 410 structures as a result of the Mayor’s accelerating demolition program.
   
• Recruited Price-Rite, a full-service grocery store, to replace the Wegmans at Dewey and Driving Park Ave. in Maplewood.
  Neighbors were very concerned that the departure of Wegmans would leave them without a grocery store nearby.
   
  Price-Rite’s entry into the Rochester market will mean that City residents will have good choices to meet their household needs.
   
• Made the difficult but necessary decision to sell the Fast Ferry.
  Effectively marketed and sold the vessel, using proceeds to pay down the City’s debt.
   
• Held the line on major tax increases
  Made tough choices to arrive at a balanced budget that addressed our priorities without overburdening taxpayers. 
   
• Brought renewed excitement and thousands of people to downtown Rochester 
  Increased support for events like the Rochester International Jazz Festival, MusicFest, Rochester Criterion bike race, Taste of Rochester, the High Falls/Rochester International Film Festival, Parties in the Park and Laser and Light shows. 
   
  We’re attracting more people who not only have a great time, but in turn pump money back into our economy.  
   
• Actively recruited new investments and ventures, and continue working to encourage more businesses to come to this area 
  Among our many successes, we attracted one of the fastest-growing companies from Silicon Valley, high-tech manufacturer Animatics Corp., to establish a new office in Rochester. 
   
  HF Technologies, a maker of parts for copiers and printers, relocated its manufacturing plant here from China, creating 76 jobs over five years and investing $1.3 million in improvements to its plant on Emerson Street in connection with the move. 
   
  Carestream Health Inc., the new company created by the acquisition of the Kodak health business by Onex Corp., established their worldwide headquarters in Rochester and employs 1,400 workers locally. 
   
  Printing and imaging supplier Nu-kote moved its headquarters here from Franklin, TN, bringing 150 jobs to the area. 
   
• Implemented nationally-recognized lead paint inspection program
  We now have one of the most proactive and innovative programs in the nation to combat the dangers of childhood lead poisoning.  
   
• Secured funding to break ground on the Frederick Douglass Resource Center
  Frederick Douglass was a giant in our community and this center has been a long time coming. It is a truly collaborative funding effort – the City is investing $550,000 and, thanks to the efforts of Assemblyman David Gantt and Senator Joe Robach, N.Y. State has contributed $650,000, to the project. 
   
  The Resource Center will significantly enhance African-American cultural program opportunities and offer increased capacity to provide library resources in the community. 
     
• Establishing tax break for owner-occupied housing downtown 
   
• Establishing a Brownfield Clean-up revolving loan program. 
   
• Streamlined code compliance for city businesses 
  Eased the burden on our city’s small businesses, ensuring that the City has the tools it needs to close down illegal businesses more quickly. 
   
• Aggressively pursuing market rate and affordable housing in downtown 
  We’ve had great success with Corn Hill Landing, Chevy Place and the Sagamore. The Artcraft housing project is now on-line, and we are moving forward with the Mills at High Falls project. 
   
• Meet with business owners weekly, one-on-one 
  Joined Economic Development Commissioner Carlos Carballada to meet with business owners weekly, one-on-one, to see how we can better serve their needs and help retain our businesses.