Optics

Transceiver company moves to Rochester to leverage AIM Photonics infrastructure

April 4, 2017

Precision Optical Transceivers is expanding operations at Eastman Business Park for its proximity to AIM Photonics.

Precision Optical Transceivers is moving to Eastman Business Park to take advantage of the infrastructure afforded by the AIM Photonics initiative.

Precision Optical Transceivers (now in Brockport, NY) has chosen Eastman Business Park (EBP; Rochester, NY) to expand its operation largely due to the proximity of the new AIM Photonics facility located on the campus at ON Semiconductor. Precision employs 20 people, is looking to add another 10 positions once it opens at EBP, and plans to add another 20 jobs over the next two years.

The photonics industry is poised to grow into a $766 billion industry by 2020 according to a report from Transparency Market Research, and Eastman Business Park is taking steps to ensure that some of that growth can be found on its campus. The move of Precision Optical Transceivers is a significant step as EBP positions itself to be the focal point of the photonics industry in New York state.

Eastman Business Park is a 1200 acre R&D and manufacturing campus with over 16 million square feet of multi-scale manufacturing, distribution, lab, and office space. There are currently more than 70 companies onsite employing around 6600 people, many of them responsible for the development of our nation’s next generation technologies in the areas of energy storage, chemical manufacturing, roll-to-roll manufacturing, and photonics.

"The assets we have to offer at EBP will go a long way in helping Precision be even more successful as it becomes one of the earliest members of the new photonics test, assembly and packaging community we're building here," said Dolores Kruchten, president of Eastman Business Park and VP of Eastman Kodak Company. "This is exactly the kind of company we want to partner with, and we're looking forward to a long and productive relationship."

"Our company has been growing rapidly so expansion was inevitable. We wanted to relocate to a place where we not only can continue to grow, but to a place that will actually help us grow," Precision CEO Todd Davis said. "The recent announcement that the AIM Photonics Test, Assembly and Packaging Center would be located in Eastman Business Park means we will be very close to the epicenter of Photonics research and manufacturing growth. And the manufacturing support infrastructure of the Park means we will have access to all the support we need to grow rapidly."

With its optics-rich history, Rochester has invested heavily in the photonics industry in recent years, aiming to create a community of the best and brightest in the field. The New York State Photonics Board announced in March that its headquarters will also be at Eastman Business Park.

Precision Optical Transceivers is planning to open the doors at its new location in EBP in mid-May or early June 2017. Gov. Andrew Cuomo helped announced the news of Precision Optical’s move to Eastman Business Park, highlighting the benefits the company enjoyed from the StartUp NY program.

Supporting the continued growth of Eastman Business Park remains a top priority of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council and the Finger Lakes Forward strategic economic plan. Precision has invested heavily into silicon and integrated photonics over the past two years and expects significant growth in both its technical and manufacturing capabilities by 2020. Precision intends to continue its heavy involvement in silicon and integrated photonics throughout the next decade, following the success of its current optical transceiver business.

SOURCE: Eastman Business Park news; http://www.eastmanbusinesspark.com/news/first-new-photonics-company-making-the-move-to-eastman-business-park

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.