Rochester top Manufacturing Center?

I was reading that Rochester is the 13th largest manufacturing center in the US.

[FYI LA is #1, Chicago #2, NYC #3]

How is such a small place only 221,000 city 1 million metro. come to have this distinction.

I know that Eastman Kodak and Xerox are both headquartered there – should give you some idea of the manufacturing base.

I also heard that Kodak is going through a through fiscal year, so they may not be at “13” much longer…

There are too many big companies with major manufacturing facilities in or near Rochester to name them all. In addition to Eastman Kodak and Xerox, there are also Gleason Works, Bausch & Lomb, Allied Signal, etc.

Still seems odd that it is bigger than places like the twin cities or St Louis

I was born and raised in Rochester. It is a very large factory town. It is home to Eastman Kodak (Kodak Park in Rochester is literally a “city within a city” it has its own power plants, fire departments, police departments, water treatment plants and mass transit and you can get from one part of Rochester to the other on private roads within the Kodak infastructure. Remember Kodak not only makes film – one of the largest plastic producing facilities is located in Kodak.

Xerox has its corporate base in Rochester, as does Bausch and Lomb. GM has a major plant in Rochester – which manufactures the majority of AC/Delco spark plugs.

Frontier Telecommunication, a major telecommunications provider in Western New York is based in Rochester.

If you drive down Mt. Read Boulevard, the entire street is lined with manufacturing facilities.

Rochester is also home to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the University of Rochester (which boasts one of the best optical labs in the country)

I hope this helps.