A Company Town's Bid To Reinvent Itself

Layoffs at Kodak and Xerox in Rochester symbolize a challenge felt by other cities.

1 minute read

September 16, 2003, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"For much of the past century, residents considered Rochester an oasis from economic hardship, if not from the wintry winds of Lake Ontario. Two big employers -- Eastman Kodak and Xerox -- provided a steady stream of manufacturing, research, and management jobs... 'What's happening here is happening nationwide,' says Kent Gardner, an economic analyst at the Center for Governmental Research, a nonprofit public-policy think tank in Rochester. He's referring not just to the problem of lost manufacturing jobs -- 2.7 million nationally in the past three years - but also to the transition to a more diversified and service-oriented economy."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Tuesday, September 16, 2003 in The Christian Science Monitor

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