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On Manufacturing Day, President Barack Obama announced a new Manufacturing Innovation Institute Competition for an Integrated Photonics Manufacturing Institute. Early this year, the President unveiled plans for manufacturing innovation institutes in Chicago and Detroit, along with a national competition for four more private-public sector initiatives.

Is manufacturing still strong in western New York? According to Buffalo Business First, U.S. government statistics show that the two-county Buffalo metropolitan area ranks 14th for manufacturing employment among the nation’s 51 major metros. In the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region today, nearly 12% of all civilian jobs are in the manufacturing sector. Compare that to Detroit, the national leader at just over 18%.

U.S. manufacturers are more optimistic about their own revenue growth than about overall prospects for the U.S. and global economies. According to the Q3 2014 Manufacturing Barometer from PwC US, American industrial manufacturers forecast an average growth rate of 5.6% over the next 12 months. That’s nearly a half-percentage point jump from a year ago (5.2%), and a solid 1.6% increase from 2013.

Rochester, New York has re-invented itself before. During the American Revolution, soldiers settled the fertile farmland near the Genesee River and grew grain. During the Industrial Revolution, residents milled flour. Later, during the Gilded Age, George Eastman founded Kodak and sold cameras under the slogan: “You press the button – we do the rest.” Ultimately, Xerox and Bausch + Lomb also called Rochester home.

High Tech Rochester (HTR) is using the power of 3D printing to help promote entrepreneurship and economic growth in the Rochester area and Finger Lakes Region. Clients of the nonprofit economic development organization can produce 3D printed prototypes at the new HTR First Prototype Lab, which features 3D printers and computer workstations along with a 3D scanner and laser cutter.
Unlike a product description or drawing, 3D printing enables manufacturers to share tangible prototypes with potential customers, partners, and investors. “We can’t overstate the importance of this step in the early development of a product or device,” says Lab Director Mike Riedlinger. “The better an entrepreneur can show and explain a product, even in its preliminary stages, the better the feedback.”

What’s the best way to measure the strength of a state’s economy? Job growth and unemployment rates are common metrics, but researchers at the University of Nebraska’s Lincoln Bureau of Business Research emphasize the importance of “core measures” such as entrepreneurship, technical innovation, and business formation rates. For Dr. Eric Thompson and Dr. William Walstad then, their State Entrepreneurship Index provides a comprehensive way to measure and compare the economic performance of all 50 states.

The State University of New York (SUNY) system spans 64 campuses, educates over 450,000 students, and generates $60.2 billion in total economic impact statewide. Recently, the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in Albany merged with the SUNY Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) in Marcy and Utica/Rome. Collectively, the new institution will have a new name, SUNY Polytechnic Institute.