>> Coming up on "NEED TO KNOW" -- looking for ways to get more money flowing from albany to rochester.
>> THE reason other communities are ahead of us is because we argue about the pie before we get the pie.
We're going to do the same thing.
>> Local leaders try a united front with the rochester community coalition.
Also, new developments downtown and a new leader at bausch and lomb.
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>> Rochester's news magazine since 1997, this is "NEED TO KNOW."
>> Thanks for joining us, i’m television news director julie philipp.
this week in rochester, ESL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION announced it will be moving its headquarters to downtown rochester.
It is a deal the rochester governor was reportedly working out even before paycheck announced it would build world headquarters at the midtown plaza site.
Two touchdowns for the city.
>> A few days ago we had a very exciting Super bowl.
Today is just as exciting for the city of Rochester.
We should start tradition here by dumping Gatorade over the CEOS.
that is about what it means here.
>> ESL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION was planning to build on a parking lot, now owned by the city.
We will get more details later in the show.
First, what happens when you get leaders from business, education, faith communities, and nonprofits to join together to lobby albany for more money?
no one in rochester knows because it has not been done before.
The rochester community coalition is the first.
>> The one thing that always heard since coming into office, if you can get everyone together and ask as a team, you will be more effective.
Here we are.
The team this year crosses over every line.
It shows a great cross section.
I want to thank Bob Brown, one of our leaders for driving this, and making it happen.
The best thing we can do is what we say today -- the most important thing is what we come back to rochester with.
I think the results will be what counts.
>> That is the Democratic Mayor Robert duffy, and maggie brooks was also at that press conference.
>> It is not easy to get this number of people around a table and agree on priorities for the community.
As the mayor has said, these are all items that will drive the local economy.
They are all critical in our positioning for the future and going forward.
Historically, we have not done this as well as Buffalo and Syracuse.
Now we're going to take the lead.
Now we're going to offer this as an unprecedented way.
Albany will take a look at what rochester needs going forward.
>> THAT is the monroe county executive maggie brooks.
Two other members of the rochester community coalition are here in the studio to talk about the group's efforts.
Sandy Parker and bob brown, thank you to you both for coming.
this grew out of the rochester fair share coalition.
What is different about the rochester community coalition?
>> The fair share coalition was in place for two years.
Its primary area of focus was to go to Albany with the mayor to seek parity for state aid for the city of Rochester.
The city of Rochester historically has received significantly lower amounts of state aids and then our neighbors to the east and west.
We formed a coalition two years ago of various constituent groups in the community to lobby albany to get money for the city.
We have been successful.
We are increasing the amount.
We're not there yet, but we have been successful in getting 37% more dollars for the city of rochester over the past two years.
when we sat down earlier this spring to pull together the coalition again, bob brown said that this was a great idea, but we need to expand our scope in terms of what we're asking for.
I think Bob Brown should tell that story.
>> What prompted you to want to move this forward, to make it something different?
>> Listen and watch.
there were probably 30 trips made by duffy and maggie.
there were never in it together.
Sometimes they were in Albany at the same time, but for different reasons.
I understand -- watching what Buffalo and Syracuse could do, they did it in concert.
They went down together, even though they are very different.
Buffalo is a good example.
Buffalo has a Democratic mayor and a Republican congressman.
It is the same make up as rochester.
They came together.
The delegations came together.
It is my belief -- because the delegations to not work together, we did not get things done.
That was not necessarily true.
They had never work together in concert before with the people in the community.
We saw an opportunity to do it.
Amazingly enough, last week we had a meeting and almost everybody was there.
Almost everybody was enthusiastic about doing it.
We made the first step.
I believe, rochester has to be there on this road.
>> YOU are almost a matchmaking grew between the mayor and the county executive.
>> WE recognize that there are times when they both have their own thing to do.
There are other times when they both have the same agenda.
this is not the county of monroe, or the city of Rochester.
This is the community of rochester and what they're concerned with.
To make this community work, we need to find a way to make people feel like the way it should be.
If you talk to people in the city, they believe they are represented by the county.
People in the county, some of them feel I have nothing in the city.
One cannot operate without the other.
I think we should try to keep.
>> Another difference -- before, it look like you're going to ask for a percentage of aid to be equal to other cities.
I do not want to get into the specific projects, but you're looking at specific product areas, and almost giving a wish list to them.
>> This was another idea of Bob's.
He said, why don't we take a look at some of the needs in the community, rather than just put the city is looking for, let's look at what the county would like to have, or some of the projects that are out there that would be beneficial.
end let us put together a list of five or six items and let's get agreementS that these are the priority items that we want to go to our legislators and say, these are the things we think are important for the community.
We did decide that the criteria in terms of what would be on that list would be that they would have to be job generating and improve the overall economy of the region.
>> You did divide them into different categories, downtown development, equity for local government and education.
How did you decide?
Are there other sectors out there that have a waiting list?
>> Those are the three areas.
Those are the three areas that we felt would have the greatest impact.
that's not to say that we're addressing every issue in this community.
they have to be job generating and they had to have specific results associated with each of the items.
At the end of the year, if we are successful in getting 50% of them, we want to make sure that we achieve the results that we said we would achieve.
we're not asking for a handout.
there were some initial hurdles in getting everybody to get to agree on what is important in this community and which projects, particularly between business and labour, advocating for your sectors, there will naturally be some tension.
I imagine if we were sitting here -- what were the initial hurdles to work together to agree on certain projects that the Community would back and let others go away?
>> The biggest driver was failure.
when you kept seeing the Community fail, the biggest thing for me was to agree not to disagree.
There are 15 units there.
I said that we needed to stop fighting and try to find a way to be a part of the community, not be an adversary.
Adversary conditions cause havoc.
The other presidents agreed to try it this way.
I'm not the President of the building trades.
You can speak for the unions and union trades.
We agreed that we would not go out there and the obstructions anymore.
We recognize that even within these coalitions, there would be disagreements.
We also learned one valuable lesson.
Whatever our disagreements were, we would give them in house.
We were not quite to scatter our dirty laundry.
>> Was it a hard sell to the union membership at large -- to say that the leaders were going to take a different tact?
Do they feel like the leaders are representing their best interestS?
>> Unions are almost like dictatorships.
They follow the boss.
Here's what my belief is.
when you have open discussions and open meetings -- and somebody asks why you're doing that, you try to answer them as best as you can.
most union officials and union members have the same idea about what needs to happen.
it is a business community.
The problem is there has been a disconnect where we did not communicate to each other.
communication -- most union members do not know what a business person does in most business people do not know what a union member does, other than the contract, other than the specifics.
we have never sat down.
When the fair share coalition was started, it was shocking to me to see the enthusiasm of people sitting of the table and saying, this is what we would like to do.
Everybody signed on.
We signed on as individuals.
I suggested to the mayor -- when you go to Albany, you should take maggie and when maggie goes to albany, she should take you.
I had no idea they would take that idea, but they did.
We are here today to try to expand on it.
>> What makes rochester so different from Buffalo, for instance, how come we're so far behind?
>> We never had to depend on state aid in the past.
We have corporations in town that were very generous to this community.
quite frankly, we were not dependent on state aid.
Carson was not facing the issues of crime and poverty in the past -- our city was not facing the issues of crime and poverty.
Now we find ourselves -- although we have many corporations, they're not focused on the city of Rochester anymore, they're focused on the global economy.
We have to be able as a community to take care of ourselves.
One of the things that we have had to learn to do is to make sure that we as taxpayers get our fair share of state tax money that is being divvied up across other communities.
>> LET'S talk about the specific projects.
Some of them were included in the governor's project proposal.
Do you want to talk about the process?
>> If you look at these seven projects that we have, the largest is for the $65 million for the cleanup of the midtown plaza site.
That is part of the Governor's budget.
Once the matter is cleared, the corporation will build a corporate headquarters there.
That is an exciting project.
The University of Rochester's clinical and transitional science project is also part of the governor's message.
when it is completed, that will have the opportunity to generate 600 permanent jobs, plus the construction jobs that will be there.
we have asked for more money for the city of Rochester.
In the governor's budget is an increase.
We know that we are scheduled to get a higher percentage than Buffalo and Syracuse.
>> To aid in the municipalities.
>> YES, but it does not bring us to parity.
But we have made good progress.
You can see it clearly.
>> DO you think that was a direct result of this new group?
>> Everything has been positive in this community.
it is a direct result of what we did.
to give you an example of what -- this has what there has been a mismatch with the transportation for the past 15 years.
Nobody wanted to take the lead on trying to get that project forward.
I believe because of the fair share coalition, at the University of Rochester work together and agreed to pay for the study.
In another couple of months, they will have a study that will help.
There are a lot of things being done.
there are a group of 150 contracts in the union's.
They worked hand in hand with Sandy.
every day, this coalition is doing something positive.
>> It is not all about going to albany.
>> No, there are things going on globally that drives this.
There are a lot of things that we do to try to make the community better.
The $350 million school innovation Project.
it has been driven by this same fair share coalition.
We have tried to take this fair share Coalition and make it be a conduit to try to reach underprivileged kids in the city who cannot afford a college education.
We do not know if they want what are not.
But they have no place to go.
We believe we can close that gap with the project she just mentioned, and other projects.
They will put an imprint on this community.
They have benefits.
we have come a long way in the short time.
>> The rochester Coalition is doing much more.
>> MUCH more broadly-based.
>> It is exciting for you, I would imagine.
>> IT is.
I have been very optimistic on the focus of some of the community's leaders and the needs of the communities.
To have a coalition like this, with 29 very separate constituent groups, focusing in on what can we do to get the biggest bang for our buck.
add more jobs.
Improve our schools.
Improve the overall quality of life in our community.
we have to have an impact, rather than 29 separate organizations doing things on their own.
>> The next step in this part of this coalition's work is to get the legislator to buy into those three and perhaps others.
are you asking the legislators to add any projects?
>> Each of the group's -- each of the stakeholders have separate agendas on their own, as well.
they will be talking with our local delegation.
These are the seven areas, that as a community, we reached an agreement on.
These are our priorities right now.
our delegation is very much together on this and very much behind this.
this actually makes their job easier because they can say that it gives them more of a focus.
They are able to represent what the community needs.
This is what they have identified.
>> Are you saying that it is great -- or you want sustainability?
>> THE Institute for sustainability is very important.
we're saying that is an important project that will add jobs.
it's worth keeping that one on.
We're not finished with just what the Governor has indicated in his announcement.
>> Thank you very much for being here today to you both.
Bob brown and sandy parker.
earlier this week, WXXI reporter bud lowell sat down with the new chairman and CEO of bausch and lomb jerry ostrov.
Before we open the business section, we will take a look at what he had to say.
He has been on the job for two weeks.
He said he is not ready to make any big changes at the company.
>> I tried to learn, absorb, listen.
I was with 600 sales people yesterday.
I got a lot of suggestions.
I got a lot of ideas and a lot of enthusiasm about where we are.
I think we are on solid ground.
the objective of us going to Asia in a few weeks, and Europe.
the objective early on is to listen more than talk.
>> Jerry ostrov has one general goal, at least, to make money, while helping to advance health care.
>> We want to be on the forefront of innovation.
The one thing about innovation is that you really never know where it is coming from, so you make multiple bets and hope that one of your bets pays off.
It's an exciting business because you really do not know where the next innovation will come from.
>> Jerry ostrov, the new chairman and CEO of bausch and lomb.
it is now time for the business section.
>> Business reporter matt daneman.
It was a busy week in business here in rochester.
We will start with the biggest news, the ESL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION.
>> As a way, there will be some new white-collar jobs downtown.
ESL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION is moving its headquarters from Irondequoit to a spot of land, It is like a $50 million building.
It is supposed to be up by 2010, I think.
The city officials are understandably pleased about this.
>> GIDDY.
>> It is one of these interesting questions.
You get jobs coming into rochester, and at the same time, it puts jobs inside the community.
>> AND different kind of jobs.
People are really thinking there's some momentum building here downtown, at least in terms of white-collar, inner-city jobs.
>> ESL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION -- according to them, it is coincidental that they both moved here.
According to ESL, they chose to come to downtown rochester.
they are, of course, looking for substantial tax breaks with this.
>> THEY are trying to get those, also.
>> Antonio Perez was down in New York City talking to the Wall Street community.
They do this once a year to try to make the pitch to everyone that helped influence the stock price.
Kodak used to be an economic basket case.
>> They're calling it a new company.
>> HE said a dozen times -- he talks about the restructuring at Kodak and so on.
It remains to be seen.
Wall Street expects to see good expectations.
They laid out a forecast from 2008-2011.
They laid out some benchmarks.
>> WHAT was the initial Wall Street reaction?
>> Kodak finished up yesterday 53 cents up.
It was a little bit of a bounce.
It is tough to judge these things right now because the entire stock market has been so depressed because of what is going on on the macro, national issues.
Companies are possibly going down.
The whole country is.
It is hard to separate what is going on with Kodak in what is going on with fears of a recession in the economy.
>> XXI will have new neighbors.
We're looking at a confluence of things going on in the district right now.
There was a ceremonial groundbreaking of housing being built across the street from Kodak tower.
The construction has been going on for weeks.
Ultimately, we're looking at 62 apartments and 18 townhouses.
This comes at a time with a number other properties are being renovated right now.
A nightclub is opening up this weekend, I think.
The city just sent out a request for proposals for companies looking to run, and operate the facility.
>> Brother Wease.
>> It is a fact of life.
If your company gets bought, the new owner comes in looking to get cost cutting to recoup some money.
This time it is one of our most noted radio personalities.
The company was bought in December.
They are making changes.
>> HE does not know what he will do with himself.
>> HE will be back on the air.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH, matt daneman.
Next week, on our sister station, bob smith will be hosting a live call-in program with the rochester mayor Robert duffy, and another one with the monroe county executive maggie brooks.
Both interviews are part of the connection on WXXI-AM 1370.
Duffy appears Monday at one.
Brooks will appear on Tuesday at noon.
I’m WXXI television news director julie philipp.
have a good week.