Monroe County is expanding a program that helps businesses get contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies.
The Monroe County-Finger Lakes APEX Accelerator will now be known as the Monroe County-Upstate New York APEX Accelerator. The previous iteration served counties in the Rochester and Syracuse metro areas and it will now include Erie and Niagara Counties in the Buffalo region.
"The new name reflects not just the broader reach of the program, but our intention to be collaborative across the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse region to support businesses and now grow our economies together," Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said during a news conference Monday.
That also means that the accelerator now serves all of the counties along the federally-designated NY-SMART I-corridor semiconductor tech hub.
The accelerator provides businesses with targeted programs and training to help them get supply contracts with the federal government. It also helps businesses obtain the registrations and certifications they'll need to participate in the government's procurement process.
Bello said that over the past five years the regional APEX Accelerator has provided support that has led to 20,000 contracts and more than $1.1 billion in awards.
Rochester Optical Manufacturing was one of those companies. It secured a $50 million contract to provide the military with eyewear.
Patrick Ho, the company's president, said that getting into defense contracting is not easy, which makes the accelerator valuable.
" I'm honored in a way that we can serve our country,” Ho said. “Not necessarily (that) we'll put on the uniform, but we provide our men and women in uniform the needed sight to fight. And we admire them . . . We'll continue to look forward to servicing them."
House Rep. Joe Morelle, D-Irondequoit, pushed to bring the tech corridor designation to the Buffalo-Syracuse-Rochester region, and for the expansion of the accelerator. The Rochester area is home to optics, imaging, and photonics companies whose work is vital to U.S. national security interests, Morelle said.
This year, he said, the country will spend roughly $900 billion on national defense. The government is likely to spend even more annually, going forward, given the challenges of cybersecurity and those the U.S. faces around the world.
"In order to do that, you need extraordinary companies to be able to supply our war fighters wherever they are and whatever branch of the military they're in," Morelle said.
