A top federal official was in Rochester Thursday to help outline a new program available to area manufacturers.
Jay Williams, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development was in Rochester at a company called Truform Manufacturing to talk about the area's recent designation as a "manufacturing community."
That new program has a pool of $1.3 billion in federal funding, and Williams, along with Mayor Lovely Warren and other officials, met with local manufacturing executives to let them know how their companies can apply for some of that funding.
The program is an initiative to spur communities to develop long-term development strategies that strengthen their competitive edge.
Williams says that although Rochester has had its ups and downs, it can be a critical player in the national economy.
“What it means is that the history of this community and the manufacturing prowess that existed so many years ago, that has taken some bumps and bruises, now has an opportunity to come back-to really redefine what manufacturing’s about.”
Mayor Warren says the new Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership Program has the potential to provide a big economic boost for this area by creating more jobs and also helping with retraining efforts.
