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Kodak Alaris CEO talks about the move to Gates and the company's future

Randy Gorbman
/
WXXI News

The CEO of Kodak Alaris is in town this week, talking about the company’s announcement this week that it will be moving from the Eastman Business Park to Rochester Technology Park in Gates.

In an interview with WXXI News Marc Jourlait said the move  to Gates will benefit employees of Kodak Alaris in various ways, in terms of the building being more conducive to collaboration.

“(It) has things like natural light, that basically pour into the building from all sides, great amenities around here, easy access for the employees, so it really met a lot of the criteria and a mix of R&D labs, office space, neighboring warehouse and manufacturing which we’ll have in the building next door.”

But he says one of the main advantages of Kodak Alaris having its U.S. headquarters in Rochester is the availability of talent, through the universities as well as the knowledge base in imaging science that is already here.

“Being able to tap into the veterans who created a lot of this core technology that we now have as well as attracting new talent; so we try and get that balance between the veterans and the up and coming millennials, the early career professionals and the people who are just passionate and have been doing this for decades.”

The move to Gates will bring several hundred people over to the Rochester Technology Park when that move happens last next year, and Jourlait says Kodak Alaris has been hiring for some open positions.

Jourlait expects the U.S. headquarters for Kodak Alaris to remain in Rochester for the foreseeable future.

Credit Randy Gorbman / WXXI News
/
WXXI News
Rochester Technology Park

“This is our largest site in the world, it’s where my office is, the office of the CEO, three of our four business units are headquartered here; we have manufacturing warehousing, finance, marketing, sales, so virtually every function is represented here and a lot of our R&D of course. The heritage of our image science, engineering , the core DNA is based here in Rochester.”

Jourlait says the company maintains a diverse product base, including kiosks and other photographic supplies, document management solutions and scanners. Despite the fact they are now a separate company from Eastman Kodak, Jourlait says they still have a close relationship with Kodak as they look at business opportunities they might collaborate on.

Jourlait says his company will be getting some financial incentives from area governments as part of the move to Gates later next year.

Meantime, an official with the Eastman Business Park says that they have heavily invested in improvements in the building that Kodak Alaris is now located in, and they  are confident they will find new tenants.

Jourlait had been living in Paris, but now he and his family live in New York City. However Jourlait says he will be spending about half his time in Rochester.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.