Paychex Inc. will be expanding in Henrietta as part of a five-year, $58.4 million plan that ultimately expects to add 625 jobs in the Rochester region.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited Henrietta Tuesday to announce the plan, which includes the payroll services company acquiring over 300,000 square feet of space formerly occupied by a Verizon Wireless call center on Calkins Road. The renovation of the Calkins Road space is expected to be completed by the fall of 2018.

Paychex employs about 4,400 in the area, and this project will boost that number to more than 5,000 over five years. The job addition rate will be about 125 jobs per year, said Paychex CEO Martin Mucci.

Mucci expects the project will push the company into the top five largest employers in the area, he said. The company was sixth in the greater Rochester region in 2017, according to Greater Rochester Enterprise.

Verizon's call center closed in January, eliminating about 600 jobs. That move was part of a larger, more encompassing effort by Verizon to reduce head count and consolidate operations.

Paychex, based in Penfield, has 11 locations in the area, six of which it owns and is retaining, including spots in Webster, Brighton, Henrietta and Penfield. The company currently leases five locations, two of which it is buying on Kenneth Drive in Henrietta.

The company will leave the remaining three leased locations — in Towne Center in Webster, Eagles Landing Business Park in Henrietta and Canal View Boulevard in Brighton — when the leases expire. These locations will be "replaced" with the three spaces on Calkins Road.

Empire State Development has offered up to $11.5 million for the project through the Excelsior Jobs program in exchange for job commitments, and the project has secured a Finger Lakes Forward Upstate Revitalization grant of up to $2.5 million.

Employees will filter into the new spaces from a number of Paychex locations, said Mucci.

The new jobs are "a result of continued growth and investment we’re making in our HR outsourcing solutions," said Mucci. The new Calkins Road campus will support information technology, product management and development, and sales and services, he said.

Cuomo praised the project as an example of how local businesses are staying local.

"The story was always that big companies were looking around and then they left New York," he said. "Now they’re staying and now they’re growing here."

The jobs Paychex is bringing to the area are "higher-end" skill-set positions, said Greater Rochester Enterprise interim president and CEO Matt Hurlbutt.

"These are good jobs and anytime you are adding more than 600 jobs in a region, it’s good," he said.

While the company did consider moving elsewhere, said Mucci, Rochester was ultimately the best choice. The company is growing across the country in locations such as Phoenix and Indianapolis, he said.

"Paychex is an important part of the economic engine of this community," he said. "Rochester has been our home."

STADDEO@Gannett.com