BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sentient Science, a technology company headquartered in Buffalo, has seen dramatic growth over the last four or five years.

"If you give me money, I'm not going to take it home. I'm going to invest it into more people which creates that software," said CEO Ward Thomas.

The company, whose software extends the lifespan of wind turbines, says its grown to 100 employees this year. It credits various federal and state economic development efforts; the most recent a reduction in the federal corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent.

"We've doubled, in the time period that this new administration and the vision of what was going to come, we've doubled the size of the company employee-wise," Thomas said.

"It allows a company, for example, to create more jobs, to invest in its, for example in our case, our technology, to build out our software quicker because we don't have to set aside as much money for federal income taxes," CFO Brendan Harrington said.

Sentient Science isn't alone in its optimism about the economic climate. According to a new M&T Bank survey of mid-sized companies, 70 percent feel better about the current state than they did six months ago.

"It is the most optimistic since we began the survey in 2009. It's a relatively modest jump from a year ago, a very big jump from two years ago," M&T regional economist Gary Keith said.

It's the first survey M&T has done since the passage of tax reform and many companies say they plan to invest the windfall back into their businesses. Thirty-five percent intend to increase hiring in the next six months and 17 percent says it's directly due to the cuts. Others plan on increasing capital spending and wages.

"We'll certainly see if the follow through is there but the intention is good," Keith said.

Keith pointed out the survey was taken in January and February and any instability since then could affect companies hiring or potential pay raises.

"We had a blip in volatility just a week ago around issues of trade policy in Washington and one of the biggest things that sometimes knocks follow through down is uncertainty," he said.

Sentient Science said it's aware current tariffs China and the U.S. are imposing on each other could impact its customers - but for now they're not targeting the software or energy industry.

"I can say that the economic situation here is probably the brightest that I've seen for my entire career," Harrington said.