Brian Sharp, and Jon Campbell

Democrat and Chronicle

What role SUNY Polytechnic Institute will play in the regional photonics initiative to be based in Rochester should be clarified in the next two to four weeks, as officials home in on where to locate a key component of the envisioned manufacturing hub.

That is the timeframe for an expected recommendation on the location of the linchpin testing and packaging (TAP) facility.

TAP is the central research and development investment around which officials expect the photonics hub, the companies and the associated jobs, to grow. Its opening remains a year off, and the promised boom for the regional economy, further still. But the shift to real estate decisions is a turning point, officials said. One that also highlights the matter of "preferred developer" agreements that The Pike Company and a partnership between LeChase Construction and Buckingham Properties had with SUNY Poly offshoots.

"We do not intend to use the preferred developer model," said Vinnie Esposito, regional director of Empire State Development. "We intend to bid all work for photonics facilities."

►SUNY Poly’s Rochester-area contracts scrutinized

Such agreements elsewhere were at play in an alleged bid-rigging scandal that led Gov. Andrew Cuomo to strip two SUNY Poly nonprofits of their construction portfolios last month. A plan to revamp the Fort Schuyler and Fuller Road Management Corps. will be unveiled by the end of the month, said Howard Zemsky, president and CEO of Empire State Development.

Speaking to Empire State Development's board Thursday, Zemsky said the state would roll out changes "over the next 10 days."

"We are actively engaged in reviewing a go-forward plan for these entities," Zemsky said. "How will we organize them? Changes that we'll make to the bylaws, to the governance, to board members, additions of board members, the legal structures themselves."

►Plan coming for scandal-ridden SUNY Poly nonprofits

The American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics (AIM Photonics) is further down on the state's review list, being less problematic.

That's because the $600 million initiative is organized under the Department of Defense. SUNY Poly's role is akin to the administrator, with bidding and procurement thus far being handled by the SUNY Research Foundation, acting on SUNY Poly's behalf. Officials said that will remain the practice at least for the time being.

SUNY Poly is actively seeking input — including from the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology — said Michael Liehr, CEO of AIM Photonics who also serves as executive vice president of innovation and technology at SUNY Poly’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. And the bidding process is being looked at by the state, as well.

When it comes to the "preferred developer" firms, LeChase spokeswoman Jennifer Miglioratti said via email Friday that the firm had not spoken with state officials on the matter but that this was a designation with "no guarantee of anything to come of it, and nothing did." LeChase has no objection to the open bidding process, she said, and would review any photonics opportunity "within our normal business response process and respond accordingly."

SUNY Poly's role could diminish if a SUNY-owned property is not selected for the TAP facility, as officials said it would not make sense to have different entities overseeing different aspects of the build-out.

Also uncertain: Whether the photonics headquarters locates at Legacy Tower — the former Bausch+Lomb tower in downtown Rochester — and the subject of a power struggle in the initial days of the initiative. Esposito said there still is a desire for AIM Photonics to have a downtown presence, but "it's all being re-explored" as state economic development officials sort through SUNY Poly projects. Ultimately, the headquarters decision could be based on the site chosen for the TAP facility, and whether that location could serve a dual role.

The "top priority" is TAP, Esposito said. "That's the crux of the work ... of what DOD wants to do."

Added Robert Duffy, chairman of the AIM Photonics Leadership Council: "Once that is announced, off we go."

Duffy made the remarks to academics and business leaders who gathered for the AIM Photonics Northeast Supply Conference this week in Rochester, telling them "the opportunities are going to roll" and promising exponential growth. There still is the matter of construction and delivery of the tools. The facility, once tagged to open next July, could see a ribbon cutting slide into fall, but "There is no doubt it's going to open up sometime in the next year," Duffy said.

►Chasing the light: Photonics one year later

While potential locations mentioned have included Eastman Business Park or a SUNY Poly facility at Canal Ponds in Greece, more than a dozen sites have been suggested. Cuomo has said the facility would be in the Rochester region, but the state has not specified that region other than to say it is not limited to Monroe County.

Upstart companies would use the facility for initial testing and product runs, and it is from those companies, suppliers and other benefiting businesses that the jobs will flow. The first customer recently signed on, Liehr said, but with a project that remains in development and still two or three years from hitting a real production level. Government support runs out after five years, meaning the facility must be self-supporting by then.

"Utilization of that facility is one of the things that keeps me up at night," Liehr said. "We'll ramp it up as industry interest increases."

BDSHARP@Gannett.com

JCampbell1@Gannett.com