Bennett J. Loudon

Staff writer

Datto is a Connecticut-based company that provides computer data backup and disaster recovery services

It was started in 2007 by RIT graduate Austin McChord%2C now the company%27s CEO

The firm is expected to create 70-plus new jobs in Rochester

Under START-UP%2C high-tech companies and their employees pay no state income tax for 10 years

A Connecticut-based company started by a Rochester Institute of Technology graduate in 2007 is one of the first companies to take advantage of New York state's new START-UP NY program.

Datto Inc., which provides computer data backup and disaster recovery services and products, will move into part of RIT's Center for Urban Entrepreneurship building in downtown Rochester.

"I actually really liked Rochester and I always had a soft spot for it and wanted to be able to do good for Rochester," said Datto founder and CEO QAustin McChord, in a telephone interview from Las Vegas, where he was hosting a conference for about 500 clients.

McChord lives in Norwalk, Conn., where Datto is based. The company, which had sales of about $50 million last year, has a total of about 300 employees, including about 200 in Norwalk, another 20 in Monroe, Conn., 20 in England, and others in Toronto and Australia.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was on the Henrietta campus of RIT Wednesday for the announcement that Datto will hire about 70 new workers for the Rochester office, including engineers, software developers and customer service representatives.

RIT officials said they have been in contact with another six or seven companies considering moving to RIT's other START-UP NY site, the Venture Creations business incubator at 125 Tech Park Drive in Henrietta.

Mike Fowler, co-CEO of Capstone Information Technologies Inc., said Datto is one of Capstone's suppliers, so setting up shop in Rochester is "a fantastic thing."

"I don't build a backup solution from the ground up. I leverage software tools and hardware tools in the marketplace and Datto is one such vendor," Fowler said.

"Their company is a great company to work with. I really enjoy them and the services and products that they offer," he said.

Paul Sagan, Datto's board chairman, said at the announcement that the company already employs about 30 RIT graduates and is setting up an office in Rochester in part to have greater access to more RIT grads.

Under the program, new high-tech companies and their employees pay no state income tax for 10 years if they locate in a START-UP New York site, mainly on college campuses. The companies also will not pay property, business or corporate state or local taxes, sales tax or franchise fees.

"We offer the least expensive locations in the country for business," Cuomo said. "I believe it will be a catalyst for a dramatic transformation."

Sagan said Datto will move a handful of workers into temporary space at the CUE at 40 Franklin St. this summer. Within a few months, about 70 more workers will be situated in their permanent offices on the fourth floor.

In the afternoon, Cuomo made a stop in Buffalo where the University at Buffalo will get eight new companies under the START-UP NY program. Other START-UP companies will locate at Cornell University in Ithaca and at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Combined, the new START-UP companies represent 400 jobs and $50 million in new investment, state officials said.

BLOUDON@DemocratandChronicle.com

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