Rochester is located on the shore of Lake Ontario in western New York. Rochester is the county seat of Monroe County and the third largest city in New York state. According to the Census, the city of Rochester had a population of over 208,000 residents 2017 while there are nearly 1.1 million people in the metropolitan area (Source: U.S. Census Bureau).
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Rochester grew in the 19th century initially due to the flour milling industry on the Genesee River. In the 20th century milling was followed by manufacturing. Rochester is the birthplace of many recognizable American manufactured brands like Kodak, Xerox and Bausch & Lomb. The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics was sited in Rochester in 2015. The institute is a nationwide hub for the innovation and manufacturing of Photonics products. However, the education and health services sector has surpassed the manufacturing sector as the largest in the region. In fact, the largest employer in the region is the University of Rochester, with 26,905 total employees in 2017 (Source: University of Rochester).