New York : The Fate of Xerox & Kodak in a global economy

[Anonymous]

The Fate of Rochester New York in a global economy

With uncertainty in today’s global economy and corporate America rushing to increase profit lines by hiring more  foreigners to fill jobs once offered to American college graduates, Rochester New York is beginning to see the reality of today’s political and corporate restructuring.

Case in point Xerox, at the end of 2011 Xerox printers will no longer be made in America, instead they will be off shored and manufactures in India. In addition divisions once owned directly by Xerox are being sold off quietly to companies in India. What was once American owned and supported by American employees has now become India owned and eventually will be staffed by India employees in India. But for the Xerox the trend towards India does not end there. In speaking with individuals in management they advised me that additional layoffs are expected and to the fill the oncoming void they have been instructed by upper management to preferably hire foreigners. The reason in part is for each American employee let go or replaced, upper management can hire four to six additional foreign employees who are willing to work for less than their American counterparts. This trend is not limited to Xerox in America alone, but is an ongoing national trend that is capable of undermining the American economy as a whole.

Kodak which once employed over sixty thousand employees worldwide and who’s main corporate offices reside in Rochester, New York is now a shell of what it once was, employing less than seven thousand employees today. For Kodak guided by poor management over the past several decades it missed it opportunity to move from film into the digital age of cameras. In a recent bid to raise over one hundred million dollars to restructure itself Kodak’s stock slid to less than a dollar a share. Down from an overall high of nearly eighty dollars a share over the past ten years. For Kodak its future like many other American companies remains uncertain. To offset this decline Rochester has seen a variety of smaller upstart companies directed at the service sector in attempt to fill the void left behind. But herein lays another problem, the recirculation of the dollar in the local economy, not the insurgence of new money that provides a solid base for the local economy to grow and develop towards a potentiallysecure future.

Mid town Plaza one of Rochester original indoor malls located in the heart of downtown Rochester has now fallen under the weight of wrecking ball in favor of the proposed new headquarters by Paetec in Rochester. Undisclosed to Rochester prior to demolition of the site was that Paetec had been in an ongoing merger talks with Windstream, since 2009 according to the filed Security Exchange records. With the merger complete and the mall now mostly demolished, Windstream not obligated to any prior agreements made by Paetec announced by midsummer 2011 it was considering another location. In the wake of this announcement other projects scheduled for the immediate area such as the performing art theater valued at 70 million have come under uncertainty as well. Nevertheless all of this could have been avoided if those who were in charge of local government at the time had done their homework and asked more questions.

In addition just down the street from mid-town plaza’s demolition site the proposed newBus Terminal by RGRTA has also fallen by the way side. Valued at forty million dollars and with funds available through State and Federal agencies it too has fallen victim to untimely debates over the size and style the structure should be by local government agencies. The project remains on hold.
 
Rochester New York once powered by water by the Geneese river producing flower has seen barges come and go along the Erie canal. Today where corporate America once stood proudly on East Main Street conducting business on a daily bases that brought new revenue to the city, offices in downtown Rochester now sit vacant or occupied in part by personal injury attorneys looking to dissolve what is left of Rochester in lucrative insurance claims, symbolizing what industry remains. That is if you consider it to be an industry at all.
 
As in Rochester and across the State, of New York it is also seeing additional cut backs in the public sector as local towns and State budgets are forced to find ways to balance their budgets. For many State employees who have been on the public payroll for years they now opting out of the system in favor of accepting early retirement pensions. This trend in the last year has increased by nearly thirty percent.

 What has been described here can be applied to almost any other city in our nation. America we do not need "Change", that has failed. We need a fresh new start away from business as usual by government and corporate America that has become all too acceptable to this great nations way life over the years. It is time America we build not on those who look to take away our way of life, but those who have vision and the fortitude to do things right on behalf of America.

[Author]

October 20, 2011 at 9:41 AM