DO YOU RECALL THOSE CAPTIVATING IMAGES OF PLUTO FROM 2015?

THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION WAS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT INVOLVING NUMEROUS CONTRIBUTORS.

AMONG THEM, OPTIMAX, AN OPTICS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, WHO PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN DELIVERING THOSE REMARKABLE IMAGES.

FAST FORWARD EIGHT YEARS AND THEY'RE MAKING FURTHER STRIDES, INVESTING $20 MILLION IN AN EXPANSION OF THEIR LOCATION IN WAYNE COUNTY.

>> HERE AT OPEN AT THIS MAX WE-- OPTI MAX, WE MAKE SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOLOGY IF I THAT GO INTO THE MACHINE TO MAKE THE CHIPS THAT GO IN OUR CELL PHONES AND COMPUTERS.

THAT'S ABOUT 40% OF OUR BUSINESS.

ANOTHER MARKET SEGMENT THAT WE SERVICE THAT'S ABOUT 30% OF OUR BUSINESS FLOW DOWN FROM THE DEPARTMENT, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND THEN THE THIRD AREA THAT'S, YOU KNOW, UP TO A FEW YEARS AGO, LESS THAN 1% OF OUR BUSINESS WAS SPACE OPTICS.

TODAY THAT'S OVER 10% OF OUR BUSINESS AND GROWING RAPIDLY.

AND THE REASONS BECAUSE OF ALL THESE LOW EARTH ORBIT SATELLITES THAT ARE BEING PUT UP FOR COMMUNICATIONS.

SO IN JULY OF 2023, WE ARE GOING TO COMPLETE AN EXPANSION OF 35,000 SQUARE FEET.

THIS IS PHASE 1 OF A THREE-PHASE PROJECT BEING SUPPORTED BY THE EMPIRE STATE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, I.D.A.

PHASE 2 WILL HAPPEN NEXT YEAR WHERE WE WILL BE RECONFIGURING SOME OF OUR EQUIPMENT INTERNALLY SO THAT WE CAN EXPAND OUR OPTICAL CODING AREA WHICH MEANS ADDING A LOT MORE CLEAN ROOM SPACE AND SOME MORE CODING CHAMBERS.

AND THEN PHASE 3 WILL HAPPEN IN 2025-2026 WHERE WE ARE GOING TO BE ADDING ANOTHER 70,000 SQUARE FEET ON TO THE BACK OF OUR BUILDING.

WE HAVE COMMITTED TO HIRE 50 MORE PEOPLE AS PART OF THIS EXPANSION.

BUT, IN FACT, WE'VE ALREADY HIRED NEARLY 200 PEOPLE IN THE PAST 18 MONTHS.

SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WE HAVE IS MAINTAINING AND CONTROL THAT YOU FIND IN MOST ORGANIZATIONS WHERE YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD AND YOU ARE OKAY.

HERE IS MORE OF A CULTURE OF EMPOWERING THE EMPLOYEES AND EXPECTING PEOPLE READY TO SHOW UP READY TO WORK READY TO LEARN AND CREATE VALUE EACH DAY.

>> GROWING IS FUN AND IT'S REALLY HARD AS WELL BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT THE PHYSICAL GROWTH OF ACTUALLY NEEDING TO ADD PEOPLE, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE THE SYSTEMS THAT ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION THAT YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GROW AS WELL.

SO SCALING THE SYSTEM JUST AS MUCH OF A, CALL IT AN OPPORTUNITY, AS BRINGING SOMEBODY NEW IN.

BOTTOM LINE IS WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT AREAS HERE THAT REQUIRE A LOT OF DIFFERENT SKILL SETS.

SO WE'VE GOT THE TRADITIONAL ACADEMIC-BASED CANDIDATES THAT JUST PROVIDE A FOUNDATION THAT WE CAN BUILD OFF OF AND THEN WE HAVE THE NON-TRADITIONAL CANDIDATES AS WELL, THAT YOU WOULDN'T NECESSARILY THINK WOULD BE GOOD FITS BUT WHEN YOU GET ENGINEERING MINDSET-BASED PEOPLE, WHETHER THEY'RE MECHANICS, GAMERS, ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, CHEFS, AND APPLY THEM INTO THESE TYPES OF ROLES URBAN COUNTIES YOU CAN REALLY CREATE REALLY COOL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE.

>> OPTIMAX TURNED 30 YEARS IN 2021 AND THE FIRST 30 YEARS OF BUSINESS WE GENERATED $500 MILLION IN REVENUE AND ROUGHLY HALF OF THAT WAS SHARED WITH OUR WORKFORCE IN PAYROLL BENEFITS AND BONUSES.

WITH THE EXPANSION THAT WE ARE DOING, IT SETS THE STAGE FOR OPTIMAX TO ACCOMPLISH $5 BILLION IN THE NEXT YEARS AND ROUGHLY HALF OF THAT WILL BE SHARED WITH OUR WORKFORCE AND NOW THAT WE ARE OWNED BY A TRUST, ONE OF THE PRIMARY TENANTS IS NEVER SELL THE BUSINESS.

ANOTHER WIN IS ALWAYS SHARE AT LEAST 25% OF THE PROFITS WITH THE EMPLOYEES.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN OVER THE NEXT THIFORT 30 YEARS IS THAT WE WILL SYSTEMATICALLY STRENGTHEN THIS COMMUNITY.

AND IF WE CAN GET ANOTHER 10 OR 20 COMPANIES DOING WHAT WE ARE DOING, WHERE THEY MAKE SURE THAT THE WEALTH THAT'S BROUGHT TO THE COMMUNITY THROUGH OUR MANUFACTURING EFFORTS STAYS HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY, WE WILL STRENGTHEN THE ENTIRE REGION.