News & Views

Gaining yet more recognition on a national list, Rochester has earned a spot on Techie.com's list of the Ten Most Unexpected Cities for High-Tech Innovation. The listing highlights our student populations at the University of Rochester and RIT, university research dollars, and a tech-savvy workforce with lots of patents. 

Other cities on the list were Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Des Moines, Detroit, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Portland (ME), and South Bend. 

The Empire State Lyric Theatre announced expansion plans last week, becoming Rochester Lyric Opera.

GRB is a proud supporter of Rochester Lyric Opera, and we look forward to this newly formed organization putting on an even more exciting Chamber Opera Festival in April, 2013.

Tickets for all Rochester Lyric Opera events can be purchased at the three GRB locations.

Thanks to a stable regional economy and a local customer base well-known to lenders, regional commercial lending standards have stayed the course since the 2008 financial crisis, reports the Rochester Business Journal.

Dave Halladay, senior vice president and GRB's chief lending officer, is quoted extensively in the article. "Customers who put expansions on hold are now looking to grow." He adds that GRB is making loans in sectors from manufacturing to sevices.

Empire State Lyric Theatre presents a chamber opera festival, March 2 - 4, 2012, and GRB is proud to be a major sponsor.

Susan Cotroneo, Executive Director, says that this festival is the first of its kind in the region. "Chamber opera is opera on a smaller scale; one act staged performances," she notes.  Even those new to opera will find these accessible and entertaining.

Duncan Moore, a University of Rochester professor, has written a great op-ed piece about Rochester in the New York Times. He notes that since we've nurtured a "fertile entrepreneurial class" through our universities and private/public partnerships, Rochester is thriving. Moore challenges local businesses to continue to invest in the community.

GRB is proud to embrace this enterpreneurial spirit and be a resource for companies who are doing just that.  

According to an article on TheStreet.com, a financial news website, Rochester is one of 10 cities poised for greatness in 2012.

GRB is proud to announce we are ranked #41 on the 2011 Rochester Top 100 list. This is our fourth year on the Rochester Business Alliance's list, which ranks the region's fastest growing, privately held companies.

Preident & CEO Phil Pecora notes that the bank's success is a tribute to the hard work of our employees, and is also linked to the success and loyalty of our clients, many of whom share in the Top 100 rankings.

(Read about one of those clients, Fibertech Networks, in this D&C profile for their 4th place ranking.)

We congratulate Mark Gentile, President & CEO of Odyssey Software, on his recent award from the Rochester Small Business Council. At their annual luncheon, Gentile was named Business Person of the Year in the category of businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

GRB fielded a team of 19 employees running and walking in the annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge on May 24. 

GRB joins twelve clients on the list of Rochester’s fastest growing, privately held companies.  The Democrat & Chronicle interviewed Phil Pecora as part of their Top 100 coverage.