Advanced Interconnect Manufacturing Inc. is typical of some companies in this year's Top 100.
It has had a three-year jump in revenue or it wouldn't have made the 2004 list of the area's fastest-growing, privately held companies. But that doesn't mean the 80-employee manufacturer is about to go on a hiring spree, said co-owner Chris Bonacci.
At the very least, the Rochester company, which had the 58th spot on the list, will keep hiring steady. But Bonacci is hopeful that potential jobs will come through, prompting the company to add a few more workers.
"We have experienced an increase in quotes, but that may or may not lead to new work," he said.
The job outlook for several of Rochester's Top 100 companies is mixed: The businessesweren't planning layoffs, but they weren't planning to drastically expand their work forces, either.
This news is in line with local economic trends, which have also been mixed.
In September, the labor force in the six-county Rochester area — the pool of people with jobs plus those looking for work — continued to shrink. There were fewer people looking for jobs than a year ago but also fewer people holding jobs.
"Our hiring should be steady next year," added Gary Nanni, vice president of the 120-worker Allied Builders Inc. in Brockport, which finished 21st. "I don't think we'll increase our work force, but I doubt we'll reduce it, either."
Other companies that were adding jobs weren't necessarily doing so here.
Wegmans Food Markets Inc., the area's fourth-largest employer, will add 500 to 600 workers at each of the new stores it will open next year in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.
"But jobs will be stable locally in the coming year," said Jo Natale, spokeswoman for Wegmans, which finished in 65th place. "We're not growing here."
PAETEC Communications, Inc., which finished in 10th place, will also hire more workers outside its Rochester headquarters. That's 100 more sales, customer service and technician jobs elsewhere but about 10 to 20 more workers here, mainly in engineering and information technology, said Chairman Arunas Chesonis.
"We're growing faster outside Rochester," he said.
But there are always companies that will bulk up their work force, no matter how the economy is doing.
Telecomp, Inc., for example, hopes to add at least 20 part-time telemarketers in the upcoming year, said Kathleen Pavelka, owner and president. The company, which finished 76th on the list, now employs 75 part-time and 25 full-time workers.
"We're always — every day of the week — looking for new workers," she said.
Email This Page!