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Kodak Seeking to Sell Eastman Business Park

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Eastman Kodak – which last week, appointed a new CEO, Jeff Clarke – has announced that it’s seeking to sell its Eastman Business Park (EBP) industrial and technology property located in Rochester, New York

Kodak says the site can best continue as a multi-use, multi-tenant industrial facility under the ownership of a firm focused on its redevelopment. At the same time, EBP’s sale will help Kodak to maintain its focus on its commercial imaging businesses.

CEO Jeff Clarke commented, Eastman Business Park is already on the path to becoming a powerful economic growth engine for our region and a vibrant center of invention to several technology sectors. A strong new owner will expedite that process. At the same time, Kodak needs to focus on what it does best: innovating and delivering superior solutions to customers around the world. Selling EBP is the right move for the right reasons at the right time.”

As the process moves forward, Kodak says it will continue to fully support the growing tenant and owner base, now numbering more than 50, including several Fortune 500 companies, and in continuing initiatives with government and economic development officials to attract new tenants.

“New York State’s commitment to Eastman Business Park (EBP) remains resolute. EBP is a critical center of employment for the Rochester economy and the growth of EBP is the highest priority of the Finger Lakes Region Economic Development Council. We will continue to work with Kodak and a potential new owner to ensure stability and attract more private investment and advanced manufacturing jobs to EBP,” said Kenneth Adams, who is president, chief executive officer, and commissioner for New York State’s Empire State Development.

“We believe that Eastman Business Park offers definitive advantages in attracting new tenants,” said Brad W. Kruchten, President, Graphics, Entertainment and Commercial Films Group. “While we’ve made extensive improvements in the Park over the last several years, a number of developments have occurred in recent months that present us with the opportunity to bring in a buyer who can best support EBP in reaching its enormous potential.”

These developments include:

  • Under the leadership of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, commitments for more than $90 million in investments by New York State to attract new companies that are transforming EBP into a diverse hub for research and development and high-tech manufacturing, showcased in a recent visit to the site by the governor.
  • Completion of the acquisition of the site’s utilities by RED, an industrial energy-efficiency firm that will upgrade and operate the utility infrastructure, providing stability for EBP and its tenant companies.
  • Support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to move ahead with an environmental trust administered by the state, providing for ongoing environmental protection and resolution of legacy environmental issues.
  • Growth in the occupancy of EBP to more than 50 tenants and owners, with about 4,700 jobs and 7.2 million square feet of space at the campus.
  • Kodak’s commitment to maintain a significant presence at the site, encompassing research, development and manufacturing activities, including two new projects focused on production of films for touch screen sensors in collaboration with UniPixel and Kingsbury.

EBP encompasses 1,200 acres in the City of Rochester and Town of Greece in New York State. It has extensive infrastructure support, including a power plant with 125 megawatts of capacity, water supply and wastewater treatment facilities, security and emergency services, and an in-plant railroad. Kodak says its unique infrastructure has allowed middle-stage technology companies to develop their businesses from the lab-scale prototype stages to the later stages of production,  including full product commercialization.

Interested parties may contact Paula Gutkin, Kodak’s managing director of Corporate Development for further information (paula.gutkin@kodak.com).