Rochester Rotary

Continuing our "Celebrating Leaders" series with Past President Bud Rusitzky. He sits down with Past President Don Alhart to share his story.

Adam Gogolski, VP of Marketing at Vuzix is leading the way in one of the most advanced technology industries in the world. In the past 25 years, Vuzix has evolved from a military display solutions company to the premier producer of optical waveguide technology and augmented reality smart glasses. Get a chance to experience some of our revolutionary smart glasses all designed and manufactured in West Henrietta, and hear how we’ve helped transform workplaces from the surgical floor to field service, to supply chain management.

MicroEra Power envisions an on-site thermal energy storage system to decarbonize buildings, enhance the performance of heating and cooling systems, support grid resiliency and increased use of renewable energies.

Hear the second installment of our "Made in Rochester Series" that was held at Oak Hill Country Club on Tuesday, November 15th. Jim and Ray Isaac sat down with Donna Dedee to share the ISAAC story as a family-owned, multi-generational business;

Leadership lessons, and how the past and present have set the stage for a new future.

Bears Playgrounds designs, manufactures and installs nature-inspired, cedar log playgrounds across the US, Canada and beyond. Every playground is made custom to order, using whole round logs.

With their playgrounds, they have created a balance between the innocent, natural adventure of playing in the forest and the structure and safety required by today’s standards for children’s spaces. Their bold, strong and built to last architecture beautifies children’s spaces, while capturing a child’s imagination. Their nature inspired products and natural materials help stimulate a child’s enthusiasm for nature. In short, their products facilitate learning, create opportunities for exercise, help build social skills and help provide a unique connection to the great outdoors.

Fairport resident Clark King, charter member of the Association for Games and Puzzles International and member of the Strong Museum of Play's National Toy Hall of Fame selection advisory committee, speaks on U.S. board games through the decades, spanning 150 years of American families at play. He also displays many historic, unusual and rare games from his personal collection. Take a journey back to your childhood and beyond and learn about the current booming hobby of board gaming!

In May 1976, Jon Spacher (pronounced: SPAY-ker) was brought home from the hospital to an apartment above the Fee Brothers’ factory. No one imagined that he would become the 5th generation steward of the family business 44 years later. A Penn State graduate, Jon leveraged his Insurance degree to go far in the industry. His commitment to sustainable business solutions and a servant leadership style propelled him to become an officer of a national carrier. He retired from Insurance as a President, managing a region of more than 120 employees and 300 million in annual revenue. During his time there, he gained an appreciation for the unique distribution model of the independent agency system. Jon was able to transfer this knowledge to Fee Brothers’ global distribution model when he and his brother, Benn, became 50/50 owners of the family’s business on January 1, 2021. Since his arrival, Fee Brothers has increased its employee count from 12 to 33 and revenue has increased 74% with a disproportionate amount of growth internationally.

This was the first installment of our "Celebrating Leaders" series. We took a deep dive on Andre Godfrey, Past President, and Rochester Rotarian since 2003. Andre Godfrey is President/CEO of Entre Computer Services Inc. and a fixture in the information technology industry since the early 1980s. Andre joined Entre Computer Services Inc. as partner and president in 1994 after serving in a variety of executive positions at other IT firms. Under Andre’s leadership of 28 years, Entre grew into the largest independently owned IT provider in upstate New York and currently employs more than 100 technical people.

Nationally honored journalist and best-selling author Scott Pitoniak and 13WHAM-ABC sports anchor Jenna Cottrell talk about the Buffalo Bills chances of winning the Super Bowl, as well as other Bills/NFL topics in this annual Rochester Rotary football luncheon. Their conversation is followed by a Q-and-A with the audience.

About half of privately-held businesses in the United States are owned by entrepreneurs over age 55. As those business owners look to retire over the next decade, 12 million businesses are expected to change hands. What can we learn from some of Rochester’s oldest family businesses about planning for leadership and ownership transitions? Join us for a discussion with Genevieve Norris-Brown (6th generation at Seabreeze, founded 1879), Trevor Holly (4th generation at Sage Rutty, founded 1915) Jack Doyle (6th generation at Doyle Security, founded 1919), and Chelsea Conway (4th generation at Conway Beam, founded 1951). Moderated by Rotarian Andrew Brady (2nd generation at The XLR8 Team, founded 1996).