After the nation endured savage snowstorms and bitter freezes one after the other, Bustle.com named it one of the toughest places in America–an admittedly appropriate award, but perhaps for the wrong reason. It’s not Rochester’s harsh winter weather handling that makes it so resilient, but rather how well the city has endured its Big Three employers’ reductions. Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch + Lomb all downsized and left a vacuum, which innovative start-ups and high tech companies have continued to fill with new jobs.

According to a recent press release from the New York State Department of Labor, the state’s unemployment rate has decreased to only 7.1% in December 2013, which is the lowest level in five years. December also brought with it 10,400 private sector jobs, which raised the job count to an all-time high of 7,503,700. New York State accounts for 12% of the nation’s private sector job growth in December.

On January 27th, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in Rochester to announce $3 million in state funds for the development of clean-energy operations that would come to the Eastman Business Park, which is projected to bring 600 jobs to the city.

Other renovation and redevelopment projects are also underway, too. Bringing $18 million in renovation funds to the city, a Hilton Garden Inn hotel is slated to open in the former National Clothing Store building on East Main Street in August. The Sibley Building, another historic downtown structure, is also going to undergo renovations to prepare for new tenants. Across the street, the Midtown project creates new office, retail, and commercial spaces as well.
That’s not all, either. On the former Iola Campus, an integral part of Rochester, the multi-use CityGate project is opening in Spring of 2014. It’s a 45-acre mixed-use development that features a blend of shopping, dining, living, playing, staying. The project also has a million-dollar-plus canal-improvement project that should restore a one-mile stretch of the Erie Canal Heritage Trail.

Although the U.S. Small Business Administration advises that all small business should purchase insurance, it’s fairly safe to say that there will be fewer claims in the coming months, as the city picks itself back up.

Yes, Rochester is one of the toughest cities in the country, but not because its school won’t close for anything less than two full feet of snow. Compared to the economic challenges being overcome, the Polar Vortex was nothing.