Commercial Electrical
- Retail stores526
- Manufacturing plants424
- Senior living and skilled nursing192
- Commercial building owners116
- Auto dealerships77
Rochester has 2,561 businesses with 20 or more people on site across the categories commercial trades sell to, and it leans toward churches and religious organizations and golf courses and country clubs more than the U.S. as a whole. Here is how each trade's market looks, where the buildings are and when to call.
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Ranked by larger buildings per contractor against up to 100 markets (only markets with 10 or more contractors in a trade are ranked; n/r means not ranked). A higher rank means more buildings worth calling for every competitor working them.
| Trade | Contractors | 1-yr change | Larger buildings | Per contractor | Rank | Eligible targets | Push months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Electrical Largest buyer group: retail stores | 86 | +2 | 1,415 | 16.5 | #7 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Roofing Largest buyer group: retail stores | 13 | 0 | 1,512 | 116.3 | #7 | 3,081 | Feb–Apr |
| Commercial Construction Largest buyer group: manufacturing companies | 119 | +4 | 984 | 8.3 | #8 | 3,081 | Year-round |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical Largest buyer group: manufacturing plants | 73 | -1 | 968 | 13.3 | #16 | 1,367 | Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings Largest buyer group: retail stores | 22 | -2 | 1,673 | 76.0 | #36 | · | Feb–Apr |
| Fire Protection Largest buyer group: restaurants | 37 | +1 | 1,591 | 43.0 | #50 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Flooring Largest buyer group: apartment and multifamily management companies | 13 | +2 | 887 | 68.2 | #35 | · | Year-round |
| Paving & Asphalt Largest buyer group: retail stores | 32 | -1 | 1,267 | 39.6 | #59 | · | Feb–Apr |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial Largest buyer group: manufacturing plants | 344 | -12 | 1,128 | 3.3 | #72 | 1,100 | Year-round |
| Commercial Landscaping Largest buyer group: retail stores | 437 | -19 | 1,349 | 3.1 | #73 | · | Feb–Apr |
Every trade has its own target list. Here are the five largest target industries for each program in the Rochester metro, with local location counts; each guide lists all ten and who your SDR asks for.
Locations with 20 or more employees, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Property management and similar categories count every company, whatever its size.
Named, sourced projects current as of 2026-09, and the trades each one puts to work.
A nine-story patient tower with more than 100 private rooms and an emergency department expansion that will more than triple its size, at UR Medicine's Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
Through early 2027 the tower is in its interior phase: healthcare HVAC, electrical, fire protection, flooring and painting across 200-plus new treatment and observation stations, then long-term service contracts once open.
13WHAM, 2025-09-22 →Conversion of a seven-story 1905 office building in downtown Rochester, vacant for 20 years, into 129 all-electric affordable apartments.
Office-to-residential conversions are interior-heavy: new all-electric HVAC, electrical distribution, sprinklers, flooring and painting on every floor of an older building.
Office of the Governor of New York, 2026-05-05 →An $8.9 million oncology expansion doubling infusion bays at the Lipson Cancer Institute and a $12 million outpatient imaging center in the Unity Professional Office Building in Greece.
Imaging suites with MRI and CT and a new oncology pharmacy need specialized electrical, HVAC and shielded interior buildouts, with finish trades closing out by late 2026.
Rochester Regional Health, 2026-04-07 →A 24,000 sq ft workforce development center at Monroe Community College's Downtown campus in Rochester.
A mid-size public build with mechanical, electrical, flooring and finish packages through 2027, then janitorial and maintenance contracts after opening.
Monroe County, 2026-08-04 →A 300,000 sq ft sheet metal fabrication and light manufacturing facility for McAlpin Industries on Hard Road in Webster, expected to create up to 52 jobs.
A new 300,000 sq ft plant needs a full general construction package, a sprinkler system sized for manufacturing, and truck and employee parking paving, with roofing and electrical service for laser cutting and welding lines.
Area Development, 2025-08-01 →A district-wide capital project at multiple Pittsford schools covering roof replacements, boiler and chiller replacements, new air conditioning in assembly areas, corridor floor tile replacement, generators, playground equipment and parking lot repaving.
A voter-approved package like this turns into bid packages for parking lot repaving, roof replacement and coatings, corridor flooring and mechanical replacement over the next few construction seasons.
Pittsford Central School District, 2026-03 →The conversion of the closed Marketplace Mall in Henrietta into a medical, educational, residential and civic complex, including a new URMC Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Institute and a new Mary Cariola Children's Center.
Parts of the mall will be demolished and rebuilt because the roof and foundations cannot carry the air handling the new medical and school uses need, which means new construction with fire protection, and town conditions add circle road repairs and a new park with walking trails.
13WHAM, 2026-05-29 →A two-story, 15,000 sq ft building on Intercampus Drive on the University of Rochester's River Campus with a lobby, a divisible ballroom and rehearsal space, plus a new home for the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.
A new assembly building with a ballroom needs a general contractor, sprinkler and fire alarm systems, HVAC, and flooring for event and rehearsal space before the fall 2027 opening.
University of Rochester, 2026-07-31 →Nearly 100 construction and renovation projects across the Rochester Institute of Technology campus in Henrietta, focused on residence halls, classrooms and outdoor spaces.
The work list includes new fire alarms, masonry and roofing on residence halls, tree planting near pedestrian areas and resealing, patching and restriping of parking areas, with one more year left in RIT's five-year plan.
Rochester Institute of Technology, 2026-06-03 →Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings here. Each fact links to its source, checked 2026-10.
Strong Memorial Hospital has 886 beds.
The University of Rochester Medical Center's main hospital, with inpatient towers, clinics, research space and parking.
University of Rochester Medical Center →With more than 39,000 employees, the University of Rochester combined with UR Medicine and affiliates is the largest private employer in Greater Rochester and upstate New York.
A research university and health system with academic campuses, hospitals and affiliated facilities across the region.
University of Rochester →Total passenger volume at ROC reached 2,797,112 in 2025, a 4.8% rise over 2024.
A county-owned airport with a passenger terminal, parking, airfield pavement and cargo operations.
Monroe County Airport Authority →Eastman Business Park covers 1,200 acres with 16 million square feet of building space zoned for manufacturing, distribution, office and laboratories.
A former Kodak manufacturing campus now shared by many industrial tenants, with about 200 acres available for development.
Eastman Kodak Company →The City of Rochester's 2025 ACFR, citing the Rochester Business Journal, lists Wegmans Food Markets with 12,686 employees, third among private employers in the area.
A Rochester-based grocer with headquarters offices, stores and distribution facilities across the region.
City of Rochester →The City of Rochester's 2025 ACFR, citing the Rochester Business Journal, lists Paychex Inc. with 4,527 employees in the Rochester area.
A locally headquartered payroll company with corporate office campuses in Monroe County.
City of Rochester →The City of Rochester's 2025 ACFR, citing the Rochester Business Journal, lists L3Harris Technologies Inc. with 3,700 employees in the Rochester area.
Defense electronics engineering and manufacturing buildings in the Rochester area.
City of Rochester →Compared with the national mix, Rochester over-indexes on churches and religious organizations, golf courses and country clubs and senior living and nursing. The fastest-growing categories over the past year: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+14), hosting and data processing companies (+7) and senior living and nursing (+6).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All establishments | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 624 | 2,277 | 1.30x | -46 |
| Retail stores | 526 | 3,224 | 1.24x | -64 |
| Manufacturing plants | 424 | 1,173 | 1.40x | -1 |
| Wholesale distributors | 208 | 1,064 | 0.84x | -31 |
| Senior living and nursing | 192 | 461 | 1.77x | +6 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 189 | 1,508 | 0.82x | +14 |
| Grocery stores | 83 | 556 | 1.51x | -2 |
| Auto dealerships | 77 | 185 | 1.55x | -15 |
| Private K-12 schools | 45 | 82 | 1.49x | -1 |
| Hotels | 38 | 101 | 0.76x | 0 |
| Trucking companies | 35 | 327 | 0.71x | -9 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 31 | 586 | 6.79x | -12 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 24 | 385 | 0.87x | -5 |
| Apartment and residential property managers | 21 | 193 | 0.94x | -18 |
| Warehousing and distribution | 14 | 65 | 1.17x | 0 |
| Golf courses and country clubs | 12 | 59 | 2.55x | 0 |
| Hospitals | 9 | 12 | 0.64x | +2 |
| Hosting and data processing companies | 5 | 38 | 0.49x | +7 |
| Colleges and universities | 4 | 8 | 0.59x | +2 |
| Commercial property managers | 0 | 48 | 0.91x | 0 |
| Nonresidential building owners | 0 | 116 | 1.50x | -5 |
Monroe County, Ontario County and Wayne County hold 95% of the metro's larger business sites. Most programs start in those counties and add the outer 2 counties for larger accounts, depending on how far your crews travel.
| County | Larger business sites |
|---|---|
| Monroe County | 1,909 |
| Ontario County | 316 |
| Wayne County | 131 |
| Livingston County | 81 |
| Orleans County | 43 |
Outdoor trades (roofing, paving, landscaping, exterior painting) work the months with lows of 40°F or above and sell in the months before. HVAC sells ahead of its heating and cooling peaks. Each trade page has its own calendar.
New York State does not run a general contractor licensing program, and contractors must follow local licensing laws. New York City's Department of Buildings registers general contractors and licenses trades such as master electricians and fire suppression piping contractors.
Trade-by-trade rules are on each trade page. Confirm with New York City Department of Buildings (local); New York State Department of State (alarm installers). Checked 2026-09-30.
Before you hire a sales development rep in Rochester, price the whole job, not just the salary. Here is the local pay for sales representatives, and what a first year really costs once you add commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and the manager time it takes to coach them.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
In-house adds $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $500/month tools, $5,000 recruiting and 4 manager hours a week at $75/hour, before ramp time or turnover. Abstrakt includes the SDR, management, tools and data.
Abstrakt's U.S.-based business development reps build a Rochester target list around your trade, service area and ideal buildings, work it by phone, email, LinkedIn and direct mail, and book meetings with the people who sign. We will not run the same program for a direct competitor in your territory.
Selling into New York? See the New York outbound calling rules: do-not-call lists, calling hours and registration, so you know what a program here has to handle.
Yes. Abstrakt runs outsourced appointment setting for commercial trades across the Rochester, NY metro: our U.S.-based business development reps call the buildings, qualify the opportunity and book meetings with the person who signs. We run one program per trade per market.
Measured by larger buildings per contractor against the 100 markets we track (where a trade has at least 10 local contractors), commercial Electrical (#7), commercial Roofing (#7) and commercial Construction (#8) rank best in Rochester.
Compared with the national mix, Rochester has more churches and religious organizations (6.79x), golf courses and country clubs (2.55x) and senior living and nursing (1.77x). Those industries are the best-represented buyers for trades that serve them.
The metro covers 5 counties. Monroe County, Ontario County and Wayne County hold 95% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
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