© 2024 Innovation Trail

Meet Harris RF: Rochester's local defense giant

Earlier this month we sat down with Dana Mehnert, the president of Harris RF Communications.

The 50-year-old company is Rochester born and bred, tracing its roots back to a Park Avenue basement.

But since its early days of bootstrap innovation, Harris RF has come a long way. Nowadays the company makes tactical radios and provides "assured communications®" to governments and militaries the world over. It's also one of the area's largest employers, with around 2,300 local workers.

We talked with Mehnert about his company's rapid growth over the last decade, the accomplishments it can't brag about, and whether or not RF technology played a role in killing Osama bin Laden.

 

WXXI/Finger Lakes reporter for the Innovation Trail.