It is Rochester's automotive history that helped push it toward fuel cell development. Longtime employers General Motors Corp. and Delphi Corp. both have established fuel cell research centers here. GM employs about 300 people in Honeoye Falls, and Delphi employs about 450 at its technical research center in Henrietta. Researchers at the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology are also exploring fuel cells. And smaller companies are springing up as well.

Precision Designs of Gates employs about 30 people who make testing equipment for fuel cells, a business that President Bill West expects to grow significantly over the next few years.

GM's chief engineer in Honeoye Falls, Matt Fronk, won't name suppliers, but he says GM works with about 25 companies in the region to help with its research.

Yet the region faces stiff competition. California is working on what it calls a "Hydrogen Highway" of fueling stations to help promote fuel cell development.

Ohio and Michigan are also pushing fuel cell research.

The key is helping GM, Delphi and others decide that Rochester is the place they want to do production, said Nabil Nasr, who heads RIT's Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies.

"In order for our area to be competitive, we have to have the know-how and the infrastructure," Nasr said.

The Rochester economy already has several other assets that could help make it a fuel-cell hub — for instance, Rochester's expertise in film making and chemicals could be applied to help make the membranes that go into fuel cells.

Fronk said Rochester needs to work more at building the infrastructure that is one of the region's "best kept secrets."

For now, fuel cells are years from being ready for widespread commercial production. But Fronk and others argue the region should prepare now to compete for jobs.

Other firms are looking to stake a claim in the field of smart energy as well. RENEW-NY, a network of businesses and academics, is hoping to promote the state as a destination for such ventures.

Empire Biofuels of Seneca Falls wants to build an ethanol plant in Seneca County. Northern Biodiesel of Ontario, Wayne County, hopes to build a plant that would convert used cooking oil into fuel, said CEO Jason Masters.