PAETEC (aka Paetec Holding Corporation) is a nationwide telecommunications company founded and headquartered in Fairport, New York. They provide phone and Internet services to businesses of all sizes. PAETEC recently acquired two additional companies: US LEC, based in Charlotte, NC, and McLeod USA, based in Cedar Rapids, IA. The company's Chairman and CEO, Arunas Chesonis, is active as a philanthropist in the Rochester community, and recently partially sponsored the new athletic center at Monroe Community College.
In late July 2011 it was announced that PAETEC would be acquired by Windstream Corp., a Little Rock-based communications firm. Paetec Tower The so-called Paetec Tower was a plan with some help from the state, that envisioned tearing down Midtown Plaza and surrounding buildings in 2009, and building a skyscraper of unknown height in its place. (Estimates from 28 to 35 stories appeared in local publications.) In early 2010, the plan was officially scaled back to a more moderate size "building".
The effect on these reduced plans of acquisition of PAETEC by Windstream Corp. is not yet known.