Take A Behind the Scenes Look into Connecticut’s Manufacturing Excellence Aboard The 2024 Manufacturing Tour
By: Amanda Beaulieu
The inaugural 2024 Manufacturing Tour was a one-of-a-kind experience that showcased Connecticut’s vibrant manufacturing community during a month already filled with exciting events.
An eye-catching, manufacturing-themed bus stopped at 20 locations over five days from Fairfield to Farmington, Waterford to Torrington, and Groton to West Hartford.
Each day, the tour visited three manufacturers and an educational institution or workforce development program, featuring the organizations, and raising awareness about the critical role manufacturing plays in Connecticut’s communities and economy.
“I think the great thing about this tour is that it allows us to highlight the people that are doing the work,” said Beatriz Gutierrez, CONNSTEP President and CEO.
Representatives from the manufacturing industry, the Office of Manufacturing, CONNSTEP, CBIA, ReadyCT employees, and bus tour sponsors hopped on board every morning for an 8-hour excursion.
Here is a recap of the incredible week.
DAY 1
The 2024 Manufacturing Tour kicked off on October 14 visiting state-of-the-art facilities and producing thought-provoking conversations about preparing the next generation of manufacturers.
First up was Triumph in West Hartford, a massive facility that started in 1943 and employs over 500 workers. Triumph makes products like fuel pumps, fuel metering units, environmental cooling systems, and electronic engine controls.
The bus headed to Farmington’s New England Airfoil Products for stop number two. The Italian-based company has been in Connecticut since 1955 and produces parts for many industries including defense, aerospace, and industrial gas turbines.
Up next, the Mott Corporation in Farmington manufactures filtration and flow control products. At three Connecticut sites, 240 of Mott’s 400 worldwide employees are all about “Mission Critical Precision.”
CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima, a member of CONNSTEP’s Board of Directors, spoke at the Manufacturing Tour press conference held at Mott.
“This tour aims to shine a light on CT’s rich legacy of manufacturing, the significance and diversity that manufacturing has in today’s economy, and also foster a deeper understanding of what Connecticut needs to do to further grow our important manufacturing sector.”
The final stop of the day was at the University of Hartford’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture. In partnership with Pratt & Whitney, the lab space inside the Center for Manufacturing and Metrology is training students in measurement science using advanced machinery and technology.
DAY 2
The second day of the 2024 Manufacturing Tour rolled through the hills of western Connecticut. Cities and towns steeped in history are home to some amazing manufacturers!
At Siemon in Watertown, 100+ years of family manufacturing legacy specializing in copper and fiber infrastructure solutions is stronger than ever. This global company was founded as the Siemon Hard Rubber Company in Bridgeport in 1903. They have adapted with advancements in technology, from producing phonograph records to cabling one of the largest buildings in the world.
Several manufacturers joined the bus tour during the week including Director of Quality & Outreach at Carey Manufacturing in Cromwell Alison Carey-Lynch, who understands the need to adapt and find solutions.
“Working for a manufacturer, you’ve got a problem, you’ve got to figure out how to solve it and we come up with the most creative and most exciting ways to do it.”
The second stop of the day was Torrington’s FuelCell Energy. There they showcased the technology that is changing the landscape of clean energy production. By 2050, their team aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by decarbonizing power and producing hydrogen.
A sweet treat was in store next at Fascia’s Chocolates in Waterbury. The family-owned business began in a home basement 60 years ago and delights the senses with handmade chocolate confections of all kinds.
The Brass City is also home to the Manufacturing Alliance Service Corporation, an organization that started in 1996 and is changing lives one student at a time through in-demand, high-quality manufacturing skills education.
“We tend to hire young people straight out of tech programs or certificate programs, and we want people who are passionate about the work. I want to hire somebody that is going to be with us for the next 10, 15 years of their career,” said Carey-Lynch who recognizes the importance of training skilled, dedicated workers.
Carey-Lynch along with Alfredo Fernandez of Shipman & Goodwin LLP were among several CONNSTEP Board of Directors members who spent a day aboard the Manufacturing Tour.
DAY 3
Halfway through the 2024 Manufacturing Tour and it was a busy day three!
Wednesday started off at Milford’s Orange Research. Their small but mighty team making differential pressure gauges for critical industries from fire suppression to energy production was clear, ‘You’re a name not just a number here.’ A tight-knit family since 1963, many employees have worked there for decades!
If you’ve ever turned on a light with a metal bead pull chain, it was made in Milford by the team at Bead Industries working on a technologically advanced manufacturing floor to create them. Bead’s electronics division also makes electronic connector pins for multiple industries. This family-owned, woman-led company has called Connecticut home for over 100 years.
Next up, PEZ. The name and the taste are iconic. They even made it to the final eight of the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Connecticut. All of the sweet pieces of candy that pop out of a PEZ Candy dispenser in North America are made in Orange. Their incredible visitors center welcomes 75,000 people through its doors each year. If you haven’t visited, do yourself a favor, you’ll feel like a kid in a candy store!
Goodwin University opened the Harrison Steans Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of Bridgeport last year, expanding its manufacturing educational offerings to the southwestern part of the state. The schools’ partnership highlights the dedication, passion, and commitment to creating the next generation of Connecticut’s manufacturing workforce.
DAY 4
On day four, the 2024 Manufacturing Tour bus made its way to Fairfield County with stops in Bridgeport, Stamford, and Fairfield.
The day began at CT State Community College Housatonic’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, where the goal is to help fill the manufacturing jobs need in Connecticut by educating students to be confident, successful, innovative machinists. Students learn soft skills and get firsthand experience with manual and CNC machines to prepare them for future manufacturing careers.
GE Appliances, a Haier company in Stamford makes GE Monogram Ovens and GE Profile Stand Mixers. It is also home to CoCreate, an innovative space providing local makers a place to create. From hands-on education to assembly of some of the appliances you use every day, this incredible location is as inspiring as it is beautiful.
A whopping 2,000,000 tea bags are produced each day at Fairfield’s Bigelow Tea! Third generation, family-owned and run for almost 80 years, Bigelow blends 180 varieties of specialty tea and is now the top-selling tea company in the United States!
At Paragon Medical in Bridgeport, they believe strongly in the idea of ‘You touch a part, you touch a life.’ Paragon is all about their people and helping save the lives of others. They produce critical medical components, and they are committed to ‘doing things right the first time.’
DAY 5
On Friday, the final day of the tour headed to eastern Connecticut, and it did not disappoint!
Specializing in duct and tube manufacturing, Leggett & Platt Aerospace has called Middletown home for 35 years. Now producing vital components for the aerospace and defense industries, back in 1883, the company got its start making bed springs!
In the quiet woods of Westbrook, The Lee Company makes parts for every plane in the sky. Their precision fluid control systems are innovations in miniature. Still family-owned and run after starting in a kitchen in Rocky Hill in 1948, their 1,000+ employees at two Connecticut campuses make ‘mission critical components.’
Like Leggett & Platt and The Lee Company, many other companies that were part of the tour produce products sold globally. Speaking in an interview on Fox61 News, Connecticut’s Chief Manufacturing Officer Paul Lavoie said that the tour served as a way “to continue to highlight the importance of manufacturing to Connecticut, but the importance of Connecticut manufacturing to the world.”
Jaypro Sports is an athletic equipment manufacturer creating everything from batting cages to field goal posts at their 110,000-square-foot Waterford facility. The team is proud that their innovative 120-person workforce is now one-third female and continuing to grow.
Whether it was goal posts, electrical components, critical aerospace parts, or nostalgic treats, each stop on the tour was exciting for everyone on board.
“I love being in a manufacturing operation, touring the floor, talking to the engineers, meeting the people, it’s just awesome,” said Michael Rocheleau, Executive Vice President of Oxford’s PTA Plastics and member of CONNSTEP’s Board of Directors who joined the tour on Friday.
To round out the week, the final stop of the tour showcased a strong partnership between General Dynamics Electric Boat and CT State Community College Three Rivers at the Manufacturing Apprenticeship Center at Ella T. Grasso Technical High School. Demand-driven industry education is the core of the program and is the epitome of the manufacturing pipeline at work. More than 300 students each year complete the training and have jobs waiting for them when they graduate.
Rocheleau supports manufacturing education starting as early as middle school. “It needs to be agile, and it needs to be driven by the employers and if we can mirror that model in a more formal educational structure, we’ve got a home run.”
He noted that a shift in mindset about a career in the industry is needed by parents “to understand what today’s manufacturing is about…that it is a pathway to a good life.”
The 2024 Manufacturing Tour was educational, insightful, and brought awareness to Connecticut’s thriving manufacturing ecosystem.
It helped showcase the diverse landscape products produced and created in Connecticut and change perspectives about the industry.
During the five days and 20 different stops, those on the tour met innovators, creators, educators, and leaders who collectively drive manufacturing success in Connecticut.
They spoke with excited students learning what it takes to become part of the next manufacturing workforce and those who are the industry’s heart and soul, the workers.
Every stop on the tour was unique, but the common denominator that made each one special was the hard-working people on the shop floors.
It was the smiling faces behind the welding masks and safety glasses who took the time to shake hands, take pictures, and explain why they love what they do.
“We need to really focus on the people that are actually doing the work,” said Gutierrez. “To make Connecticut the place of innovation and the place of growth that we are.”
Their passion and dedication exemplify Connecticut’s manufacturing excellence.
The fifteen manufacturers that hosted this year’s tour stops represent a handful of the thousands that call Connecticut home.
The tour will be back in 2025, if your company is interested in participating, information is available on CBIA’s website.
Our multi-disciplinary team of experts takes a holistic approach by leveraging industry knowledge to offer tailored services for success.
Check out our "About Us" page here. CONNSTEP has become one of the top MEP centers in the network by supporting the evolution of Connecticut’s manufacturers to be the most resilient, reliable, innovative, and productive in the nation.
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