Aerospace Industry Key to CT's Economic Growth

EDAC Technologies Corp. - one of the state's larges aerospace technology companies - has paid $8.2 million for the former Pratt & Whitney plant in Cheshire, and is planning to relocate nearly 400 workers to the factory next year, from current facilities in Farmington and Newington.  The company, which makes aerospace and industrial components, had planned to consolidate operations in Plainville, but changed plans when the Cheshire plant became available. There are 175 aerospace companies in Connecticut, according to data from D&B Sale & Marketing Solutions (2011) as reported in the Connecticut Economic Review, produced by Northeast Utilities.  In 2010, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) reported that $6.7 billion of Connecticut gross state product was estimated to originate from the state’s aerospace industry – 5 percent of the state’s total productivity. Connecticut’s 10 largest aerospace companies (alphabetically):

• AIS Global Holdings
• Beacon Group
• EDAC Technologies
• Engine Alliance
• First Aviation Services
• Hexcel
• Kaman Aerospace
• Sikorsky
• Unison Engine Components
• United Technologies

Promoting the industry, the Aerospace Components Manufacturers (ACM) association is a network of independent Connecticut-based aerospace companies; a non-profit partnership that is part of Connecticut's Industry Cluster Initiative. Working together as a network, member companies collectively offer broader capabilities than they could as individuals.

ACM helps capture new business opportunities for Connecticut's aerospace industry. ACM member companies aim to be world leaders in providing customers with aerospace components of unsurpassed quality, competitive prices and on-time delivery.  A video highlights their work. The organization’s convention/trade show is slated for Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at Bradley International Airport.

Alexion Latest BioScience Headliner in CT; Industry Depth Grows

The impending arrival of Jackson Labs in Farmington, the year’s blockbuster deal in Connecticut’s efforts to build its economic base in the biotech industry into national leadership, is far from the only game in town.  Connecticut is already home to 800 biomedical companies, according to data from D&B Sale & Marketing Solutions (2011) as reported in the Connecticut Economic Review, produced by Northeast Utilities.  Connecticut’s 10 largest biomedical companies (alphabetically):

• Alexion Pharmaceuticals
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Bristol-Meyers Squibb
• Clinical Laboratory Partners
• Dianon Systems
• Hamilton Sunstrand
• Pfizer
• Pharmaceutical Research Associates
• United States Surgical
• Zygo

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced this week that it will open a new headquarters in New Haven, adding hundreds of jobs to the region with the help of state financial backing.

Under the deal, Alexion will move and consolidate more than 350 workers that are currently spread over several buildings in Cheshire, to a new 400,000-square-foot facility with office, laboratory and research and development space. Alexion will be the anchor tenant in a $100 million facility that will be a centerpiece of New Haven's downtown redevelopment efforts known as Downtown Crossing.  The company returns to New Haven, where it began in a small office in the city's Science Park.

Seeking Social Entrepreneurs Demonstrating It Can Be Done

Are you a Connecticut entrepreneur interested in starting your own business that will improve the community, create jobs, and generate profit with a purpose? If this sounds like you, it may be worthwhile considering an entry for the reSET 2012 Social Entrepreneur Award.  The award recognizes aspiring individuals with viable, sustainable business concepts for social enterprise that will improve the community, create jobs, and demonstrate the power of harnessing profit to purpose. The Grand Prize Winner and finalists will receive a cash start-up award and other benefits to help take their idea to the next level.  Application Deadline is July 1, 2012; the Juror Panel includes reSET Board Members and Advisors.  Award recipients and Grand Prize Winner will be announced at an October 10, 2012 gala.

reSET was formed in Connecticut in 2009, when a group of concerned citizens, educators, and leaders from business and nonprofit organizations got together  to talk about the growing Social Enterprise movement and our desire to see it catch on in a big way throughout Connecticut.   Social Enterprise is a new business model that puts people and purpose before profit and uses the free market to create positive social change.  Becoming a Social Entrepreneur means moving from the profit paradigm to a more satisfying and sustainable way of doing business, and one with a lasting positive legacy.

CT Ranks #8 in USA in Patents

Connecticut is known as the land of Yankee Ingenuity, with good reason, but if the state is to retain its historic preeminence, it will need to step up its game.  The state ranks #8 in patents per 100,000 workers, according to data compiled by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010).  The top ten:  Vermont, California, Washington, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New Jersey.  Connecticut’s 131.3 patents per 100,000 workers is well above the US average of 93.3 patents. Hoping to spur more collaboration locally, The Business Council of Fairfield County has launched a new Center for Growth Resources, in collaboration with the Connecticut Technology Council, Connecticut Innovations, and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, among other entities, the Fairfield County Business Journal has reported.  Connecticut is also actively promoting initiatives such as the Stamford Innovation Center and Startup Connecticut, among others.

Connecticut's French Connection Leads Export List

Connecticut’s major trading partners among the world’s nations may be somewhat unexpected.  Topping the list is France, with 14% of exports.  Rounding out the top five are Canada (10%), Germany (8%), China (6%) and Mexico (6%).  The remainder of Connecticut’s top ten trading partners - in exports - are Belgium, Singapore, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Japan.  Together, those 10 nations account for 64% of Connecticut’s international exports; the rest of the world accounts for 36%, according to 2011 data from the U.S. Department of Commerce as published by Northeast Utilities. The Connecticut Small Business Development Center (SBDC) points out that 95% of the world’s population  and 66% of the world’s purchasing power are outside the United States, providing American businesses a world of opportunities to explore.  SBDC helps Connecticut businesses establish business relationships overseas from their offices at Connecticut's state universities and the Department of Economic and Community Development in Hartford.

Hartford in Nation's Top 20 Manufacturing Centers, Led by Aerospace

The Worcester area has the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs in New England, according to a report released by The Brookings Institution.  The report, "Locating American Manufacturing: Trends in the Geography of Production," ranked the Worcester area 15th in 2010 among the nation's metropolitan areas for percentage of manufacturing jobs as part of the region's employment mix, with 10.9 percent. Worcester was the highest-ranked New England metro area, ahead of Hartford, Conn., which ranked 19th nationally (10.5 percent).  The top three manufacturing industries in Hartford, according to the Brookings report, are aerospace, fabricated metals, and machinery. Metro Hartford lost about 23 percent of its manufacturing jobs from 2000 to 2010, but that erosion was slower than losses in the South, Midwest and in the nation as a whole, where 33 to 34 percent of the jobs evaporated.  The Brookings Institution analyzed manufacturing employment in the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas — including all jobs at manufacturing companies, not just production jobs.

Brookings noted that Fairfield headquartered General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt recently stated: [T]oday at GE we are outsourcing less and producing more in the U.S. . . . When we are deciding where to manufacture, we ask, ‘Will our people and technology in the U.S. provide us with a competitive advantage?’ Increasingly, the answer is yes.

CT Seeks to Use Assets to Maximize International Business

Connecticut's strong standing (and potential) as an international business gateway is often underestimated.  With plans proceeding to maximize the use of Bradley International Airport, as the state's new, more nimble airport agency (Connecticut Airport Authority) nears selection of an executive director, a quick glimpse of the state's standing is in order.  Worthy of note:  Connecticut's more than 800 foreign-based corporations employ more than 100,000 people.  Among the goals for Bradley - re-establishment of a direct-to-Europe route. Some of the vital stats, as outlined by the state Department of Economic and Community Development:

• Connecticut is a leader in research and development, ranking #2 in expenditures as a percentage of overall Gross State Product (GSP).
• Connecticut is a global competitor, ranking #6 in world GDP per capita. (Behind Singapore, ahead of Norway)
• Connecticut's workers are among the most productive in the nation, ranking #4 among states.
• Connecticut is a leader in communications technologies, ranking #5 in broadband telecommunications.
• Connecticut is a leader in insurance and finance, ranking #2 in total employment.
• Connecticut is a leading exporter ranking #10 in per capita exports.
• Connecticut ranks #5 in the number of scientists & engineers per 100,000 employees.

Education & Health Services Top Private Employment Sector in CT

The Educational & Health Services sector leads the way in the private employment mix in Connecticut, according to the state Department of Labor.   Statistics indicate 317,000 people employed in that sector, followed by Trade, Transportation & Utilities, with 291,800,  Professional & Business Services, with 193,400 and Manufacturing with 167,900.  Rounding out the top ten are Leisure & Hospitality, 133,800; Financial Activities, 132,600; "Other Services," 59,800; Construction, Natural Resources & Mining, 50,200; and Information 31,700.  Data reflects totals as of August 2011.

Four CT Cities Gain National Recognition for Main Street Programs

Connecticut Main Street Center has announced that four Connecticut Main Street organizations have been accredited as 2012 National Main Street Programs for meeting organizational performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center.  New London Main Street, Simsbury Main Street Partnership, Upper Albany Main Street (Hartford) and Main Street Waterbury have been recognized for outstanding accomplishments.  The announcement was made at the 2012 National Main Streets Conference in Baltimore, where Waterbury Main Street CEO Carl Rosa was among those selected to make a formal presentation.

The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization is among the most powerful economic development tools.  Since the program's inception in Connecticut in 1996, the number of net new businesses exceeds 400 and net new jobs is nearly 2,500.  For every $1 spent on a local Main Street Program’s operating budget, $73.13 has been reinvested into Designated Connecticut Main Street Downtowns.  The organization's next Downtown Revitalization Institute day-long program is June 21.

CT Companies Pursue Energy Efficiencies to Thrive

The 900 solar panels on the roof of the R.C. Bigelow Inc. headquarters in Fairfield and the participation of Legrand North America in the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings, Better Plants program - using it's 260,000 square feet West Hartford facility as a model of energy efficiency were both center stage at Yale on Thursday. The Yale Center for Business and the Environment and the Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy program of Ceres, a Boston-based sustainability advocacy organization, brought together leaders from business, academic and government to explore the challenges and opportunities of energy efficiency.

Bottom line:  Connecticut's energy costs make seeking energy efficiencies a business imperative in Connecticut.  And employee involvement can make a significant difference in the success of initiatives to promote energy efficiencies and keep businesses thriving in the state.