The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology grew its reach into the state’s manufacturing sector in late July, moving beyond the aerospace and defense subsectors.
On July 28, CCAT announced a partnership with the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, a national organization that promotes the importance of manufacturing while offering seminars, workshops and conference for companies in the industry.
The CCAT/AME partnership enables both groups to expand their reach in the industry. They will advocate for each other’s events on their Web sites, collaborate on joint events, and work together on AME’s industry publication, Target Magazine, said Bob Torrani, CCAT director of the manufacturing and supply chain initiative.
“They are a pretty respected organization,” Torrani said. “The partnership gives us an additional outreach mechanism.”
In 2005, CCAT launched its manufacturing and supply chain initiative to help keep Connecticut companies competitive in the global marketplace. The organization helps by improving productivity through lean and efficiency practices, as well as offering more advanced technology options for manufacturers.
The main goal is to keep the supply chain in Connecticut, Torrani said. Much of the initiative is referring original equipment manufacturers to Connecticut companies that can supply them with needed parts.
Over the past six years, the CCAT initiative has grown to include 1,000 companies out of the more than 4,800 in the state. About 70 percent of those 1,000 come from the aerospace and defense subsectors. CCAT wants to break into more general manufacturing, Torrani said, such as consumer goods, automotive and medical manufacturing.
The partnership with AME helps manufacturers see CCAT as the one-stop place for all the services they need, especially advanced technology, Torrani said. Unlike other business organizations such as the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and the Connecticut Technology Council, CCAT is not membership-based.
“We don’t limit who we work with,” Torrani said.
Every time organizations such as CCAT place renewed focus on manufacturing, the awareness of the importance of the industry increases in the state, said Jerry Clupper, executive director for the New Haven Manufacturers Association.
“It shows there is broad recognition that manufacturing is something we are going to have to support if we are going to have a good economy,” Clupper said.
The manufacturing industry in Connecticut always can use stronger voices and more voices to get policymakers to realize how vital these companies are to the state economy, Clupper said. The New Haven Manufacturers Association would like to see a manufacturing caucus formed in the Connecticut General Assembly.
Manufacturing is a $58 billion industry in Connecticut, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The industry suffered a rapid decline from 2007 to 2010 in the state, shedding 13 percent of its workforce.
The industry appears for a slight rebound this year, as manufacturing employment rose 1.2 percent in the first quarter and 1.1 percent in the second quarter, the first consecutive quarterly year-over-year increase since 1998, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
