CT chief manufacturing officer says workforce, emerging industries are priorities

The state’s priorities for Connecticut’s manufacturing industry include changing perceptions about working in the sector and advising companies on technology adoption and supporting emerging industries.

Chief Manufacturing Officer Colin Cooper said during a Tuesday event in Farmington hosted by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce that workforce development remains a key issue in the industry, which currently employs about 152,800 people in the state. 

COVID-19 exacerbated the long-running issue of open manufacturing jobs going unfilled as fewer young people enter the industry and older workers retire, with manufacturers shedding about 12,700 jobs in March and April 2020, and recovering just about 36% of the workforce since that time. In addition to ongoing training initiatives at the community college level, state officials are working on an advertising campaign to draw more young people into the industry.

“If you go to a manufacturing facility today it’s like an operating room, but people’s perception is sort of a Dickens’ novel with flames licking the ceiling and smoke belching out,” said Cooper, who added the ad campaign will focus on career opportunities in the industry.

Another priority, Cooper said, is getting Connecticut manufacturers to adopt the industry’s latest technology and make products for innovative companies and growth industries.

To that end, the state plans to serve as a go-between for businesses and manufacturers, so that non-manufacturing companies in Connecticut have their products made within the state.

“We’re looking at a match-making initiative where we’re matching our innovators with our manufacturers,” Cooper said. “If somebody’s innovating in Connecticut, we want to make sure we’re making it in Connecticut.”

Beyond that, Cooper said Connecticut manufacturers could see great opportunities for supplying emerging industries like electric vehicles and offshore wind energy.

With two major offshore wind projects coming to Connecticut, economic development and other officials say wind, especially, provides an opening for in-state manufacturers to start producing for that growing industry.

“There’s no lack of opportunities to get better, and no lack of ways to engage with our manufacturers to move in the right direction,” Cooper said.