🔒Glastonbury aerospace manufacturer HABCO doubles revenue, expands footprint — even as workforce shrinks

Glastonbury aerospace manufacturer HABCO says it’s been experiencing significant revenue growth over the past few years, buoyed by a vastly improved business climate and strategy shift.

While revenue has rebounded well beyond pre-pandemic highs, HABCO’s staffing has contracted slightly through efficiencies achieved with the help of state and federal programs.

The phenomenon reflects the realities of modern manufacturing in Connecticut and the U.S., where strong revenue growth doesn’t necessarily translate into huge employment gains, as companies increasingly embrace automation and other technologies, as well as workforce training programs that upskill existing staff, to improve output.

However, HABCO’s growth — spurred, in part, by a move into the business of maintaining and storing tools and equipment for other aerospace manufacturers — has driven a need for more real estate.

In January, the 55-year-old company began leasing an 85,000-square-foot space in a Windsor industrial park, on Deerfield Road. This allowed HABCO to consolidate two smaller leases in East Hartford, home to its contract logistics business, while giving it elbow room for growth, said Brian Montanari, the company’s president and CEO.

HABCO also has an option to lease an additional 75,000 square feet in a Windsor industrial building at 92 Deerfield Road. The company is working to close new contracts so it can take advantage of the space, Montanari said.

“I focus on growing the business by developing deep-seated relationships with our customers, going from what used to be transactional business of one-off product sales, to going into license agreements and (long-term agreements), and looking to go even deeper with customers,” Montanari said.

Diverse customer base

Founded in 1970, HABCO predominantly manufactures, services and deploys test equipment to help manufacturers ensure airframes and engines are serviced properly. Today, it produces thousands of aerospace support and test products for commercial and military applications.

Its products include an array of test stands, fuel, transmission and hydraulic carts, test kits and tire cages. On its website, the company says it’s also a commercial tooling supplier to Pratt & Whitney.

“When you look up in the sky, whether it’s a military aircraft or a commercial aircraft, a fixed-wing aircraft or a rotary aircraft, there is a high probability we touched that aircraft in some manner,” Montanari said.

HABCO is headquartered in a 56,644-square-foot Glastonbury building, at 172 Oak St., which it sold — and leased back — three years ago to raise $4.7 million in capital to support its growth.

HABCO’s operations are nearly evenly split between military and commercial aviation, and between fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, Montanari said. That diversity has helped it weather occasional economic turbulence.

Montanari said business took a dive at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic due to a sharp decline in commercial aviation, which has since fully recovered. He declined to disclose the company’s annual revenue, but said it’s on track in 2025 to increase 75% from 2019.

This year’s revenue will double that of 2021, which was depressed due to the pandemic, he said.

In Windsor, HABCO is leasing part of the former Stanadyne campus, which has 740,000 square feet of industrial space in four buildings on 52 acres at 90 and 92 Deerfield Road.

Ohio-based Industrial Realty Group acquired the complex for $250,000 in late 2023 through a bankruptcy sale. At the time, IRG said it expected to invest at least $5 million into building improvements and upgrades.

Cost control

Revenue growth has not translated into increased staffing for HABCO.

In 2023, the company had 65 employees. Today, it has 60. Montanari said the reduction came from attrition, as the company has not had to backfill positions left open by departing staff.

“So, as the business has expanded and grown, we have not had to expand the headcount at the same rate that we are growing,” Montanari said.

He credits the state’s workforce training programs with helping upskill and cross-train his staff, which has increased their, and the company’s, overall productivity.

Welders, for example, have learned how to perform electrical and mechanical assembly and operate waterjet machines, Montanari said.

That ensures workers aren’t sitting idle and can help the company compensate for a tight labor market.

“We don’t have anybody that only does one thing,” Montanari said.

HABCO has leveraged training and innovation programs available through the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, including one that uses a virtual reality headset to train staff on how to correctly apply part labels.

That has cut down waste and sped up productivity, Montanari said.

“The reason why HABCO is expanding and growing has a lot to do with leadership,” said Paul Lavoie, Connecticut’s chief manufacturing officer. “They are incredibly open to growing and developing people. They are incredibly open to cross-training people and giving them job enrichment, which allows them to be incredibly flexible. They are also investing in new technology and innovation, which keeps your workforce happy.”

According to a strategic plan recently released by Lavoie’s office, Connecticut aims to grow the manufacturing industry’s output from 13% to 20% of Connecticut’s Gross Domestic Product by 2030.

Lavoie said he’s convinced the state can reach that goal, but that likely won’t translate into a substantial increase in manufacturing employment, which currently stands at 157,800 jobs in Connecticut.

That’s about 2,000 fewer jobs than February 2022, when manufacturing represented 10% of Connecticut GDP, Lavoie said. High labor costs and scarcity of workers are forcing employers to get creative and more efficient, he said.

“The only way manufacturing can grow in Connecticut is through innovation and through upskilling and reskilling the existing workforce, because there is a shortage of workers across the globe,” Lavoie said.