In the months since Paul Lavoie took over as the state’s chief manufacturing officer, he has been listening to what the industry has to say and taking steps to address their challenges.Lavoie started the job in February, replacing Colin Cooper, who retired.Lavoie’s background is in manufacturing. His past includes working at ETTER Engineering Co., a […]
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In the months since Paul Lavoie took over as the state’s chief manufacturing officer, he has been listening to what the industry has to say and taking steps to address their challenges.
Lavoie started the job in February, replacing Colin Cooper, who retired.
Lavoie’s background is in manufacturing. His past includes working at ETTER Engineering Co., a family-owned engineering and manufacturing business in Bristol.
Most recently, Lavoie served as general manager of Cromwell-based Carey Manufacturing, which makes catches, latches, handles and electronic hardware for various industries. The company garnered attention for its efforts to reshore manufacturing jobs from China to Connecticut.
Lavoie resigned from Carey for his new role, which is part of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
Now, Lavoie’s time is spent promoting growth in Connecticut’s manufacturing sector, from helping employers fill jobs via a workforce pipeline to providing key connections.
He’s got a tall task, as Connecticut manufacturers struggle to fill thousands on unfilled jobs, an issue that plagued the industry pre-pandemic.
At the end of July, manufacturers employed 159,700 residents, nearly fully recovering the thousands of jobs it shed during the onset of the pandemic. Even still, the industry is much smaller than it used to be — in January 1993, manufacturers employed 265,000 people in the state.
Lavoie says he is focused on helping manufacturers of all sizes, and he has spent months doing what he calls a “lean in, listen and learn” tour. As of late August, he had toured 71 manufacturers and spoken with another 125, to understand their concerns and make connections.
He is raising awareness of the state’s Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which provides loans and grants to support key initiatives — such as research and development and job training.
New Haven Biz recently spoke to Lavoie about what he has learned so far, and what his plans are to help the state’s manufacturers.
What are manufacturers telling you their biggest concerns are?
The single biggest factor that is preventing manufacturing from experiencing greater growth is the lack of an available workforce. We are working very hard on workforce development efforts to make sure manufacturers have a well-trained, well-educated workforce that will meet their needs.
The second (big concern) is supply chain. With COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and unrest in China, we have seen significant disruption. That is requiring manufacturers to buy and hold inventories at a greater level. It has made it much more difficult for them to deliver to customers in a timely manner.
The third thing is — How do we continue to drive innovation within manufacturers? We know we are not going to 100 percent solve the workforce problem with people. We know we are going to have to continue to drive innovation and automation.
We’re really looking at some of our medium- and smaller-sized manufacturers and how we can assist them in accelerating the adoption of industry 4.0 technology, automation, robotics, cobots, those areas where they can really modernize their manufacturing plants and gain significant productivity.
What are your goals and priorities?
I have five strategic initiatives under my office. One is to develop a robust workforce. The second is to foster a healthy manufacturing ecosystem. The third is to encourage a culture of innovation. The fourth is to establish communication channels for all stakeholders. The fifth is to coordinate resources to simplify our efforts.
How are you trying to help build the manufacturing workforce pipeline?
We will be launching a ‘hearts and minds’ advertising campaign that will be (aimed at) changing the perception of manufacturing with our students, guidance counselors and parents.
Manufacturing is not dark, dirty and dangerous. Most manufacturing facilities are very clean, efficient, productive and air-conditioned. (Manufacturing jobs) will provide a great lifestyle and a high-paying job with lots of opportunities.
The second thing we look at is the labor participation rate — the percentage of the population that can work that is actually working.
Pre-pandemic it was 67 percent. During the pandemic it dropped to 61 percent. The last number I saw was 64.5 percent. We need to see the reasons why people left the workforce and what we can do to get them back.
Child care is an issue and the governor put $100 million in the budget to help. Transportation is an issue, and our Office of Workforce Strategy is going to come out with innovative programs around making it easier for people to get to work.
Mental health is an issue. A lot of people are just burnt out and not really sure what they want to do. We want to make sure we can provide them with the opportunities for careers in manufacturing.
The third thing we are doing is what I call, ‘If you learn in Connecticut, I want you to earn in Connecticut.’ I would like every student at a four-year university who is interested, to have an internship at a Connecticut manufacturer the summer after their sophomore and junior year. We are funding, through the Manufacturing Innovation Fund, a program that helps subsidize the cost of interns.
The fourth thing we need to do is create and build communities that will attract people to Connecticut. We can get people to look at Connecticut as a great place to work, live and play, and we can bring them into the manufacturing ecosystem.
We make submarines, jet engines, helicopters, medical equipment, food. I could go through this long list of cool things we make here in Connecticut. We need to do a better job outside Connecticut to let people know.
How can the state help with supply chain issues?
We are looking at decreasing the dependency upon the supply chain outside of Connecticut. We are working to make sure manufacturers in Connecticut know what kind of manufacturing we have in Connecticut.
They may be able to say, ‘Hey, you know there is a company in Connecticut that makes what I need. I was buying it from China, and now I can get it from Connecticut.’
We’re trying to make sure we connect Connecticut manufacturers together, so we can buy local and support each other. We are working with the chief consulate of Canada to talk more about what is in the Canadian manufacturing ecosystem, and how can we set up supply chain arrangements with Canada, and not Russia and not China.
Manufacturers are starting to look at vertical integration, which is taking things that they have always had in the supply chain and bringing that in-house. When they do that, we can support them through the Manufacturing Innovation Fund, with grants for new equipment, or incumbent worker training.
Do you see the reshoring trend having legs in Connecticut?
More people are looking to make connections here in Connecticut within the supply chain and keep work here. There are companies that have called saying, ‘I need to find a Connecticut manufacturer.’ I think that will accelerate.
Connecticut manufacturing realizes that in our quest for low-cost parts, sending stuff overseas probably was not the best decision. We need to look at how we can continue to bring work back here, because we have the expertise to do the work.
What are you seeing in terms of technology investment?
We are seeing a significant investment in technology in all levels of the manufacturing ecosystem. Large manufacturers are making investments in digital transformation, robotics, additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, cybersecurity and equipment upgrades.
Small to medium manufacturers continue to invest in technology and new equipment at the speed of relevancy – meaning that they need to keep up with advances in technology to keep their business growing. The state supports small business technology investments through our Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which provides grant programs for manufacturers to invest in technology and equipment.
How are you serving as an advocate for manufacturers?
If you look at the manufacturing landscape in Connecticut, we have 160,000 people who work at 4,000 manufacturers. That is an average of 40 people at each manufacturing company.
However if you take into consideration that 60,000 people work in the top 25 manufacturers, we have 100,000 people working at 3,975 manufacturers, that puts the average just around 25.
So, the average manufacturer is 25 people. When you are a 25-person manufacturing company, you really don’t have the time to advocate for yourself, because you are too busy trying to get work out the door.
I serve as a concierge to those manufacturers, and I serve as their voice to the governor and legislature.
What do you think the future holds for manufacturing in Connecticut?
The future is bright. We have an aerospace alley. We have a large defense base here.
One of the challenges we have is we don’t have 400 acres of open land where we can build huge manufacturing facilities. So, our future is really going to continue to be high-precision, high-value, low-volume manufacturing that nobody else can do.
