Say it quietly now, you don’t want to scare it off: Manufacturing is rebounding in Connecticut.
After two decades of steady losses and two years of drastic losses, manufacturing employment is on the rise in the state.
Employment in the Connecticut manufacturing industry during the first quarter averaged 166,030, which was a 1.2 percent rise from the first quarter 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This marks the first increase in first-quarter manufacturing employment since 1998, the only other year in the past 21 that Connecticut added jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Aided by engine orders from aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Co., expansion into new fields and increasing global interest, the industry appears its strongest since before the recession.
“It is a mixed bag. Some companies have seen improvement,” said Paul Hoffman, president of the New Haven Manufacturers Association. “In general, people are more optimistic on the economy.”
The manufacturing industry shed 21,300 jobs during the recession in 2009 and 2010, so there was room to grow. The 166,030 employed in the first quarter was the second lowest for a first quarter since 1990 — behind only 2009 — but a positive step for a state that hasn’t had many in two decades.
In 2010, the U.S. manufacturing industry added jobs for the first time in 13 years, but Connecticut still lost 3 percent of its workforce. This year’s first-quarter recovery reflects the national trend landing in Connecticut three months late.
Despite the first-quarter gains, the manufacturing industry still has a long way to recover from the recession. The pre-recession employment of 187,300 was the lowest since 1990, and then the state lost 11 percent of its manufacturing workforce in 2009 and 2010.
Major original equipment manufacturers are still laying off workers, said Gerry Mastropietro, president of the Smaller Manufacturers Association of Connecticut. Mastropietro pointed to companies such as Windsor Locks aerospace manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand laying off 214 employees in April.
The first-quarter rebound is more a function of the industry losing large amount of employees during the recession and starting to creep its way out, Mastropietro said.
“It is a false start,” Mastropietro said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean business is booming.”
But a rebound from the recession is still a rebound. Connecticut is far from the 300,000 manufacturing workers employed in 1990, but going up is better than going down.
“Confidence is building, but we aren’t quite there yet,” Hoffman said.
One of the companies leading the way is Pratt & Whitney. Although the company is shrinking its own manufacturing workforce in Connecticut, several billion-dollar engine orders will bolster its supply chain, which includes 600 companies in Connecticut.
This year, Pratt received a $1.13 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; signed four commercial aviation contracts for a total of 360 PurePower engines, also known as the geared turbofan engine; and will provide another 358 engines to the Boeing Co. in a government contract for U.S. Air Force refueling tankers.
This year, Pratt will spend $50 million with its Connecticut supply chain for the Joint Strike Fighter, increasing to $150 million in five years, said Charles O’Neil, Pratt’s global supply chain communications manager.
Because of Pratt, Eastford aerospace supplier Whitcraft Group this week will break ground on a 14,000 square-foot expansion in Plainville and with an Eastford addition to follow, said Whitcraft CEO Colin Cooper.
Aerospace parts manufacturer C&P Machine in South Windsor — which gets 80 percent of its business from supplying Pratt & Whitney & Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. — is expanding on the heels of increased business in the aerospace market, said Maria Goyzueta, chief financial officer of C&P Machine.
“Right now, everybody is starting to see more work,” Goyzueta said.
This summer, C&P Machine, which employs 42, expects to open a 98,000-square-foot facility in South Windsor purchased last year from manufacturer Gerber Scientific. The facility more than doubles the 40,000-square-foot C&P facility on Commerce Way in South Windsor.
C&P bought Newington manufacturer Aero Tube Technologies this year and will move that company to South Windsor. “We are trying to diversify our work,” Goyzueta said.
Farmington aerospace manufacturer EDAC Technologies Corp. added 60 workers in the past year because of Pratt and an economic rebound, said EDAC CEO Dominic Pagano.
The company wants to add another 5 to 10 percent to its workforce of 384 this year and is reaching out to other nearby states in the search for skilled workers. Much of Connecticut’s skilled manufacturing workforce has retired, moved away or changed careers, Pagano said.
While competing for talented workers, EDAC hasn’t needed to raid other companies’ workforces. “We try to keep it honest and above board,” Pagano said.
Beyond Pratt & Whitney, the state’s manufacturing industry is seeing life in other sectors.
Air system manufacturer Trane opened up a 20,000-square-foot facility on May 17 in Rocky Hill because of new business in the energy efficiency market, said Kathleen Backenson, Trane marketing director.
Trane makes recommendations to clients on ways to cut energy use, and that market has grown significantly in the past few years, Backenson said. The company needed more space than its Farmington facility, where it has resided since 1997.
The new facility allows Trane to fold in its service department, energy efficiency division and workers from parent Ingersoll Rand. It houses 60 people plus 30 service technicians who use the facility as a base of operations. Trane wants to add people this year, particularly energy engineers and sales people.
Bristol manufacturer and logistics company Barnes Group Inc. saw a 15 percent increase in its first-quarter sales this year, reaching $318.8 million. Barnes President and CEO Gregory Milzcik attributed the increase to a stronger market demand in North America and a growing international market.
Shelton surface manufacturer Panolam Industries has launched a new growth strategy internationally, particularly into Europe. On May 16, the company began selling its Nevamar laminate product through two distributors in the United Kingdom.
Panolam has a strong belief in the European market, and the company wants to stay committed to it, said Robert Muller, the firm’s president, CEO and chairman.
Â
Â
Web editor Gregory Seay contributed to this report.
Â
