Just over a year ago, Connecticut’s manufacturing industry appeared to have reached its apex of influence.
Gov. Ned Lamont had recently appointed longtime manufacturing executive Colin Cooper as Connecticut’s inaugural chief manufacturing officer, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were pushing bills early on during the 2020 legislative session to strengthen the industry.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ending the legislative session and putting most non-pandemic priorities on the backburner.
But as the 2021 session gains full steam, there seems to be a bipartisan push to propose — and potentially pass — pro-manufacturing bills.
In fact, policymakers, lobbyists and industry experts say they are seeing more bills favoring manufacturers — on anything from funding training initiatives to expanding industry tax breaks — than they have in recent memory, signaling broad-based recognition of the sector as a key workforce and economic development driver for the state going forward.
“It’s very encouraging to see not only the number of bills, but the range of legislators that are raising and proposing these bills,” said Eric Brown, a lobbyist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association who focuses on manufacturing policy and outreach. “In the last two to three years … the number of [manufacturing-related] bills proposed has, it seems to me, increased.”
Rep. Caroline Simmons (D-Stamford) co-chairs the bipartisan Manufacturing Caucus and Commerce Committee, which is currently considering about 10 manufacturing-related bills this session. Among her biggest priorities is a proposal that would extend tax credits manufacturers can earn for hiring apprentices to pass-through entities.
The bill would enable some smaller manufacturers to receive the same apprenticeship tax incentives as their larger counterparts, she said.
Meanwhile, GOP state Senate leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford is sponsoring a bill that would create incentives for job-creating defense contractors.
Kelly, whose district includes major defense contractor Sikorsky, said it makes sense for the state to incentivize job creation among defense contractors, which earn billions of dollars in federal contracts each year, and employ a large share of Connecticut’s nearly 156,000 manufacturing employees.
“One way to do [economic development] is to look at industries in which Connecticut does particularly well,” Kelly said. “We have low hanging fruit here in Connecticut. … We do very well with defense contracts.”
Politics have become a partisan blood sport in many ways, but Democrats and Republicans in state government appear to be largely on the same page when it comes to the manufacturing industry and its potential to provide decent-paying jobs and drive economic growth in the state. They also answer to constituents in and around the industry.
“Every member of the legislature has manufacturers in their districts,” Simmons said. “These manufacturers are such a vital part of our local economies.”
Simmons said she supports Kelly’s bill in principle — but needs further details — and Kelly favors the idea of extending tax credits to pass-through manufacturers, but also said he must hear more about it.
Another “Buy Connecticut” bill under consideration, which was also proposed by Kelly, would create incentives for defense companies that use the services on in-state subcontractors.
Unified voice
Many of the manufacturing-related proposals currently in the General Assembly are tied to workforce development, and Cooper, the state’s manufacturing czar, said that reflects a broad acknowledgement that the industry has a significant number of available jobs that must be filled by people with various education levels — ranging from high school graduates to Ph.D.s.
In his first full legislative session this year, Cooper said he lobbied Lamont to replenish the Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which provides grants for worker training programs and equipment upgrades, among other initiatives.
In his $46 billion budget proposal, Lamont has earmarked $20 million for the fund over two years. He’s also proposed other funding to support manufacturing training programs in middle and high schools, trade schools and colleges.
“I’ve been really encouraged by the support that manufacturing is getting at the legislative branch,” Cooper said. “This awareness and prioritization of manufacturing, I think, is great.”
That awareness is largely the product of a yearslong “hearts and minds” campaign among stakeholders in Connecticut’s manufacturing sector, Cooper said.
His job was created after nine of Connecticut’s largest manufacturing trade groups joined forces to form the Connecticut Manufacturers’ Collaborative (CMC). The group, which was founded in 2019, lobbied for a cabinet-level position dedicated wholly to the manufacturing industry and also gave a stronger, more unified voice to the sector.
CBIA’s Brown was a chief architect of CMC, and said the group’s creation has provided lawmakers with better guidance for what moves could benefit the industry as a whole. He also notes the legislature’s Manufacturing Caucus has given the industry a louder voice in the General Assembly since it was founded in 2012. He added that Lamont has heeded advice from CMC, and credited the governor for following through on early promises to work on manufacturing initiatives.
“He certainly took to heart the incredible need to deal with the workforce crisis [in manufacturing],” Brown said of Lamont. “He’s really invested himself and his team in these challenges and it’s going to pay great dividends for Connecticut.”
CEO perspective
Howard Reiter, president of Milford-based fastener manufacturer Rome Fastener Corp., recently testified in favor of the bill that would provide pass-through entities a tax break for hiring an apprentice.
He said that would incentivize his family-owned company to bring on and potentially hire more trainees.
“We want to train as many apprentices in the manufacturing arts [as possible],” Reiter said.
Meanwhile Brian Montanari, president of Glastonbury aeroparts manufacturer HABCO Industries LLC — which employs about 100 workers — said he favors policies that provide incentives for manufacturing companies to grow in Connecticut. He’s also tracking emerging issues like cannabis in the workplace and vaccine protection for employers.
He said he is more confident than ever that priorities for the manufacturing industry are also priorities for state government.
“Although we still have a lot of room to grow and improve, this is the most excited I have been about manufacturing in Connecticut,” Montanari said. “This is a result of the administration listening to the combined voice of [the industry].”
