Stanley Black & Decker CEO and President James Loree is one of the state’s top corporate executives who in recent years has become a leading voice in trying to improve Connecticut’s business environment.
Since taking over the New Britain hand- and power-tools maker’s top job in 2016, Loree has inserted himself directly into state government’s affairs.
In 2017, he joined the CEO-led Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, which proposed major reforms aimed at jumpstarting Connecticut’s economy, including an overhaul of the state tax code.
He’s also on the board of AdvanceCT, a nonprofit organization focused on recruiting and keeping businesses in the state. Most recently he was appointed to Gov. Ned Lamont’s Governor’s Workforce Council, which is trying to ensure Connecticut has a highly-educated workforce that employers need and want.
The company made a splash in 2018 when it opened a technology and research center in downtown Hartford and helped launch the Stanley+Techstars Additive Manufacturing Accelerator on-site to groom global startups.
Marty Guay, Stanley Black & Decker Inc.’s vice president of business development, has become a big Hartford booster.
Guay wants to bring Connecticut manufacturing back to its urban roots of the Industrial Revolution era, and he’s encouraging more companies to relocate to the city. He also wants to establish a manufacturing hub in the city’s Parkville neighborhood.
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