Gov. Ned Lamont recently named Paul Lavoie Connecticut’s new chief manufacturing officer, taking over the post from the retired Colin Cooper.
In his new role, Lavoie will be responsible for coordinating state and private-sector efforts that promote growth in Connecticut’s manufacturing industry. One of his major tasks will be trying to figure out how to broaden the talent pipeline as the industry struggles to fill thousands of available jobs.
“We will continue to engage, educate and enable our manufacturers to take advantage of the market opportunities, grow their businesses and solidify Connecticut’s reputation as the Silicon Valley of Advanced Manufacturing,” Lavoie said.
Lavoie formerly served as general manager of Carey Manufacturing in Cromwell, a builder of catches, latches and handles, as well as electronic hardware. He made headlines in recent years by reshoring some of Carey’s outsourced operations back to Connecticut.
Prior to his job at Carey, Lavoie was vice president of sales, marketing and human resources at Bristol-based ETTEREngineering Co.
In addition, Lavoie is a member of Connecticut’s Industry 4.0 Working Group, the Governor’s Workforce Council and other manufacturing-related state boards.