Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1082289
12 Hartford Business Journal • February 18, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS THE LIST Largest 2018 Export-Import Bank financing deals in Connecticut Ranked by total amount of financing Source: Export-Import Bank, www.exim.gov. (1) Refers to the total loan amounts backed by Ex-Im Bank. (2) Refers to the total amount of sales resulting from Ex-Im Bank-backed loans. —Compiled by Stephanie R. Meagher. recent years thanks to the state's large defense contractors — Pratt & Whitney and Electric Boat — winning major federal contracts. What are the biggest impediments to manufacturing growth in the state? A. The critical need for thousands of Connecticut citizens, young and old, to pursue financially lucrative and profes- sionally satisfying careers in manufactur- ing and ensuring we have the infrastruc- ture in place to train them is probably our biggest challenge. But the demand is not only driven by defense industry contracts. Severe cutbacks in technical educa- tion in our public high schools during the 1990s and 2000s resulted in a lost generation of talented and creative minds who were told that manufac- turing was dead and that they should look elsewhere for a career. Additionally, the average manufac- turing employee in Connecticut is in their early 50s, with many thousands retiring over the next several years. These factors alone had Connecticut facing a shortage of manufacturing work- ers for decades to come. Now add into the mix the large defense industry contracts you mentioned that will require low, medium and highly skilled employees for decades, and you have an existential crisis that could cost Connecticut its best op- portunity in decades to grow the middle class and stabilize our economy. Q. The CBIA announced last year that it was affiliating with manufacturing consulting firm CONNSTEP. Why did you make this affiliation and how has it turned out so far? A. Upon announcing our new affili- ation with CONNSTEP, there was an immediate buzz of optimism within the manufacturing community. The idea of organizations that work in the manu- facturing sector coming together, col- laborating and breaking through some of the silos that manufacturers find so frustrating and so counterproductive stirred interest and excitement. Along with CONNSTEP's expertise in manufacturing business systems and its affiliation with regional and national resources for business innova- tion, CBIA now houses the Connecticut Council for Education Reform, a highly innovative organization with a strong interest in technical education, as well as the Aerospace Components Manu- facturers — a dynamic organization that is highly focused on attracting young people to the amazing career op- portunities in manufacturing. All of these developments are giving these and other organizations the un- precedented opportunity to commu- nicate and collaborate with interests across the manufacturing spectrum. CBIA and CONNSTEP have also cre- ated a new entity called the Connecticut Manufacturers' Collaborative (CMC), which brings together manufactur- ing representatives from all the major manufacturer associations in Connecti- cut to create a single voice for manufac- turing and a resource for policymakers and others to call upon. >> Q&A: Eric Brown continued Largest 2018 Export-Import Bank financing deals in Connecticut (Ranked by total amount of financing) Rank Exporter Total disbursements (1) Total export sales supported (2) Product description Head of company 1 Louis Dreyfus Corp. 40 Danbury Road Wilton, CT 06897 203-761-2000; www.ldcom.com/global/en $9,210,000 $9,210,000 Banking and finance Ian McIntosh CEO 2 Mohegan Renewable Energy LLC 13 Crow Hill Road Uncasville, CT 06382 860-862-6277; www.mohegan.nsn.us $6,750,000 $30,000,000 Wood product manufacturing and sales Mark Boivin President & CEO 3 Galata Chemicals LLC 464 Heritage Road Southbury, CT 06488 203-236-9000; www.galatachemicals.com $4,500,000 $18,333,333 Chemical manufacturing and sales Steven McKeown President & COO 4 R.C. Bigelow Inc. 201 Black Rock Turnpike Fairfield, CT 06825 888-244-3569; www.bigelowtea.com $4,291,045 $4,291,045 Food manufacturing and sales Cynthia Bigelow President & CEO 5 Panolam Industries International Inc. 1 Corporate Drive, Suite 725 Shelton, CT 06484 203-925-1556; www.panolam.com $3,521,037 $3,521,037 Wood product manufacturing and sales Al Kabus President & CEO 6 Bauer Inc. 175 Century Drive Bristol, CT 06010 860-583-9100; www.bauerct.com $2,700,000 $6,500,000 Transportation equipment manufacturing and sales Lou Auletta Jr. President 7 Neeltran Inc. 71 Pickett District Road New Milford, CT 06776 860-350-5964; www.neeltran.com $2,565,000 $10,000,000 Electrical equipment manufacturing and sales Antonio Capanna Jr. President & COO 8 The Gilman Brothers Co. 38 Gillman Road Gillman, CT 06336 860-889-8444; gilmanbrothers.com $2,128,209 $2,128,209 Plastics and rubber products manufacturing and sales Evan Gilman CEO 9 First Aviation Services Inc. 15 Riverside Ave. Westport, CT 06880 203-291-7709; www.firstaviation.com $1,350,000 $4,000,000 Transportation equipment manufacturing and sales Aaron Hollander CEO 10 Seitz LLC 212 Industrial Lane Torrington, CT 06790 860-489-0476; www.seitzllc.com $1,142,755 $1,142,755 Plastics and rubber products manufacturing and sales Evan Berns President & CEO 11 R&D Dynamics Corp. 49 W. Dudley Town Road Bloomfield, CT 06002 860-726-1204; www.rddynamics.com $955,952 $955,952 Transportation equipment manufacturing and sales Giri Agrawal Owner & president 12 Norwalk Compressor Co. Inc. 1650 Stratford Ave. Stratford, CT 06615 203-386-1234; www.norwalkcompressor.com $900,000 $1,400,000 Machinery manufacturing and sales Arthur McCauley President & CEO 13 Kahn Industries Inc. 885 Wells Road Wethersfield, CT 06109 860-529-8643; www.kahn.com $659,330 $659,330 Manufacturing and sales of non-capital equipment Jeffrey S. Kahn President 14 Magnatech LLC 6 Kripes Road East Granby, CT 06026 860-653-2573; www.magnatechllc.com $164,312 $164,312 Machinery manufacturing and sales Mathew Eaton Vice president 15 Beauty Enterprises Inc. 150 Meadow St. Hartford, CT 06114 860-760-1265; www.beautyenterprises.com $87,390 $87,390 Chemical manufacturing and sales Bob Cohen President 16 Prospect Machine Products Inc. 139 Union City Road Prospect, CT 06712 203-758-4448; www.pmpdeepdraw.com $77,822 $77,822 Fabricated metal product manufacturing and sales Richard Laurenzi President Source: Export-Import Bank, www.exim.gov. (1) Refers to the total loan amounts backed by Ex-Im Bank. (2) Refers to the total amount of sales resulting from Ex-Im Bank-backed loans. —Compiled by Stephanie R. Meagher.