Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • July 22, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Reporter's Notebook Gregory Seay | gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Real Estate, Economic Development/Construction, Banking & Finance and Manufacturing MANUFACTURING Whitcraft retools, rebrands its advanced manufacturing assets F or the second time this year, Eastford precision-aeroparts maker The Whitcraft Group has gone outside Connecticut to acquire technology to enhance its own. In May, Whitcraft quietly bought for an undis- closed sum advanced-manufacturing operations in Scarborough, Maine, and Tempe, Ariz., from LAI International. Their technologies include laser cutting, electrical discharge machining and precision machining. That deal followed Whitcraft's February an- nouncement of the purchase, also for an undis- closed sum, of Form 3D Solutions, of Dover, N.H. Since then, Whitcraft CEO Doug Folsom said his company has been assimilating Form 3D's expertise in additive-manufacturing technol- ogy used to form three-dimensional, precision titanium and nickel-alloy parts. Folsom said recently both transactions mesh with the closely held company's dual-pronged strategy for growth: acquisitions and organic. That both outfits complement one another, he said, is an added bonus as the global manu- facturing sector continues its slow but steady embrace of three-dimensional metal-printing to precisely fashion parts for jet engines, fuselages, wings and other aerospace-related components. Metal-printing technology, known, too, as ad- ditive manufacturing, helps Whitcraft and other producers manage their shrinking corps of skilled toolmakers, many of whom are in or headed to retirement, Folsom said. Meantime, apprentice toolmakers in Connecticut and other states aren't being trained fast enough to replace them. East Hartford jet-engine builder Pratt & Whitney and General Electric/Safran jet-engine partnership, and their supplier base, are Whit- craft's primary aerospace customers. "That's our market,'' Folsom said. "Ninety-five percent of what we make goes into aircraft engines.'' Looking ahead, Folsom pointed to signs that the airline industry's torrid appetite for jet engines is flattening, meaning a more normal production- delivery timetable for com- mercial engines. U.S. airframe maker Boe- ing Co.'s ongoing efforts to resolve a flight-software glitch tied to its grounded 737-MAX fleet have not di- rectly impacted Whitcraft's operations, he said. Still, the large numbers of Pratt geared turbofan en- gines powering the global fleet of single-aisle jetliners means potentially years of backlog orders for Whitcraft and other suppliers of spare and replacement engine parts. Currently, Whitcraft, which doesn't publicly post financials, has an order backlog "equal to two years of revenue,'' Folsom said. Whitcraft, which in 2015 landed in the hands of its third private-equity owner, New York's Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, whose deep pockets helped fund Whitcraft's recent buys, is open to more acquisitions that will improve ef- ficiency, but has nothing in the works now. Meantime, Folsom said the company is taking time — and money — to rebrand Whitcraft's subsidiary units. Its Connecticut Tool & Manu- facturing in Plainville is now Whitcraft Plain- ville. The rest are: Whitcraft Eastford; Whitcraft Southington; Whitcraft Newburyport (Mass.); Whitcraft Scarborough; and Whitcraft Tempe. "We were finding we have too many brands out there,'' Folsom said. DEAL WATCH HORST's new $1.45M E. Hartford home HORST Engineering has purchased a 100,566-square- foot East Hartford industrial building into which it will consolidate its precision- machining operations in coming months. The family owned contract manufacturer bought 141 Prestige Park Road from 141 Prestige Park LLC to combine its aerospace and other high- tech operations from three other buildings: 36 Cedar St., (26,000 sq. ft.) and 41 Cedar St. (7,000 sq. ft.), both in East Hartford; and 490 Burnham St., South Windsor (16,000 sq. ft.) Sentry Commercial represented the buyer. Goman + York represented the seller. $450K Bloomfield sale The former home of Caruso's Auto & Body Service in Bloomfield has sold for $450,000. Khalid Mahmood acquired the 6,698-square-foot service facility on 0.58 acres at 36 Tunxis Ave. (Route 189) from seller Nicholas B. Caruso Revocable Trust, said broker Lyman Real Estate. Caruso's had been at this location for more than 55 years before closing this spring upon the owner's retirement, Lyman said. Located between Bloomfield Village Pizza and a shopping plaza housing Geissler's Supermarket, the new owner's plans for the property may lead to development of a convenience store, the broker said. Best Life's new store Best Life Hearing Center leased 1,451 square feet in Wallingford for a retail store. Best Life Hearing LLC signed with landlord ZX 850 Westview LLC for the space at 852 N. Main St. Ext., Building 1, Suite C1, said broker Colliers International. Masonicare's Wallingford lease Masonicare Home Health and Hospice Inc. leased long term 7,000 square feet in Wallingford's Barnes Professional Building, 97 Barnes Road. Hamden broker Press/ Cuozzo Commercial Services represented landlord SKF 97 Barnes Ltd. JLL Connecticut represented Masonicare. Schneider Electric signs in Rocky Hill Schneider Electric USA signed for 1,451 square feet in Rocky Hill. Office-furniture retailer West Elm Office LLC previously occupied the space it leased to Schneider at 1090 Elm St., broker Colliers International said. SageSure's Cheshire lease Insurance manager SageSure leased 5,378 square feet of Cheshire office space. Landlord Joe Moruzzi owns the space at 609 West Johnson Ave., said broker Colliers International. 141 Prestige Park Road, East Hartford. PHOTO | LOOPNET.NET PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED 36 Tunxis Ave., Bloomfield. 97 Barnes Road, Wallingford. Doug Folsom, CEO, The Whitcraft Group As part of its acquisition spree, Eastford manufacturer Whitcraft Group has rebranded its various locales. HBJ PHOTO | GREGORY SEAY

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