Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • September 16, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Gregory Seay gseay@hartfordbusiness.com I n just three short years, an Ital- ian maker of jet-engine com- pressor blades with a colorful name has revived a formerly moribund Farmington industri- al shop into a local and state econom- ic-development showcase. Pietro Rosa Turbine Blade Manufac- turing purchased and expanded, with the help of $5 million in state loans, the remnants of Farmington's New Eng- land Airfoil Products (NEAP), a once thriving maker of compressor blades whose business model had regressed. Pietro Rosa has already hired more than 100 employees in Farmington, which could make it eligible for state loan forgiveness, the state says. Following introduction of Pietro Rosa's leadership to Connecticut's then governor and his top economic-devel- opment lieutenant at the 2016 Paris Air Show — just as the Italians had all but settled on expanding in South Carolina — Pietro Rosa quickly pivoted. It acquired NEAP, then invested at least $34 million more, sprucing up facilities, equipment and staffing at its 100,000-square-foot plant at 36 Spring Lane. A third shift was added last fall. Pietro Rosa, a specialist forging and machining stainless steel, titanium and aluminum, is making the most of its U.S. expansion, via Farming- ton, says mechanical engineer Clive Cunliffe, Pietro Rosa's North American president based in Farmington. The closely held company doesn't disclose financials, but Cunliffe said the Con- necticut plant has the potential for revenue of $100 million by 2020. Pietro Rosa's ap- parent success also stands in sharp contrast to one of the state's most dazzling failures, the recent bank- ruptcy-closure of Suffield's Windsor Marketing Group, which received $3.5 million in state aid on its pledge to stay in Connecticut and boost hiring. Ironically, Pietro Rosa's state-aid pack- age may have never come to fruition, or at the very least been funded differ- ently, under the Lamont administration, which is migrating to a new incentives strategy that is an "earn-as-you-go" approach — where companies must create jobs before receiving assistance. Already, NEAP's staffing has re- bounded from about a dozen employ- ees when Pietro Rosa bought it, to 150 now in three shifts. A 200-person headcount is expected by late 2020. If the company hits and maintains those job targets, up to $2 million of its state loans could be forgiven, a state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) spokesman said. The loan forgiveness won't kick in until a job audit has been completed, the DECD official said. East Hartford jet-engine builder Pratt & Whitney is Pietro Rosa's larg- est customer, Cunliffe said, followed by big jet-engine makers, General Electric, Britain's Rolls-Royce PLC, France's Safran, and airframe builders, such as Mitsubishi Aircraft. In May 2018, Pietro Rosa and Pratt signed a 10-year pact to support Pratt's F135 jet-fighter engine and its civilian PW2000 and geared turbofan engines. Pietro Rosa officials at the time said the long-term agreement could extend to its facilities throughout the U.S. and Europe. It is global demand for Connecticut- sourced aerospace, industrial and con- sumer products, including from Pietro Rosa, that propelled the value of this state's 2018 exports to $17.4 billion, up 17.7 percent from $14.8 billion in 2017, accord- ing to U.S. Commerce Department data. The aerospace sector historically has consisted of "boom'' and "bust" cycles, a challenge for companies that serve the sector, Cunliffe said. "We're having the longest run of consistent aerospace demand that we've seen in recent history,'' said Cunliffe, a 30-year aeroproduction veteran. Anne Evans, the Commerce Depart- ment's Connecticut director who regu- larly criss-crosses the globe in support of this state's import-export and business- development ambitions, said Pietro Rosa's embrace and success here should prompt more companies to Connecticut. "It is very impressive to companies outside the state," said Evans, an adviser on Pietro Rosa's Connecticut transition, "to see how much companies are loved in a state. That's a part of the recipe.'' Pietro Rosa impact, history Pietro Rosa's apparent success in its global markets, as well as its seamless integration into the cultures of Farm- ington and Connecticut have garnered accolades. It also has become a popu- lar stop for state and local economic- development officials, Cunliffe says, who use NEAP's story and facility to showcase Connecticut's economic- development opportunities. Earlier this year, Farmington's economic-development commission honored Pietro Rosa as its "New Busi- ness of the Year.'' The company partici- pates in, among other local ventures, the town's beautification efforts, said Rose Ponte, Farmington's director of economic development. Pietro Rosa is a corporate sponsor for Asnuntuck Community College's ad- vanced manufacturing training program, and belongs to two key manufacturing trade groups — Aerospace Components Manufacturers in Rocky Hill, and the New Haven Manufacturing Association. "They really are a great asset to have in a local community,'' Ponte said. "They get involved. They want to be contributors." Its eponymous founder launched Pietro Rosa in 1887, in Maniago, Italy, producing agricultural implements in the northeastern lowlands to sell in its Plowshares to Aeroparts Italian metals forger finds CT fertile expansion ground Connecticut export totals 2015 2016 2018 2017 $0 $5,000 $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 In millions of dollars Civilian aircraft, engines amd parts Total exports $6,504 $5,867 $5,568 $7,011 $15,242 $14,394 $14,791 $17,403 Source: U.S. Census Bureau Clive Cunliffe, Pietro Rosa Turbine Blade Manufacturing's North American president, says the Italian metals forger/finisher's New England Airfoil Products division in Farmington has ramped up staffing on its way to potentially $100 million in revenue in 2020. HBJ PHOTO | GREGORY SEAY HBJ PHOTO | GREGORY SEAY Machinist Kevin Thomas, of Bristol, has traveled twice to Pietro Rosa's Italian home base for technical training.

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