Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • January 27, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com W hen Gov. Ned Lamont hired former Whitcraft Group CEO Colin Cooper as the state's first-ever chief manufacturing officer last October, Connecticut pro- ducers largely cheered his pick, and the creation of the CMO position. But the move also marked a major victory for a nascent trade group — the Connecticut Manufacturers' Collaborative (CMC) — comprised of nine state manufacturing in- dustry associations. In a year since its founding, CMC had enough influence to convince the Lamont administration to create a cabinet- level position dedicated wholly to the manufacturing industry. The group's early impact has shown the state's diverse manufac- turing industry can work together effectively to shape public policy, which hasn't always been the case. With dozens of associations repre- senting manufacturers in different geographical regions and sectors (i.e. medical-device makers vs. aerospace producers), the industry hasn't always been able to advocate for a coordinated or coherent policy agenda that ben- efits the industry as a whole, said Bonnie Del Conte, CEO of manufac- turing consulting firm CONNSTEP, which is a CMC member and a subsidiary of the Connecticut Busi- ness & Industry Association (CBIA). "What if we took the major manufacturing associations that are in Connecticut, got the directors and presidents of those associations to- gether and said we can represent all manufacturers across the state?" Del Conte recalled of early conversations in forming CMC. "We said we would have a good representation for the whole state to speak in one voice." Connecticut's manufacturing in- dustry was hardly lacking in repre- sentation in state government before CMC was established. In 2014, for example, the Department of Eco- nomic and Community Development (DECD) established a $75-million Manufacturing Innovation Fund, and that was two years after state law- makers formed a bipartisan Manufac- turing Caucus, which focuses on legislation that could affect the industry. What changed with CMC's arrival was the ability to speak in a unified voice, said Eric Brown, CBIA's vice president of manufacturing policy and a CMC architect. Rather than regional manufactur- ing associations pushing dispa- rate policies specific to their area, the CMC can now advocate for legislation beneficial to manufacturers statewide with the implied backing of businesses under CMC's umbrella. And as a new legislative session is set to begin next month, CMC will continue using that clout to defend programs key to the manufacturing sector's advancement from possible budget cuts, Brown said. It's also working with the gover- nor's office, DECD and new work- force council to shape a strategic plan for the industry as it battles numerous challenges including a major workforce shortage and high costs of doing business. "That's why we call our group a 'collaborative,' we want to collabo- rate not just internally with our- Connecticut Manufacturers' Collaborative members Aerospace Components Manufacturers Connecticut Business & Industry Association/CONNSTEP CT Tooling and Machining Association Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Association Manufacturing Education and Training Alliance New England Spring & Metalstamping Association New Haven Manufacturers Association Smaller Manufacturers Association Unified Voice State's disparate manufacturing groups join forces to strengthen lobbying effort in Hartford Eric Brown of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and Bonnie Del Conte of CONNSTEP are two of the main drivers behind the Connecticut Manufacturers' Collaborative, which unites together the state's various industry trade groups. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER PHOTO | HBJ FILE Jamison Scott leads the New Haven Manufacturers Association, which is a Connecticut Manufacturers' Collaborative member. LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW

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