Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 27, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 15 selves, we want to collaborate with all the different stakeholders in the state that are working to help im- prove manufacturing," Brown said. Too many cooks CMC is the most successful effort to effectively organize the state's manufacturing industry into a single lobbying group, but it's not the first. About a decade ago, CONNSTEP, which was independent at the time, worked with the CBIA and New Haven Manufacturers Association (NHMA) to form the Connecticut Manufactur- ing Coalition, a statewide industry group, Del Conte said. But that group was too unwieldy to be effective, as members included individual manu- facturers and smaller interest groups. "It got big very quickly because we did not limit it just to the manufactur- ing associations like we did this time around [with CMC]," Del Conte said, noting the difficulties in hearing out and acting on so many different priori- ties. "It was just too big." With nine groups representing a collective interest, CMC is able to look at which issues are affecting most companies and regions and prioritize accordingly, she said. The need to establish a coherent policy agenda has also never been more important as the industry faces significant headwinds, even as parts of it — particularly defense compa- nies — are in a major growth spurt. The industry expects a raft of retire- ments in coming years without enough new workers to fill those positions. According to a CBIA/CONNSTEP survey conducted last year of more than 350 Connecticut manufacturers, 19 percent of the state's manufactur- ing workers are set to retire between 2021 and 2024. Meanwhile, 60 percent of survey respondents ranked recruitment, retention and hiring qualified staff as their most immediate significant need, the survey found. The prospect of an industry-wide workforce crisis seems to loom large in state manufacturing associations' desire to make CMC work, said Jamison Scott, executive director of the New Haven Manufacturers As- sociation, which is a CMC member. "I think the bottom line is the stars have aligned," Scott said. "We've really come together with the CMC to say that we have a lot of mu- tual interests … , there are growing workforce needs, there's growing collaboration among the [manufac- turing] organizations." 2020 agenda State Sen. Joan Hartley (D-Water- bury), co-chair of the General Assem- bly's Manufacturing Caucus, said she thinks having a unified policy agenda will help the industry get better results at the state Capitol. When the caucus formed under the auspices of the Commerce Committee in 2012, gauging what specific actions the legislature could take to support an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of their constituents wasn't necessarily a simple task, Hartley said. "Previous to [CMC's] existence, we were dealing with manufacturing organizations from across the state," Hartley said. "They were not speaking in one voice, so in that respect, their message was somewhat fractured." Additionally, Brown's heavy involve- ment as the face of CMC lends cre- dence to the organization, Hartley said, as he is a known commodity as CBIA's manufacturing specialist, and is widely respected in both manufacturing and political circles. That trust factor is important be- cause lawmakers have tried programs backed by the industry that weren't effective, wasting taxpayer dollars. One program that allowed job-seek- ers to receive credentials in mobile classrooms was scrapped after two years because it wasn't living up to lawmakers' expectations, Hartley said. During the upcoming legislative ses- sion, Brown said CMC's focus will be on avoiding cuts to programs current- ly benefiting manufacturers, including the incumbent worker training, manu- facturing voucher and apprenticeship programs. The Manufacturing Innovation Fund is down to about $8 million, Brown said, and CMC wants short-term bond- ing to fund it through the 2021 fiscal year, and a long-term model to sustain the fund beyond that. In any event, Brown said, he learned from the group's first year in opera- tion that the key to CMC's success will likely lie in being judicious with the proposals it promotes, and sticking to issues that have the broadest impact on manufacturers across the state. "What was really critical, we found, was that the legislature just by its nature is going to want to know, 'what's the one thing [you need]?' " he said. "If you can only have one thing, what's the most im- portant thing? We'll try and do two or three things, but we need to know … what is the No. 1 thing?" Key manufacturing programs As the next legislative session begins, Con- necticut Manufacturers' Collaborative lob- byists say they will be fighting to maintain funding for these three key programs: Incumbent Worker Training Program Provides Connecticut manufacturers financial assistance to train employees for technologies and emerging-market needs. It offers up to $50,000 per employer, per calendar year. Manufacturing Voucher Program Provides Connecticut manufacturers with 300 or fewer employees matching grants of up to $50,000 for investments in innovation or new technologies. Apprenticeship programs The state supports various apprenticeship programs including Apprenticeship Con- necticut, a grant program overseen by the state Department of Labor that allocates funds for skills-training programs developed by regional workforce-development boards. It was started with $50 million in state funds, of which about $15 million has been spent. " We know that small businesses are the heart of our economy. -Moraima Gutierrez, Asst. District Director - U.S. Small Business Administration Listen to Episode 1 of the Hartford Foundation's new podcast, Disinvested, to learn about building an economy for everyone. disinvested.com State Sen. Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) speaks at a press conference with legislative leaders. She chairs the General Assembly's Manufacturing Caucus. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW

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