www.HartfordBusiness.com • May 18, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 11
largest manufacturing segment in
the state, which nearly doubled the
number of available positions in
2018, according to the National As-
sociation of Manufacturers — poses
significant economic risks at a time
when COVID-19 has decimated com-
mercial air travel.
Bradley International Airport, for
example, reported last month its pas-
senger travel was down some 90%.
Some are predicting it will take
years for commercial aviation to
return to pre-COVID-19 levels.
So, while some companies have
been able to shift production to mak-
ing personal protective equipment,
and others are being less impacted
by coronavirus — HABCO, for
example, spent the past seven years
diversifying to be less dependent on
commercial aerospace — the pan-
demic could heavily impact manufac-
turing in Connecticut, Brown said.
But a small silver lining in the ef-
fort to bolster Connecticut's graying
manufacturing workforce, Brown said,
is the increasing availability of online
education and certification programs.
"This will help the unemployed
and underemployed, giving them
opportunities to earn certificates
and upskill themselves," Brown said.
"When companies do start hiring
that will mean our workforce is bet-
ter prepared than prior to COVID."
A program used by the Eastern
Connecticut Workforce Investment
Board for about a decade will play a
significant role in workforce devel-
opment in the weeks and months
ahead, said Kelli-Marie Vallieres, CEO
of sister companies Sound Manufac-
turing and Monster Power Equip-
ment in Old Saybrook, and co-chair
of the Governor's Workforce Council.
The program, 180 Skills, is an online
manufacturing education platform
that includes tracks for people just
entering the industry who need to
learn the basics, as well as manufac-
turing professionals looking to upskill,
Vallieres said. The program will soon
be available at no cost to any unem-
ployed Connecticut resident.
Additionally, Vallieres said, the
pandemic forced instructors teach-
ing existing in-person manufac-
turing courses to take their pro-
grams online. Much like university
professors, some have now found
efficient ways to teach content in
remote settings and through hybrid
coursework. That could enable more
people to take online courses, quali-
fying them for some manufacturing
jobs on their own time.
"With this crisis, all of these
manufacturing instructors have
been thrown in the deep end of the
pool with no swimming lessons,"
Vallieres said. "Now that they've got
some experience and now that we
have some additional resources like
180 Skills that we can give them, I
think we're going to come out of this
with hybrid models, because we, out
of necessity, built innovation."
FOCUS: WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
THE LIST
Largest chambers of commerce in Greater Hartford
Ranked by number of members as of March, 2020
Source: Each chamber via survey.
(a) Includes Killingworth Chamber of Commerce.
(b) A merger of the former Glastonbury and East Hartford chambers.
(c) Glastonbury Chamber founded in 1902 and East Hartford Chamber in 1915.
—Compiled by Timothy Doyle.
Largest chambers of commerce
in Greater Hartford
(Ranked by number of members as of March, 2020)
Rank Chamber
Members/
Minimum dues
per year Membership contact(s)
Head of chamber/
Year founded
1
Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce (a)
393 Main St., Middletown, CT 06457
860-347-6924; www.middlesexchamber.com
2,210
$220
Sandra Heinly-Canning
Sandra@MiddlesexChamber.com
Lawrence McHugh
1895
2
Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce
Executive Suites at 440 N. Main St., Bristol, CT 06010
860-584-4718; www.centralctchambers.org
1,711
$125
Dee Babkirk
d.babkirk@centralctchambers.org
Cynthia A. Bombard
1889
3
Connecticut River Valley Chamber of Commerce (b)
2400 Main St., Glastonbury, CT 06033
860-659-3587; www.crvchamber.org
650
$275
Tina Lorentzen
tina@crvchamber.org
Mary Ellen Dombrowski
2016 (c)
4
West Hartford Chamber of Commerce
948 Farmington Ave., West Hartford, CT 06107
860-521-2300; www.whchamber.com
570
$275
Kate Kobs
kate@whchamber.com
Christopher Conway
1908
5
Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce
50 N. Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492
203-269-9891; www.quinncham.com
560
$295
Dee Prior-Nesti
dee@quinncham.com
Dee Prior-Nesti
1915
6
Midstate Chamber of Commerce
546 South Broad St., Suite 2C, Meriden, CT 06450
203-235-7901; www.midstatechamber.com
525
$295
Rosanne P. Ford
r.ford@midstatechamber.com
Rosanne P. Ford
1896
7
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
20 Hartford Road, Manchester, CT 06040
860-646-2223; www.manchesterchamber.com
500
$300
Emma Petersen
emma@manchesterchamber.com
April DiFalco
1901
8
MetroHartford Alliance
31 Pratt St., 5th Floor, Hartford, CT 06103
860-525-4451; www.metrohartford.com
450
$400
Kate Baumann
kbaumann@metrohartford.com
David Griggs
1799
9
The Chamber of Commerce Windham Region
1010 Main St., Windham, CT 06226
860-423-6389; www.windhamchamber.com
400
$300
Diane Nadeau
diane@windhamchamber.com
Diane Nadeau
1887
10
Avon Chamber of Commerce
412 W. Avon Road, Avon, CT 06001
860-675-4832; www.avonchamber.com
350
$140
Lisa Bohman
avonchamber@sbcglobal.net
Lisa Bohman
1965
10
Cheshire Chamber of Commerce
195 S. Main St., Cheshire, CT 06410
203-272-2345; www.cheshirechamber.org
350
$175
Yetta Augur
yetta@cheshirechamber.org
Yetta Augur
1974
10
Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce
185 Main St., Suite 423, New Britain, CT 06051
860-229-1665; www.greaternewbritainchamber.com
350
$225
Nella Lastrina
Sarah Thompson
nella@greaternewbritainchamber.com
Sarah@greaternewbritainchamber.com
William D. Moore
1913
13
Simsbury Chamber of Commerce
720 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, CT 06070
860-651-7307; www.simsburycoc.org
310
$198
Lisa Gray
info@simsburycoc.org
Gerry Toner
1961
14
Windsor Chamber of Commerce
261 Broad St., Windsor, CT 06095
860-688-5165; www.windsorcc.org
255
$152
Adam Gutcheon
adam@windsorcc.org
Adam Gutcheon
1901
15
Newington Chamber of Commerce
171 Market Square, Suite 101, Newington, CT 06111
860-666-2089; www.newingtonchamber.com
215
$195
Peter Forcellina
pete@newingtonchamber.com
Peter Forcellina
Deanna Reney
1945
Source: Each chamber via survey.
(a) Includes Killingworth Chamber of Commerce.
(b) A merger of the former Glastonbury and East Hartford chambers.
(c) Glastonbury Chamber founded in 1902 and East Hartford Chamber in 1915.
—Compiled by Timothy Doyle.
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