Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • November 30, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com M artin Guay wants to bring Connecticut manufacturing back to its urban roots of the Industrial Revolution era, when city dwellers left their apartments each morn- ing to put in work at companies like Hartford-based Royal Typewriter Co. or Pope Manufacturing Co. The idea isn't just for the sake of economic development, although it could have that effect. It's also a way to combat the dire workforce short- ages faced by Connecticut manu- facturers, as aging Baby Boomer machinists flock toward retirement without the necessary young talent to replace them. Locating in or near cities could unlock an untapped workforce in places like Hartford, where available jobs are mostly low paid or require four-year or advanced degrees. Guay, vice president of business development for New Britain manu- facturing giant Stanley Black & Decker, has already taken concrete steps toward a more urbanized Connecticut manufacturing sector. Stanley opened its Manufactory 4.0 advanced manufacturing center in Hartford's Constitution Plaza last year, and Guay wants to establish another manufacturing hub in the city's Parkville neighborhood. "We think the cities have more access to bigger labor pools, but that labor pool has never really been activated for manufacturing," Guay said. "If somebody can locate manufacturing near cities or in cit- ies, they're going to have access to a larger labor pool." A 2020 survey by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) found that 11% of the state's manufacturing workforce is expect- ed to retire between 2021 and 2024. The COVID-19 pandemic might lead some workers to retire earlier than expected, said Colin Cooper, the state's chief manufacturing officer. But while Connecticut manufac- turers, which are largely located in more rural areas or the suburbs, have struggled to attract a consis- tent pipeline of younger workers, cities like Hartford may offer some solutions. Just consider the Capital City's demographics, which trend much younger and poorer than the rest of the state. Forty-eight percent of Hartford's residents are between the ages of 15 and 44, an age cohort that includes people in their teens and 20s look- ing for their first jobs, and people in their 30s and 40s looking for better- paying jobs. Statewide, only about 38% of resi- dents are between ages 15 and 44. The poverty rate in Hartford, a city of more than 126,000 residents, is 30% — far above the statewide average of 10.1% — and just under a quarter of people living in Hartford have at least a bachelor's degree; statewide, 46% of residents hold bachelor's degrees or higher. Manufacturing could offer Hart- ford residents a good-paying job, without the need to get a college degree. But there are significant challenges to overcome to make that happen. "There's a lot of potential work- force in the city, in the urban core, that may not have access or path- ways to good jobs," Guay said. "If you learn how to be a welder, you've got a really nice job with high pay and benefits. We're trying to connect people in the city with those jobs." Creating momentum Connecticut's workforce crisis started to become acute in 2012, said CBIA President Chris DiPen- tima, who previously led Pegasus Manufacturing in Middletown. That's when manufacturers began hiring in earnest following a years- long slowdown caused by the 2008 global financial crisis. Companies have been hiring, but applicants aren't biting, a dynamic DiPentima attributes partly to the fact that manufacturing plants are located far outside cities where would-be recruits live. "There's a lack of infrastructure and transportation in Connecticut, so it's very difficult to move people from cities out to the rural areas where the jobs are," DiPen- tima said. "Until we have that transportation system, ... we as a manufactur- ing [sector] need to do something different." Stanley's 23,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing center in downtown Hartford has operated as an innovation hub since open- ing last year, hosting both startup companies and Stanley employees working on innovative projects. It serves as a working test lab in which Stanley engineers, metal- lurgists, data analysts and other technicians work on new products and innovations to current manu- facturing processes. It also makes the industry more visible to people in the city, Guay said, a cause he wants to further by opening an advanced manufactur- ing center in Hartford's diverse Parkville neighborhood, just a couple stops from downtown on the CTfastrak busway. It's a project that Guay has been working on for a few years with oth- ers, including landlord/developer Carlos Mouta. Mouta said he's still in touch with Stanley about the idea of using a 280,000-square-foot building on Hamilton Street as a locus for advanced manufacturing, but the pandemic has stalled the project until at least 2022. "We're still making progress and we hope to get further ahead," Mouta said. A Parkville flush with advanced Urban Revival Some experts say cities are the answer to manufacturers' workforce woes Martin Guay, Stanley Black & Decker's vice president of business development, said manufacturers could activate an untapped workforce by locating in cities like Hartford. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Chris DiPentima

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