Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 27, 2025 11 our backlog substantially in the last couple of years." The company says from December 2022, its fully funded backlog, supported by firm customer purchase orders, increased by 36.7%, and now stands at almost $118 million. Sterling Engineering's sales increased 33% in 2024, which followed a 20% increase in 2022, the company said. Through the first nine months of 2024, Air Industries reported a $560,000 operating profit, reversing an $882,000 loss in the year-ago period, according to its financial filing. Revenues during that time period were up 5.6% to $40.2 million. After the pandemic disruptions and industry-wide supply chain problems, Air Industries is now one year into a five-year strategic plan, which includes making capital investments in Sterling Engineering's campus and infrastructure. The Barkhamsted facility is getting a new roof, solar panels and exterior revamp. The company also recently invested $2.1 million in machine tools to create capacity for new contracts Sterling is bringing in, notably a $33 million, seven-year deal to build components for the military's CH-53K King Stallion helicopter program. Melluzzo is also investing to solve lingering supply chain issues, occa- sionally in-sourcing certain tasks. "We have a brand-new paint booth as a secondary process that we didn't have prior to COVID," he said, remembering the frustration of prior issues. "I got a million dollars worth of gear in inspection and I can't send it because it needs a top coat." Another project that will expand Sterling's capabilities includes integrating a very specific vintage welding machine Melluzzo said he just had shipped from California. It's been certified by the military for many years to weld the landing gear for the Navy's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye radar aircraft. These planes land on aircraft carrier decks, and the V-shaped gear that drops from the back of the aircraft catches a wire that halts the aircraft. "It's old, but it's the only flash welder in the world that can weld those things," he said. "It's a special type of weld. That looks relatively easy, but that stops like $150, $180 million aircraft. They're not going to fool around." Capturing that market could be lucrative in terms of repeat business. Although Northrop Grumman only builds a few new E-2Ds each year, the landing gear for every plane that's still flying is replaced regularly. Growth mode Melluzzo describes the kind of enterprise he's building in Connecticut and Long Island as big enough to absorb sizable contracts, but small enough to be nimble and remain competitive. "What makes us attractive to an OEM — to a Pratt, a GE or a Boeing — is that we can burn a lot of hours, take on pretty good-sized projects and not get full, and yet still deliver at the cost of a smaller mom-and-pop shop," he said. As he aims to grow the business, Melluzzo said he sees upside in the commercial market, which is almost untapped for Air Industries Group. While they don't have capacity to build assemblies like landing gears for large commercial jets, he would like to go after the growing private jet market. And while New York remains the flagship campus, the beneficiary of much of the expansion is likely to be Sterling's Barkhamsted site. The company has extra acres to grow here, and compared to Long Island, its property taxes and other costs are lower. "I already have contacted a builder to be able to put another 50,000 minimum square feet out here," Melluzzo said. "Total invest- ment so far — today we're at about $15 million … and that's probably going to increase once we start working the building here." "I'm a Connecticut boy, always have been," Melluzzo said. " And this place is going to succeed come hell or high water." Meanwhile, John Lavieri, grandson of the founder, is able to see all of this activity from his home — the old farmhouse that still sits adjacent to the parking lot of the machine shop his family built. "I'm a very close neighbor," he said. "When I go out to get my paper in the morning, the factory is well in my view." And once in a while, he says, he'll still wander through the door to what used to be his grandfa- ther's barn, to say hello and see what's happening in "the shop." Sterling employees (from top) Tim Hayes, Milet Adoux and Dominick Dileo working in the company's Barkhamsted shop. Sterling Engineering employs about 50 people. The company makes turbine and jet- engine components, helicopter assemblies and ground power turbines as well as aircraft landing gear.

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