Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 20, 2025 17 FOCUS | Manufacturing John Brady, director of manufacturing, and Shawn Hawks, general manager at TIGHITCO with a part that will end up on a Sikorsky CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter. HBJ Photo | Harriet Jones a key supplier to helicopter maker Sikorsky, providing components for the CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift heli- copter, which is designed to transport troops, vehicles and heavy equipment for the U.S. military. The composite parts produced in the layup room will become part of the nose cone assem- blies, personnel doors and escape hatches for the massive aircraft. In September, Stratford-based Sikorsky — a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin — secured a $10.9 billion multiyear contract to build up to 99 CH-53K helicopters for the U.S. military. The agreement ensures final assembly work on the helicopter will continue in Stratford through 2033. Rich Benton, vice president and general manager at Sikorsky, told the Hartford Business Journal the new contract is "monumental." "Anytime you get the first multi year on a program," he said, "you work a long time through the development, you prepare for it, you tool up for it." And that preparation isn't just going on in Stratford. It also involves 42 major supply chain companies in the state like TIGHITCO, as well as the hundreds of smaller suppliers that work with them. New stability Hawks said the hiring push in Berlin was difficult at first, given how special- ized the work is, but TIGHITCO has since learned how to attract the right talent. "One of the issues we had was people just don't know what composites are," he said. "That's been a journey for us, but I think we've gotten really good at it." The company has added a weekend shift to provide more flexibility for employees, and has also hired some part-time workers — something that, Hawks said, wasn't even considered in the industry a decade ago. A beefed-up training plan and a clear career ladder were also part of the hiring strategy, as was raising the pay range three times in two years. Improving hiring and expanding the workforce aren't the only ripple effects of Sikorsky's new multiyear contract, however. "It creates stability, from Sikorsky all the way down to the raw materials," Hawks said. TIGHITCO, he explained, will be able to plan further ahead on costs and manage project risks more strategically — for example, by purchasing raw mate- rials when prices are lower, or sourcing components with longer lead times. That, in turn, helps insulate Sikorsky from potential supply chain disruptions. It also allows for longer-term collab- orative relationships among suppliers. TIGHITCO, for instance, plans to add a second layup room to expand capacity. To make room for it, the company expects to outsource some chemi- cal-processing work currently performed on its Berlin shop floor to another firm. "You can spend a little more on investment for research and develop- ment, you have the ability to support funding innovation and breakthroughs," Hawks said. "That gets us to the future." Continued on next page Chain Reaction Sikorsky's $10.9B CH-53K contract sparks hiring, investment and renewed optimism across CT's aerospace sector By Harriet Jones hjones@hartfordbusiness.com T he layup room is the heart of operations at TIGHITCO's Berlin facility. Inside the aerospace manufactur- er's clean room, gowned and gloved employees painstakingly handcraft precision aircraft parts from a material known as composite. "We have quite a few people that have been here for 10 months or less and are working on building up their experience," said super- visor Peter Peers. Adhesive-infused fabric is laser-cut to exact specifications for each part. Workers then carefully layer hundreds of fabric sheets over molds, quickly and accurately, to create parts that are both lighter and stronger than metal. "The people that excel the most are people that have experience with either wrapping cars or tinting windows, some type of general home improvement, or even things of a crafty nature, like a seamstress or sewing skills," Peers said. It takes three months to train a new worker on this process, and lately that training has been an all-hands effort, according to TIGHITCO General Manager Shawn Hawks. "We've probably grown by 30% in layup," he said. "And a lot of it is related to getting prepared for the CH-53K." TIGHITCO has long served as A map of Stratford-based Sikorsky's CT supplier base.

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