Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 24, 2026 5 Deal Watch Industrial Revival Recycling entrepreneurs buy former Rex Forge complex in Southington to fuel next phase of growth partners bought machinery that stripped plastic insulation from wire and chopped copper into salable pieces. But Trudeau grew frustrated with equipment that frequently broke down and couldn't efficiently process the material. So, the cousins began building their own machines. A YouTube video Trudeau made so his father in Canada could watch a prototype unexpectedly launched a second business. "Someone in New York saw the video and asked me where I had bought this from," Trudeau recalled. "And I said: 'Well, we didn't buy it. We built it.' And he asked me if I would build him one too. And that's how we started building them." Today, equipment manufacturing accounts for about 60% of the companies' combined annual revenue of roughly $10 million, Trudeau said. Cable Management Equipment designs the machinery, has steel components laser-cut and formed by Connecticut manufacturers, then performs welding, painting and final assembly in-house. Its systems process everything from copper wire and lithium-ion batteries to rubber shoe soles and other difficult-to-recycle materials. The company's custom equipment has also found specialized applica- tions. During an Ebola outbreak in Africa, Cable Management designed heavy-duty shredders for medical waste after hospitals became concerned that pill bottles and other By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com T wenty years ago, electrician Josh Trudeau piled scrap wire in the garage of his Meriden home, trying to squeeze a little extra value from leftover material after jobs. In July, the businesses he and his cousin, Daniel Cotnoir, built from that modest beginning — Meriden-based scrap processor Cable Management Recycling and its sister company, Cable Management Equipment — paid $1.25 million for the former Rex Forge manufacturing complex in the Plantsville section of Southington, betting the long-vacant property can fuel their next phase of growth. The 106,710-square-foot, multi- building campus sits on about 17 acres along Atwater Street. It once housed Rex Forge, a nearly 160-year-old manufacturer of preci- sion steel forgings for the automo- tive industry. The complex became vacant after the company abruptly closed in early 2025 following the loss of its sole customer. The property is in rough shape. Loose pieces of sheet metal creak in the wind, and daylight shines through holes in the exterior walls. Some of the buildings are well on their way to ruin without significant investment. Trudeau and Cotnoir said they expect the property will require more than $500,000 in environmental cleanup, along with extensive roof repairs and other improvements. Even so, they see the neglected complex as a long-term investment in the future of their businesses. "We always wanted to have our own place and not pay rent and to build equity in our own property," Trudeau said. Today, Cable Management Equip- ment designs and builds industrial recycling systems sold across North America and Europe, while Cable Management Recycling processes scrap metal collected from thou- sands of Connecticut contractors. Both companies currently operate from about 60,000 square feet of leased manufacturing space in Meriden. Building a business Trudeau's entrepreneurial journey began with a simple observation he made while working as an electrician in his 20s. He realized many elec- trical contractors had to accumulate hundreds of pounds of scrap wire before a trip to the scrapyard made financial sense. With that in mind, he launched Cable Management Recycling in 2007, picking up wire from contrac- tors across the Meriden area before processing it into small copper sections that could be sold in bulk through brokers to manufacturing mills. The service made it much easier for contractors to cash in their scrap. The business spread quickly through word of mouth, generating roughly $800,000 in revenue during its first year. Within six months, the company had outgrown Trudeau's garage and moved into a leased 2,500-square- foot space. Cotnoir, who was also working as an electrician, initially joined the business on nights and weekends before later becoming a co-owner. As the company grew, it relocated to a large Meriden indus- trial building, where it has expanded its footprint over the years. At the company's outset, the Daniel Cotnoir (left) and Josh Trudeau, of Meriden-based Cable Management Recycling and Cable Management Equipment, hold copper granules produced by the company's wire recycling process. The cousins recently purchased the former Rex Forge manufacturing complex in Southington to expand their recycling and equipment manufacturing operations. HBJ Photos | Michael Puffer Continued on next page

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