Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com March 2, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 7 what's ahead: ■ 3/9 Focus: residential real estate ■ The List: residential mortgage sales ■ Nonprofit Profile: Ct society of Cpas CaLeNdar Tuesday, March 3 Making the Business Case for Improving Value in Health Care The Connecticut Health Council's March 3 event will feature Harvard Business School Emeritus Professor Robert. S. Kaplan, who will discuss ways fix the U.S.' highly fragmented healthcare system. The event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Hartford Marriott Downtown, 200 Columbus Blvd., will include discussions about how the financial success of medical providers and other stakeholders is often not aligned with the best patient outcomes. The program will examine the healthcare value equation and the utilization of integrated practice units to achieve better outcomes in a more cost- effective way. Cost to attend is $25 for founding members; $50 for general public. For more information go to: http://www.cthealthcouncil.com/programs- events/event-calendar. F O r a C O m P l e T e l i s T O F G r e a T e r H a r T F O r d b u s i n e s s e v e n T s , G O T O w w w . H a r T F O r d b u s i n e s s . C O m a n d C l i C k O n ' T H e a G e n d a . ' a l l C a l e n d a r i T e m s m u s T b e s u b m i T T e d e l e C T r O n i C a l l y v i a O u r w e b s i T e , H a r T F O r d b u s i n e s s . C O m . maNufaCturING Whitcraft inks $234M Pratt contract Eastford aerospace manufacturer Whitcraft Group has signed a 10-year, $234 million contract to supply parts and assemblies for the new engine family of East Hartford jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney. All three of Whitcraft's facilities in the state will supply compo- nents to Pratt's new PurePower engine family: the Eastford facility will produce sheet metal parts while the Farmington and Plainville facilities will supply precision machined parts. At the peak of production in 2020, Whitcraft expects to yield $30 million in annual revenue from the contract. In anticipation of entering into the agreement, Whitcraft hired 30 new employees over the past two months and is working with state schools to train the types of employees needed to fully ex- ecute the contract. Barkhamsted component maker is Air Industries' third CT acquisition New York aerospace manufacturer Air Industries has inked its third Connecticut acquisition since June. The publicly traded company said last week that it has acquired Barkhamsted's Sterling Engineering, which makes components used by Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Siemens jet turbine engines. Air Industries, which said Feb. 2 it had agreed to acquire an unidentified New England component maker, did not disclose the purchase price, which includes Sterling's 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Sterling will operate as a subsidiary of Air Industries, and will keep its workforce and management, it said. Air Industries CEO Dan Godin said in a statement that the ac- quisition continues the company's plan to expand its presence in the jet engine and turbine industries. In October, Air Industries acquired for $6.8 million South Windsor's AMK Welding, which welds components for aerospace manufacturers. In June, the company bought Waterbury military products packager Eur-Pac Corp. for $1.6 million and stock. Robert. S. Kaplan hat's stopping us from realizing that potential? Why does our economy struggle to keep pace with the rest of the country? Connecticut has tremendous economic assets—world-class companies, a skilled, educated, productive workforce, and a proud legacy of innovation. Yet we're not seeing the investment and growth we need. Too many people, particularly young people, are finding good jobs elsewhere. Independent studies and reports constantly rank our economic competitiveness in the bottom tier of states. Those rankings reflect decades of policy decisions that increased business costs and jeopardized jobs and opportunities. Connecticut faces tough challenges. Fiscal problems, aging transportation systems, high energy costs, and burdensome regulations and mandates all hold us back. And we must to do more to develop the talent to meet workforce needs. CBIA is fighting for change. Not just for our thousands of member companies, but for everyone in the state. This is about changing mindsets and making good policy choices. For having lawmakers consider every legislative proposal for its impact—positive or negative— on our economy. And making them understand that real change creates an environment of opportunity, builds economic vitality and prosperity, and benefits everyone. We can do better. We have to do better. P H O T O | C O n T r i b u T e d eduCatIoN Audit: CCSU didn't provide sick pay to student workers for 16 months Though a new state law at the time required it, Central Connecti- cut State University did not provide paid sick leave to its student- workers in 2012 and half of 2013, state auditors said last week. The New Britain school said it believed student workers were exempt from the law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2012, but found out a year later that the law did apply to those employees. CCSU said it underwent "an extraordinarily complex and manual process" to begin complying with the law in July 2013. Crews work on one of Pratt & Whitney's PurePower engines.

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