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64 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2014 Manufacturing Industry sPOtLIGHt › By Taryn Plumb F or the country's third smallest state, Connecticut has a dense and diverse array of manufacturers, from family- owned shops to international trans- portation and pop culture giants. And while the sector — not just here, but throughout the United States — has suffered losses due to the economy, off-shoring and the ever-changing nature of technology, manufacturers in Con- necticut are optimistic about the future, despite significant challenges still to overcome. "We are gaining a lot of momentum," said Douglas Johnson, president of the Smaller Man- ufacturers Association of Connecticut. "We're in kind of a Renaissance of manufacturing." So what exactly is made here in Connecticut? All told, the state has roughly 4,700 manufacturers that employ 166,000 people, according to Bonnie Del Conte, president and CEO of the Rocky Hill-based consulting organization CONNSTEP. Ultimately, manufacturing accounts for slightly more than $24 billion — or roughly between 10 and 12 percent — of Connecti- cut's gross domestic product, she said. e state's largest sector by far is transportation equipment — including jet engines, helicopters and aerospace products manufactured by Hartford-headquartered aerospace and aviation giant United Tech- nologies Corp., and the submarines made by General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton. ey, in turn, have created a sector of feeder manufacturers: Admill Machine of New Britain and Aero Gear Inc. in Windsor, to name a couple. "ere are a lot of businesses that fuel this engine, so to speak," said Del Conte. Diversity e state fulfills a number of other manu- facturing capacities as well: paper (Interna- tional Paper in Middletown and Putnam), Manufacturing The Pratt & Whitney 1100G-JM engine (pictured) is used to power the Airbus A320 airplane. Pratt is one of the largest manufacturers in Connecticut, and it plans to stay here. The company has plans to build a new 425,000-square-foot headquarters in East Hartford. Yankee ingenuity lives on in Connecticut as CT manufacturers get smarter and leaner PHOTO/PRATT & WHITNEY Sector Sponsored By: