Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com July 6, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 13 Where future mfg. technology, talent intersect By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com T he Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology started in 2004 as a nonprofit research lab doing con- tract work for private companies and the military. But during that same period, at least 50 high school and college pupils have come through what amounts to a real-world training ground for the next generation of engineers and technologists. A frequent complaint from employers, particu- larly those who make things, is the dearth of hands- on experience using vital technology or equipment. CCAT's paid student internships aim to squelch those concerns, says CEO Elliot Ginsburg. So, each summer, CCAT brings onto its staff five or six college interns, ones like Megan Ilnicky. The 19-year-old mechanical-engineering sophomore at Springfield's Western New England University has spent the past two years since her days in technical high school, working at CCAT's lab on Pratt & Whit - ney's campus in East Hartford. There, Ilnicky, who is from Feeding Hills, Mass., works on an array of cutting-edge projects using addi- tive manufacturing and 3D printing — both of which can produce metal or plastic parts by adding material rather than traditional lathing and casting techniques. "I like that you can see a part from start to finish,'' Ilnicky said. She also relishes mentoring with some of the fore- most CCAT researchers and technologists working with or on advanced lasers, optics and robotics. UConn routinely has several of its undergraduate and graduate students stationed in CCAT's lab. "They take time out of their day,'' Ilnicky said, "to get to know us and help us with the path we want to go in.'' n Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology CEO Elliot Ginsburg and staff intern Megan Ilnicky inspect one of the tools vital to the additive manufacturing process. P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R DAS team authors replacements' manual By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com W ith many in Connecticut's state workforce hurtling toward retirement, the con- struction-services legal unit within one of the state's biggest agencies has taken steps to harvest the institutional knowledge and best practices com- piled by some of its most senior staff. It wrote them down. Led by retired paralegal Jo Ann Szela and staff attorney Roberta M. Avery, both working within the legal section of the Department of Administrative Services, the team has created a department sylla- bus — 20 chapters, each about five pages long kept in binder notebook s— that is a blueprint for everything from use of legal terms in construction-related contracts to how and when contractors can sign them. It is, says attorney and department chief Kevin Kopetz, an attempt to shorten the time needed to bring new hires and transfers up to speed in a bureau whose main charge is writing and enforcing millions of dollars in state contracts for construction and rehabilitation of state buildings. "The learning curve is short- ened and the risk for error is greatly reduced,'' said Avery, who joined DAS five years ago. "With millions on the line from various state contracts, it's important.'' Jeffrey Beckham, DAS staff coun- sel and spokesman, said the agency lacks a specific program to transition replacements as other staffers leave or retire. However, the legal unit's manu- al illustrates what can be done when "we have time and resources to plan a succession/transition." "Going forward,'' Beckham said, "our plan is to partner new hires for at least four weeks with a retiring employee that they are replacing so that the retiring employee can train and mentor the new hire." So far, two recent DAS hires — a staff attorney and a paralegal — have gotten copies of the legal unit's four- inch thick manual, Kopetz said. There's even a section about preparing and providing contractors with a checklist to avoid forgetting to sign papers or documents to submit for verification. Szela originally worked for the former state Department of Public Works, which later was folded into DAS. She said she could have benefited from a manual like that one when she first started at DPW, especially bureaucratic terminology. "It's like learning a whole new lan- guage coming in to do state contracts,'' Kopetz said. In preparing the manual, the legal department reviewed nearly every contract type and vetting process they routinely deploy. Out of that arose several changes that, he said, have streamlined his department's interac- tion with contractors. For instance, the department no longer mails contracts or other vital documents to contractors. Too often, papers either got mishandled or lost by recipients, or were delayed or lost in the mail. Now, contractors must come to DAS' office to sign them. n La., and Nashville and Chattanooga, Tenn., among areas of the country successful in attracting Millennials and their older counterparts, Generation Xers — born between 1965 and 1984. Common to all three is the existence of business incubators to support entrepreneurial startups as well as a solid base of young people drawn there to work or attend college. Most people are unaware, Pollak said, that many of those same attractions exist in Connecticut. "There are some really neat examples out there,'' she said. "We shouldn't start from scratch. We need to toot our horn a little bit more. Really promote the programs we already have for young people in this state.'' For instance, Pollak says Connecticut could appeal to young "techpreneurs'' by touting its relatively lower living costs and other overhead relative to Boston and New York City. The presence of Millennial-oriented networking groups like Hartford Young Professional Entrepreneurs, too, is a plus. A list of, say, the top 30 young entrepreneurs in Connecticut would expose them and the state to a wider base of Millennials in and outside the state. "Young people are drawn to young people,'' she said. Whatever is done, Pollak said it must have buy-in from the age cohort Hartford and other Connecticut communities want to attract. "It's very, very, very, very important to have Millenni- als weigh in on the conversation,'' she said. "Sometimes it's Boomers and Gen Xers coming up with the ideas.'' Changing the talk DECD Commissioner Smith said the state has a "very clear and articulated plan'' for meeting industry's labor needs. Fueled with taxpayer money, for example, Enfield's Asnun- tuck Community College and several of the state's other two- year institutions have beefed up their manufacturing training and certification programs. Smith said other examples are the state's $1 billion com- mitment over 10 years to support STEM — science, technol- ogy, engineering and math — education in public schools and at UConn, plus $800 million in Bioscience Connecticut to bolster the state's appeal in that arena. On June 10, Malloy announced $7 million was being set aside to beef up to 21st-century technology standards the skills of manufacturing workers already in their jobs. Also in the works, Smith said, is a manufacturing-apprenticeship program. "I think we've been ahead of the curve,'' Smith said. "That's really important when you look at our aging workforce.'' DECD also sponsors the manufacturing innovation fund. That program, while up and running, has yet to be fully publi- cized to the broader marketplace. The fund assists manufac- turers in upgrading their shop-floor talent, Smith said. Manufacturers insisted that program debut first, which it did in late May, followed by the apprenticeship program in June. She also pointed to CCAT's "Dream It.Do It.'' campaign to expose all Connecticut middle-schoolers to the merits of a manufacturing career and stifle the old stereotype of factory floors as dirty, hot and smelly. "We're working hard to change the conversation around this,'' Smith said. n Median Age of Connecticut's Counties County Median Age Litchfield 46.3 Middlesex 44.6 New London 40.9 Hartford 40.1 Fairfield 39.8 New Haven 39.8 Tolland 38.0 S O U R C E : U . S . C E N S U S B U R E A U NEXT WEEK: Find out how Connecticut's healthcare in- dustry is preparing to deal with the more than 247,000 residents who are expected to move into the 65-plus age group over the next 15 years. Staff attorney Roberta Avery and her boss, Kevin Kopetz, with manuals they helped create. H B J P H O T O | G R E G O R Y S E A Y

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