Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com October 17, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 3 By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com U .S. and allied soldiers for years have relied on a bit of Connecticut lifting-tow- ing technology to clear foreign battle- fields of destroyed or disabled Army troop and equipment carriers, and other rolling stock. Tru-Hitch Inc., based in Barkhamsted, since the 1990s has racked up at least a dozen Pentagon contracts manufacturing and deliv- ering what sole-owner/founder Marty Marola says the Army calls its "modular catastrophic recovery systems.'' More sophisticated than a traditional tow- truck or flatbed hauler that most motorists are used to seeing when they call for roadside assistance, Tru-Hitch's patented equipment is just as vital for getting military vehicles unstuck, or hauling damaged or broken ones back to the motor pool. "We did our first [contract] deployment in the 1990s,'' said Marola, who resides in Gosh- en. "We've been in three wars since we began.'' Most recently, Tru-Hitch landed another Army contract, valued at $7.4 million, for repair and refurbishment of as many as 90 of Tru-Hitch's previously delivered towing-haul- ing systems. Among them are units delivered around five years ago that are now returning from their deployment alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Marola said. Marola says he can't precisely count the number of Army contracts he's procured over the years, but estimates them at around a dozen, with more than 300 of Tru-Hitch's "fifth-wheel" towing systems delivered. He says Tru-Hitch has run up against some for- midable bidders, including several leading U.S. heavy-trucks makers. Military contracts make up the bulk of Tru- Hitch's growing annual revenue, which Marola won't disclose. He says his company is profit- able, too. Tru-Hitch employs 26 workers — many of them welders and machinists — at production facilities in Barkhamsted and Torrington. How Marola entered the lucrative world of defense contracting is the typical tale of one person with a fresh idea for improving a technology that has been around for as long as motorized vehicles have existed. His grandfather in 1935 launched former Marola Motors, a Torrington truck dealership where Marola says his mother and father both worked, and where as a youngster he learned to push a broom. By 18, he was a certified welder, repairing vehicles at the dealership that sold International brand trucks, he said. In later years, Marola ran the business that sold, among other things, tow trucks and tow hitches. But there was, he said, always the nag- ging sense for him that the hook/lift systems Continued Military finds Tru-Hitch's tow gear truly uplifting Tru-Hitch Inc. founder/owner Marty Marola had a better idea for a tow-lift system for handling extra-heavy loads. The result is his "fifth-wheel'' lift that his Barkhamsted company for years has sold under contract to the U.S. Army. H B J P H O T O | G R E G O R Y S E A Y Cybersecurity is hard. Defend Forward is easy. One monthly subscription puts the technology, training and expertise in place to defend your company's information, reputation, and future. Your Allies Against Crippling Cyber Attacks www.kelsercorp.com/DefendForward www.kelsercorp.com 111 Roberts St, Suite D East Hartford, CT 06108 860 610 2200

• Cover