Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • February 6, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com A 'seat at the table' for his peers from page 1 replace those aging out of the workforce. "We're training people by the hundreds, but employers are looking to hire by the thou- sands,'' the 78-year-old retired Woodbridge metallurgist said. "So, we're doing an amaz- ing job, but now the task is even bigger.'' For his long-term efforts on behalf of the industry, Clupper last October was honored with the leadership award from the American Manufacturers Hall of Fame in Bridgeport. He also was honored last September with the New Haven Chamber of Commerce's Com- munity Leadership Award. Manufacturing roots A Michigan native, Clupper, like his father, made a career as a metallurgist. After several stops, Clupper arrived in Connecticut in 1970, to work for Carpenter Technology Corp., at its Bridgeport plant. Upon retiring as Carpenter's general man- ager in 1989, Clupper joined a New Haven area management consultancy, which led him to volunteer work at the New Haven Manufactur- ers Association. He ultimately joined NHMA's board. When the group needed a new execu- tive director, "through one way or another, it became me,'' he said. That was 2001. Clupper devised a short list of goals for the organization from the outset that he said elevated NHMA as a key player in discussions and decisions about the future of manufac- turing in Connecticut. "The key was to do as much collaboration as possible,'' he said, "with all the entities that were affected by manufacturing. I said we want a seat at the table when decisions are made that are important to manufacturing.'' That meant, he said, working with state law- makers, educators and state agencies, includ- ing the state Department of Energy and Envi- ronmental Protection and the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). The latter agency is working closely with manufacturers to boost their labor pool, including mobilizing many of the unemployed in Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Lon- don and the state's other urban hubs. DECD Commissioner Catherine D. Smith credits Clupper with deepening early in her tenure her knowledge of manufacturing and issues important to his members. He helped arrange and accompanied her on a statewide manufacturing "jobs tour.'' "He was just very open,'' Smith said. "That kind of leadership is very important to his members.'' Along the way, Clupper has gotten buy-in from manufacturers. Bridgeport banker Jeffrey Paz, president of the NHMA board of directors, said that when the 104-year-old group had its first annual meeting last decade, attendance numbered between 120 and 150. Last year's meeting drew more than 350, he said. "He feels so strongly about manufactur- ing, it allows him to speak with authority on all the topics,'' Paz, a banker with People's United Bank, said of Clupper who will head into retirement June 30. Clupper says it's all about building awareness. "You create collaboration and get a seat at the table by making people aware,'' he said. "We were the first ones to come up with the slogan, 'Manufacturing's not 3D: Dirty, dark and dan- gerous.' Manufacturing, in fact, is high-tech these days. So when people say the future is all high-tech, that includes manufacturing." Many share the blame for the misperception of manufacturing as a career dead-end, he added. "The thing that most people learned about manufacturing for a number of years was that manufacturing jobs were declin- ing,'' Clupper said during a stopover at a New Haven bagel shop. However, the flip side of that coin that most ears didn't hear, he said, was that man- ufacturing jobs indeed were declining, not because the sector was fading, but because improvements in production processes and newer equipment were continually rendering producers more efficient. "It depended on what message you were hearing and whether it included all those facts,'' Clupper said. The microchip, not exportation of manu- facturing jobs overseas, he said, has had the biggest impact on manufacturing productiv- ity and declining jobs in the sector. The perception of manufacturing, too, has been victimized through years of merg- ers and consolidations that have caused many familiar manufacturing names/brands to disappear. Many of those companies had large plants and payrolls, Clupper said, that once employed generations of Americans. As manufacturing's image faded for decades, fewer high school and college grad- uates migrated into skilled, well-paying jobs as machinists, tool-and-die makers and pro- grammer/operators of computer-numerically controlled machinery. That ignited manufacturing owners and managers to join Clupper in raising their voic- es to counter the public's skewed perceptions about the sector. "I don't think anyone has worked harder than he has to foster the notion of manufac- turing and what manufacturing is all about in Connecticut,'' said Connecticut Congress- woman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-3rd District). "He's played a critical role in advancing manufactur- ing, both as an industry and as a career path.'' DeLauro said a bill on Capitol Hill of which she is a sponsor and plans to reintro- duce this session has Clupper's fingerprints on it. Under the measure, producers could set up "manufacturing reinvestment accounts,'' or MRAs, into which they could park pre-tax savings into an interest-bearing account for up to seven years. In that period, manufactur- ers could withdraw proceeds, at a reduced tax rate, to fund their businesses. DeLauro was uncertain as to whether the bill could gain passage this upcoming Con- gressional session, but added, "everybody who's seen it, likes it.'' "It's like an investment retirement account for manufacturers,'' said Woodbridge manu- facturer Jamison Scott, who co-pitched the concept to DeLauro. In 2012, Connecticut lawmakers adopted a version of the MRA, which the state Department of Economic and Community Development says 15 manufac- turing participants are enrolled to date. Scott, third-generation owner of Air Han- dling Systems that manufacturers ductwork used in industrial ventilation, says Clupper's embrace of the MRA measure and other work on behalf of Connecticut manufacturers has benefitted NHMA. "An amazing guy to work with,'' said Scott, a past NHMA president and board member. "Extremely loyal and dedicated to manufacturing.'' Hitting all chords Manufacturing issues aren't the only items where Clupper's voice is heard. For the last 28 years, he has sung bass as a member of the University Glee Club of New Haven. For fun, he also plays banjo and guitar. A pickup basketball player into his 50s, Clupper now prefers snow skiing and cycling to keep his 6-foot 4-inch frame slender. According to Clupper, manufacturers and society have many challenges ahead. "I'm a believer that we're in a fourth indus- trial revolution,'' he said. "This industrial rev- olution is all about the connectivity going on with the 'internet of things.' Are we going to be able to assimilate all the knowledge that will be created?'' "If we go to self-driving cars, what's going to happen to the car industry? If we change the way we generate electricity, what's going to happen with that? … Big questions." n Jerry Clupper, third from right, executive director of the New Haven Manufacturers Association, on a tour he arranged last fall at Assa Abloy's Berlin door-hardware production facility. P H O T O | A S S A A B L O Y www.kelsercorp.com 111 Roberts St, Suite D East Hartford, CT 06108 860 610 2200 Technology that speaks the language of your business.

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