Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com July 24, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 7 WHAT'S AHEAD: ■ 7/31 Focus: Manufacturing ■ The List: Largest manufacturing companies ■ Nonprofit Profile: CT Center for Advanced Technology CALENDAR FRIDAY, AUG. 11 Marijuana in the Workplace — What Every Employer Should Know This state Department of Labor will host a seminar Aug. 11 at its Wethersfield office, 200 Folly Brook Blvd., providing insights for employers on how to navigate Connecticut's medical marijuana laws. The seminar, which runs from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., will be presented by Stephen Lattanzio, principal attorney with the Connecticut Labor Department, and will feature an appearance by Dr. Matthew Lundquist, medical director of occupational and environmental medicine and employee health services at Middlesex Hospital Outpatient Center. Lundquist will provide his view of the medical marijuana law as it relates to the actual testing procedures he conducts on a daily basis. Cost to attend is: $25. For more information or to register contact: Mark Stankiewicz, 860.263.6518, mark.stankiewicz@ct.gov. MANUFACTURING Pratt hiring to boost PurePower output East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney Co. last week displayed its fuel-efficient, passenger-jet engine in the nation's capital — a product it says requires tens of thousands of new hires. The PurePower geared turbofan engine was on display on South Capitol Street between C and D Streets SE. "Pratt & Whitney expects to hire 25,000 people by 2026, help- ing to ensure that we meet production targets and maintenance standards," said Pratt President Bob Leduc, "and we will continue to invest in our facilities and supply chain — a majority of which is spent in the United States, while growing U.S. exports." The geared turbofan helps mark the beginning of the "next great age in aircraft propulsion," Leduc added, with the engine in its first years of a more than 30-year program. Pratt, a division of Farmington-based United Technologies Corp., says more than 8,000 engines are on order, including options and unannounced orders, across the globe. The engine is not only 16 percent more fuel efficient, but its fans spin at a different speed than the turbine, resulting in 75 percent less noise, Pratt said. Kaman, Sikorsky extend cockpit pact Bloomfield aeroparts maker Kaman Corp. will continue sup- plying cross-state defense contractor Sikorsky Aircraft with pre- fabricated helicopter cockpits. Financial terms of the five-year pact, beginning in 2018, were not disclosed between Kaman Aerospace Corp. and Stratford- based Sikorsky, now a division of defense giant Lockheed Martin. Kaman said its agreement outlines pricing and conditions by which it will deliver H-60 cockpits, outfitted with flight controls, wiring harnesses and flight-safety hardware, for Sikorsky's UH- 60M Black Hawk warbirds and its HH-60M helicopters, a Black Hawk variant used as an aerial ambulance. Dr. Matthew Lundquist Pratt & Whitney employees toil on a PurePower geared turbofan engine. RETAIL CT retailer EbLens gets new equity partner Torrington clothing retailer EbLens LLC, which has several stores in the Greater Hartford area, annoucned Boston equity firm J.W. Childs Associates L.P. has acquired a majority interest in the company from KarpReilly LLC. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EbLens, founded in 1949, operates 44 stores throughout the northeastern U.S., including in Manchester, Bristol, Bloomfield, Meriden, East Hartford, Wethersfield and New Britain. J.W. Childs has "deep" retail and customer experience that will help the company expand, said EbLens CEO Richard Seaman, son of founder Len Seaman. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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