OCTOBER 2, 2017 • HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | 27
including Stratford-based helicopter-maker
Sikorsky and East Hartford-based Pratt &
Whitney are also growing.
In fact, while the general perception is that
Connecticut has become a less desirable state
to do business in, Pratt, and its parent company
United Technologies Corp., began building a
new 425,000-square-foot headquarters in East
Hartford in 2015.
So rather than bemoaning the decline of
manufacturing, Del Conte says the big
manufacturers as well as their suppliers are
focused on "how to fill that capacity."
And that's where organizations like CONNStep,
as well as technical high schools and community
colleges, come in, designing programs to help
train workers to fill the newly created jobs.
The programs also have to help train workers
to fill the slots left vacant by an aging
manufacturing workforce that is nearing
retirement age. Added to the workforce pressure
is a general trend away from technical schooling
in favor of four-year degrees that has created
what Del Conte called a "skills gap."
"We've had to build a different career path that
excites [younger workers]," she said.
Part of that excitement comes from the increased
use of technology and robotics, which has steadily
risen over the last 25 years. While basic assembly
jobs that might have been more common in
Connecticut 25 years ago have left the state for
lower-cost locales in other parts of the United
States or world, advanced manufacturing
processes that require highly trained workers
remain.
Manufacturing Employment in Connecticut
Year (as of June) Total Employment
2017 156,000
2007 187,900
1997 245,100
1992 272,600
Source: CT Dept. of Labor
Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology CEO Elliot Ginsberg has expanded his
nonprofit's investment in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing technology.
