Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • October 30, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 9 FOCUS PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. Family Dollar | Wethersfield, Connecticut PDS was selected as Design Build General Contractor to renovate the existing 20,000 square foot building and to construct a 10,000 square foot addition. This retail facility includes a Family Dollar and 5 additional tenant spaces for future businesses. Brick veneer and EIFS was a substantial component to the exterior construction of the building. Project Size: 30,000 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Retail PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD facturing jobs as the grungy, hard labor performed by past generations. Is the message being received? A. Many still don't have a positive impression of current manufacturing jobs; nor do they believe schools are doing enough to expose students to future careers. While the vast majority of respondents in a 2017 Deloitte survey view manufacturing as vital to economic prosperity, less than 50 percent believe manufacturing jobs are rewarding, clean, safe, stable and secure. And less than 30 percent would encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing career. But there's a bright side: Those familiar with the industry — and those from more pro-manufacturing demographic groups — are two times more likely to encourage the next generation to pursue a manufac- turing career. So we know the messaging works; the challenge is bringing that mes- sage to a larger population. When asked what future jobs in manufacturing will look like, most believe they will require high-tech skills and will be clean and safe, as well as more innovative. That's why industry partnerships are so important. The most effective way to change percep- tions is to open doors so the public can see first-hand what modern manufactur- ing looks like. Q. We know there have been efforts to get more women interested in manufactur- ing. Are they working? A. 'Improving the external image of the industry' is cited as the No. 1 priority to improve manufacturers' ability to attract, retain and advance women. Young women today want a great job and a meaningful career — they want to make a difference. CT DIDI's Girls & Manufacturing Summit was designed to change the perception of the role of women in manu- facturing through positive role models. Activities focus on raising awareness of manufacturing-related careers and their skill requirements, workplaces, and educational and career pathways; improv- ing attitudes toward manufacturing; and increasing girls' confidence in their ability to be successful in STEM-related courses and manufacturing careers. Becirovic, who is pursuing a mechani- cal engineering degree with a focus on aerospace at Central Connecticut State University, is working full time for PCX and attending school part time after par- ticipating in a paid internship in March 2016. He will graduate in 2019, but plans to stay with the company, he said. Becirovic helps create programs that are used to design parts. "No day is exactly the same," Becirovic said. "It's always different. The parts are always different; the geometry is always different; and I really feel like I learn some- thing new every day." Hartman said it was critical to lock Becirovic in as an employee as early as possible. CNC programming is a skill that is in high demand and it requires an aptitude for coding, math and problem solving, Hartman said. Investing in CT PCX is owned by two private equity firms — New Canaan-based RFE Invest- ment Partners and 24/6 Capital Partners of Massachusetts — which bought the company from Charlotte-based SPX Corp. in 2014 for $62 million. Frisby and Sullivan said the manufac- turer has spent about $12 million over the past three years on state-of-the-art equipment, and recently invested $2 mil- lion in an oversized mill turn, which most companies PCX's size don't have. A mill turn is a large lathe with five-axis milling capability, making it easier to cut or shape complex parts. Its shaft is used with helicopter rotor systems, connecting the blades and the main gear case — es- sentially turning and milling at the same time while the part is being held in place. Precision is key to this type of manufac- turing, Hartman and Sullivan said. The mill turn has been a selling point with customers, and helped PCX land con- tracts with Bell Helicopter of Fort Worth, Texas, Hartman said. "It opened up the opportunity for us to bid on jobs we may not normally have been invited to bid on," he said. Frisby said the company has 12.9 acres in Newington and the capacity to expand, though there are no immediate plans to do so. As for whether PCX will stay in Connecti- cut as major employers like Aetna and Alex- ion relocate headquarters elsewhere, Frisby's answer, without equivocation, is "Yes." Saban Becirovic (right), a former PCX Aerostructures intern who now works for the Newington company as a full-time computer numerical control (CNC) programmer, takes instruction from his supervisor, CNC Programming Manager Gary Knybel.

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