Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • January 15, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Reporter's Notebook Gregory Seay | gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Real Estate, Economic Development/Construction, Banking & Finance and Manufacturing MANUFACTURING Ex-Pratt engineers lift their Addaero manufacturing venture A pair of former Pratt & Whitney engineers got off to a fast start once they opted to venture three years ago into the additive-man- ufacturing space with their own enterprise, Addaero Inc. President Richard J. Merlino of Vernon and Operations Vice President David Hill of Farmington, plus two others, launched their New Britain company in Aug. 2014, oc- cupying a 6,600-square-foot portion of the old Fafnir Bearings plant on John Street. Four months later, with funding from Hartford Economic Development Corp. (HEDCO), CIC in Hamden and Webster Bank, they acquired their first additive machine, a Swedish-made Arcam Model A2X electron- beam unit that cost $1 million, Merlino said. In rapid order, Addaero acquired anoth- er Arcam, plus a pair of EOS M290s, which rely on a laser to fashion intricately shaped parts from metallic powders. Addaero technicians are adept at using blueprints or actual 3-D models to generate the final products, Hill said. "This is pretty new technology,'' Hill said. Addaero's skills as a custom additive- manufacturing job-shop have brought aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration among other large corpo- rate or high-profile clients that it cannot name due to client-confidentiality pacts. "We build parts for most of the major aerospace [original equipment manufac- turers],'' Merlino said. Addaero will gener- ate about $1 million in revenue this year. According to Merlino, Addaero begins with a computer-aided-design (CAD) model of a component provided by customers. Its technicians prepare the CAD model and set up the 3-D printer. The part is formed by welding powdered metal under a high-heat and vacuum environment within the Arcam and EOS machine, a process that is repeat- ed layer on top of layer. Once completed, the excess powder is removed, revealing the almost-finished product. Now solid metal, the part is ready for final finishing, like grinding and polishing, before being pack- aged and shipped to the customer, he says. Despite its rapid ascent, few outside ad- ditive manufacturing know about Addaero and its talent, Hill and Merlino said. "What we realized,'' Merlino said, "is based on [customer] feedback, we do a pretty good job. But nobody knows what we do.'' However, Addaero successfully drew the attention of Connecticut's startup technology promoters at quasi-public Connecticut Inno- vations Inc. (CI), and particularly its CTNext arm, which recently awarded $25,000 to Ad- daero to market itself to a wider audience. Currently, Addaero is working with a mar- keting consultant and with students in Cen- tral Connecticut State University's graphics- design department, to create a company logo, brochures and other marketing materials. "Stuff we can't do,'' Merlino said. The closest Merlino and Hill come to any sort of structured marketing for Addaero, they say, are their daily blog and LinkedIn posts to the broader engineering com- munity about the latest metallic powders, other new materials and designs. CTNext's "Growth Company Grant Pro- gram'' targets startups under 10 years old, typically too young to qualify for venture capital, but that can demonstrate a viable product or service, and have increased their revenue at least 20 percent in the last three years. To date, according to CI spokesperson Lauren Carmody, CTNext has dispensed $62,481.50 to four recipients. Merlino, 41, a UMass mechanical engineer- ing grad from Vernon, was in Pratt's sales op- eration, hawking its engine-repair packages to airlines and air-charter operators. Hill, a mechanical engineer with a degree from Virginia Tech who grew up in Baltimore, worked in Pratt's partner- ship office managing its relationships with partners like German jet-engine builder MTU Aero Engines. Together, they say they saw additive manufacturing as an opportunity to go into business for themselves. "We knew this was going to be a big technology for the [aerospace] industry,'' Merlino said. Indeed, a number of other small additive-manufacturing and 3-D printing job shops have sprung up in Connecticut, clustered close to the aerospace firms and submarine builders in this state. Merlino and Hill say they envision some- day establishing an "Addaero University," where customers, sales prospects and manufacturing-engineering pupils come to learn about additive technologies. "It's all about education,'' Merlino said. DEAL WATCH West Hartford office building sold at $1.25M North Main Holdings LLC bought 28 North Main St. on 0.52 acres in West Hartford from Rosenfield/Hollander Associates, according to buyer's broker Sentry Commercial. Chozick Realty represented the seller. Solar firm's Newington lease The U.S. solar-energy affiliate of French oil-and-gas giant Total S.A. has leased 14,579 square feet of Newington flex office- warehouse space to produce solar-power components, brokers say. SunPower Corp., of San Jose, Calif., will occupy space at 50 Rockwell Road in the Rockwell Business Center in Newington Business Park, said broker Reno Properties Group LLC. 50 Rockwell Road LLC is landlord. SunPower will house its solar sales/ marketing center, warehouse-distribution and installation operations there, brokers say. Majority owned by Total, SunPower designs and makes crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and solar panels. It had 2016 revenue of about $1.6 billion. $625K Windsor office sale A 6,996-square-foot Windsor office building has sold for $625,000, brokers say. 279 Nutmeg Road South LLC acquired the building on 4 acres at 276 Addison Road from Action Technology and Investment Inc., according to sole broker Sentry Commercial. Coldwell Banker's Simsbury renewal Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has extended its Simsbury office lease, brokers say. Coldwell Banker has occupied the 2,250-square-foot building in the Drake Hill Mall at 700 Hopmeadow St. since 1997, according to tenant broker Sentry Commercial. GPF-Drake Hill LLC is landlord. Addaero co- owners David Hill (left) and Richard Merlino say additive opened opportunities to them. HBJ PHOTO | GREGORY SEAY A 9,392-square-foot West Hartford office building has sold for $1.25 million, brokers say. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED 276 Addison Road, Windsor.

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