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64 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 2018 2018 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 64 Making It Work Manufacturing sector is a major jobs generator for Connecticut By Cara Rosner At a time when job growth statewide has been flat, the manufacturing sector is a welcome bright spot: gaining momentum, adding jobs and bringing innovation to Connecticut. The manufacturing sector added 6,300 jobs in 2017, according to Pete Gioia, vice president and economist at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA). The state overall gained 5,300 jobs – meaning, had it not been for manufacturing, the state would have shed 1,000 jobs, he noted. "What we're beginning to see is a major economic shift and major renaissance of manufacturing in Connecticut and, really, a broader renaissance of manufacturing in the U.S.," he said. "This is a long- term thing; there's been a sea change." For more than a decade, the manufacturing sector shed jobs or was among the slowest-growing segments of the labor market in the state, Gioia said. But recent large-scale defense contracts have bolstered Connecticut companies, which have had to hire more workers a result. While the state's employment recovery in 2017 was the slowest in the past seven years and trailed the nation's growth rate, the manufacturing sector broke a five-year losing streak last year, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor. "I don't think you can overstate the importance of manufacturing to Connecticut's aggregate economy," said Don Klepper-Smith, chief economist at DataCore Partners LLC and economic advisor to Farmington Bank. "Manufacturing is an integral part of Connecticut's long-term economic past, and it has to be an integral part of our long-term economic future." There are about 163,000 manufacturing jobs in the state, he said, most of which – roughly 128,000 – are in durable goods. Manufacturing jobs, in particular, produce meaningful ripple effects by spurring job growth elsewhere. For every manufacturing job added, another 1.5 jobs are created elsewhere in the local economy, said Klepper-Smith. Connecticut continues to reap the benefits of a diverse manufacturing base, he noted: companies here manufacture a wide array of products, from eyeglass screws to submarines. That diversity has been a key factor in the sector's success. In 2017, part of the sector's boost came when Henkel Consumer Goods Inc. made Stamford the new home for its North American headquarters last August. The company, part of German parent company Henkel, makes adhesives, beauty products, and home and laundry items. The 24,000-square-foot facility in Stamford has about 40 workers, according to company officials, and houses a formulation lab that develops the company's beauty care products – including popular brands Dial, Right Guard, Tone and got2b. It also has a clinical testing lab. "Our new location in Stamford allows for optimal access to key suppliers and customers, while giving our research and development team a state-of-the-art workspace to achieve their full potential in creating and testing top-quality product formulations and packages," Martina Spinatsch, vice president of research and development for Henkel's Beauty Care division, said in a statement at the site's January ribbon cutting. "In addition, the proximity of our labs to our marketing teams encourages collaboration and enables us to ensure all of our beauty- care brands benefit from our advanced technologies and scientific expertise," she added. The company also opened a 27,000-square- foot research and development facility in Trumbull, which has formulation labs, a consumer product and fragrance evaluation A Pratt & Whitney employee works on one of the East Hartford company's jet engines. MANUFACTURING