Manufacturing

Jobs at Pratt & Whitney, the jet engine maker headquartered in East Hartford, may soon be cut due to the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial air travel.

Union officials are raising concerns that retail giant Amazon is unnecessarily exposing Connecticut residents to COVID-19 -- as well as taking jobs they believe should go to local workers.

The threat of COVID-19 exposure remains high, and it’s becoming clear that people could get sick if they show up to work. Groton’s Electric Boat is one of the state’s largest employers, and some of its workers aren’t happy with the submarine builder’s response to the potential spread of coronavirus.

Fighting wildfires is a constant struggle in Southern California, but a Connecticut manufacturer has a way to help.

Connecticut now has someone in charge of manufacturing policy for the entire state. Colin Cooper, the CEO of aerospace manufacturing company the Whitcraft Group, based in Eastford, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief manufacturing officer.

Gun manufacturer Colt says it plans to end production of AR-15-style rifles for the civilian market. The company plans to limit its production to police and military contracts. 

Abandoned factories tagged with graffiti. Vacant properties marked by broken windows and overgrown lawns. This hour, we consider the impact of urban blight on communities and hear how some local municipalities are working to improve quality of life.

We check in with the cities of Waterbury and Hartford, where significant strides have been made to survey and address blight.

We also talk with Laura Bliss of CityLab and with a housing official in Baltimore. How effective has the Maryland city’s Vacants to Value program been at reducing the number of vacant, blighted properties? We find out. 

This hour, we learn about efforts to construct a new casino in Bridgeport, Connecticut. We talk to Hearst Connecticut Media reporter Emilie Munson about a possible deal between the city and the state’s tribes, and consider the implications for MGM, which also has its sights on the Southwest region. 

Plus, the Trump administration has threatened to impose new tariffs on Mexico, raising questions for manufacturers, many of which have already felt the impact of the U.S.’ ongoing trade war with China. We take an in-depth look at this story with The New York Times’ Ben Casselman and a Connecticut-based economist.

The United States Department of Labor Secretary was in Connecticut on Tuesday, April 16 to see for himself efforts to reskill the state’s manufacturing workforce.

Connecticut has launched a new collaborative effort to support manufacturing industry in the state. The collaboration, called “TEAM Works,” -- Technology, Education, and Advanced Manufacturing -- joins together Connecticut’s public and private colleges, comprehensive and technical high schools, small and large manufacturers, and state agencies. 

Nearly 200 employees at a United Technologies Aerospace Systems plant in Cheshire went on strike Monday, after negotiations over a new contract failed to reach agreement on wage and benefit levels.

Electric Boat says it will expand its waterfront facilities in Groton and increase its workforce by 1,900 jobs, in a partnership with Connecticut that will also see it receive millions of dollar in state aid. 

Last week President Donald Trump announced he will levy tariffs on steel and aluminum imports of 25 percent and 10 percent respectively. And it’s already having an impact on Connecticut companies.

United Technologies’s aerospace units are about to get a lot bigger. The Farmington-based conglomerate has announced it will buy Rockwell Collins in a $30 billion dollar deal -- its biggest ever. 

Although it’s hard to tell who quit and who was fired, United Technologies’s CEO Greg Hayes did issue a statement Wednesday saying he was leaving President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council.