Connecticut Association of Smaller Manufacturers

Connecticut Association of Smaller Manufacturers

2017 Government Affairs Agenda

Connecticut Association of Smaller Manufacturers (CASM) is comprised of the Smaller Manufacturer’s Association of Connecticut (SMA), the New Haven Manufacturer’s Association (NHMA), the New England Spring and Metalstamping Association (NESMA) and Manufacturers Education and Training Alliance (METAL) of Bridgeport and collectively represents over 350 companies and more than 10,000 employees.

Connecticut and its Manufacturing community continue to face numerous challenges in our state, our nation and around the globe. Connecticut manufacturers are adapting to these changing times and our manufacturers are competing in markets around the world. In order for our manufacturers to continue to stay not only viable but to grow, as a state we must support that growth by:

1. Technical Education programs that will boost manufacturing jobs and wages

• Grow Connecticut’s skilled work force by preserving funding for Community College Adv. Manufacturing Centers and Technical Schools and expediting hiring of budgeted teaching positions.
• Grow Connecticut’s advanced-skill labor force by funding apprenticeships with a tax credit for S Corps and LLCs.
• Resolve teacher shortages by lowering barriers for qualified technical professionals to become vocational teachers with fair compensation.
• Address the need for maintenance and repair technicians by preserving funds to institute a third site to offer a Mechatronics curriculum.
• Retain Engineering and Science students from Connecticut colleges and universities with tax incentives to accept employment in Connecticut upon graduation.

1. Sharpen Connecticut’s technical edge with grants and loan programs which encourage recapitalization and process development
2. Improve energy and cost efficiency with grants supporting LEAN improvement for manufacturers. This includes the Manufacturing Innovation Fund and Clean Air Connecticut’s support of the Business Sustainability Challenge.
3. Support small manufacturers by preserving Paid-in-Lieu-of-Tax statutes that exempt 5 and 7-year manufacturing assets from Municipal taxes.
4. Continue the success of the Manuf. Innovation Fund and Incumbent Worker Training with continued funding.
5. Continue to speed workers’ entry into manufacturing with DOL’s Step Up program.
6. Build a Better Connecticut Business Environment

• Improve fiscal stability and predictability by following the Connecticut Institute for the 21st Century proposals.
• Restore confidence in Connecticut with restructuring of pension and insurance benefits for State employees.
• Eliminate DEEP fines on inadvertent violations that are corrected in a timely fashion.
• Identify an agency to adjudicate appeals to DEEP regulatory interpretations.
• Restore trust in the business community with a transparent budgeting process that requires adequate opportunity for public comment.
• Support innovation by extending R&D Tax credits to pass-through businesses.

1. Government PARTNERSHIP

• Support Manufacturing Caucus

• Support CONNSTEP and Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) and expansion of support beyond aerospace.