Global is local: Stanley Black & Decker celebrates opening of Hartford digital business accelerator

April 11-- Apr. 11--Stanley Black & Decker Inc., which has been broadening its global business to help reach the goal of doubling revenue over six years, looked closer to home Thursday, celebrating a renewed bond with Hartford with the opening of its downtown business accelerator.

Chief Executive Officer James Loree, Gov. Ned Lamont and Mayor Luke Bronin said the opening of the Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence is a vote of confidence for the capital city and the state's economic development efforts.

"We see this as an opportunity for Connecticut where advanced manufacturing and industry 4.0 skills can become a distinct advantage for the state," Loree said.

Stanley Black & Decker's commitment to Hartford is among a number of hopeful local signs amid the state's still stagnant economy. Insurance giant Aetna, which has re-committed to the city after CVS Health purchased the company. Meanwhile, business is surging across the Connecticut River for jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney and Infosys, an information technology company, has promised to create 1,000 new jobs in the Hartford area. The aerospace industry in the state is expected to hire thousands of workers in coming years.

The New Britain manufacturer of tools and storage systems announced in December 2017 it would open the training and research center, or "accelerator," in Hartford to develop automation and data exchange. Among startups it has helped foster are companies developing 3D technology increasingly used in manufacturing.

State and city officials applauded the commitment to Hartford, which is seeking to draw more business to downtown and in particular, startup companies that promise to stoke more business development.

"We want to become the hub of the next industrial revolution," Bronin said.

More than 100 business representatives and advocates, state and city officials and others attended the ceremony Thursday, milling around the Stanley Black & Decker site that was turned into a showroom of how technology is used in warehousing, machining, assembly and loading and unloading pallets.

Loree said Connecticut's highly skilled workforce "has become more relevant" in recent years as digital technology, automation and digital connectivity have reduced the use of labor to make products, while at the same time requiring specialized skills to boost productivity.

Loree tempered his praise for Hartford, saying it has the "potential to become that vital urban core" Connecticut needs to support its drive for economic growth and competitiveness.

"Granted, it's a work in process to some extent, but you can really appreciate the full potential when you use your imagination," he said.

Founded in New Britain in 1843, Stanley Black & Decker has played a major role in Connecticut's history, weathering three industrial revolutions, Loree said.

"Our state has a dazzling history of innovation and it was the place in America to be for manufacturers in the first and second industrial revolutions," he said.

Business now confronts digital technology, which is disrupting numerous industries and forcing executives, engineers, scientists and others to figure out how to adapt.

"We're living in a time when rapid, chaotic disruption and mushrooming complexity have become the order of the day in society," Loree said.

Lamont said the Stanley Black & Decker's downtown shows "what manufacturing is like in the 21st century."

"I think it also reminds you why manufacturing is coming back to America and coming back to Connecticut," he said. "Because it's going to take a small, but highly skilled, computer-savvy workforce able to manage these incredibly complex manufacturing technologies."

In 2017, Stanley Black & Decker set what Loree called an "aggressive growth goal," seeking to post $22 billion in sales by 2022, about double its 2016 sales. Stanley posted revenue of nearly $14 billion last year, up from about $13 billion in 2017.

Part of its strategy has relied on acquisitions. Stanley Black & Decker announced in January 2017 a $900 million purchase of the Craftsman line of tools from Sears, extending its reach into retail markets. And it announced in September it's paying $234 million for a 20 percent stake in a power equipment maker to move into the lawn and garden market.

Stephen Singer can be reached at [email protected].

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