GLASTONBURY – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced that Flanagan Industries, a second-generation family-owned manufacturer founded by two World War II veterans, is this week’s “Murphy’s Monday Manufacturer.” Murphy will visit Flanagan Industries tomorrow, Tuesday, May 26, at 2pm. Established nearly 70 years ago, Flanagan Industries started as a partnership between brothers Tom and Jim, who, out of the basement of their parents’ Blue Hills home, produced handcrafted ornamental copper bowls, ash trays, and other items for distribution to department stores all over the United States.
Today, Flanagan Industries operates out of two facilities in Glastonbury, where they produce complex engine cases, assemblies, and other components to extremely close tolerances for manufacturers of commercial and military aerospace engines, as well as land-based engines used to generate electrical power. Using state of the art turning, milling machines and the latest engineering software, the more than 100-person team at Flanagan Industries delivers these parts to companies around the country – including Connecticut’s own Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. They also ship their products to Germany, Austria, China, Japan and the Middle East.
In 2013, Flanagan Industries received a $2.5 million loan from the state Department of Economic and Community Development to help the company expand into a larger facility. In addition, the company has re-invested over $5 million in new machinery and equipment, and is on track to hire an additional 20+ employees. The project also created more than 50 construction and support jobs for Connecticut’s workforce. The reasoning behind this substantial investment is to be ready for the unprecedented upswing in the aerospace industry. In fact, the team at Flanagan Industries expects to see a 20 -30 % increase in revenues in 2016 and beyond.
“I’m proud to represent a state that truly invests in its local businesses, but I’m equally impressed with the fact that Connecticut companies understand just how important it is to support their greater communities,” said Murphy. “Flanagan Industries embodies the future of our state’s high-tech manufacturing industry, and I’m looking forward to seeing, firsthand, all that they have accomplished during my visit to their facility tomorrow afternoon.”
Kevin Flanagan, Vice President of Flanagan Industries, said, “Our company was founded in Connecticut almost 70 years ago, our business is growing, and we are proud to call Connecticut our home.”
The manufacturing industry plays a crucial role throughout Connecticut communities, creating new jobs and accelerating our state’s economic recovery. Today, Connecticut’s 4,602 manufacturers account for 10.2% of the state’s jobs and 87% of the state’s total exports. In order to protect and grow manufacturing jobs in Connecticut, Murphy has introduced two pieces of legislation that aim to strengthen existing standards and prioritize the purchase of American-made goods, the 21st Century Buy American Act and the American Jobs Matter Act.
