Thomas Breen photos
Thursday's presser at DISTRICT.
Bracing for Trump II tariffs and protectionism, the Lamont administration has launched a $25 million effort to try to build out “strategic supply chains” closer to home — in an effort to get ahead of potentially higher prices for imported goods.
Pizza painting sculpture right next to AdvanceCT's office.
Dev Commissioner O'Keefe, with Gov. Lamont (right): Protectionism and isolationism aren't good for our economy long term.
Gov. Ned Lamont and state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe announced that new business-baiting grant program Thursday morning during a press conference at the 470 James St. DISTRICT office of AdvanceCT, a nonprofit that contracts with state government to try to convince businesses to move to and invest in Connecticut.
The state Manufacturing Assistance Act (MAA)-funded program will make available grants worth between $500,000 and $5 million “to help supply chain companies in Connecticut’s core industries expand and increase production capacity and encourage the establishment of new operations in the state,” according to a press release sent out Thursday. The money can be spent on infrastructure and workforce.
Companies that receive these state funds will have to provide a 50 percent match, unless if they are located in a state-designated distressed municipality, in which case the match is 10 percent.
O’Keefe said during Thursday’s press conference that the actual “supply,” or product, that companies targeted for this program make is less relevant for this new initiative than is the companies and industries they serve.
He and Lamont stressed that this program is not just about giving out public cash to try to attract any business to move to Connecticut. Instead, it’s about figuring out what exact businesses and industries already exist in the state, what supply chains are critical for their operations, and how to bring those supply chains “closer to the honeypot,” as Lamont put it.
That means trying to grow or attract businesses that serve existing Connecticut economic sectors like advanced manufacturing, national defense, healthcare, and insurance, O’Keefe said. That means seeking out aerospace providers and making sure that existing large Connecticut companies like, say, Electric Boat, are able to source and afford the materials they need to keep their businesses thriving.
A key reason for launching this program now, O’Keefe said, is the coming start of Donald Trump’s second presidential administration in Washington. Connecticut does expect to see a “rise in protectionism and isolationism,” O’Keefe said, given Trump’s campaign promises to implement a wide array of tariffs on imported goods in a bid to boost manufacturing and other industry domestically.
Ultimately, O’Keefe said, “I don’t think that is good for our long-term” economic health, as protectionism and isolationism could lead to supply chain restrictions and higher prices as necessary materials — from Canada or anywhere else — become harder and more expensive to get in the U.S.
And so, he said, Connecticut is preparing for such a shift by trying to boost existing state businesses and attracting out-of-state businesses that already play an important role in the state economy’s supply chain.
Essentially, Lamont said, this program asks important state companies: “Who is there in your supply chain that could be at risk” in a more protectionist environment, and how can they be brought closer to home?
