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Updated: October 21, 2019

Whitcraft’s Colin Cooper named CT’s first manufacturing czar

Photo | The Office of Gov. Ned Lamont Gov. Ned Lamont (left) today announced that he is appointing Colin Cooper to serve as Connecticut’s first-ever chief manufacturing officer.
By Sean Teehan

Gov. Ned Lamont has named a well-known aerospace executive the state's first-ever manufacturing czar.

The governor in a press conference Monday afternoon at Ulbrich Stainless Steels and Special Metals Inc. in North Haven named Colin Cooper, a former Pratt & Whitney engineer and current executive chairman of Eastford’s Whitcraft Group, as the state’s chief manufacturing officer. 

Cooper was one of 10 finalists for the job, which was created by state lawmakers earlier this year to coordinate state and private-sector efforts to educate and support the next generation of skilled manufacturers.

The list of 10 finalists, who went through multiple rounds of interviews, was recently whittled down to two candidates -- Cooper and Kelli Vallieres, chief executive of Sound Manufacturing Inc. based in Old Saybrook, a source said.

“With the creation of this role and the selection of someone who has decades of experience leading a very successful business, every manufacturing company in Connecticut should know that they have a position in our administration and a seat at the table through Colin Cooper,” Lamont said in a statement.

The recently adopted state budget calls initially for a two-year appointment of a manufacturing director within the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), who would be paid $150,000 annually.

The czar will interact with and communicate across the state’s various agency “silos’’ to ensure all are on the same economic page. Cooper will also work closely with the state’s public colleges.

“In addition to being a passionate advocate for all of our manufacturers, Colin will provide the strategic leadership necessary to ensure that we have the right policies in place to help companies innovate, compete, and grow,” DECD Commissioner David Lehman said.

Creation of the czar position comes as manufacturing in Connecticut is undergoing a significant challenge. Producers are searching for talent to fill thousands of vacant jobs statewide as older workers retire and younger workers seek careers in other industries.

Cooper has more than 25 years of professional experience as a design engineer, investment banker, crisis manager and aerospace executive. 

He is currently executive chairman of Whitcraft Group, which he and his partner, Jeffrey Paul, bought in 1998 and grew from a $20 million to over $100 million precision aerospace manufacturer. Cooper was previously CEO of Whitcraft Group, which took on a private equity partner in 2017 -- New York-based Greenbriar Equity Group LLC. 

Prior to joining Whitcraft, Cooper was a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal Inc., a nationally recognized crisis management and turnaround consulting firm specializing in operational and financial restructurings and before that he worked as an associate in corporate finance for Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. 

He began his career as a design engineer for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Cooper has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Columbia University.

This story has been updated to include comment from Gov. Ned Lamont and DECD Commissioner David Lehman said. Joe Cooper contributed to this report.

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