The stories behind Connecticut STUFF

From giant corporations founded hundreds of years ago to four-man shops less than 10 years old, it gets made in Connecticut

“You’re not famous until they put your head on a PEZ dispenser,” reads a button from the PEZ Candy company.

PEZ is short for peppermint in German and was created in Connecticut as a breath mint in 1927. Its iconic box dispenser was launched 20 years later and designed to work like a cigarette lighter to help people quit smoking.

And it’s just one of many products you use every day made in the Nutmeg State.

Connecticut manufacturing is thriving. Its jet engines dominate the skies while its submarines patrol the seas. Medical ventilators save lives while hydrogen electrolyzers save the planet. Builders use its tools, wear its jeans and relax over its craft beer.

And for products giving our lives a sense of whimsey and fun, look to Connecticut for its Wiffle Balls, BIC Lighters and – yes – PEZ.

The stories behind these products and their companies paint a vivid picture of a diverse and thriving industry.

Sending astronauts to the moon would not have been possible without hydrogen fuel cells. They produce electricity from the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. The only byproduct is water. 

Proton OnSite’s hydrogen generating units are used around the world to power hydrogen fuel cells for another mission – reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

“Our technology is being used to fuel hydrogen fuel cell vehicles,” says President Robert Friedland.

Commercial airlines can fly longer routes, carry more passengers and slash spending on fuel with Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan engine.

GTF engines burn 16 percent less fuel, which provides airlines with significant savings. “The engines will save about $1.5 million per airplane per year,” says Mike McCune, the design manager for Fandrive Gear Systems.. The engines also generate 50 percent fewer emissions and create 75 percent less noise on the ground so carriers pay lower noise fees and can cross over residential areas that are no-fly zones for other planes.

Some owners put their faces on their product labels, but Beer’d Brewing Company owner Aaren Simoncini features his facial hair. “I had my beard and my friends called me the beard brewing company,” he says.

At the time, Simoncini had a day job he wasn’t too fond of and was brewing beer as a hobby. His partner Precious Putnam and his mother bought him his first home brew kits and a kettle. Simoncini and Putnam put together some creative financing to start the brewery.

“We wanted to avoid bank loans so we created a Founders Club Membership,” says Putnam.

David Mullany’s grandfather was 45 and out of work when he came up with the idea for the Wiffle Ball.

“He saw my dad and his buddies in the backyard playing a game with a little plastic golf ball and a broomstick,” he says.

Trying to make a ball that would curve easily, the two Mullanys started experimenting with different designs using plastic spheres that came from perfume packaging made by a Connecticut company.

Mullany’s grandfather took a mortgage out on the house, borrowed some money from family and friends, and started the company. Neighborhood kids called a strikeout a “wiff” which led to the “Wiffle” brand name.

Hartford Denim Company’s three founders, Luke Davis, Marshall Deming and Dave Marcoux, grew up shopping in thrift stores and going to tag sales. Most of the clothes they wore in high school were vintage or Carhartt work pants.

Each pair of Hartford Denim jeans is hand-sewn on vintage industrial sewing machines. The fabric comes from Cone Denim in North Carolina.

“The salvaged denim is woven on antique shuttle looms,” says Marcoux. “They are the only mill left in America producing selvedge denim.”

Hartford Denim’s mission is to preserve American craft and manufacturing traditions that would otherwise be lost.

“We’re making the vintage jeans of the future,” says Marcoux.

General Dynamics Electric Boat built the first nuclear ballistic missile submarine in 1959 and its Ohio Class submarines currently comprise the sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad – a defense system that distributes nuclear weapons on land, air and sea to prevent the nation’s nuclear forces from being destroyed in the event of a first-strike attack.

“Each ballistic missile submarine is armed with up to 24 Trident II missiles. They are our nation’s most secure and survivable nuclear deterrent,” says Director of Communications Liz Power.

Stanley Black & Decker is famous for innovation, introducing the world’s first retractable tape measure in 1931. It was called a push-pull tape and had a spring clip to hold the tape in position.

This convenience was crucial for astronauts whose mobility was limited by their space suits.

“The PowerLock tape was included in Apollo 11’s lunar landing gear in 1969 and today we sell millions of tape measures a year, with many of them manufactured in New Britain,” says Chirag Kamani, Director of Engineering, Stanley Black & Decker.

The BIC Lighter, launched in 1973, is a worldwide leader in producing a safe, reliable flame for millions of consumers every day. Its unique shape was designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. Each full-sized BIC flint lighter provides up to 3,000 lights for less than two dollars.

“The BIC Lighter is iconic. It is trusted around world for its quality, safety and reliability, and has been featured in museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York,” says Rob Miller, senior corporate communications manager.

Transport ventilators, like those made by Bio-Med Devices, Inc., can mean the difference between life and death in a medical emergency.

The company’s TV-100 can be used in a variety of settings from air and ground transport to the emergency department, ICU or for subacute care.

Operators can easily select the appropriate ventilation mode using the color touchscreen display.

“There is a simple setup assistant to get ventilation up and running fast, when seconds count,” says President Dean Bennett. ◾

BIC Lighters

Who makes it: BIC
Where: Milford
Founded: 1945
Employees: Approximately 190
How they make it: The full-size BIC Lighter has 19 components, molded, produced and assembled following a custom-made process according to exact quality standards.
How much it costs: Suggested retail price $1.79
Who uses the product: Anyone who wants to “Flick their BIC!”

Milford is home to the U.S. manufacturing facility for BIC Lighters, where 1.2 million lighters are manufactured each day using one of the most modern manufacturing processes in the world. Every BIC Lighter undergoes more than 50 separate, automatic quality checks during the manufacturing process to ensure that the lighter performs properly before it leaves BIC’s factory.