Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is going overseas, hoping to return to Connecticut with new aerospace business.
He will spend the next few days in Paris and Dublin holding meetings with international companies to discuss the economic development benefits of doing business in the state, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
Malloy is one of nearly a dozen governors to attend the biennial Paris Air Show on economic development missions. He will meet with executives from aerospace companies headquartered both in Connecticut and throughout the world, including United Technologies Corp., Kaman, MB Aerospace, Pietro Rosa, Embraer, GE, Cobham, Boeing and GKN Aerospace.
Several Connecticut companies will exhibit at the international air show, including First Aviation of Westport and Sikorsky of Stratford.
From 2006 to 2014, Connecticut firms at the Paris Air Show and the Farnborough International Airshow in England brought in $350 million in new business, according to Jim Watson, a spokesman for the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
Malloy will also meet with executives from Irish airline Aer Lingus to discuss the possibility of adding a direct, transatlantic flight from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks to Dublin.
The governor said the state”™s educated and talented workforce makes it one of the best places for aerospace companies to succeed.
“In our 21st century global economy, we must reach out to the leading corporations and let them know that Connecticut is ready and willing to do business with them,” Malloy said in a statement. “It is our responsibility to let the world”™s top aerospace companies know that Connecticut is a prime place to grow and expand.”
Malloy will also stop in Berlin to meet with some of Germany’s top criminal justice officials and tour a prison in the city. He will discuss his “Second Chance Society” initiatives and criminal justice reforms as well as best practices for high-risk offenders with the German officials.
His travel to Ireland and France is being funded through the Department of Economic and Community Development, and his travel to Germany and back to the U.S. is being paid for by the Vera Institute of Justice, a New York-based nonprofit, according to the press release.
