Stamford’s Accurate Lock one of six companies to receive $100K grant from state

Stamford”™s Accurate Lock and Hardware Co. is one of six manufacturers receiving a grant from the state for new additive manufacturing equipment.

Under the Additive Manufacturing Adoption Program (AMAP), each company will receive a $100,000 matching grant to be leveraged with an equal or greater amount of company funding.

Additive manufacturing involves components that a few years ago could not be produced, but today can be made to high standards using a wide variety of plastics and metals. When implemented properly, additive manufacturing can reduce material waste, lead time, the amount of inventory being held, and the quantity of distinct parts needed for an assembly.

“Connecticut is the Silicon Valley of advanced manufacturing, plain and simple,” Gov. Ned Lamont, who made the announcement along with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT), said. “These grants will help our brilliant manufacturers across the state continue to innovate, building bigger, faster, and more complex machines that drive our state, country, and world further into the 21^st century.”

“Additive manufacturing technologies have advanced tremendously and continue at an accelerated rate,” CCAT President and CEO Ron Angelo remarked. “Supporting the adoption of AM technology throughout the Connecticut supply chain is vital to sustaining the advanced technical capabilities Connecticut is known for. It is exciting to see the level of interest and commitment by Connecticut manufacturers to investing in leading-edge technology.”

AMAP is a competitive grant program developed by CCAT and the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund Advisory Board in 2020. Applications were accepted from April 1 through May 31 of this year. The program was open to manufacturing companies and allied service providers that expressed a strong interest and a compelling need to enhance their operations with new additive technologies such as high-end, 3D metal printers to produce functional parts and tooling, as well as high-end plastic printers.

AMAP is a component of the Additive Manufacturing Technology for the Connecticut Manufacturing Supply Chain Program developed by CCAT and approved by the Manufacturing Innovation Fund Advisory Board in February 2020 to drive the demonstration and adoption of additive manufacturing technologies to small and medium-sized manufacturers.

The state established the Manufacturing Innovation Fund to support the growth, innovation, and progress of Connecticut”™s advanced manufacturing sector. It provides financial support for a broad range of initiatives that ensure Connecticut”™s manufacturers remain leaders in productivity, efficiency, and innovation. Legislation was approved earlier this year that provided $20 million in new funding for the Manufacturing Innovation Fund over the biennium.

Other grant recipients are Beacon Industries Inc. of Newington; Burke Aerospace of Farmington; Okay Industries Inc. of New Britain; PTA Plastics of Oxford; and Westminster Tool Inc. of Plainfield.