WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released a statement on Wednesday after Farmington-based United Technologies Corp. (UTC) announced it will create 35,000 new jobs, including 2,000 in Connecticut, and invest $15 million in the United States, including investments in job training programs. UTC currently employs 18,000 people in Connecticut. As a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Murphy fought for robust federal investments in Connecticut’s defense industries, including UTC, and manufacturing job training programs in the latest omnibus appropriations bill. Specifically, Murphy fought to include funding for twenty additional F-35 joint fight strikers, which use Pratt & Whitney engines, for a total of ninety F-35 planes in Fiscal Year 2018. He has also fought hard in Congress to support UTC’s development of the next generation technologies, including the Advanced Engine Turbine Program and Advanced Engine Component Improvement Program. 

“Connecticut is the proud home of UTC, and today’s announcement is really good news for our state’s economy. I’m fighting every single day in the U.S. Senate for the funding we need to fuel our state’s defense manufacturing jobs at large companies like UTC and the hundreds of smaller suppliers that support their work. I look forward to continuing to work with UTC and state and federal partners to grow local manufacturing jobs,” said Murphy. 

The manufacturing industry plays a crucial role throughout Connecticut communities, creating new jobs and accelerating our state’s economic recovery. Today, Connecticut’s 4,600 manufacturers account for 10% of the state’s jobs and 87% of the state’s total exports. In order to protect and grow manufacturing jobs in Connecticut, Murphy has introduced two pieces of legislation that aim to strengthen existing standards and prioritize the purchase of American-made goods, the BuyAmerican.gov Act and the American Jobs Matter Act. Each week, he highlights a different local manufacturer as part of his “Murphy’s Monday Manufacturer” series.

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