MIDDLETOWN – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced that Middletown’s Pegasus Manufacturing Inc., a second-generation, family-owned manufacturer founded in 1989, is this week’s “Murphy’s Monday Manufacturer.” Pegasus is a contract manufacturer of fabricated tube and pipe assemblies and machined components that are used on a range of air, land, sea, and subsurface products, including jet engines, rocket engines, ground turbine generators, fuel cells, and submarine systems. With the help of their 78 employees, Pegasus serves more than 70 international and domestic customers – including the U.S. Coast Guard, NASA, and Connecticut’s own Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, and Electric Boat – out of their 52,000 square foot facility. Since 2009, Pegasus has more than doubled their business, and in the last year alone the manufacturer has seen a 30% growth in revenue. Today, Pegasus is the top domestic supplier of tube assemblies to Rolls-Royce and General Electric Aviation.

As Pegasus has grown over the past several years, the manufacturer has made a continued effort to promote existing staff members and to fill positions by hiring individuals right out of technical high schools. In order to achieve this, Pegasus provides each employee an average of 30 hours of training per year and partners with community programs like Step Up and the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce’s Summer Youth Employment Program to help local unemployed workers and young adults secure high-paying careers in the manufacturing industry. Over the last year, Pegasus has hired many new employees from these workforce development programs, and has experienced a 21% growth in employment.

“Connecticut’s manufacturers make the greatest products in the world – it’s why so many domestic and international businesses rely on Connecticut companies like Pegasus Manufacturing to complete their largest and most sensitive projects. But if our state’s manufacturers don’t have enough skilled workers to build in-demand products, then companies will look elsewhere for production, ultimately costing Connecticut valuable business and new jobs,” said Murphy. “Pegasus Manufacturing is doing their part by helping new workers get the skills they need to be successful engineers and technicians—setting their employees up to be the next generation of strong leaders and helping to secure Connecticut’s bright future in manufacturing.”

Chris DiPentima, President of Pegasus Manufcturing, said, “Connecticut has a long history of manufacturing and the recent investments that have been made to support Connecticut manufacturers and the next generations of its workforce will ensure that Connecticut remains a manufacturing powerhouse with a highly productive workforce that is second to none. Every successful business is a result of the support it gets from inside as well as outside of its walls, and Pegasus’ 26 year longevity and success with domestic and international customers would not have been possible without the support that we receive at the local and state levels. We are committed to working with the various local and state programs to grow the support for and direct investment to Connecticut manufacturing and truly look forward to the future of manufacturing in Connecticut.”

The manufacturing industry plays a crucial role throughout Connecticut communities, creating new jobs and accelerating our state’s economic recovery. Today, Connecticut’s 4,602 manufacturers account for 10.2% 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 21st Century Buy American Act and the American Jobs Matter Act.