SOUTHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced that Yarde Metals, a second-generation, family-operated metal processor based in Southington, is this week’s “Murphy’s Monday Manufacturer.” Yarde Metals, which was founded 39 years ago out of the basement of founder Craig Yarde’s Bristol, Connecticut home, today processes aluminum, stainless steel, carbon steel, brass and copper into rods, bars, sheets, plates, tubes and pipes out of its 650,000 square foot headquarters in Southington, Connecticut. The company is a major supplier to the aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, and medical industries, and distributes metal products to customers throughout the United States and to more than 40 countries across the globe. Yarde Metals’ client list is made up of various world-renowned defense and aerospace manufacturers, including Airbus, Boeing, General Electric Aviation, and Connecticut’s own Kaman, Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, as well as their subcontractors. The company operates a fleet of 123 delivery trucks from 18 facilities across the United States, and recently became a subsidiary of the largest metals service center company in North America, Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. 

Yarde Metals takes pride in its 385 Connecticut-based employees and offers them a wide range of amenities, including a gym, yoga studio, indoor golf driving range, nap room, soccer field, bocce and basketball courts, and a café with healthy food options. The company also offers college and vocational scholarships to the children of Yarde Metals employees through the Yarde Metals Memorial Scholarship Fund. In 2011, Yarde Metals employees voted the processor among the “Top Workplaces” in a survey conducted by the Hartford Courant and Fox61. 

“Yarde Metals is part of the reason Connecticut’s manufacturing industry keeps running smoothly and growing," said Murphy. “Whether it’s flawlessly supplying Connecticut defense companies and their sub-contractors with the custom metals they need to bring engines and airframes to the market, or providing meaningful health and education benefits for their employees and their employees’ families, Yarde Metals has been an industry leader for a long time.”

“Yarde Metals is proud to be headquartered in the state of Connecticut.  We have found the workforce in the state is made up of tremendous, hardworking and dedicated people. Additionally, the diverse manufacturing base that exists here has incentivized us over the years to expand our products and services into various markets. In fact, it’s this diversity that insulated Yarde Metals from the severe downturn that most metal service centers experienced during the 2009 recession,” said Matt Smith, President and COO of Yarde Metals.“2016 will mark our 40th anniversary and we hope to be supporting our Connecticut associates, their families and all the great customers for many more years to come. Let’s keep Connecticut Manufacturing strong!”

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.