President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D., the students, faculty and staff of Naugatuck Valley Community College hosted a forum to feature the histories of local manufacturers to celebrate October as “Manufacturing Month” in Connecticut. President De Filippis opened the ceremony with a warm welcome that highlighted the list of seventeen manufacturing companies in attendance. Mayor Neil O’Leary followed with remarks about the resurgence of manufacturing in Waterbury, and Dr. Gregory Gray, President of the Board of Regents for Higher Education of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) brought greetings from the System Office.

Since the College, in collaboration with the Mattatuck Museum, had just completed the installation of the Mattatuck Community Collection at NVCC, the manufacturing event evolved into a blend of technology and art. A collection of historical photographs from the Museum and private collectors showing the history of manufacturing through the last 150 years was highlighted by the personal anecdotes of six manufacturing families, including keynote speaker, Jack Traver, Senior, President of Traver IDC;  Mary Cramer, President, Marion Manufacturing Co.; Richard Laurenzi, President, Prospect Machine Products;  David Mieczkowski, President and Chief Operating Officer, Platt Brothers & Company;  John Siemon, Chief Technology Officer and Vice-President of  Operations, The Siemon Company; and John Zoldy, President, Homer D. Bronson, Inc.

The histories were followed by presidential acknowledgement of J. Andre Fournier for his gift of an 1898 Brown & Sharpe Screw Machine to the Advanced Manufacturing Center at NVCC.

Robert Burns, Executive Director, Mattatuck Museum explained how the photographs and paintings represent the collaboration between the College and the Museum.

The Mattatuck Community Collection at NVCC is made up of a series of photographs from 1843 to present, displayed on the walls of the entrance to the new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center and a collection of paintings on long-term loan from the Mattatuck Museum exhibited on the atrium bridge of Technology Hall. The public is welcome to view the exhibit at the Waterbury Campus. For your convenience, please download
"The Mattatuck Community Collection at NVCC Self-Guided Tour".