If you've been following along, you know I believe insight requires perspective, so you need to zoom out. I find the big picture is where the most useful insights tend to live. So let me take a step back and talk about how we're thinking about our economic strategy for the State of Connecticut — because I think it's starting to come into real focus.
I'd frame it as defense and offense. Protect what we have, and invest aggressively in what's next.
The Foundation: Strong and Getting Stronger
Before we get into strategy, let's talk about the field we're playing on — because the data is encouraging.
Connecticut's economy grew 5.6% in Q3 2025, the 4th fastest in the country. That follows a Q2 where we were 9th. Our economy expanded by $7.5 billion in the first three quarters of 2025 alone — over 2.5x what it grew in all of 2024. Advanced manufacturing continues to be the biggest contributor, driven by our national defense primes and the hundreds of supply chain companies that work alongside them.
And people are voting with their feet. The latest Census data shows Connecticut added nearly 109,000 residents over the past five years — a significant reversal from the population losses we experienced before the pandemic. International migration has been the engine, with over 35,000 new residents from abroad in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, the much-hyped Sunbelt migration boom has collapsed: Florida's domestic migration fell 93% from its 2022 peak. The states that spent the past five years celebrating their population "wins" are now watching those gains evaporate. Connecticut kept its head down, invested in fundamentals, and the results speak for themselves.
So the macro picture is strong. Now the question becomes: what do we do next?
Defense: Protect Our Core
Our defense industrial base is one of the most strategically important economic assets in the country. Sikorsky, Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, Electric Boat — these are companies that don't just drive GDP, they underpin our national security. And it's not just the primes. It's the generations of smaller manufacturers who machine the parts, apply the coatings, and build the components that go into the most advanced systems on the planet.
That ecosystem is irreplaceable. And in a world of rising protectionism and supply chain fragility, it needs active protection and investment.
That's why we created the Strategic Supply Chain Initiative in January 2025. The program incentivizes the repatriation of production capacity in our strategic supply chains to Connecticut. We just announced our latest round of awardees — companies like AeroBond Composites, relocating aerospace manufacturing from Massachusetts to a new 78,000 sq ft facility in Enfield. Beta Shim expanding machining capacity in Shelton. Colonial Coatings adding production lines for aerospace and defense in Milford. Sheffield Pharmaceuticals investing in new capacity in New London.
These are the kinds of investments that strengthen the foundation. Companies making real capital commitments, creating real jobs, in the industries where Connecticut has deep, generational competitive advantage.
Offense: Applied AI, Quantum, and the Next Biotech Revolution
Defense wins championships, but you still have to score. And our offense is focused on the convergence of artificial intelligence and quantum technologies — with a particular emphasis on biotechnology and the development of new therapeutics.
In September we announced the first Innovation Clusters award: $50.5 million in support of the biotech cluster in New Haven. Innovation Clusters is designed to support the application of next-generation technologies like AI and Quantum in the sectors where Connecticut already has competitive advantage.
Here's the thesis: we expect Quantum and AI to drive the next evolution of biotech. Quantum computing will allow our research scientists to model entropy — the organized chaos that we see in nature and the human body — and AI will help interpret and act on the data such systems produce. The result will be a dramatic increase in the pace and volume of new therapeutics.
Then in November, the Governor announced QuantumCT and over $120 million in investment to build out our quantum ecosystem. QuantumCT — the first institutional collaboration between Yale and UConn — will be based in New Haven and is designed to be the coordinating body behind Connecticut's quantum future. We're one of 15 finalists for a $160M National Science Foundation grant, and one of only 2 focused on Quantum.
I believe in my core this is a silicon valley-like moment for Connecticut. Similar to how the semiconductor emerged in the 1950s and over the next century became perhaps the most strategic industry in global commerce and national security — I believe the convergence of Quantum and AI is a watershed moment. And if you zoom in on some of our core innovations — if you zoom in on a nuclear submarine, if you zoom in on a photolithography machine, and if you zoom in on a quantum computer — you see the same intersection of disciplines: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and the material sciences. This is what Connecticut does.
Putting It Together
So that's the strategy. Protect the core — our defense industrial base and strategic supply chains. And invest aggressively in the technologies that will define the next century — AI, quantum, and the new therapeutics they will enable.
The economic data says we have momentum. The population data says people are seeing it. And the investments we're making position us to lead.
Let's get after it.
Dan
Commissioner & Chief Innovation Officer
State of CT