Guest Speaker Connecticut Chief Manufacturing Officer Kirti Patel Offers Remarks
FORGE, the nonprofit that helps Connecticut manufacturers and hardtech companies bring innovative products from prototype to production, will host Make It Here: CT Product Development Grant Awards on January 22, 2026, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at Kubtec Medical Imaging (111 Research Dr., Stratford, CT.) The event is presented by M&T Bank and will announce the latest round of FORGE Connecticut Product Development Grant recipients. Kirti Patel, Connecticut’s Chief Manufacturing Officer, will offer remarks.
The FORGE Connecticut Product Development Grant program, supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s Manufacturing Innovation Fund (MIF), helps Connecticut manufacturers and emerging hardtech companies overcome product development challenges, strengthen in-state supplier relationships, and bring new products to market while keeping manufacturing local. At the last Make It Here event, FORGE gave away more than $120,000 in product development grants.
“Connecticut has an incredible depth of manufacturing talent and capability,” said Laura Teicher, FORGE’s president and executive director. “With support from the MIF, we’re able to fund and work directly with cutting-edge Connecticut innovators as they tackle the toughest step: scaling production here in the state.”
“Collaborating with FORGE demonstrates how providing innovators with the right tools and resources at the right time can transform economic outcomes,” said David Femi, Senior Vice President & Regional Manager for Business & Professional Banking at M&T Bank. “FORGE’s approach to supporting manufacturers across the state is intentional and will be impactful.”
The program will include a panel discussion, Fueling Connecticut’s Emerging Manufacturers: Capital, Collaboration and the Future of Regional Manufacturing, followed by the announcement of the Product Development Grant awardees. The Kubtec Medical Imaging team will offer guided tours of their manufacturing facility, showing how innovative products are designed, built and scaled in Connecticut.
Make It Here brings manufacturers, startups, suppliers, investors and ecosystem collaborators from across the state to recognize the companies driving growth and innovation.
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