Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy will join about a dozen other governors as they travel to Paris for the Paris Air Show to be held over the weekend and early next week.
Connecticut has the second largest aerospace economy in the country, trailing only Washington, the home of Boeing. Malloy said now is the time to work on expanding the sector in the state after what he describes as years of overtures from companies.
“I’ve been asked a number of times by the industry here in Connecticut to participate in that event” Malloy said.
“We are the second most concentrated economy in aerospace and our absence has been noted in the past so I wanted to rectify that.”
Malloy’s trip will cost taxpayers $5,000 according to a spokesman. He will travel to Ireland to meet with airline officials there about expanding trans-atlantic service from Hartford to Dublin, and then he will go to Paris to meet with aerospace executives from various companies. He will complete his trip in Germany where he will discuss his efforts to change the criminal justice system in Connecticut.
On aerospace, the governor says Connecticut is a powerful player and that industry leaders pay attention.
Malloy said, “For military purposes as well as passenger, the best engines in the world, a supply chain that stretches 75,000 people strong in the state of Connecticut, that’s important to our business climate.”