How Connecticut Is Bolstering Supply Chains—and Training Students—with CONNEX

A recently formed partnership seeking to strengthen American supply chains “is a tale of overcoming challenges faced by manufacturers in the U.S. and supplying new leaders to bolster our domestic supply chains” (Outsourced Pharma).

What’s going on: In April, the University of New Haven’s Elevation Center announced that it had joined forces with i5 Services, the company that runs the advanced buyer/seller network CONNEX Marketplace, which is backed by the NAM.

• They will establish a new Supply Chain Resiliency Hub, drawing on CONNEX supplier databases and digital tools alongside UNH faculty expertise and student talent.
• “At UNH, a major objective is to bolster supply chains in Connecticut—and throughout the U.S.—by plugging UNH students into those manufacturing networks,” an effort helmed by UNH Vice President of Innovation and Applied Technology Paul Lavoie.

Finding the solution: In his previous role, as Connecticut’s chief manufacturing officer, Lavoie got an email one day from a former manufacturing colleague that changed everything: “Paul, we found our solution—what we’ve been looking for.” That solution was CONNEX Marketplace.

• While manufacturers “are accustomed to search technology that is exclusive to” one industry, for example, CONNEX takes an “all-inclusive approach. … All industries. All suppliers. All manufacturers.”

We have liftoff: While in that role, Lavoie helped get Connecticut to fund the implementation of CONNEX, and in 2023, with the support of state business association CBIA (another NAM partner), it launched its own iteration of CONNEX.

• Other states, including Kentucky, have followed suit.

The seed of a great idea: When Lavoie began his position at UNH, he and i5Services President and CEO Alan Davis “had the idea to plug the university into . . . the CONNEX platform.”

• In the new Supply Chain Resiliency Hub, “UNH students do the heavy lifting,” doing everything from helping companies find domestic suppliers to building artificial intelligence apps.

Training the next generation: The work gives students real experience—while they earn a paycheck.

• “These aren’t internships; they are real projects with real companies,” Davis said. “Industry tells us the biggest challenge is that college students lack relevant job experience. The way for us to solve that is to provide students that training.”

Catch up: Check out our 2025 interview with Lavoie, covering his work in Connecticut with CONNEX, here.