LaFemina Named 2026 Connecticut Workforce Champion

Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday named Marcia LaFemina, president of Penn Globe and leader of the Manufacturing Alliance for Community Training and Hire, as the 2026 Connecticut Workforce Champion Award recipient.

LaFemina runs two overlapping operations out of Greater New Haven that the Lamont administration says are doing what most workforce programs only promise. Penn Globe, one of the country’s oldest lighting manufacturers, keeps advanced production running in Connecticut while MATCH trains workers who have historically been shut out of those jobs. Friday’s announcement puts a statewide spotlight on a model that’s been quietly gaining national attention.

The timing matters. Connecticut manufacturers have spent years struggling to fill skilled positions even as unemployment in cities like New Haven and Bridgeport remains stubbornly higher than the state average. The mismatch between where the jobs are and who can get them has frustrated both employers and economic development officials for a long time. MATCH is a direct attempt to fix it.

It works.

The program offers bilingual instruction, paid training, flexible scheduling, and wraparound supports including transportation and financial literacy coaching. It’s specifically designed for people carrying real obstacles: parents, returning citizens, young adults without college credentials, residents of color who’ve been systematically excluded from manufacturing pipelines. MATCH also uses an unusual funding mechanism, integrating contract manufacturing into its training model and reinvesting that revenue into participant services rather than relying entirely on grants.

“Marcia LaFemina represents the very best of Connecticut’s manufacturing leadership,” Gov. Lamont said. “Through her work at Penn Globe and MATCH, she is preserving a proud legacy of American manufacturing while building modern, inclusive pathways into good-paying careers.”

Connecticut Chief Workforce Officer Kelli-Marie Vallieres put it more directly. “She has created a model where industry, community, and training are fully aligned,” Vallieres told reporters Friday. “MATCH is proof that when we invest in people, we drive both economic growth and community impact.”

Why Fair Haven?

Penn Globe and MATCH are rooted in Fair Haven, the densely packed New Haven neighborhood that sits between the Quinnipiac River and I-91 and is home to a large immigrant and working-class population. It’s not a neighborhood that typically draws statewide economic development attention. LaFemina’s decision to anchor workforce investment there, rather than chase suburban sites with easier logistics, is central to what makes the model distinct.

The Connecticut Department of Labor has been pushing employers to engage more directly in workforce pipeline development rather than waiting for training programs to deliver ready candidates. LaFemina’s approach, as reported by New Haven Independent, essentially inverts the traditional model: the employer is the training program, and the training program feeds back into production.

What Connecticut Gets Out of This

Penn Globe’s longevity is its own argument. The company has survived waves of offshoring that gutted American lighting manufacturing by investing in craftsmanship and technology rather than racing to the bottom on cost. LaFemina has maintained that positioning while layering in the sustainability and local sourcing commitments that now matter to institutional buyers and architects specifying products for LEED-certified projects.

For state officials trying to make the case that manufacturing still belongs in Connecticut’s economic future, Penn Globe is useful evidence. It employs Connecticut residents, generates state tax revenue, and doesn’t require the kind of nine-figure incentive packages that chip fabs or pharmaceutical campuses demand.

MATCH adds a dimension that pure employer-training partnerships often miss. Programs that rely on employer goodwill tend to shrink when orders slow down. By building contract manufacturing into its revenue model, MATCH creates a financial buffer that keeps training capacity alive even when the broader economy softens. The Workforce Development Council has pointed to self-sustaining program design as a priority precisely because grant-dependent workforce training has a poor track record of scaling.

LaFemina has specifically centered women, parents, and returning citizens in MATCH’s recruitment. Those groups face the highest dropout rates in traditional workforce programs because the programs aren’t designed around the constraints those workers actually carry. Paid learning, transportation support, and flexible hours aren’t perks in this context. They’re the difference between someone completing a credential or not.

Gov. Lamont’s office said the 2026 Connecticut Workforce Champion Award will be formally presented at an upcoming state ceremony, with details to be announced through the Governor’s Office.