The strength of MetroHartford's economy grows from the diversity of its business and industrial community. Long a powerful insurance and financial center, it also boasts an extensive list of major high-tech manufacturing firms producing such complex products as aircraft engines, nuclear reactors, space suits and missile components. Additional thriving industries in the area include health care and retail. The region's economy is helped by excellent transportation and distribution resources, abundant and affordable utilities, progressive banking and financial institutions and a skilled and well-educated work force.
Manufacturing employs an even greater number of area workers.
The Bureau of Labor statistics for March 1999 indicates that more than 95,000 residents of the Hartford MSA are employed in the manufacturing sector. The result is a truly diversified economy that forms the basis for the MetroHartford area's economic stability. The area's manufacturing sector includes many Fortune 500 corporations and large multi-national organizations. Loctite Corporation has its world headquarters in MetroHartford. Stanley tools and hardware are produced in the region, as are the famed Colt firearms.