Rep. Buchsbaum Tours Gyre9 in Southbury

Southbury, CT – An advanced manufacturer is making innovative products in Southbury. State Representative Jason Buchsbaum (R-69), Commerce Committee member, recently met with principals of Gyre9, a product design, engineering, development, and contract manufacturing company. He also took a tour of the company’s 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility.

Buchsbaum met with Founder & President Edward Gilchrest, Chief Research & Design Officer Frank Von Holzhausen, and Sales & Project Manager Lori Galanis.

The company specializes in commercial electric vehicle charging equipment but is also working to develop equipment for data server farms, air filtration for medical equipment, and an electric motorcycle, among a variety of other products. Clients include Henkel, Abbott, and Hurst Jaws of Life. The tour also included a review of various products that Gyre9 designed and helped bring to market over the last 20 years.

"It is vital to understand the needs of local business owners, and state-based manufacturing and innovation leaders. I look forward to sharing information about Gyre9 with my colleagues on the Commerce Committee. Raising awareness about Connecticut-based companies is key to helping them network and grow the local workforce," said Rep. Buchsbaum.

G9EV, the company's in-house brand launched two years ago, focuses on domestically manufactured EV charging infrastructure.

Gyre9 employs 25 to 45 people at their Southbury facility. The skilled jobs range from designers to mechanical, electrical, software, and manufacturing engineers.

"I think one of the hurdles that small companies and start-ups find with doing business in Connecticut is the somewhat disjointed nature of state government and quasi-public agencies, having to navigate the various state agencies involved in a particular sector," noted Rep. Buchsbaum.

Another challenge Rep. Buchsbaum and the Gyre9 executives discussed was the lack of an overall database of businesses to connect one to another, or to review state resources. They said this could help not only with networking, but also with filling their needs with a Connecticut workforce.

"We need to work to make Connecticut more business friendly.  One of the ways we can do that is be helping to streamline processes and to make state resources more easily accessible," concluded Rep. Buchsbaum.

Rep. Buchsbaum is also a member of the legislature's Bipartisan Manufacturing Caucus, which raises awareness about the challenges and opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

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