[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 110 (Friday, July 30, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1687-E1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           THE CONNECTICUT STATE TECHNOLOGY EXTENSION PROGRAM

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                         HON. NANCY L. JOHNSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 29, 1999

  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support 
of a program very important to Connecticut. With Congress presently 
debating its annual spending bills, people may wonder how the budget 
affects them and their well being. I would like to take this 
opportunity to tell you about one particular program of which I am a 
strong supporter--the Connecticut State Technology Extension program 
(CONN/STEP). CONN/STEP helps Connecticut manufacturers become more 
competitive through the use of advanced manufacturing and management 
technologies. Through their team of field engineers CONN/STEP provides 
onsite technical assistance, detailed assessments, outlines potential 
solutions, and identifies external service providers. CONN/STEP is 
funded jointly by the State Department of Economic and Community 
Development and the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
(NIST) under the Department of Commerce.
  Here's how CONN/STEP helped one local company in Bristol, 
Connecticut. Ultimate Wireforms manufactures arch wires and other 
orthodontic appliances from superelastic/memory alloys and stainless 
steel for orthodontry applications. The arch wires apply pressure to 
teeth, slowly causing them to move a predetermined amount to 
correctively position teeth. The company has provided

[[Page E1688]]

support to the orthodontic industry since 1989 and currently employs 65 
people.
  Ultimate Wireforms was searching for opportunities to expand their 
product offerings and decided to focus on the Titanium arch wire 
business which was undergoing rapid growth. Titanium arch wires apply 
higher forces to the teeth, which accelerate the corrective orthodontic 
process. Ultimate, however had no titanium technology experts in house 
and was being restricted from entering this market by an existing 
patent, held by a competitor.
  Ultimate initially attempted to find a Titanium alloy to leap-frog 
the patent but all of the candidate alloys had one or more drawbacks 
and, consequently, were not pursued beyond the laboratory phase. With 
the eventual expiration of the patent, Ultimate was poised to pursue 
entry into this market, but lacked the in-house expertise to develop 
Titanium technology. This led them to CONN/STEP for help. A CONN/STEP 
specialist, knowledgeable in the Titanium industry, identified melting, 
ingot conversion and wire making suppliers to make small and medium-
sized experimental quantities. CONN/STEP soon became the technical 
interface with the titanium suppliers, resolving problems as they arose 
until multiple batches with the correct composition and mechanical 
properties were produced. Ultimate has since entered the Titanium arch 
market and is now enjoying a 60% increase in sales.
  Satisfied with the technical service, Ultimate Wireforms had 
subsequently entered into several additional projects with CONN/STEP, 
including a comprehensive assessment of their accounting and financial 
system to help Ultimate better understand their internal functions as 
well as their place in the market.

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