Pratt & Whitney held a ceremonial groundbreaking here today for its new state-of-the-art 425,000-square-foot building that will serve as the company's global headquarters and world-class engineering facility. Construction work, which is supported in part by the 2014 Connecticut Aerospace Reinvestment Act, will begin later this year and is scheduled to be completed in late 2017. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. company.

Today's ceremony was held exactly 86 years to the day that ground was broken for construction of the company's current East Hartford campus, which remains its global headquarters. To commemorate the event, Nathan G. Patch, grandson of Pratt & Whitney founder Frederick Rentschler, joined company leaders and state and local government officials in reenacting the ceremonial 1929 groundbreaking, as depicted in a historic photo.*

"Pratt & Whitney's technology, innovations and engineering excellence have created revolutionary products that have defined aviation for the past 90 years, and continue to do so today with the PurePower® and F135 aircraft engines," said Pratt & Whitney President Paul Adams. "This new world-class facility will house the best and brightest minds to help us continue operating on the cutting edge of aviation technology for decades to come."

"Connecticut has been recognized as an aerospace manufacturing leader and today's announcement is another step toward solidifying that position," said Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. "Pratt & Whitney's state-of-the-art facility will be a catalyst for attracting and retaining good paying jobs, continuing our economic progress and strengthening our manufacturing base."