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Yankee Ingenuity Still Translates Into Dollars
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Business New Haven
1/12/1998
By: Susan Banfield
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Connecticut was one of the states that originally gave rise to the well-known expression “Yankee ingenuity.” Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, lived in New Haven. Samuel Colt, who made a fortune by virtue of his innovative revolving gun barrel, was from Hartford.
Few people are aware, however, that the spirit of Yankee ingenuity is still alive, well and, more importantly, still translating itself into tangible business success for dozens of Connecticut residents.
The Nutmeg State is second in the nation in the number of patents issued per-capita. Many of these patents have become the basis for successful businesses.
There were more than 450 high-tech start-ups in the state in 1996 alone. And these new companies are succeeding in a broad array of disciplines - photonics (including lasers, fiber optics, etc.), pharmaceuticals, medical instruments and advanced materials.
The days of Edison may be long gone, but there are still dozens of stories of people who had an idea, believed in it, and made good on it. People who worked nights in basements, barns and garages manufacturing their invention themselves, people who had to scrape together the money for their first real “plant.”
Many of these innovators learned through the school of hard knocks how to deal with patent controversies, larger competitors, marketing dos and don'ts. Yet today, many of them are the proud heads of million- and multi-million-dollar businesses - real-life examples of the American dream come true.
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