Doing Business In Connecticut With The Waterbury Button Company

For a small business, being in the right place at the right time can make all the difference. For the Waterbury Button Company, that place has been Connecticut for almost 200 years. Now its owners say they're not so sure. WNPR's Sarah Miner reports.

Here at the Waterbury Button Company, American craftsmanshiop is alive and well in the hands of die maker John O'Brien.

"I'm gonna take that force. This is the die, this is the force. This is what I'm making. I'm gonna take this, and put it right in there, line it up. I'm gonna put that in the tonnage, in the press. I'm gonna come down with tonnage, and i'm gonna squeeze that. That's what I do. It's the same process over and over again until you get all the detail right in there."

O'Brien takes great pride in his work, especially when it comes to buttons.

"A lot of people take it for granted. Who can't make a button? Well, there's a lot involved in it."

Nivea Cruz, now the manufactoring supervisor, has been with the company for 34 years.

"I've learned a lot. I started from the bottom up. I never thought to be manufactoring supervisor, because I'm not gonna lie to you, it was like, to me, it was kind of intimidating. I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes any job, I think you have your good days and your bad days. But I just love what I do. And everywhere I go, it's just automatic, I go somewhere where I can see buttons that look like our buttons, I have to go look at it."

Since 1812, the Waterbury Button Company has been manufactoring buttons in Connecticut, but it's no longer in Waterbury. Vice President and co-owner Sal Geraci bought the business in 2000.

"The company was in Waterbury when we purchased it. It was tough doing business in Waterbury, because the taxes in Waterbury were fairly high, so we kinda shopped around and we ended up here in Cheshire, Connecticut. It was a big tax savings for us. I hated doing it, because you're working for a company called the Waterbury Button Company, that's named after the city. We were in Waterbury for, what, 191 years, and then you have to move because of a better business climate? It's kinda sad, this whole state of Connecticut is not very friendly to businesses. It really is a shame, it really is."

The company, which now employs almost 50 people, has developed a long list of clients over the years. Designers like Ellen Tracy, Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger, and even the United States military. And as the story goes, the company sold buttons to both the Union and Confederate forces during the civil war.

"I just hope that I do as well running this business as the people that came before me. They obviously did a good job, survived wars, civil strife and foreign competition. 200 years later, they're still here in business."

But in the 21st century business world, Geraci says he believes measures like the Paid Sick Leave bill, currently in the legislature, make it harder than ever to maintain the legacy of the business.

"Mandatory sick leave, it's nice, but not every company can afford it. I mean, somebody's got to pay for it. When you mandate something, if you're going to give me some money to pay for it, that's fine. People should do what they can do. I mean, you can only give business so many mandates before a business will say, well, wait a second, can I do better somewhere else?"

And with competative international markets, Geraci is taking steps to ensure the future of the Waterbury Button Company. He recently expanded the repetoir of products with National Badge & Emblem, a division of the company that operates out of the same building.

As for die maker John O'Brien, he hopes the tradition can continue here in Connecticut.

"I'm almost 80 years old. I have no intention of retiring. I hope we don't send this overseas, we only hope that things can get better. For everyone."

For WNPR news, I'm Sarah Miner.

***To see a slide show of photos from the Waterbury Button Company by Chion Wolf, click here***