Established in New Haven in 2011, the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology, ConnCAT, is a post-secondary career training hub committed to connecting a world-class facility and resources to local need. Currently ConnCAT provides market-relevant job training and placement services to under and unemployed adults and multimedia arts education to under-achieving youth from low-income families. ConnCAT draws its inspiration from the workforce development philosophy of Manchester Bidwell Corporation, a nationally accredited and state licensed adult career training institution with roots in Pittsburgh. Lifelong community leader and MacArthur Fellow Bill Strickland founded the Corporation in 1972 with the conviction that environments shapes lives. His simple yet effective approach has been successfully replicated in under-served urban geographies nationwide; including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston, and San Francisco. ConnCAT applies the building blocks of the Strickland model—aesthetic space, creative education, supportive staff—to a New Haven context.Drawing upon local talent and deep community relations, ConnCAT has quickly established itself as a place that helps people at the margins of New Haven’s economy find meaningful andrewarding career pathways. At the heart of ConnCAT’s vision is creating a unique learning environment: one that inspires hope, innovation, creativity and excellence, and that elevates individuals’ expectations of themselves and others.
