Top industrial equipment distributors in Connecticut, ranked by ChatGPT answers

Places ChatGPT showed

• Grainger Industrial Supply · 4.6★ · Tool store
• Applied Industrial Technologies · Industrial equipment supplier
• Kaman Distribution Group · Industrial equipment supplier
• MSC Industrial Supply · Industrial equipment supplier
• New England Drives & Controls, Inc. · 5.0★ · Electronic parts supplier
• Abel Womack, Inc. - Wallingford · 4.8★ · Material handling equipment supplier
• Summit ToyotaLift · 5.0★ · Forklift dealer
• Alta Material Handling · 4.2★ · Forklift dealer
• Tri-Lift Inc · 4.1★ · Forklift dealer
• Chase Equipment Corporation · 4.4★ · Forklift dealer
• Morris Group, Inc. · 5.0★ · Distribution service
• Anderson Machinery Co in CT · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• H.O. Penn Machinery Sales, Parts and Service - Newington, CT · 4.2★ · Construction machine dealer
• Tyler Equipment Corp · 2.3★ · Construction equipment supplier

If by industrial equipment distributors you mean companies supplying manufacturers, warehouses, maintenance departments, and industrial facilities—not just construction equipment—Connecticut has several strong options. I’d group the leading choices by what you need rather than give a subjective overall ranking.

Industrial/MRO and plant equipment

• Grainger Industrial Supply — Broad MRO supplier covering tools, hydraulics, electrical, safety, material handling, motors, and facility supplies. Good for general plant maintenance and recurring consumables.
• Applied Industrial Technologies — Particularly relevant for bearings, power transmission, hydraulics/fluid power, motion control, and industrial maintenance products.
• Kaman Distribution Group — Connecticut-based industrial distributor focused on power transmission, bearings, fluid power, automation/electrical, and related MRO components.
• MSC Industrial Supply — Strong fit for machine shops and manufacturers needing cutting tools, metalworking supplies, tooling, and general MRO products.
• New England Drives & Controls, Inc. — More specialized toward industrial automation, drives, controls, and electrical components.

Material handling and warehouse equipment

• Abel Womack, Inc. - Wallingford — A major material-handling/warehouse-automation provider. Its offerings include forklifts, pallet handling, conveyors, AGVs, AS/RS, robotics, racking, shelving, and warehouse-management solutions. Thomasnet lists it as a distributor, service company, and turnkey systems integrator.
• Summit ToyotaLift — Forklifts, warehouse equipment, rentals, service, parts, and training; locations include North Haven and eastern Connecticut.
• Alta Material Handling — New and used forklifts/material-handling equipment, rentals, maintenance, parts, and related support in Wallingford.
• Tri-Lift Inc — Full-service material-handling dealer offering equipment sales/rental, parts, repair, fleet support, warehouse solutions, and operator training.
• Chase Equipment Corporation — Brookfield-based forklift/material-handling supplier with sales, rentals, repair, parts, and safety training.

Machine tools and manufacturing equipment

• Morris Group, Inc. — Windsor-based machine-tool distribution organization. Particularly relevant for CNC/machining equipment and manufacturing operations rather than general MRO.
• Anderson Machinery Co — Stratford supplier of new and used manufacturing machinery and shop equipment, including machine-tool-related equipment.

Heavy industrial/construction equipment

• H.O. Penn Machinery Sales, Parts and Service - Newington, CT — Caterpillar-focused heavy equipment, parts, rentals, service, power generation, and related equipment.
• Tyler Equipment Corp — Construction and material-handling equipment with sales, rentals, parts, and service.

How I'd narrow the list

These aren't an objective "best-to-worst" ranking; the right distributor depends heavily on equipment category, service requirements, and whether you're buying individual components or complete systems. Connecticut has hundreds of industrial suppliers, so the category distinction matters.

If you tell me what type of industrial equipment you're sourcing (e.g., pumps, compressors, conveyors, forklifts, CNC machines, automation, hydraulics, packaging, or MRO), I can narrow this to 5–10 Connecticut distributors that specifically fit your application, including their locations, brands carried, and service capabilities.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Robert E Morris Co · 4.5★ · Manufacturer
• Anderson Machinery Co in CT · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• New England Tool Corporation · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• Hemly Tool Supply Of Connecticut LLC · 4.6★ · Hardware store
• De Luca Industrial Supplies Inc. · Industrial equipment supplier
• State Industrial Supply, Division of A&M Industrial · Industrial equipment supplier
• Grainger Industrial Supply · 4.6★ · Tool store
• Global Machine Brokers · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• New England Drives & Controls, Inc. · 5.0★ · Electronic parts supplier
• Patriot Industrial Products · Industrial equipment supplier

For a small Connecticut manufacturer, I’d focus less on sheer catalog size and more on whether the distributor can provide application help, local service, reasonable minimums, used-equipment options, and fast access to tooling/MRO supplies.

Here are several Connecticut distributors worth putting on a shortlist:

• Robert E Morris Co — Windsor. A strong fit for precision-machining shops looking for CNC machine tools, tooling, automation, software, and engineering/application support. MachineTools.com lists it as a distributor serving precision-machined-parts manufacturers throughout New England.
• Anderson Machinery Co in CT — Stratford. Particularly interesting for a smaller shop because it handles new and used manufacturing machinery and shop equipment, giving you an alternative to buying everything new.
• New England Tool Corporation — Manchester. Focuses on CNC machinery and accessories, including Star CNC, CMZ, Hwacheon and Alzmetall equipment, with technical support. This is more appropriate for a shop making a capital-equipment investment than for ordinary MRO purchasing.
• Hemly Tool Supply Of Connecticut LLC — Newington. A good local option for cutting tools, metalworking supplies and everyday machining consumables, with a substantial on-site inventory. This kind of supplier can be particularly useful when a small shop can't afford to wait several days for a tool.
• De Luca Industrial Supplies Inc. — Stratford. Broad machining-oriented offering including cutting and abrasive tools, coolants, measuring equipment and safety supplies. Its one-stop approach can be useful for smaller manufacturers trying to consolidate vendors.
• State Industrial Supply, Division of A&M Industrial — Middletown. Particularly relevant for cutting tools, abrasives, metalworking fluids and associated application support.
• Grainger Industrial Supply — Hartford (with other CT locations). Best suited to the general MRO side of a small factory: tools, electrical, hydraulics, safety, material handling, maintenance supplies, etc. Its breadth is useful when you need many miscellaneous items from one source.
• Global Machine Brokers — Guilford. Worth considering when you're looking for used machinery, machinery relocation, rigging or selling surplus equipment rather than simply buying new machines. Its listed inventory spans CNC equipment, stamping, plastics, packaging, grinding and inspection equipment.
• New England Drives & Controls, Inc. — Southington. More specialized: industrial automation, drives and controls. A useful partner if the problem is upgrading or troubleshooting an automated production line rather than purchasing a conventional machine tool.
• Patriot Industrial Products — Winsted. Broad MRO/industrial-supply focus that can make sense for smaller plants needing routine maintenance components and consumables.

How I'd divide them up

This isn't a ranking of "best" overall; the appropriate supplier depends heavily on whether you're a CNC job shop, sheet-metal manufacturer, plastics operation, OEM, or general fabrication shop. Connecticut has a particularly large machine-tool supplier ecosystem—Thomasnet currently lists 162 machine-tool suppliers serving the state—so specialization matters considerably.

If you tell me what you manufacture, approximate company size, and whether you're buying machines, tooling, or general MRO supplies, I can narrow this to 3–5 distributors that fit your operation, including local coverage and the brands they carry.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Collins Pipe & Supply Co · 4.7★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• Burt Process Equipment · 3.9★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• OTC Industrial Technologies (Diversified) - Newington · Industrial equipment supplier
• Northeast Pumps · Pump supplier
• Industrial Pump & Valve Service, inc. · 4.5★ · Repair service
• Collins Compressors · 5.0★ · Air compressor supplier
• Airmatic Compressor Systems, Inc. · 5.0★ · Air Compressor Company
• Connecticut Compressor Systems Inc. · 4.0★ · Air compressor supplier
• Swagelok Connecticut · 4.7★ · Manufacturer
• Hisco Pump, Inc. · 5.0★ · Manufacturer
• Parker-Hannifin Fluid Control · 5.0★ · Manufacturer

If you mean industrial/MRO suppliers serving Connecticut plants, rather than residential plumbing distributors, these are some of the more relevant names. I’d separate the market into broad-line distributors and specialists.

The broadest suppliers

Collins is particularly notable if you want one Connecticut supplier covering multiple categories. Its East Windsor operation supplies industrial pipe/valve products and its Collins Compressors division handles reciprocating, rotary-screw, vane and scroll compressors, dryers, filtration, blowers and vacuum equipment. Collins also provides valve testing/repair services.

Burt Process Equipment is a strong process-equipment-oriented option. Its offering encompasses pumps, instrumentation, valves/fittings and engineered fluid-handling systems, making it relevant for chemical processing, water/wastewater and general manufacturing applications.

OTC Industrial Technologies, through the former Diversified Pump & Compressor operation in Newington, is particularly focused on pump engineering, repair and fluid-processing systems. Its capabilities include difficult fluids, process gases, vacuum pumps, metering pumps and related equipment.

Pump-focused suppliers

For a pump-heavy requirement, Northeast Pumps and Hisco Pump are worth looking at. Northeast Pumps provides pump/motor sales, sizing, packaged systems, installation and repair, while Hisco specializes in replacement industrial pumps and parts.

REM Industrial is another noteworthy Connecticut option, with locations in Hartford and New Haven. It supplies pumps and pump parts and is a Sulzer Authorized Service Center, which is particularly relevant if your installed base includes Sulzer equipment.

Valve and fluid-control specialists

For instrumentation, tubing, fittings and high-integrity valve systems, Swagelok Connecticut in Wallingford is a specialist rather than a broad-line MRO distributor.

For industrial process-control valves, Parker-Hannifin Fluid Control in New Britain is another Connecticut-based manufacturer focused on solenoid and process-control valve technology.

Compressor specialists

For compressed air specifically, I'd look at Collins Compressors, Airmatic Compressor Systems, and Connecticut Compressor Systems. Collins offers a particularly broad combination of compressors, dryers, filtration and service, while Airmatic covers industrial air/gas compressors, vacuum pumps, nitrogen generation and air-treatment systems.

One caveat: “top” can mean largest distributor, strongest technical capability, biggest local inventory, best OEM representation, or best service coverage. The list above is therefore a practical supplier shortlist, not a ranking.

If you're sourcing for a manufacturing plant, chemical plant, water/wastewater facility, power plant, or OEM, I can also narrow this to the 10 most relevant Connecticut suppliers and identify their major pump/valve/compressor brands.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Eastern Industrial Automation · 5.0★ · Bearing supplier
• REM Industrial Solutions · 3.0★ · Appliances & Repair
• Troy Industrial Solutions, New England Service Shop · 4.8★ · Machine maintenance service
• Collins Compressors · 5.0★ · Air compressor supplier
• Airmatic Compressor Systems, Inc. · 5.0★ · Air Compressor Company
• Connecticut Compressor Systems Inc. · 4.0★ · Air compressor supplier
• A & M Compressed Air Products · Air compressor supplier
• Pneu-Air Technology · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• H.O. Penn Machinery Sales, Parts and Service - Newington, CT · 4.2★ · Construction machine dealer
• Barry Equipment Co., Inc · 5.0★ · Construction equipment supplier
• KES Machine LLC · 5.0★ · Machine maintenance service
• REM Industrial · 4.8★ · Repair service

Yes. Connecticut has several industrial equipment distributors that combine equipment/parts distribution with on-site field service and repair. The best fit depends heavily on the type of equipment.

Other specialized options

• J.L. Lucas Machinery — Waterbury: specializes in grinding machinery and offers on-site installation, field evaluation, component replacement and major machine overhauls.
• STABAN Engineering — Wallingford: packaging machinery specialist with certified technicians available for on-site support.
• United Industrial Products — Wallingford: equipment service, refurbishment, pump repairs, fabrication and installation, with factory-authorized technicians.
• Yeagle Technology — Ashford: vacuum-coating and high-vacuum equipment, cryogenic systems and related components; provides field-service dispatch and nationwide on-site service.
• FASI — Bristol: specialized measurement equipment service, including on-site repair, calibration and maintenance of Z-Mike/Zygo equipment.
• Sartron — North Branford: industrial VFDs, motor controls, PLC/SCADA systems and related electrical equipment; offers on-site troubleshooting, repair, commissioning and preventive maintenance.

If you're looking specifically for a distributor rather than a pure repair company, I'd narrow the field to Eastern Industrial Automation, REM Industrial, Troy Industrial Solutions, Collins Compressors, Airmatic, H.O. Penn, and Barry Equipment, depending on your equipment category.

If you tell me the type of industrial equipment (e.g., pumps, motors, compressors, CNC machines, conveyors, hydraulics, forklifts, packaging machinery), I can narrow this to the 5–10 most relevant Connecticut distributors and include their service territories and contact information.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Grainger Industrial Supply · 4.6★ · Tool store
• OTC Industrial Technologies (Ohlheiser Corp.) - Newington · 4.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• Motion Automation Intelligence · 5.0★ · Automation company
• A Lined Handling Systems Inc · 5.0★ · Material handling equipment supplier
• HESCO · Electrical supply store
• Pearse Bertram+ · 5.0★ · Manufacturer
• F.W. Webb Company - Hartford · 4.5★ · Wholesaler
• Airgas Store · 1.0★ · Welding supply store

Assuming you mean Hartford, Connecticut, the strongest local options depend on what you mean by “industrial equipment.” I’d shortlist these based on local presence, breadth of offerings, technical/service capabilities, and established operating history—not simply review scores.

• Grainger Industrial Supply — 75 Maxim Rd, Hartford. Broad MRO supplier for tools, electrical, hydraulics, motors, material handling, safety, plumbing, and general plant supplies. Connecticut’s emergency-resource documentation also lists the Hartford branch for industrial supplies, generators, and pumps.
• OTC Industrial Technologies (Ohlheiser Corp.) - Newington — 831 N Mountain Rd, Newington. Particularly relevant for industrial automation, controls, motion, and manufacturing equipment, with engineering/application support.
• Motion Automation Intelligence — 1 Vision Way, Bloomfield. A good fit for robotics, motion control, machine vision, sensors, controls, pneumatics, and automation engineering.
• A Lined Handling Systems Inc — 92 Burnside Ave, East Hartford. Focused on material-handling systems, including warehouse/manufacturing layouts, conveyors, storage, lifting, and turnkey implementation.
• REM Industrial — 285 Murphy Rd, Hartford. Especially relevant for motors, pumps, bearings, power transmission, VFDs, actuators/valves, repairs, and industrial service. The company says it has operated since 1935 and combines distribution with repair and field service.
• HESCO — Rocky Hill. Strong option for industrial electrical and automation, including controls, electrical infrastructure, and automation equipment.
• Pearse Bertram+ — Bloomfield. More specialized in industrial automation, process control, motion/fluid power, and engineering support, including control-panel fabrication.
• F.W. Webb Company - Hartford — 150 Locust St, Hartford. Particularly useful for industrial pipe, valves, fittings, plumbing, heating, hydronics, and HVAC-related equipment.

By application

One useful distinction: “reliable supplier” can mean very different things for a production plant. For a critical component, I'd put considerably more weight on local inventory, emergency/after-hours support, authorized-distributor status, repair capability, and application engineering than on generic customer-review ratings.

If you tell me what equipment you're sourcing (e.g. pumps, conveyors, forklifts, CNC tooling, automation/PLC, compressors, electrical, safety/MRO), I can narrow this to 3–5 Hartford-area suppliers that specifically fit your application.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Abel Womack, Inc. - Wallingford · 4.8★ · Material handling equipment supplier
• Ford & Ulrich Inc · Material handling equipment supplier
• Summit ToyotaLift · 5.0★ · Forklift dealer
• Goldslager Conveyor Corporation · Manufacturer
• Tri-Lift Inc · 4.1★ · Forklift dealer
• Alta Material Handling · 4.2★ · Forklift dealer
• Starlift Equipment Company, Inc. · 3.6★ · Forklift dealer
• Grainger Industrial Supply · 4.1★ · Tool store
• Anderson Machinery Co in CT · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• Production Components · Manufacturer
• A&A Surplus Inc. · 1.0★ · Material handling equipment supplier

If by “industrial equipment distributors” you mean companies that sell and support equipment for manufacturing, warehouses, material handling, and industrial facilities—not just construction equipment—Southern Connecticut has several strong options.

There isn't a single objective “best” distributor, so I’d shortlist them based on the type of equipment you need:

• Abel Womack, Inc. - Wallingford — Warehouse automation & material handling. Offers forklifts, pallet-handling equipment, conveyors, AS/RS, AGVs, robots, racking, shelving, warehouse software, and related systems. Thomasnet lists it as a distributor, service company, and turnkey systems integrator.
• Ford & Ulrich Inc — Broad material-handling solutions. North Haven-based distributor with more than 1,000 manufacturers represented, covering conveyors, lift tables, racking/shelving, mezzanines, doors, hoists, and safety/ergonomic equipment, plus installation.
• Summit ToyotaLift — Forklifts and warehouse equipment. Particularly relevant if your operation needs lift trucks, pallet equipment, narrow-aisle equipment, fleet service, parts, and operator training.
• Goldslager Conveyor Corporation — Conveyors and engineered material handling. Hamden company with a long operating history; provides equipment distribution, engineering/layout, installation, repair, preventive maintenance, safety inspections, and project management.
• Tri-Lift Inc — Full-service industrial/material handling dealer. New and used equipment, rentals, parts, repair, fleet support, warehouse solutions, and safety training.
• Alta Material Handling — Forklifts and heavy/material-handling equipment. Wallingford location offering new and used equipment, rentals, maintenance, parts, and related support. Thomasnet also identifies Alta as a distributor of construction, industrial, cleaning, forklift, and aerial-lift equipment.
• Starlift Equipment Company, Inc. — Forklifts + aerial/access equipment. West Haven-based dealer with equipment sales, rentals, financing, and service; useful for manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and construction applications.
• Grainger Industrial Supply — General MRO/industrial supply. Best suited when you need a very broad range of maintenance, safety, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, tools, material-handling, and facility supplies rather than a large engineered equipment project.
• Anderson Machinery Co in CT — Machine tools/manufacturing equipment. Stratford-based supplier specializing in new and used manufacturing machinery and shop equipment, including machine-tool-related products.
• Production Components — Specialized manufacturing/process equipment. Wallingford distributor/manufacturer's representative focused on application-specific production machinery, including fluid handling, dispensing, adhesives, coatings, and related process equipment.
• A&A Surplus Inc. — Used warehouse equipment/value buying. Plantsville supplier specializing in new and used pallet rack, shelving, conveyors, mezzanines, and other warehouse equipment; it says much of its used inventory is priced substantially below new equipment.

A practical shortlist

If I were building a Southern Connecticut industrial-equipment vendor list, I'd start with:

The Wallingford–North Haven corridor is particularly dense with industrial/material-handling distributors, including Abel Womack, Alta, Summit ToyotaLift, Equipment Depot, Ford & Ulrich, and several others.

If you tell me what type of equipment you’re sourcing (e.g. forklifts, pumps, compressors, conveyors, machine tools, generators, warehouse automation, MRO supplies), I can narrow this to 5–10 distributors that are specifically relevant, including brands carried, service territory, and contact information.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Grainger Industrial Supply · 4.6★ · Tool store
• MSC Industrial Supply Co. · Industrial equipment supplier
• Applied Industrial Technologies · Industrial equipment supplier
• Progressive Hydraulics, Inc. - Parker Hose & Fittings Store; Authorized Distributor · 5.0★ · Hose supplier
• H.O. Penn Machinery Sales, Parts and Service - Newington, CT · 4.2★ · Construction machine dealer
• The W. I. Clark Company · 4.5★ · Building materials supplier

If by “best” you mean highest likelihood of having the part on hand and getting it delivered quickly, rather than lowest price, the Connecticut market has a few clear categories.

Strongest options for broad MRO parts

• Grainger Industrial Supply — Hartford
• Probably the strongest broad-line choice for emergency MRO availability.
• Grainger says it has 1.5M+ products, more than $2B in inventory, and can ship 500,000+ products same day or next day. It also advertises next-day delivery on most in-stock orders.
• Connecticut locations include Hartford and North Haven, with curbside pickup.
• Best fit: bearings, electrical, motors, hydraulics/pneumatics, fasteners, tools, safety, facility MRO.
• MSC Industrial Supply Co. — Windsor
• Particularly worth considering for machining, cutting tools, abrasives, tooling and plant MRO.
• The Windsor facility is a regional inventory center, which is advantageous when fulfillment speed matters.
• Best fit: machine shops and manufacturing plants where tooling/metalworking parts are a large portion of the spend.
• Applied Industrial Technologies — South Windsor
• A strong specialist distributor for bearings, power transmission, hydraulics, fluid power, motors and industrial components.
• Best fit: equipment-maintenance departments that need technically specific components rather than general facility supplies.

For equipment-specific emergencies

• Progressive Hydraulics, Inc. - Parker Hose & Fittings Store; Authorized Distributor — Stratford
• Particularly compelling for hydraulic hose, fittings and pneumatic/fluid-power breakdowns, where getting a fabricated replacement locally can beat waiting for a factory part.
• Best fit: mobile equipment, construction machinery and industrial hydraulic systems.
• H.O. Penn Machinery Sales, Parts and Service - Newington, CT — Newington
• Better suited to Caterpillar/heavy equipment parts and service than general MRO.
• Best fit: construction equipment, generators and heavy-duty diesel equipment.
• The W. I. Clark Company — Wallingford
• Construction-equipment dealer with parts and service support.
• Best fit: customers who need parts tied to construction equipment rather than generic industrial components.

My practical shortlist

One important caveat: there isn't a reliable public dataset comparing actual fill rates and delivery times across Connecticut distributors. So I wouldn't claim one universally has the “fastest” delivery. Grainger is the easiest to substantiate on published fulfillment metrics: it explicitly states same-day shipping for most in-stock orders received by its cutoff and next-day delivery for most in-stock orders.

If you tell me what equipment/parts you buy (e.g. bearings, hydraulic components, electric motors, pumps, valves, fasteners, CNC tooling) and which part of Connecticut, I can narrow this to the 3–5 distributors most likely to give you same-day/next-day availability.

Places ChatGPT showed

• Morris Group, Inc. · 5.0★ · Distribution service
• Kaman Distribution Group · Industrial equipment supplier
• Anderson Machinery Co in CT · 5.0★ · Industrial equipment supplier
• Shawmut Equipment Company · 4.9★ · Equipment rental agency
• Tyler Equipment Corp · 2.3★ · Construction equipment supplier
• Hariton Machinery Co Inc · 5.0★ · Metal machinery supplier
• De Luca Industrial Supplies Inc. · Industrial equipment supplier

If by “manufacturers trust” you mean family-owned Connecticut distributors with long operating histories, strong manufacturer relationships/authorized lines, and meaningful technical/service capabilities, these are the names I’d put on a shortlist. I’m using “trust” as a proxy for documented manufacturer partnerships and longevity—not as an independently verified customer-satisfaction ranking.

• Morris Group, Inc. — Windsor
  A particularly relevant name for machine tools and manufacturing equipment. It is third-generation family-owned, dates to 1941, operates 14 divisions, and says it has longstanding partnerships with leading machine-tool builders.
• REM Industrial — Hartford / New Haven
  Family-owned since 1935, with distribution plus motor, pump, gearbox and electrical repair. Its OEM offering includes authorized distribution for WEG, Baldor, SKF, Timken, Rexnord, Gates, Eaton and Belimo, among others. That combination of distribution, engineering and repair makes it particularly relevant to industrial OEMs.
• Anderson Machinery Co. — Stratford
  Family-owned since 1973 and focused specifically on manufacturing machinery, including CNC, toolroom, fabrication and inspection equipment. It also provides machinery service/support.
• Engineered Handling Systems (EHS) — Cromwell
  Family-owned and operated since 1988, specializing in cranes, conveyors, racking, warehouse automation and material-handling systems. EHS reports 85+ manufacturer partners and 1,000+ completed projects, and works with manufacturers and distributors across the Northeast.
• Shawmut Equipment Company — Manchester
  Third-generation, family-owned, and focused on cranes and heavy equipment, including sales, rentals, parts and service. It is a natural candidate if your equipment is in construction, utilities, industrial lifting or material handling.
• Tyler Equipment Corp — Berlin
  A family business dating to 1922, with Connecticut operations and sales, service, parts and rental capabilities for construction equipment. Its own history emphasizes relationships with customers and equipment manufacturers.
• Hariton Machinery Co. — Bridgeport
  Family-owned since 1970 and specialized in fastener-manufacturing and metal-forming machinery—cold forming, wire forming, forging and related equipment. It also emphasizes equipment inventory and a formal machinery-dealer code of ethics.
• DeLuca Industrial Supplies — Stratford
  Family-owned industrial distributor dating to 1962, supplying manufacturers with cutting tools, abrasives, coolants, measuring equipment, safety products and other MRO supplies. It belongs to the IBC buying group, which specifically supports independent/family-owned industrial distributors.

If you're looking specifically for a manufacturer/distributor partner

I'd divide the field by what you're trying to place:

One particularly strong signal is when the manufacturer itself publicly announces the distributor relationship. For example, CBI/Terex announced Powerscreen New England as its official Connecticut distributor and specifically described Powerscreen as a family-owned and operated company with established materials-processing expertise.

If you're asking this because you are a manufacturer looking for Connecticut channel partners, I can narrow this to 10–15 family-owned distributors that actually represent manufacturers, including their product categories, brands represented, territory, approximate size, and manufacturer-contact/line-card evidence.