Mystic — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy checked up on Connecticut's investment in small business Tuesday, visiting Orion Manufacturing, an architectural millworking firm that has benefitted from state loans.

"Just wanted to see what was going on," the governor said as he toured the business, which occupies space in the Mystic Business Park on Flanders Road.

Malloy watched as a worker fed material into an edge-banding machine that Orion purchased with the help of a $40,000 loan it obtained a few years ago through the state's Small Business Express program. More recently, Orion, in need of working capital, obtained another $100,000 loan through the program, according to Byron N. Foote, an Orion partner.

"We're happy to have him down here," Foote said of the governor. "I'm glad to see he's involved on this level."

Foote, 65, and his two sons, Byron C. and Geoffrey Foote, all work in the business, which also employs three other union craftsmen. The company has had as many as seven workers at times since its 2009 start-up. The elder Foote said 99 percent of the company's work is for commercial clients.

The work Malloy observed involved furnishings Orion is producing for Camp Hartell, the Connecticut Army National Guard facility in Windsor Locks. Workers are fashioning cabinets, countertops and vanities for the state installation.

Orion also has done work for SoHo House New York, the Ocean House, Mohegan Sun and Yale University. Foote is busy estimating millwork for Sacred Heart University and hopes to do work for the Cambridge Health and Rehabilitation Center in Fairfield.

In its best year, Orion did about $1.8 million in sales, Foote said. Last year, it did around $700,000.

"This year, we're already at $700,000," he said. "I haven't had a break since March," a sign that the commercial building business has picked up considerably.

For all the hubbub about the state's budget and its impact on big business, Connecticut's commitment to small businesses has been consistent, said Malloy, who noted that the budget includes funding for the Small Business Express program in each of the next two years.

"It's a great program," the governor said. "Small business is where most of the jobs are. … It's been a home run for us."

He called Connecticut "a leading manufacturing state," and said his attempts to promote the state during a trip to Europe this month produced some promising leads involving aerospace companies.

As for reports that Florida Gov. Rick Scott plans to visit Connecticut in a bid to persuade companies to relocate, Malloy shrugged. "We all do it," he said of governors.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck