At a Stamford forum last year, Rep. Larry Cafero derided the Democrat-dominated Connecticut General Assembly as “the least business-friendly legislature in the United States of America.”
It is now Cafero”™s Republicans who are questioning the assumptions behind what could be the most significant economic development deal in the past two decades in Connecticut ”“ presumably with large corporations eyeing the legislature”™s response to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy”™s incentive program for big expansions.
After choosing Farmington as the site of a major new genetics research facility, The Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor, Maine, found itself defending its plan to legislators on both sides of the aisle at an October hearing.
“I want to say I”™m wildly excited about the deal, but I can”™t because of the price tag,” said state Sen. Scott Frantz of Greenwich, quibbling with job multiplier assumptions used by the state.
Even as Connecticut debates The Jackson Lab incentives, NBC Sports Group accepted a $20 million state loan to create a new production studio in Stamford with at least 450 workers, with NHL Network also to create a studio there with additional jobs.
“My concern is that there is no real skin in the game for Jackson Lab,” said Waterbury Rep. Sean Williams. “There is a risk on the part of the state ”“ a significant risk. And understanding that we have NBC bringing ”¦ jobs to Stamford without that much risk on the part of the state ”¦ how can you convince me that this is a good risk?”
Malloy acknowledged that unanimous support is not there for a $1.1 billion plan for Jackson Lab”™s Farmington center, of which Connecticut would be on the hook for nearly $300 million.
“Some folks simply aren”™t going to support it,” Malloy said, without naming names. “But we”™re going to get a bipartisan jobs package alongside that … (This) will be a roadmap to jobs in the state of Connecticut.”
In landing the genetics research lab following a collapsed deal in Florida, Malloy upstaged California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland, which have far larger bioscience clusters than Connecticut, a key criterion for an organization like Jackson Lab, which recruits some of the top genetics scientists in the world. Jackson Lab has 1,300 employees in Bar Harbor and 125 workers in Sacramento, Calif.
“Some have said, ”˜Well, you know, that”™s a lot of money”™ ”¦ I wanted to underscore for you that that would represent one of the largest concentrations of biomedical brain power anyplace in the world,” said Mike Hyde, chief development officer of Jackson Lab. “We are proposing to recruit internationally ranked scientists to work in this facility ”¦ This is an undertaking of enormous proportions.
“I actually took the first call that came in from (Connecticut),” Hyde said. “They said, ”˜Would you like to consider coming to Connecticut?”™ And I said, ”˜no, I really don”™t think so.”™ They said, ”˜Why not?”™ And I said, ”˜Well you know, its an extremely complex undertaking. It takes boldness and vision, and we”™re a little wary.”
Joe McGee, vice president of public policy for the Business Council of Fairfield County, likened the long-term economic impact of a Jackson Lab outpost in Connecticut to that of UBS AG when it moved into a massive trading floor in Stamford, putting the city on the map as a financial services hub.
“For the life sciences, this is akin to what (former Gov. Lowell) Weicker did with UBS,” McGee said.
“It”™s definitely put us on the map,” said Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. “The phones are ringing. We are getting a lot of inquiries ”¦ (from) people in state (and) out of state who are interested in growing in Connecticut.”
