Connecticut Senate Democratic leaders say United Technologies’ decision to move its headquarters to Boston in its merger with Raytheon will have little effect on the state’s economy.
Senate President Martin Looney says the biggest loss will be from having the headquarters’ 100 jobs move from Farmington, Conn., to Boston.
“The loss of the headquarters is primarily the loss of philanthropy and charitable giving, perhaps from those wealthy people, but overall the impact will not be that extreme [in] Connecticut.”
Looney says he’s assured that UTC will not move its aircraft engine manufacturing jobs out of the state.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff says that’s the good news.
“I’ll take our 19,000 jobs over those 100 jobs any day of the week.”
They did acknowledge, however, that there is no city in Connecticut that can compete with the attraction of Boston as a major urban center.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said the merger is a reminder of how competitive the global economy is. Lamont phoned United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes to remind him the company is always open to move its headquarters back if things change.
David Cadden, a business professor at Quinnipiac University, was more blunt. “It really is a bad perception in terms of the already low business perception in the state.”
In the long run, Cadden adds that the merger will make the companies even bigger and more able to have control over suppliers in the aerospace industry. The new company will be named Raytheon Technologies and will have a combined sales of $74 billion.
