Connecticut lawmakers have been assured that the state will not lose money on an incentive package for one of the state’s largest defense contractors.
The goal of the $75 million package is to help Lockheed Martin win a couple of government contracts for new helicopter production lines, said David Lehman, the state’s economic and community development commissioner.
It would also sustain at least 7,000 jobs at its Sikorsky manufacturing facility in Stratford, he said.
“If Sikorsky is not successful in winning one or both of these contracts you will see employment in Stratford largely go down over the next two decades,” Lehman told lawmakers.
The incentives would be in the form of reduced sales taxes and payroll tax credits and would not require upfront money from the state, he said. But it would guarantee that Sikorsky would keep its headquarters in Connecticut through 2042.
Sikorsky employs about 8,000 people in Connecticut, and has facilities in Stratford, Bridgeport, Shelton, Trumbull and North Haven.
