On Tuesday Governor Dannel Malloy announced that 3,800 new jobs have been created in Connecticut by a business incentive program he introduced five years ago.
The First Five Plus program is Connecticut’s flagship economic development initiative. A total of 13 companies have taken part, including Cigna, NBC Sports, ESPN and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Companies are investing nearly $1.3 billion in new infrastructure and jobs, and in return the state is providing $256 million in loans, grants and other incentives.
Speaking in front of the new headquarters of Alexion in New Haven, Malloy responded to criticism that the program is a corporate giveaway.
“In several of these cases, we were in direct competition with other states. So in many of those situations not only was this a job add, it was a protection of the jobs currently here.”
State Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, helped pass the program into law in 2011. He says it’s bringing high paying jobs to the state.
”The jobs that are being generated here in places like Alexion are jobs where high-income professionals are coming to Connecticut, settling in Connecticut, contributing to the Connecticut economy.”
An analysis of the program can be found on the state Department of Economic and Community Development website.
