Campus buyout part of effort to keep GE in Conn.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut desperately tried to keep General Electric before the company decided to relocate to Boston, with state officials offering to buy the company’s sprawling 66-acre suburban campus so GE could move to a more urban area within the state.
It was one of three options offered by Connecticut officials, according to a proposal presented to GE in hopes of fending off a move. The proposal reveals the lengths Connecticut officials were willing to go through to keep the cache of GE and hundreds of jobs in the state.
“We thought this could be a really unique way for us to make it easy for them to make the change here in Connecticut,” Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith told The Associated Press. She said GE could have used proceeds from the sale to relocate to a more tech-centered, urban, transit-oriented environment within the state with nearby higher education institutions, as desired by GE’s then-CEO Jeff Immelt.
It would be better to have the headquarters somewhere else in Connecticut, likely near Stamford, rather than having it move to Boston, New York or another out-of-state city, Smith said. Ultimately, though, GE decided to relocate to Boston’s Fort Point district.
Connecticut officials were under great pressure after GE threatened to move. The company referenced Connecticut’s recent tax increases — some of which were scaled back.
A draft copy of Connecticut’s proposal, obtained by AP through an open records request, shows photos and details of various office complexes, mostly in Stamford.