Aetna moving offices to NYC

HQ has been based in Conn. since 1853

Health care insurance giant Aetna is shifting its headquarters to New York City from Hartford, disappointing Connecticut officials who hoped to head off the move and handing New York a victory over other states that courted the company.

Starting in late 2018, Aetna will locate 250 current and new executive and digital jobs in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, shifting them from the suburban Hartford campus in the small city where the company has been based since its 1853 founding.

Although Aetna said it remains committed to roughly 5,000 employees who will continue to work in Hartford, the shift announced Thursday represents a new blow for an area coping with financial challenges.

The headquarters departure adds to decline that has seen the Hartford area’s insurance job total drop from 46,260 in 2000 to 36,539 in 2015, Connecticut Department of Labor

data show.

Connecticut officials had offered to match any incentive package to keep the corporate headquarters. However, Aetna opted for a major city with a growing digital economy that already counts major presences by Amazon, Apple, Google and other big employers.

“New York is a knowledge economy hub, and a driver of the innovations that will play a significant part in our ongoing transformation,” Aetna CEO and Chairman Mark Bertolini said in a statement confirming the move. “Many of the roles in our new office will be filled by innovators from the area’s deep talent pool.”

While conceding that Hartford is not New York City, Meg Green, a spokeswoman for Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, stressed revitalization of the city that has been Aetna’s home.

“Hartford provides a strong foundation for any company in the insurance sector, large or small,” Green said.

New York topped Massachusetts, Virginia and other states and cities that wooed Aetna.