Connecticut cements role as the ‘Strong Presence State’

With United Technologies moving to Boston, they may need to put a few extra dollars in the state budget for new signs on I-95: “Welcome to Connecticut, the Strong Presence State.”

That appears to be Connecticut’s emerging role in the global economy. No corporate headquarters, but a “strong presence in Connecticut”

United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes promised exactly that when he announced the company — born and bred in Connecticut, and one of its biggest employers — would be moving its headquarters to Boston as part of a merger with Waltham, Mass.based defense contractor Raytheon Co.

It might not be the end of the world to lose (another) 100 corporate jobs to the Boston area, but it brings back an all-too-familiar pit in the stomach.

General Electric moved its corporate headquarters to Boston in 2016, but it left many jobs in Connecticut. As Rhode Island’s CVS moves to take over Aetna, it plans to maintain Aetna’s Hartford location as a “center of excellence” (read: strong presence). U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., urged Cigna and Aetna to “maintain a strong presence in Connecticut” when they were discussing a merger. Travelers is now headquartered in New York City, despite its strong presence in Greater Hartford.

So this is our new normal. We are the “strong presence state.”

The location of a company’s headquarters might not be as important to the local economy as where its jobs are, and with some 19,000 workers in Connecticut and an established supply ecosystem, the vast bulk of United Technologies and its two major manufacturing centers don’t appear to be vacating the premises. That’s far more important than where the company’s top brass have meetings.

And it’s reassuring that Mr. Hayes didn’t cite Connecticut’s economy or tax climate as a motivating factor in the decision to move headquarters to Boston. This move seems like more of a negotiating point between UTC and Raytheon — UTC will hold a majority of seats on the new board, and Mr. Hayes will assume the chairman role in two years. It’s plausible that Raytheon executives were adamant about not leaving Waltham.

But it’s discouraging that keeping headquarters in Connecticut was not seen as a positive.

Having a company’s chief executives in town often goes hand-in-hand with that company’s level of participation in the fabric of the community. That’s not to say it’s necessary — Travelers, for example, has played a major role in reviving the Travelers Championship golf tournament and all that goes with it — but sometimes it is the combined weight of corporate leaders pulling together that drives major change in a community.

The local leaders of Aetna, The Hartford and Travelers did just that when they pledged $50 million to the city of Hartford in 2017. That’s what it means to invest in a community — good corporate citizens realize that strong schools, safe streets and solid infrastructure make life better for everyone in the area.

As the world of business becomes more global, we’ll probably see more gravitation to New York and Boston. But what matters most is the jobs and the people who remain as key contributors to their own communities. A strong Pratt & Whitney is good for Connecticut; a strong Aetna is good for Hartford.

Still, the move of corporate headquarters underscores the need to commit to the state’s future. We need to make sure we are training the workforce for growth. We need to improve our transportation network so moving through the Northeast is easy. We need to continue to press the case for Connecticut — and make it a good place to do business — so other corporations don’t see the decision of UTC or GE as a sign to avoid coming here.

And if the merger between United Technologies and Raytheon means a stronger company, more able to withstand market ebbs and flows, then that’s a positive for Connecticut.

But, still, it stings.

“Strong presence” just feels, well, weak.