The state will lend an expanding South Windsor-based biomedical manufacturer $3.2 million to add or keep jobs, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday. The new loan will be the third time the company has received state assistance.
The Economic and Community Development Department will extend a partially-forgivable, 10-year loan to help support a $9.5 million expansion project at Oxford Performance Material. The company currently manufactures medical implant devices and is planning on expanding into the field of 3-D printing. If the company meets its job retention and creation requirements, the state will forgive $1 million of the $3.2 million loan.
Two years ago, Oxford Performance Material was the first company to participate in Connecticut’s Small Business Express Program. At the time, DECD provided OPM with $300,000 in economic assistance so it could purchase new equipment and double its workforce by adding 12 jobs.
In 2011, the company also benefited from $1.2 million from Connecticut Innovations, a quasi-public agency that invests in the state’s bioscience sector.
Oxford Performance Material CEO Scott DeFelice said the company opened a biomedical facility two years ago with the state’s help and Oxford Performance Material has upheld their end by adding jobs.
“The state was behind us on that. They supported us. We said we would do something, we did it. We delivered,” he said.
Malloy called the company a success story for the Small Business Express Program. He said the new state assistance package will allow the manufacturer to nearly triple its workforce.
“We don’t turn our back on Small Business Express folks, we keep a relationship, we keep talking and look for opportunities to create additional jobs,” he said.
During the press conference, Malloy was asked if he believed there would be a point when a company may be subsidized too much by the state. Malloy said the subsidies to the company have been worth it.
“I don’t want to be argumentative, but when we take a company that had 12 employees and get it to 66 in a real fast basis, I’ll make those investments any day, quite frankly. And other states do as well,” he said.
DeFelice agreed.
“Look, either you’re in this game or you’re not. Either you’re going to fight for this industry or you’re not. I think frankly this administration is fighting for it. That’s the bottom line. We’re in it and it’s a global competition,” he said.
