A second company this week has announced plans to come to Connecticut, with state incentives available only after it creates new jobs, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.
Financial tech company iCapital Network plans to open an office in Greenwich in the fall and create 200 jobs over two years, according to the governor’s news release. The company, which provides a digital platform for banking and wealth management, is headquartered in New York with other offices in Hong Kong, Lisbon, London and Zurich.
“When we considered locations for the expansion of our domestic footprint, Connecticut was the obvious choice,” Lawrence Calcano, CEO of iCapital Network, said.
On Tuesday, Philip Morris International publicized plans to relocate its headquarters from New York. According to Lamont’s office, the Philip Morris International plan came without tax breaks or other incentives from the state.
However, if iCapital creates the 200 jobs over the next two years, it could earn $2.94 million in state grants as part of the Department of Economic and Community Development’s “earn-as-you-grow” program, a spokesman for the department said.
The program is part of a shift by DECD away from offering businesses upfront incentives in order to open operations in Connecticut. Instead, companies become eligible for grants as they reach job-creation thresholds. The goal is to attract jobs to the state without taxpayers shouldering the risk of down payment loans or grants.
Commissioner David Lehman has advocated for the program since 2019. He sought legislative approval for the program in 2020, when the session was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic and again this year. The bill was passed with bipartisan support by the Commerce Committee but died in the Finance Committee.
So far, that hasn’t stopped the department from actually administering the program. In March, Lamont announced that support from the program had helped encourage job growth at WellSpark Health, a health management company that has promised to create 287 new jobs over seven years.
Jim Watson, a spokesman for DECD, said the agency uses grants in arrears under the Manufacturing Assistance Act to support the “earn-as-you-grow” program. He said the department would seek legislation to codify the program again next year.
Lamont said the iCapital announcement was evidence of success.
“This is more validation that our approach to growth and economic development is working, as we’re seeing more companies take a second look at our state and decide that it is an ideal environment for them to grow and thrive,” Lamont said.