UTC Pact to Keep State as Aerospace Leader

United Technologies Corporation and the state of Connecticut have reached an agreement to enable UTC to invest up to $500 million in the state in the next five years to upgrade and expand its facilities, and invest up to $4 billion in research and development.

As a result, Connecticut will remain the center of UTC’s aerospace R&D activities and the home of Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky headquarters for many years to come.

<p> While the agreement affects at least 75,000 UTC jobs in the state, the good news reverberated throughout Connecticut’s aerospace industry—including the nearly 2,500 small businesses that serve as direct suppliers to UTC [as represented in the above image].

The innovative agreement solidifies the presence of Connecticut’s largest private-sector employer, and ensures that the state will continue to be a leader in aerospace research, development and manufacturing.

Under the agreement, which is subject to approval by the legislature, UTC will be able to use $20 million per year of previously earned but unused tax credits to finance the construction, up to a maximum of $400 million. The exchanged credits will be offset with tax reductions over a 14-year period, with the final amount based on the company’s level of jobs, wages and investments. 

With the historic agreement, the tax credits will accomplish exactly what the state aims to do in creating them—anchor a healthy business and industry in Connecticut.

Over the years, billions in investment dollars, tens of thousands of jobs, and scores of high-tech facilities have stayed here in Connecticut because of strategic state tax credits used by many in-state businesses.

And as lawmakers learned last year during a CBIA forum on tax credits at the Legislative Office Building, tax credits can only be earned and used by companies making an investment in Connecticut jobs or facilities.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Bonnie Stewart at 860.244.1925 | bonnie.stewart@cbia.com | @CBIAbonnie