State approves $14M to bring Infosys, 1,000 tech jobs to Hartford

HBJ File Photo Infosys CEO Salil Parekh is leading the Indian IT company's strategy to hire more American workers at its U.S. job sites.

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By KEITH M. PHANEUF | CT MIRROR

The State Bond Commission approved financing Friday to provide $14 million to Infosys, an India-based information technology company developing a new training and innovation hub in Hartford as part of a major expansion in the U.S.

In return for these grants, the company will provide an estimated 1,000 jobs to the capital city by 2022.

“The bottom line is Connecticut is investing in itself,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said immediately after Friday’s meeting.

The governor, who called Infosys a leader “in global technology and next generation IT services,” added “these are monumental wins for Connecticut’s economy and a testament to the quality of our skilled, highly educated and productive workforce.”

Infosys would be eligible to receive:

$4 million if 200 jobs are created within two years and retained for two years;
A second $4 million payment if 500 jobs in total have been created within the next three years, and then retained for two more years.
A third $4 million payment if the job total reaches 1,000 created within the first five years, and if they are retained for another two years.
And a final $2 million grant would be provided now to fund job training.

The 10-member bond commission voted 9-1 to approve the assistance.

Rep. Chris Davis, R-Ellington, cast the lone dissenting vote, charging Infosys has been one of the leading outsources of U.S. jobs to other countries in the information technology field.

“That company is, I believe, the third largest outsourcer in the entire world in its field,” he said. “Infosys outsourced Connecticut-based employees at Eversource and at financial services and insurance industries across Connecticut.”

Davis added “we are going into partnership with a company that has displaced, potentially, thousands of Connecticut employees over the years, and are giving them taxpayer money.”

Malloy announced in mid-March a deal to bring Infosys to Hartford. The talks leading up to that agreement included appeals from the state, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s administration, and several corporations in the region.

“This investment will be recognized on a national basis as a further step in repositioning Connecticut in the marketplace of the future,” Malloy said during the March 14 announcement. “And this opportunity to train tomorrow’s workforce today in Connecticut is what this announcement is all about.”

Infosys, a global provider of information-technology and training services, is in the midst of shifting much of its training from India to the U.S., where it is planning to open four or five hubs. The initiative was announced last May, with a plan to hire 10,000 U.S. workers. Worldwide, the company employs 200,000.