When insurance giant Aetna was looking to move away from Connecticut, the state of Massachusetts was willing to pony up $16 million to lure it to Boston. However, despite a concerted effort by the Bay State, Aetna ended up moving to New York.
The effort, known as “Project X,” ramped up as Aetna was looking not only to relocate, but to reposition its own brand. Aetna was seeking to move away from its “health insurance company” identity to a broader “healthcare company” identity, Mike Kennealy, Massachusetts assistant secretary for business growth, said in an email to the governor’s office.
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Massachusetts’ original proposal to Aetna included a $10 million award through the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program, an infrastructure grant of up to $5 million and $1 million in workforce training funds, according to a report by MassLive.
But despite Massachusetts’ wooing, Aetna chose to move to New York. The company will receive $24 million in state tax breaks over the next decade, and a New York City agency is contributing an additional $10 million, MassLive reported.
The loss of Aetna to the Empire State probably didn’t sting as much as it could have, given Massachusetts’ successful wooing of GE last year.
“Sometimes it’s easier to get one big employer than a whole bunch of small employers,” Jay Ash, economic development chief for Gov. Charlie Baker, told MassLive. “Not that we’re not focused on smaller employers. But there are certain prizes you go after, and Aetna was one of those we went after.”
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