Lab Bonds Get Green Light

The Connecticut State Bond Commission has approved $291 million of borrowing over 10 years for a proposed research laboratory adjacent to the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor, Maine, is building the $1.1 billion facility. Connecticut’s General Assembly approved the $291 million during a special session in October.

If Jackson creates 300 permanent jobs by the 10th year of the agreement, the state would forgive $192 million of loans.

The deal also calls for $99 million for research by Jackson.

Gov. Dannel Malloy, quoted in the New London Day, said the loss of roughly 400 Pfizer Inc. jobs from Groton, Conn., to Cambridge, Mass., was a wake-up call for his state.

Some Republicans opposed what they considered excessive spending. The bond panel nonetheless approved it in an 8-to-2 vote.

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