The Starwood Hotel group said it will create 340 new jobs at its Stamford headquarters, bringing its total workforce in the city's Harbor Point to more than 1,300.
Starwood, which owns the Westin, Sheraton and Meridien brands, relocated to Stamford in 2012. The company received state aid to make that move, and it will receive a $5 million loan and $20 million in tax credits to make this latest expansion.
Starwood's Ken Siegel said he called Governor Dannel Malloy personally to make the deal. "We were facing issues with actually acquiring the talent necessary to fill several key functional areas," he told a press conference. "Then were faced with the possibility that we might actually need to move out. I told him that we had a choice: we could either continue to grow and expand here, or the alternative was we were going to be looking to move some of the associates here to other facilities so that we could find the requisite talent and space that we needed."
The low-cost state loan could be forgiven if the company fulfills its jobs promise within three years.
Malloy said he sees the deal as a vindication of his focus on aid for large corporations. "The company's decision to bring hundreds of positions to Stamford as part of a renewed commitment to Connecticut demonstrates the value of our economic development programs for large companies," he said. "Starwood is a great Connecticut company, with global recognition and top-notch reputation."
The loan and tax credits will support a $30 million expansion project by the company.
