Lamont: Otis will stay in CT, UTC to hire 1000 people at Pratt & Whitney

United Technologies will employ 1,000 people at its Pratt & Whitney unit and Otis Elevator Co. will keep their headquarters in Connecticut after a planned spinoff next year, Gov said. Down Lamont Tuesday.

The moves accompany the two-day UTC announcement that the aviation giant will merge with Raytheon Co., the manufacturer of missiles and spyware, and move the headquarters of the newly created $ 100 billion corporation to metro Boston.

It comes as comfort and perhaps someone to a state that was shellshocked by UTC news. But in an interview, Lamont said the movements were not presented to him as a makeup for the loss of UTC's headquarters, which would happen in mid-2020 if the Raytheon agreement is approved.

"This is just business as usual for them," Lamont said, making the point that UTC is pleased with Connecticut's financial direction.

At present, Pratt has around 13,000 jobs in East Hartford and Middletown, and has been adding staff robust in recent years as a focal point for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Turbofan commercial engines.

Many people in Connecticut have believed that Otis, based in Farmington, would leave the state for UTC spinoff, expected in the early months of 2020. Carrier, UTC's air conditioning and building control unit also spins and is now based in Florida but has employees at the UTC campus in Farmington.

Lamont spoke to Greg Hayes, UTC general manager, Sunday night around the time of the merger, and again Tuesday morning. On Sunday, Lamont said in an interview: "I said," Tell me about the decision, "and he was very positive about Connecticut, positive about what we did with our budget, positive on Pratt & Whitney and hiring people." [19659017] Lamont could not say how many of the 1000 new recruits at Pratt would be extra and how many would fill vacancies, but it is a sure effort that most are new jobs that will add in total.

The governor has said all the time, even before he was sworn in on January 9, that he was in close contact with UTC and considered it a high priority to keep the company in Connecticut. In total, UTC has more than 18,000 employees in Connecticut, including a few thousand at Collins Aerospace, formerly Hamilton Sundstrand, in Windsor Locks.

He talked about his commitment to Connecticut, says Lamont from Hayes, and for him, his commitment is new people at Pratt & Whitney, Otis Elevator, job training, the incubator they make, the engineering facility … along the way, Raytheon headquarters in Massachusetts, so it came with. "[19659011] Lamont tells Hayes' comments:" Congratulations on getting a budget made without tax and on time. "

UTC did not immediately comment on the promises of new jobs and Otis headquarters. [19659011] The $ 21 billion budget adopted by the General Assembly, which Lamont will sign, includes about $ 170 million in tax increases and an equal deferred tax rate and credits.

"What happens in Connecticut is positive for him, It has nothing to do with the company's location, "continued Lamont.

Republicans disagree with this claim, says rising costs and taxes driving people and businesses out. Connecticut Mirror published a story before the election in 2018 and said a UTC board member was heard at a party saying that if Lamont was elected, UTC would leave. The board member refused to comment when Mark Pazniokas of The Mirror asked him about it.

"Connecticut shifts its weight in lu shipping, defense, engineering and advanced production, "Lamont said in a written statement. "Our talented talent, advanced production education programs and ecosystem are due to zero for companies like Pratt & Whitney and Otis. No one is willing to leave it."

Because UTC maintains a lean headquarters with most executives assigned to the business units, will exit to Massachusetts – as part of Raytheon Technologies creation – is expected to cost only Connecticut about 100 jobs.

Some of them are among the highest paid jobs in the company, but increasing employment at Pratt and a global Otis headquarters in Connecticut would more than make up for it financially. What is lost if the merger goes through is prestige, philanthropy and local trade that comes with a headquarters for a Dow Jones bellwether company – along with the story, which UTC was founded in East Hartford in 1929 and has been synonymous with aviation since.

Otis, with global sales of around $ 12.5 billion, is not a small business and is the most international of UTC's four divisions. Founded by Elisha Otis in Yonkers, NY in 1853, the company was taken over by UTC in a hostile acquisition in 1976.

It is not clear how many people are in Otis headquarters now and how many would recruit it as a stand-alone public traded company. Otis also has a test center in Bristol and a service and supply facility in Bloomfield with several hundred employees.

The merger of UTC-Raytheon would be a stock exchange, meaning that it would be a tax-free combination rather than a sale of a company to another. There may be a reason why UTC had to agree to move the headquarters to the Boston subway; Raytheon Technologies will be based in, at or near Raytheon's current headquarters in Waltham, Mass. The merger is subject to several regulatory approvals, which cannot be taken for granted because Raytheon would be one of the last remaining giant defense contractors.

Lamont wasn't sure if he was talking to Hayes just before or after the company announced the deal with Raytheon. "He talked to me before talking to Donald Trump, so we did well. So, Donald."