MassMutual, as part of a corporate restructuring, is closing offices across the country, including Connecticut, and moving 1,500 employees from the Nutmeg State to the Commonwealth.
"Following a thorough strategic assessment of our operations and footprint, we concluded that our home state of Massachusetts is the best place for us to grow and thrive over the long term," Roger Crandall, the company's president and CEO, said.
Enfield has been the home of the 1,500 workers, on a campus that includes a multi-level parking deck.
The news came as a surprise to local leaders in Enfield, especially because the company had made recent investments in the Enfield campus.
Bryan Chodkowski, Enfield's town manager, said MassMutual tops the town's grand list of taxpayers with more than $48 million in assessed property. The company owns its facility that it will vacate.
"The fact that MassMutual still owns the property, they will still be responsible for it within their total portfolio and that includes paying the real estate taxes to the town of Enfield," Chodkowski said.
MassMutual cited a list of reasons why the company wants to move its employees to Springfield and open a new facility in Boston, saying in a statement that Boston features, "a highly skilled workforce, including a rich pipeline of talent from the state’s best-in-class network of higher education institutions; robust local economies; convenient access to transportation, and a diversity of communities, including the best of both metropolitan and suburban locations."
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The decision to move employees out of Connecticut was linked to an overall corporate restructuring, as the company announced it would consolidate other operations in New Jersey, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Massachusetts is also providing the company with up to $46 million in incentives.
State Senator John Kissel, who represents Enfield in the Connecticut General Assembly, released a statement showing his disappointment with MassMutual's decision, calling the move "perplexing."
Kissel also held out hope, saying, "There may be a window of opportunity to preserve some Connecticut jobs, since the closure of the Enfield offices will not take place until 2021."
Gov. Dannel Malloy's communications director, Kelly Donnelly, told NBC Connecticut, "We obviously prefer to be on the receiving end of company relocations, and we work hard every day to retain and grow the footprints of companies already here in Connecticut."
"Today, we announced that ASML in Wilton plans to add over 500 jobs in the coming years. Our administration remains squarely focused on making the state continues to grow jobs and to become ever more competitive," Donnelly said.
