Two Steel Firms Move To Conn.

With State Aid

NORTH HAVEN — (AP) Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced on July 18, a state loan of $19 million to bring steel product companies to Connecticut and the creation of 400 jobs as he warned that unemployment could continue to rise. The company, Sustainable Building Systems LLC, is a joint venture between the Weeks Group and Diverse Services Group that will make building panels for homes, hotels, the military, and other applications.

Diverse Services Group, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., manufactures energy-efficient building products. The Weeks Group, an Australian business, builds homes and manufactures steel framing products.

State support for the $97 million project will be provided through Gov Malloy’s First Five program, intended to spur large-scale business development. The Department of Economic and Community Development will provide a ten-year, $19.1 million loan at two percent interest.

The company will receive $10 million immediately, $5 million within two years if the company creates 208 jobs, and $4.1 million in four years if it establishes another 200 jobs. The money will be used to buy machinery and equipment.

Gov Malloy said that although the state’s unemployment rate is at historically high rates, more unemployed workers are looking for jobs.

“That influx in the workforce caused our unemployment rate to increase slightly last month, and it may well increase again,” the governor said. The unemployment rate in May was 7.8 percent, up from 7.7 percent in April. The jobless rate has fallen from a high of 9.4 percent, where it remained stuck from August to December 2010. June rates were to be released July 19.

Gov Malloy proposed the First Five job creation initiative in February 2011, to provide incentives to businesses that, depending on the size of the company’s investment, create a minimum of 200 new, full-time jobs in the state within the next two years, or 200 new, full-time jobs in the state within five years.

Companies must receive approval from the Department of Economic and Community Development in order to receive First Five backing. The first four First Five companies to take advantage of the program were CIGNA, TicketNetwork (which subsequently abandoned its proposal), ESPN, and NBC Sports Group.