A little-used state program paid big dividends last month when FM Global, Rhode Island’s largest private company based on revenue, decided to build a new $60 million headquarters in Johnston on a 93-acre parcel off Central Avenue.
The decision came after state officials from the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, R.I. Department of Environmental Management and R.I. Department of Transportation teamed with Johnston town officials to expedite permitting through the state Certificate-of-Critical-Economic-Concern (CCEC) program. At least in part because of that 90-day expedited program, the company chose to stay in Rhode Island instead of moving to Massachusetts.
The program was so important in retaining FM Global – an employer of 800 locally – that the CCEC is now being revised to benefit more companies, said Saul Kaplan, EDC executive director.
“It showed how, when we bring the whole power of the state together in a highly coordinated way, we can keep and grow high-wage jobs in the state,” Kaplan said in an interview last month with Providence Business News.
The proposed CCEC changes are to be announced later this month, and will be based on the FM Global deal, the EDC has said. They will offer quicker permitting for companies with more than 100 high-wage employees and a more than 50,000-square-foot building plan.
Commercial property insurer FM Global – a $4.5-billion policyholder-owned company that employs 4,700 people around the world – will design its new headquarters to accommodate 400 extra employees, to allow for potential growth, said spokesman Steve Zenofsky. •
