R.I. Commerce asked to provide $250K transfer to cover promised Virgin Pulse incentives

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Commerce Corp. on Wednesday is expected to take up a recommendation to temporarily cover half of a $500,000 state incentive award to Virgin Pulse, using a flexible fund it has that helps the state recruit new companies.

The $250,000 amount, to be taken from the First Wave Closing Fund, will ultimately be repaid by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, another state agency that is the funding source for the $500,000 incentive.

R.I. Commerce staff, who recommended the transfer, said the Governor’s Workforce Board had authorized $500,000 for job-creation benchmarks for the company in 2017, but that due to financial pressures on the DLT budget, it is unable to pay the full amount. Instead, it will pay half and has asked R.I. Commerce to front the $250,000 remaining.

The Commerce board’s investment committee recommended the transfer from the First Wave account, with the understanding that DLT will repay Commerce once it has sufficient funds. The R.I. Commerce board will take up the request at its meeting Wednesday afternoon.

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Jeff Miller, executive vice president of investments for R.I. Commerce, told the committee that the state had determined Virgin Pulse has met all its obligations to receive the state incentives.

Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor told the committee members that the state should honor its agreement. “We should fulfill our commitments to the company. They did what they needed to do. They moved in, renovated their space, hired personnel. It would be unfortunate and not a good precedent for Rhode Island ever to renege.”

In addition to the $500,000 award through the Governor’s Workforce Board, the company qualified for $6.1 million in total tax credits between the Rebuild Rhode Island and the Qualified Jobs tax incentive programs, according to R.I. Commerce records.

The wellness-tech company relocated its headquarters to downtown Providence from Framingham, Mass. in 2016, occupying several floors at the Providence Journal Building at 75 Fountain St.

It renovated its space and hired several hundred people. CEO David Osborne said this week the company now employs about 350 people in its Providence office, which is the largest of its six locations.

On the incentives, Osborne, who joined the company in 2017, said he would expect Rhode Island would fulfill its commitment to the company.

“I am extremely optimistic that the state of Rhode Island fulfill its obligations, not just to Virgin Pulse but to other companies. I would expect them to do so.”

Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.