HARTFORD — The State Bond Commission is due to act Friday on $8.7 million in grants and loans to back the Manchester-based Bob’s Discount Furniture’s expansion of its headquarters.
If enough employees are added, the company also would be eligible for loan forgiveness.
Under the terms of an agreement announced this spring, the retailer will move into a new 103,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its existing 90,000-square-foot complex off Tolland Turnpike. The company is expected not only to maintain its current 326 employees but to create 125 additional jobs.
The interest rate of the loan would be 2 percent for 10 years, with the principal deferred for five years.
However, the company would be eligible for loan forgiveness if it creates the 125 new jobs within five years and maintains them for two years.
Other business related items on the agenda include:
- $22 million to provide a grant-in-aid and loan, under the First Five Program, to Bridgewater Associates, LP to assist with expansion of its facilities in Westport, Wilton and Norwalk.
- $17.8 million to replenish the Small Business Express Program
- $9.5 million to fund grants from the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund
- $7.9 million for the state’s Brownfield Remediation and Revitalization Program
- $6.9 million to provide a grant-in-aid to the City of New Britain to assist with improvements to the Main Street bridge over Route 72 adjacent to the CTFastrak station.
- $1.6 million to provide a loan to AI Engineers, Inc. to assist with expansion of its headquarters in Middletown. The company will retain 101 jobs and create up to 61 new jobs.
- $1 million to provide a loan to Fabbrica, LLC to assist with leasehold improvements and purchase of manufacturing equipment for its new plant in Windsor. The company will create at least 115 new jobs. The loan will be provided at an interest rate of 3% for ten years, with interest deferred for one year and principal deferred for three years. The company will be eligible for incremental loan forgiveness up to $600,000 if it meets creation goals.
- $1 million to provide a loan to Logan Steel, Inc. to assist with machinery and equipment for expansion in Meriden. The company will retain 25 jobs and create 19 new jobs.
The commission is also set to approve state aid for several other towns for various projects, including school repairs, infrastructure, and housing.
The school systems in East Hartford, East Windsor, Manchester, Vernon, Windsor, and Windsor Locks, will be among 28 to receive a portion of more than $21 million for improvements to school buildings.
The school construction funds the commission is slated to award include $817,000 for East Windsor, $450,000 for East Hartford, more than $611,000 for Manchester, more than $713,000 for Vernon, and $1.22 million each for Windsor and Windsor Locks.
East Windsor Superintendent Theresa Kane said her system’s funding would be used at the 65-year-old Broad Brook Elementary School to renovate restrooms, update the cafeteria kitchen and replace the heating system with a more efficient gas furnace.
She also said the funds would enable the replacement of lockers, updating the main office’s security system, installation of some new windows, and repairs to existing window fixtures.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for the East Windsor community,” Kane said. “These necessary updates would not be possible without this funding.”
If approved, the funds would be the most recent appropriated for school repairs.
Although residents voted down the town’s budget this month, they did approve two bond proposals, one of which was a measure to appropriate $2.74 million to replace the middle school roof, a project that has been deemed necessary for several years.
Various projects are eligible for the funding, including improvements to windows and doors, heating and ventilation systems, communications and technology systems, floors and ceilings, parking areas, athletic fields, and roof repairs.
Vernon is expected to see an influx of funds in numerous areas, including nearly $4 million to rehabilitate the Francis J. Pitkat Congregate Living Center on Franklin Street. The Aldon Mill Pond Dam and the Upper Bolton Lake Dam projects are expected to receive $176,000 and $86,000, respectively.
In addition, the Local Capital Improvement Fund could see a boost of $15 million in reimbursements to municipalities for various approved projects.
All requests for funding are expected to be approved at the commission’s meeting on Friday.
In March, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that he had raised his self-imposed cap on state bonding to $2.7 billion, an increase of $200 million over last year’s cap.
In March, the bond commission approved $500 million for school construction projects.
