McKee Administration Poised to Give Major Incentives to Boston Biotech Firm
GoLocalProv Business Team
McKee Administration Poised to Give Major Incentives to Boston Biotech Firm
The company would locate portions of its operations at a Smithfield, Rhode Island facility that has been a graveyard for biotech companies over the past 30 years.
The location, 100 Technology Way, was originally built by the State of Rhode Island in the early 1990s for Alpha-Beta, which closed.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThen, the facility was home to Alexion, which shut down operations and laid off 260.
Then, Rubius took over the property. It, too, closed and laid off hundreds more. Each company received taxpayer incentives. Read more about the history of the facility below.
Newest Potential Iteration
Organogenesis claims to be “a leading regenerative medicine company focused on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of product solutions for the Advanced Wound Care and Surgical & Sports Medicine markets.”
The publicly traded stock has seen a bumpy ride in the past 12 months. On Wednesday, the company's stock closed at $2.89 a share — it has fallen 62% from a 52-week high of $4.70 a share.
According to the Commerce Corp.'s agenda, the meeting will consider awarding incentives to Organogenesis Holdings Inc. under the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit Act and Qualified Jobs Incentive Act.
Commerce writes, “The company will undertake the redevelopment of property located at 100 Technology Way in Smithfield for the purpose of establishing a manufacturing facility at this location. The project cost for the facility is estimated to be $97,525,000.”
The amount of the McKee administration's proposed incentives have not been disclosed.
In 2018, another company was going to redevelop the property and promised to be a major economic boon to Rhode Island’s economy.
GoLocal reported that Rubius Therapeutics was going to redevelop the property that Organogenesis is now going to redevelop, but within a couple of years, Rubius had closed shop.
GoLocal reported in 2018 that:
Rubius plans to invest as much as $155 million over a five-year period to renovate a 135,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Smithfield. Rubius takes over the facility which was formerly Alexion. That company closed the RI facility in September of 2017 jettisoning 250 positions.
The facility is expected to create 160 jobs in manufacturing, biotech operations, and other support functions.
"This is more outstanding news for Rhode Island. I'm thrilled that Rubius has decided to invest here, adding to the growing list of companies bringing highly-skilled jobs to our state. There are more jobs in Rhode Island than ever before, and we're continuing to make progress. Today's announcement is more proof that our approach is working,” said Governor Gina Raimondo.
Incentives for Rubius
As GoLocal wrote in 2018:
The facility will be supported by incentives from Rhode Island’s innovative toolkit of economic development programs.
The Board of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation approved tax credits through the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit Program and the Qualified Jobs Incentive Act.
The estimated value of the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit is approximately $2.75 million. The estimated value of the Qualified Jobs tax credits is approximately $370,000 per year over 10 years.
The credits will be paid out after the jobs are created and employees have paid income tax for a full year.
The company will also be eligible for a sales tax rebate on construction materials.
R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor added, "We are very pleased that Rubius Therapeutics is bringing its new advanced manufacturing facility to Rhode Island. Rubius joins companies such as Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, and EpiVax in our flourishing bioscience ecosystem. We thank Rubius for choosing Rhode Island and look forward to the company's success here."
And, before Rubius used the facility, it was home Alexion. Rhode Island taxpayers initially funded it in the early 1990s.
“In 1992, Rhode Island succeeded in enticing Alpha-Beta to build its manufacturing plant outside of Massachusetts. Rhode Island borrowed $30 million to construct the 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Smithfield. In addition, Rhode Island spent about $3 million to buy a 120-acre parcel where the plant was built,” wrote Boston Business Journal in 1999. The title of that article was "Rhode Island takes it on the chin with biotech setback."