Norwich proceeds with loan to lure manufacturer to town

Norwich - The City Council voted unanimously on Monday to move forward on a proposed loan program that could help bring a manufacturing business to the Norwich Business Park by supplementing state funding already approved for the company.

City officials said they could not identify the company.

The resolution calls for the Norwich Community Development Corp. to write a plan for the loan program and present it to the City Council again for approval. Mayor Peter Nystrom's original proposal called for creating an $800,000 loan program through a city bond - the maximum the council is allowed to approve without a referendum.

The aldermen delayed voting on the proposal for two months, seeking more information and questioning specifics of the program.

NCDC President Robert Mills thanked the council Monday for taking the time to learn about the proposal and to meet officials from the unnamed company.

"We've been working quite a long time with the manufacturer many of you have met," Mills said. "It's fitting with the notion of bringing back the kind of jobs that fit well with the profile of our city."

Mills told his board in January the company would move from another Connecticut town into an also unidentified building in the business park, bringing 50 good-paying manufacturing jobs with a potential to expand to 75 jobs within five years.

Mills said the company's lease payment for its current location will double this spring, and the company very much would like to move to Norwich.

The company needs to fill a financial gap of up to $650,000, and Mills said he pledged to the company executive officer Wednesday that he would work to find a way for the city to provide that funding.

c.bessette@theday.com