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Philip Morris International, which handles worldwide sales of Marlboro cigarettes, is relocating its corporate headquarters office and its entire Americas team from New York to Connecticut.
The move will be complete by next summer, the company said in announcing the decision Tuesday morning. The move will mean an injection of 200 jobs to the state as the company moves away from cigarettes and continues investing in smoke-free alternatives, like vaporizers that heat tobacco rather than burn it.
“Connecticut offers a valuable mix of technological know-how, future-forward thinking, and an open-minded approach to problem-solving,” PMI CEO Jacek Olczak said in a statement. “We consider it an ideal location for our new U.S. head office, where we will be working to more quickly achieve our vision of a smoke-free future. We are excited about what the state has to offer our company, our employees, and their families — and we very much look forward to integrating into the community in a meaningful way.”
He said the company is in the middle of a “profound transformation” as it replaces cigarettes, and that being based in Connecticut would help accelerate the progression.
“They recognize what we’ve been saying for years: Connecticut is a wonderful place to raise a family and a competitive place to conduct business,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. “I am also impressed by their culture and desire to integrate closely into the communities in which they operate, and we look forward to seeing their active and charitable contributions to our state.”
PMI, which spun off from Altria in 2007, is currently at 120 Park Ave., per its website. The move recovers the same number of jobs Connecticut lost when General Electric announced it would move its headquarters to Boston in 2016, according to the Stamford Advocate.
It is a blow for New York, where there have been growing anxieties about companies and workers leaving amid rising costs and perceptions of an anti-business environment. The New York area saw a net loss of 70,000 people during the coronavirus pandemic. In total, about 3.57 million people left the city from Jan. 1 through Dec. 7, per Unacast data. While 3.5 million people moved in during that time, they were people with lower average incomes.
Restrictions are now essentially removed from the city, but there are concerns that remote work and hybrid office routines will weigh on the city and its economy.
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