Boston Among Others Eyeing Aetna: Report

HARTFORD, CT - First General Electric, now Aetna?

Reports this week say Boston economic officials have reached out to Aetna company executives in an effort to entice the insurance giant, which was founded in 1853 in Hartford, to relocate there.

The news was first reported by the Boston Business Journal, which obtained public emails from Boston economic officials that confirmed the contact.

“Based on our interaction with Aetna, it does sound like they are beginning to get several inquiries,” wrote Krista Zalatores, chief of staff in the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, in an email to Daniel Koh, chief of staff to Mayor Martin Walsh.

Nothing has been decided and Aetna officials will only say that their headquarters are in Connecticut now, but their future is up in the air.

Complicating matters too is the fact that a merger is pending between Humana and Aetna, and Humana is based in Louisville.

Understandably, Connecticut officials are somewhat nervous, especially after Boston successfully lured GE to agree to bolt from Fairfield after four decades and move to Boston.

The Hartford Courant says Connecticut and Hartford leaders including Mayor Luke Bronin are working overtime to keep Aetna, which employs 6,000 people in Connecticut, here.

On Friday, when reports emerged that Boston officials had talks with Aetna, Bronin released a statement saying “Aetna is a world-class company,” adding the insurance giant is “vital to the Hartford community,” the Courant reports. He added he is in constant communication with Aetna leaders.

Aetna executives were critical, like GE and other companies were last year when the General Assembly considered raising taxes on businesses, and at the time the company released a statement saying the tax hike would result in an “exodus of jobs and businesses from the state,” the Courant reported. The tax hikes were rolled back after a groundswell of opposition from the business community.

Read the full Hartford Courant story here.

Read the full Boston Business Journal story here.

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