By Keith M.Phaneuf
The State Bond Commission is expected to approve $22 million in financing Friday to help Westport-based hedge fund operator Bridgewater Associates expand operations in Westport, Wilton and Norwalk.
That sparked criticism today from House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, who called the grant to the world’s largest hedge fund “dubious,” given the state’s fiscal woes.
But Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said these planned expansions would be an economic win for Connecticut.
“With all that has transpired in the last two weeks, with the state’s budget a mess — and unfinished school construction projects hanging — to make the world’s largest hedge fund a priority, I find it dubious,” Klarides said. “Of course we want to keep highly skilled, well-paying jobs in Connecticut. But we all know that other vital projects will not be funded because we have to curtail our borrowing.”
