Conditions re relocation of certain businesses which received state financial assistance

The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and the board of directors of Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated shall require, as a condition of any financial assistance provided on and after June 23, 1993, under any program administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development or such corporation to any business organization, except for a business organization that receives any such financial assistance in an amount not more than fifty thousand dollars and is an eligible small business, as defined in section 31-3pp, or under any assistance program that is funded entirely by the federal government, in which case the commissioner may require, that such business organization: (1) Shall not relocate outside of the state for ten years after receiving such assistance or during the term of a loan or loan guarantee, whichever is longer, unless the full amount of the assistance is repaid to the state and a penalty equal to five per cent of the total assistance received is paid to the state, except that this subdivision shall not be applicable to financial assistance by the corporation in the form of an equity investment or other financial assistance, including a convertible or seed loan, with predominantly equity characteristics, and (2) shall, if the business organization relocates within the state during such period, offer employment at the new location to its employees from the original location if such employment is available. For the purposes of subdivision (1) of this section, the value of a guarantee shall be equal to the amount of the state's liability under the guarantee. As used in this section, “financial assistance” does not include any tax credit program administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development or Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated, and “relocate” means the physical transfer of a substantial portion, as determined by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, of the operations of a business or any division of a business that independently receives any financial assistance from the state from the location such business or division occupied at the time it accepted the financial assistance to another location. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to establish the terms and conditions of repayment, including specifying the conditions under which repayment may be deferred, following a determination by the commissioner of a legitimate hardship.