The New Jersey-based company expects to seek about $6 million in state incentives for its center, adjacent to the former Route 195 land, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor said at an announcement in the Providence Public Library by Gov. Gina Raimondo, members of Rhode Island's congressional delegation and company executives.
Johnson & Johnson's Steve Wrenn said the company had considered other global locations but chose Rhode Island for its "world-class universities," the economic incentives approved last year by the state legislature and the Ocean State's proximity to T.F. Green Airport, Route 95 and Amtrak for trips to New York and Boston. Wrenn would not say where else the company considered locating.
As for incentives, Wrenn said the allure was about more than "all this money," including help from the state to train workers and to work with local universities to help the company hire employees. He also said Bryant University's world-renowned supply-chain curriculum factored into the company's decision.
"We're what we call a knowledge society today," said Wrenn, global vice president and chief applications officer for the company that makes medical devices and pharmaceutical and consumer goods. "So if you think about access to the Browns, the RISDs, that's always No. 1, because if you don't have the people to draw from to get the creativity, you can't be creative."
Johnson & Johnson employs about 126,900 employees at 250 operating companies. The firm reported third-quarter sales of $17.8 billion and has a facility in Cumberland and a major medical-device operation in Raynham, Mass.
Wrenn said the company will start interviewing job candidates in January and February. He'll hire data scientists, data engineers, data analysts, software engineers, software developers and those who can build applications for smart phones.
Raimondo said the company has similar centers in São Paulo, Brazil, and Limerick, Ireland. Those centers started with 75 workers and now employ hundreds in college towns.
Wrenn said Providence employees will build new technology solutions for Johnson & Johnson customers and will use data and analytics to solve internal company problems. He declined to say what their average wages would be.
Raimondo said they're "high-wage jobs, high-skills jobs," but deferred to Pryor for salaries. Pryor said the company will need to release average salaries and he could not.
Johnson & Johnson expects to request about $4.1 million in Qualified Jobs tax credits, Pryor said. That program sets aside personal-income taxes paid by employees in newly created Rhode Island jobs and uses that money to offer companies tax credits. Average salaries have been reported by the Commerce Corporation for past companies receiving Qualified Jobs credits.
Johnson & Johnson won't have to pay initially to use about 9,000 square feet of temporary space in One Ship St., Pryor said. That building is adjacent to 5 acres of 195 land where Wexford Science & Technology announced last week it's moving forward with plans to build an "innovation center." Wexford bought One Ship for $3.5 million, and the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission last week approved giving $1 million out of its $25-million 195 Fund to help pay for those renovations.
The no-cost arrangement is a short-term agreement between Wexford, the Commerce Corporation and the 195 Commission, whose terms are still being negotiated, Pryor said. Yet to be determined, Pryor said, is whether Johnson & Johnson is considering moving into the innovation complex Wexford hopes to begin building in the spring.
©2016 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
