Charter moves headquarters to Stamford, Conn.

Charter Communications announced Oct. 2 that it will move its corporate headquarters from Town & County to Stamford, Conn.

The announcement shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise given that new CEO Tom Rutledge and several other high-level executives, some of whom hail from Cablevision Systems Corp., live in close proximity to Stamford. However, Charter spokesperson Anita Lamont said the move put executives closer to leaders of other big media companies.

Still, incentives never hurt and the man getting all the credit for luring the Fortune 500 company away from St. Louis is Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy.

Malloy’s “First Five” initiative program offers financial incentives, including low interest loans, to the first five companies that bring a minimum of 200 new, full-time jobs to Connecticut, something which Charter has promised to do.

As for increased employment in St. Louis, Charter is promising to increase its workforce in Town & County, too. Lamont put the employment increase projection at 300 locally to staff the company’s “Charter Business” commercial operation, call center and other functions.

Other reasons cited for the move included the ease of travel between Stamford and media/financial centers such as New York City and Washington, D.C.

Rutledge said in a written statement, “In addition to our cable operations in Connecticut, access to the talent base, the transportation infrastructure and the proximity to other media headquarters and financial markets, made Stamford a logical alternative.”

Rutledge went on to say that “establishing a corporate presence in Stamford is one of many actions we have taken to position Charter for long-term growth.”

Charter will invest more than $10 million in Connecticut, according to state officials. In return for the relocation, the state Department of Economic and Community Development will provide a 10-year loan of $6.5 million at 2 percent, with principal payments deferred for three years.