Wall Street Journal planned headquarters move from White Plains, NY may have hit a snag. The WSJ originally reported that the move is contingent upon Connecticut's promise to improve infrastructure for the hotel giant, but currently those improvements are relying on Federal stimulus money for funding. The Federal stimulus, however, is not meant to fund taking jobs from one state and moving them to another. Subsequent to the story's publication, however, a Starwood spokeswoman said her company's relocation to Stamford was tied to a $90-million economic incentive package but not to infrastructure improvements, and the WSJ published a retraction.

Greg LeRoy, founder of Good Jobs First, tells the WSJ: "If the infrastructure money was an important element of Starwood's decision to relocate, that would be a troubling use of stimulus dollars. It's a flag and raises the question: 'Are Recovery Act dollars subsidizing an interstate job movement?' You don't want Uncle Sam being in the business of paying Peter to rob Paul."

If the money is with-held, Connecticut could always fund the infrastructure improvements itself. The requested filing would be for about $35 million of federal aid. Starwood if it does move its operations north is planning to take over space in the Harbor Point development here.

To read the entire Journal article, click here.

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