Town and Country-based Charter Communications will relocate its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut but intends to keep the bulk of its workforce here.
The company plans to move fewer than 100 jobs from its headquarters, which currently employs about 600. The Internet, phone and cable TV company employs a total of about 2,800 in metro St. Louis. The company also plans to hire another 300 people in St. Louis in coming months for its “Charter Business” commercial operation, call center and other functions, said Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont.
The loss of the headquarters and top brass, however, leaves the St. Louis region as home to eight instead of nine Fortune 500 companies.
The move to the New York City area would place executives closer to leaders of other big media companies and provide better air service than in St. Louis, Lamont said. The state of Connecticut offered Charter a $6.5 million forgivable loan at 2 percent interest to finance the headquarters move. Charter will make no principal payments for three years, and the state will forgive the loan if Charter meets job targets. State officials say Charter has promised 200 jobs eventually in Stamford.
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Asked if St. Louis officials countered the offer, County Executive Charlie Dooley said, “The county doesn't have $6.5 million.”
Asked if the state of Missouri made an offer, or if the governor tried to persuade Charter to stay, the Department of Economic Development issued a written statement. "Through the state of Missouri’s ongoing work with St. Louis County officials, Charter was fully aware of our commitment to their long-term presence here in Missouri," the agency said.
Charter's move came as no surprise. Charter in June said that its top executives would soon be working from offices somewhere in the New York City metro area. Stamford is an affluent New York City suburb.
The switch will keep Charter's new management team close to their homes. CEO Tom Rutledge was hired away from New York-based Cablevision late last year and never moved to St. Louis. Charter's new chief operating officer, along with its chiefs of marketing and customer operations, followed Rutledge from Cablevision. In August, Charter said it was paying its chief financial officer $760,000 for his agreement to move from St. Louis to the New York area.
FierceCable, a cable TV news website, said the Stamford location is less than 10 miles from Rutledge's home in New Canaan, Connecticut. Charter's Lamont said she didn't know where Rutledge lives.
Dooley said Charter gave the county no chance to compete with Connecticut. “I don't believe that individual wanted to move to St. Louis, which is his right,” said Dooley, referring to Charter's new CEO.
Dooley said the move signifies nothing about St. Louis' ability to compete for employers. “We weren't asked what we had to offer,” he said.
The move makes it easier for executives to meet with other New York-based media executives, and to travel to Washington to meet with government regulators, Lamont said. New York's air service also makes it easier to travel to the 25 states where Charter operates “and not have to have two transfers on the flight,” she said.
Time Warner Cable, another giant cable operator, is based in Stamford, as is World Wrestling Entertainment.
Stamford is 32 miles from the nearest major airport. Charter's Town and Country headquarters is 15 miles from Lambert International Airport.
Charter is the fourth largest cable operator in America and dominates the cable TV and Internet service market in St. Louis.
Lisa Brown of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.