Clearly, Boston has demonstrated that it is home to world-class talent and resources. It is hardly a surprise any more when a multinational company chooses the city as the location of a new branch. Even still, it is great to hear about businesses bringing fresh jobs into the state.This week, Sanofi-aventis SA, a French pharmaceuticals company, announced that it will be creating 300 new positions in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This hiring spree comes as part of a $65 million dollar expansion in the city. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/b91nLH)
“As home to world-renowned research institutions and a thriving life sciences industry, Cambridge has an extraordinary wealth of talent and expertise. It’s a natural choice and we’re excited to expand our presence here,” said Jack Cox, Sanofi-aventis’s spokesperson.
Currently, Sanofi-aventis employs 15,000 nation-wide, with 400 of those workers based in Massachusetts. While sales representatives account for the bulk of the company’s Massachusetts workforce, a 60-person research team works out of Cambridge and 100 employees work out of Canton at a vaccine manufacturing plant.
Sanofi-aventis has already sub-let 30,000 square feet of space in sites throughout Cambridge and is in the process of leasing a 112,000 square foot location in an MIT-owned building. Once the lease is finalized, along with Vitry, France, the new location will serve as the co-headquarters of Sanofi-aventis’s new Global Oncology Division.
“We believe that Cambridge is really the heart of oncology today,’’ Hanspeter Spek, president of Sanofi-Aventis’s global operations, said. “We intend to benefit from this environment as a neighbor.’’
Sanofi-aventis’s oncology chief, Debasish Roychowdhury, went on to
describe Cambridge as, “one of the world’s most important centers for biotech research and talented oncology minds.” (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/agaomb)Earlier this week, Sanofi-aventis began posting some of its new jobs to its website, including openings in laboratory research, clinical trials, and marketing. Considering the average salary of the 300 new positions the company is creating will be $100,000, the firm is poised to pay out around $30 million annually to Bay State workers.
“We are continuing to see investment growth here even in places where they might be shrinking in other parts of the world,’’ commented Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, in regards to Sanofi-aventis’ Cambridge investment. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/aWlE0w)To help cover the costs of its expansion, Sanofi-aventis has applied for a tax credit of nearly $9 million from the state. While nothing has been settled yet, most sources predict the credit will be granted.
It is great to see a company bringing quality, relatively high paying jobs into Massachusetts. Perhaps Sanofi-aventis will serve as a testament to the resources available in the Boston-area and lure some of its competitors to open similar facilities in the region. Either way, expansion is a mark of a healthy city, and Boston appears to be very healthy.
[Sources: http://bit.ly/cMfSlN, http://bit.ly/9t8tNO, http://bit.ly/ag4DPZ]
