Part 4 (2/2)

”Sure.”

”C'mon in the kitchen.”

As they entered the room, Beachy immediately spotted an easel with a bubble diagram depicting a new hotel, a conference center, and office buildings.

Claire opened cupboard doors in search of coffee cups and a coffeepot.

Beachy stared at the bubble diagram, trying to figure out the whereabouts of the buildings depicted. The geography looked very familiar, but the landmarks looked foreign. Then it dawned on him; the diagram depicted the Fort Trumbull neighborhood and surrounding peninsula, minus the existing homes and buildings. Stunned, Beachy glanced at Claire. She still had not found cups or a coffeemaker. The cupboards were empty.

She doesn't live here, Beachy thought to himself.

Determined, Claire rounded up one mug and a package of instant coffee. She boiled some water on the stove and made Beachy a cup of coffee before leading him to the dining-room table. While he sipped coffee, Claire explained each bubble on the chart.

Two and a half hours later, Claire escorted Beachy to the door. He had never gotten to share his vision for the city. That was the point, he realized, once he stepped outside.

December 11, 1997 George Milne received a letter marked ”CONFIDENTIAL” from the commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development.

”On behalf of the State of Connecticut and Governor John G. Rowland, I am pleased to provide this letter offering a.s.sistance to Pfizer, Inc. for development of a new facility in New London, Connecticut,” it began. ”This letter represents the State's commitment to ensure Pfizer's ability to select New London for a new Headquarters operation by defraying the cost of that development and improving its value through a comprehensive, State-funded waterfront improvement and development project.”

These were the words Milne wanted to see.

The governor offered to: * Release $4.5 million in liens currently held by the state against the twenty-four-acre New London mill site.* Spend up to $2 million to relocate the Calamari junkyard to another site purchased by the state.* Spend up to $20 million to develop historic Fort Trumbull into a state park.* Provide a low-interest $7 million loan to the City of New London for improving the nearby sewage-treatment facility.* Acquire the navy base with state money. ”The State will develop a timetable to meet Pfizer's needs,” the letter read.* Provide $8 million to the NLDC for operating costs and acquiring properties in the neighborhood located between the mill site and the navy base.

”Please know that the State will continue to work with you to refine this proposal,” the letter continued, ”in order to meet the specifications of Pfizer, and to support their decision to locate their new facility in New London.”

Claire followed up a few days later with her own commitment letter to Milne. ”This commitment is presented in conjunction with the State of Connecticut and the City of New London,” she said. The city had agreed to transfer the mill site, evaluated at $5.4 million, to Pfizer at no cost. It had also agreed to modify its zoning regulations to ensure that the mill site, the navy base, and the surrounding neighborhood could be redeveloped. Claire mapped out a comprehensive development scheme: In addition to your facility the project includes the development of the state's fourth biotechnology incubator, the refurbishment of historic Fort Trumbull, the reuse of the vacant Naval Underwater Warfare Center and the development of mixed retail and residential s.p.a.ce that will be fully integrated into the surrounding neighborhoods of the City of New London.In order to achieve these goals, it will be necessary to relocate the Calamari Bros. sc.r.a.p dealer, upgrade utilities and infrastructure, and acquire a number of surrounding properties.

Claire promised that the NLDC would acquire the residential and commercial properties within the parameters of the redevelopment design plan. ”We will work with you to refine this proposal to meet Pfizer's requirements,” she said.

11.

NATURAL-BORN LEADERS.

January 18, 1998 Reid MacCluggage and his wife had just finished unpacking suitcases at their winter vacation spot in Florida when the phone rang. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night, but as the publisher of New London's newspaper, the Day, Day, MacCluggage never really escaped the news. Even on vacation, his job always seemed to catch up with him. Expecting an editor, he picked up the phone and said h.e.l.lo. MacCluggage never really escaped the news. Even on vacation, his job always seemed to catch up with him. Expecting an editor, he picked up the phone and said h.e.l.lo.

”Reid, this is Claire.”

MacCluggage couldn't believe she had tracked him down in Florida.

She insisted she had something very important to discuss, some inside information on a developing news story. Pfizer, she reported, had decided to build a large research lab and office building on the New London mill site.

MacCluggage wasn't too surprised. One of his reporters had a source saying the same thing. The paper had been seeking a second source for confirmation. But Claire wanted MacCluggage to delay reporting the news until Pfizer was ready to announce its plans at a large media event. MacCluggage didn't like the idea of holding back the news.

”I'm going to invite you to be on the inside,” she told him, offering to grant access to a reporter. ”But you can't report until the announcement.”

Unwilling to pull his beat reporter off the story, MacCluggage countered, ”Here's the deal. I'll a.s.sign one reporter to come in and get the inside story on how this deal comes through. And we'll report that after the announcement-sort of an anatomy of how the deal was made.”

Claire had no problem with that.

”But,” MacCluggage continued, ”I've already got a reporter working on this, and if she nails it through other sources, we're going to break the story before you announce it.”

”Well, I don't want you to do that,” Claire said.

MacCluggage didn't know what to say. He wasn't used to being told how to run his newspaper. Claire wasn't used to being told no. For nearly two hours they went round and round, each trying to get across his or her point of view.

Exhausted, MacCluggage finally said, ”I'm not going to make any agreements that tie the hands of the newspaper.”

Dissatisfied, Claire said she had to talk to her a.s.sistant and would get back to MacCluggage. She never did.

The Day Day broke the story a few days later. broke the story a few days later.

January 21, 1998 Decision day had arrived. Pfizer's board a.s.sembled at corporate headquarters in Manhattan to vote on a number of matters, including whether to authorize funding for George Milne's recommendation to construct a new research-and-development laboratory in New London.

Milne had briefed the board earlier and made the case for investing $300 million to develop the site. This bold, unorthodox move would enable the pharmaceutical giant to lead the revitalization of an economically depressed city. Governor Rowland had made up his mind, too. He wanted Pfizer in New London badly enough that he had promised $75 million in incentives.

Claire had persuaded both men to raise the stakes in order to close the deal. By embracing her vision, Milne and Rowland were taking big risks. Pfizer specialized in making drugs, not transforming small cities. How would shareholders and the board of directors react if more than $300 million in corporate treasure ended up squandered on a social experiment? The state was taking an even bigger risk. Rowland had committed taxpayer money to a grand plan that ultimately hinged on the NLDC's ability to carry it out. And the head of the agency had no track record for a project of this nature.

But everyone was bullish.

With Milne in New York to meet with senior officers at Pfizer headquarters, Rowland's economic-development commissioner, James Abromaitis, dispatched a last-minute, confidential letter to Milne, saying it superseded his previous letter in December.

”This letter represents our continued interest in working with you to craft an a.s.sistance package that will allow Pfizer to choose New London,” Abromaitis began. ”It is our goal to reduce your development costs and to a.s.sure that the selected site provides an appropriate environment for Pfizer and its employees.”

In addition to giving Pfizer the twenty-four-acre mill site at no cost, Abromaitis promised additional land to Pfizer, including the nearby sc.r.a.p-metal facility and junkyard owned by Calamari Brothers: ”We are in the process of funding the New London Development Corporation's effort to purchase the adjacent Calamari site at a purchase and testing cost of $4.7 million. This site would be provided at little or no cost to Pfizer.” Abromaitis also promised the state would get control of the ma.s.sive navy base property: ”The Department of Environmental Protection will work to a.s.sure control of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to accommodate your expectations for the waterfront area.” And he offered up more money-now $26 million-for the NLDC to buy out and demolish homes and businesses in and around the Fort Trumbull neighborhood.

The state's willingness to help acquire the junkyard, the navy base, and the nearby neighborhood homes and businesses sealed the deal. The total package from the state, including tax abatements and the improved value of the land after cleanup, crested at about $100 million. That translated to the state's spending one dollar for every three pledged by Pfizer.

Early in the evening, Mayor Beachy received a call at home from a friend at City Hall. He had important news: Pfizer had called an urgent meeting with city officials and senior Pfizer employees in the area. George Milne was on his way back from New York and planned to address them in an hour.

Beachy figured the news had to be good. He threw on a jacket and tie. Minutes later, his friend picked him up and drove him to the meeting. More than thirty of the city's top business leaders, lawyers, and political officials were on hand, along with several senior Pfizer executives. Waiters and waitresses served c.o.c.ktails and hors d'oeuvres. Everyone eagerly awaited Milne's arrival.

Just after dark, guests were invited to take seats around an oversized conference table. Milne entered, shook some hands, and formally announced that the company had approved plans to construct a four-hundred-thousand-square-foot clinical-research laboratory on the mill site. Beachy and his colleagues applauded.

Construction was to begin in a few months and had an expected completion date of the year 2000. Up to two thousand new jobs would be generated by the project.

Milne displayed some bubble diagrams for the audience. Beachy recognized them instantly: he had seen the same ones in Claire's home a month earlier. Milne pointed to improvements planned for the area around the mill site. One by one, Milne asked each city official to support the Pfizer plan. Everyone agreed.

Pfizer planned an elaborate public announcement in early February involving Governor Rowland. Until then, the company planned to make no statements on its plans. It hoped city officials would remain quiet, too.

At the conclusion of Milne's presentation, Beachy approached and shook his hand. ”Your people really know how to run a development,” he told Milne.

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