CT engineering firm, marking 100 years in business, to relocate headquarters, create jobs

A high-profile civil and environmental engineering firm in Connecticut will relocate its headquarters this fall, with plans to create 74 jobs in the state over the next several years.

Fuss & O’Neill Inc. will relocate from Manchester to downtown Hartford, where it was founded in 1924, and establish a new headquarters at One Financial Plaza in Hartford, the “Gold Building,” in October, leasing 23,000 square feet.

The firm’s move to Hartford will bring about 160 of its total of 400 employees to downtown from Manchester, and the new jobs expected to be created also would be based in Hartford, said Kevin Grigg, the firm’s chief executive.

Grigg said the space on the 15th floor of the Gold Building offered the opportunity to consolidate all its staff in Manchester — now divided between two buildings — into one space, with the option to take on more space with anticipated future expansion.

Grigg said the space will accommodate all its Manchester employees to better foster collaboration was the primary driver of the move. But Fuss & O’Neill has sought, in its 100-year history, to expand in urban areas encouraging innovation and drawing workforce talent.

“Definitely, what we call our early- and mid-career professionals are excited by the accessibility to venues, shops and restaurants,” Grigg said. “They are enticed by the urban atmosphere, just having more activity. We have beautiful views and equally important to us, we’ll be closer to a lot of our key clients, many of who are located downtown. It’s a win-win across the board for us and our clients.”

The relocation comes on the heels of two other high-profile leases in the Gold Building: Sun Life and Global Atlantic, two financial services and insurance companies.

Some of Fuss & O’Neill’s projects have included the Beehive Bridge in New Britain, maintaining Hartford’s flood control system and contributions to Science Park in New Haven.

Fuss & O’Neill said the Gold Building also offered the option of tailoring the firm’s work environment to the hybrid office that has emerged in the fallout from the pandemic.

“As we have been planning the office space, we’ve been planning for, obviously, for the folks that come into the office every day, but we also have a lot of folks that don’t,” Grigg said. “So we have a lot of hoteling space built into the new plan so that folks that come in one, two or three days a week have a place to go, but they may not have a permanent office.”

The state will provide up to $1.1 million in tax credits — to offset payroll taxes — tied to the creation and retention of the new jobs, according to a release from the office of Gov. Ned Lamont.

“This highly respected engineering firm employs hundreds of people in good paying jobs in several states,” Lamont said, in the release, “and I am glad the company has chosen our state as the location to add to its employee base. I look forward to their continued growth here.”

Fuss & O’Neill, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has 11 offices in seven states. The firm has 200 employees in Connecticut and a second office in New Haven.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.