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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Seven Stars Cloud Group Eyes West Hartford, Connecticut, for Global Headquarters Campus

07/05/2018
Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc. will be establishing its global headquarters for technology and innovation in West Hartford, Connecticut.

SSC is a leading global fintech company that leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to facilitate and enable the transformation of traditional financial assets, as well as industrial, media, and consumer assets into digital ones.

According to Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s Office, the company will transform UConn’s former campus in West Hartford into a thriving center for research, training, and business development. The $283 million project, called Chain Valley, is expected to create 330 jobs over the next five years.

The agreement is contingent on SSC purchasing UConn’s former campus in West Hartford, which consists of two contiguous properties located at 1700 and 1800 Asylum Avenue, state officials explained. The purchase of the property will require approval of both UConn’s Board of Trustees and West Hartford’s town council, which are anticipated to consider the sale at upcoming meetings.

SSC’s plans for the site include a smart and aesthetically pleasing combination of rehabilitation of existing structures, the razing of others, and modest new construction, the Governor’s Office said. The company intends the site’s redevelopment to maintain the open look and feel of the campus.

The Department of Economic and Community Development, through Governor Malloy’s First Five Plus program, is supporting the project with a $10 million loan for capital renovations to the site’s existing structures. The loan may be forgiven if job targets are reached.

“We are thrilled to have found such a wonderful spot right here in central Connecticut,” Bruno Wu, Executive Chairman & CEO of SSC, said. “It is here that the first students to ever leave China, the Mission Boys, settled in the late 1800s to study Western science and engineering. It is in the spirit of these students that we will build a facility so modern and dynamic that it will attract the best talent and companies, making this site the blockchain capital of the U.S. and the world. This fantastic location provides access to a highly skilled workforce, as well as more than 40 institutions of higher learning, and several major metropolitan areas all in proximity of this site. It is an ideal location for our firm to write our next chapter, and we could not be more excited to soon join this wonderful community in West Hartford.”

SSC has partnered with the team that led the building and development of Level 39, one of the largest Fintech and Smart City hubs in Europe for fast-growth technology companies, state officials said. Together they will make Chain Valley one of the world’s most impressive technology and innovation hubs.

“Connecticut continues to build an impressive roster of innovative, cutting-edge companies that are choosing to call our state home,” DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith said. “Seven Stars Cloud Group’s vision for a thriving technology-centered business campus at this site is one I enthusiastically support as it will be a great benefit to the greater Hartford region and will continue to promote the area as a center for tech talent.”

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