Joe McGee was there at the start.
In the early 1990s, Swiss Bank - which later became known as UBS - was negotiating to build a gigantic office building that eventually brought thousands of jobs to downtown Stamford in an area within walking distance of the Metro North train station.
"It started when Esposito was mayor,'' McGee said, referring to Stamford's Republican Mayor Stanley Esposito. "Weicker was governor. I was commissioner.''
McGee was overseeing the state Department of Economic Development, as it was known at the time. Weicker had been working hard for more than two years to lure a major employer to Stamford with state tax credits - a process that stretched out after the financial giant Morgan Stanley turned down a Stamford deal and decided to remain in New York City.
Weicker, McGee, and Swiss Bank eventually cut the deal, and the state legislature met in special session on October 12, 1994 to approve the 15-year, $165 million package of tax credits that guaranteed that the company would move to lower Fairfield County.
More than a year after Weicker completed the deal and the legislature approved the funding, Democrat Dannel Malloy was elected mayor of Stamford. McGee, a former Republican candidate for governor who now serves as vice president of The Business Council of Fairfield County, said Malloy worked well with the officials from UBS, which changed its name at various times through the years.
"The building had to be built,'' McGee recalled. "He clearly worked very well with UBS. The building was built on time. ... He had to make it happen. While he was mayor, they expanded their employment.''