Mass. company gets tax break for 1,900 jobs

BOSTON (AP) - A company that's leading efforts to computerize health care records nationwide is promising to add 1,900 jobs in Massachusetts in an exchange for a state tax break.

The Boston Globe reports that the agreement with athenahealth Inc. is the biggest economic development deal reached with Massachusetts in years.

Athenahealth already has 1,100 employees at its Watertown headquarters, where it plans to add the new jobs.

Under the tentative agreement, its workforce there will nearly triple by 2022 in exchange for $9.5 million in state tax credits. The incentive works out to about $5,000 per job. That's less than other incentives the state has awarded.

To make room for the new employees, athenahealth recently agreed to buy a Watertown office complex from Harvard University for nearly $169 million.

Cox Media Group