The struggling Finnish mobile giant Nokia has repaid the NY state $420,000 after breaking a deal to bring hundreds of jobs to Westchester. The company, which is tasked with attracting companies to New York in order to spur job growth, originally gave the company a $700,000 “Jobs Now” grant, but the entire amount couldn’t be recouped because Nokia did technically create jobs for awhile.
Under the deal, Nokia was eligible for an additional $300,000 if it employed a total of 600 people by 2011 in Harrison; but by then the company lost massive amounts of market share to smartphone makers Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung. Nokia announced it was leaving New York about a year ago, and the local building was vacated by March.