IBM gets $5 million in tax breaks to expand

The state Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton.

IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in New York, has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it by November.

McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but that the company would have gone forward with the expansion even if the state board had rejected the tax incentives.

IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)