Hartford - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday described Pfizer Inc.'s decision to move about 400 jobs last year from Groton to Cambridge, Mass., as a prime reason why Connecticut is making a $290 million investment for a new genetics research lab.

The governor called the Pfizer relocations "a very clear warning shot that was fired across our bow" that if the state doesn't make investments in bioscience and other fast-growing high-tech sectors, more good jobs could leave the state.

Malloy's comments came during a meeting of the State Bond Commission, which voted to approve a $290 million bond issue over 10 years to support The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center campus in Farmington.

The 173,000-square-foot building would be the Connecticut branch of The Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit research institute based in Maine. The Democrat-controlled legislature approved the project, formally the Connecticut Bioscience Collaboration Program, during its October special session.

Malloy, who sets the bond commission's agenda, later added that Connecticut needs to make such investments to stay competitive with nearby states and even other countries. "If we do not invest in our supportive infrastructure, our universities and our research facilities, then we're going to lose the opportunities we have," he said.

Jackson Lab is required to employ 300 people in Connecticut within a decade, including 90 scientists, and pay an average wage equal to 125 percent of the state average. That wage would be $74,328 based on 2010 data.

A state financing entity is providing a $192 million "forgivable loan" to build and furnish the lab, in addition to a $99 million state grant for research.

If the jobs goal isn't met, Jackson Lab would forfeit ownership of the building but would not be required to pay back either the $192 million or the $99 million because it is a nonprofit organization, said Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development.

State Rep. Sean Williams, R-Watertown, and Sen. Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen, cast the only votes against the bond request. Roraback questioned whether the state is paying too much money for too few jobs, while Williams said he doesn't believe it's appropriate for government to subsidize a business in a favored industry.

"This is how we got in trouble with Solyndra," Williams said, referring to the now-bankrupt solar-panel maker in California that received a federal loan. "I'm not saying Jackson Lab is going to be like Enron or Solyndra, but it might be."

The new facility is scheduled to open in 2014.

j.reindl@theday.com