GE Brings Things To Life In Boston; Lights Out In Connecticut

Jeffrey Immelt the CEO at General Electric decided during this past summer to begin searching for a new location for the headquarters of the company.

Those workers, spread among the company’s GE Digital, Current, robotics and life sciences divisions, will share technology developments across business units, GE said, helping develop software to run the machinery the company manufacturers. Both vigorously courted the $300 billion company, which was also considering locations in other states.

Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said GE, one of the best known companies in corporate America, wanted to be “at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations“.

GE’s selection of its next headquarters city comes the same week that Chicago received a consolation prize of sorts from the company.

“We’re not going to win every challenge to keep (businesses) but we’ve won more than we’ve lost”, Malloy said.

The decision followed months of rumors and published reports of various locations being scouted by GE for its global headquarters, including neighboring Westchester County, and closed-door meetings with CT officials fighting to retain the technology and engineering conglomerate. “Boston is delighted and honored to welcome General Electric and its employees to our community and we are confident that this is the start of a strong partnership”, Walsh said in a statement on Wednesday.

Malloy said he was “disappointed” in GE’s announcement but was assured by the company that it would maintain a sizeable presence in the state. Boston was selected after a careful evaluation of the business ecosystem, talent, long-term costs, quality of life for employees, connections with the world and proximity to other important company assets. “We remain in active discussions with GE about the potential to locate other operations jobs in Rhode Island, and we are hopeful that the company’s move just up the road will improve the chances of that happening”.

MA offered GE incentives up to $120 million through grants and other programs, while the city of Boston offered up to $25 million in property tax relief, according to the mayor’s office. GE also is eligible for $1 million in workforce training grants, and up to $5 million to foster relations between the company, research institutions, and universities.

Bound for the Seaport District in downtown Boston, GE said it will relocate 200 corporate staff from its Fairfield headquarters, which employs about 800 people.

These hard facts haven’t stopped idle speculation over the role of recent CT tax changes in prompting the move. It’s refocusing on making things that power the world, move people, purify water, connect cities and, for now at least, fit kitchens.

“Businesses care about transportation infrastructure, and we will continue to make new investments to create a more modern transportation future”.

Fasano says the Democratic-controlled legislature did not take GE’s tax concerns seriously and brushed off the idea of restructuring the state budget.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano called the move “devastating” and added CT residents “deserve an apology”. GE has said an unspecified number of jobs will be moved to Norwalk.

About 800 GE employees will work in the Boston headquarters – a lot of them digital industrial product managers.