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  • GE moving corporate HQ to Boston

  • Discussion of General Electric locomotive technology. Current official information can be found here: www.getransportation.com.
Discussion of General Electric locomotive technology. Current official information can be found here: www.getransportation.com.

Moderators: MEC407, AMTK84

 #1366158  by MEC407
 
This isn't specifically related to the locomotive division but I thought some of you might find it an interesting read.

From Yahoo! Finance:
Yahoo! Finance wrote:General Electric Co said on Wednesday it will move its global headquarters to Boston, tapping the city's technology talent and likely lowering its tax bill as the industrial conglomerate seeks to lift profit and emphasize digital capabilities.

The maker of aircraft engines, locomotives, power turbines and household appliances will move to temporary quarters by next summer, and permanently settle about 800 workers in the Seaport district by 2018, GE said.
. . .
GE said the move would have no material financial impact, with costs offset by state and city incentives and the sale of its current headquarters offices in Fairfield, Connecticut, and its offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
. . .
But talent also was a draw. GE said on Wednesday it had been thinking about a new location for more than three years and considered 40 potential sites this year. Those included Atlanta; Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, according to people familiar with the matter.
. . .
The 124-year-old company is undergoing a major restructuring to emphasize digital and industrial capabilities. Earlier on Wednesday, GE said it would cut up to 6,500 jobs in Europe over the next two years, including 765 in France and 1,300 in Switzerland, as it restructures and integrates its acquisition of Alstom's energy business.

With 800 employees, the Boston headquarters will be the same size as Fairfield, but its makeup will change, GE said. The new office will employ about 200 administrators and 600 "digital industrial product managers, designs and developers," GE said.
Read the rest of the article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/general-e ... 28961.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1371127  by Engineer Spike
 
I'm surprised that they didn't choose somewhere in the South. Taxachusetts , and Connecticut are both expensive places to live or do business. It must be some logistics, or something about where most other plants are based.
 #1371142  by MEC407
 
It's their corporate office, not a manufacturing facility. The article explains why they chose Boston.
 #1371229  by Allen Hazen
 
Given the Boston area's concentration of universities, it's probably a good place to be if you want to recruit "digital industrial product managers, designs and developers." (And, if you want to recruit any sort of young professionals, the urban amenities of Boston surely trump anything a bedroom suburb like Fairfield can offer!)
Interestingly, given the "Taxachusetts" reputation of the place, GE apparently thinks moving there will reduce its tax bill! (See third paragraph.)
---
Pity they didn't see fit to locate their new locomotive-building facility in Massachusetts! Evidently, after weighing the costs (tax and other) and the likely pool of available workers, etc etc etc, they thought Boston was a better fit for corporate headquarters and digital stuff.
 #1371244  by MEC407
 
Another quote from the above-linked article:
The move also will lower GE's tax bill. Even though Massachusetts is often called "Taxachusetts," it ranked 25th in a 2016 Tax Foundation survey of positive business tax climates among U.S. states. Connecticut ranked 44th, near the bottom.
Massachusetts will provide up to $120 million in grants and other incentives and the city will provide property tax savings of up to $25 million.
GE has a reputation for paying very little in taxes, and that certainly won't change with the move to Boston.
 #1371278  by YamaOfParadise
 
It sucks for Connecticut, but I really doubt they'd stay for long even if CT decided to bend over backwards for them; major business location these days is all about which states and municipalities are willing to give away more... and if those benefits of moving expire (read: tax exemptions), that cycle begins anew.

But yeah, Boston is one of the forefronts of technological development in the world right now, so it certainly makes sense for them to be moving there. While they focus on digital in their press release, the minds they can tap in MIT and Harvard and such can offer much more than that... it can easily bolster every division of their corporation.
 #1371300  by Rockingham Racer
 
Boston Logan has more flights than Fairfield, too! That was one of the reasons they wanted out of Fairfield. New Haven Tweed certainly doesn't fit the bill, and it's a long trek to the nearest field with international flights, which I guess would be JFK.
 #1502455  by Hux
 
GE's new headquarters will be downsized from original plans, including the elimination of the planned 14 storey tower.