Log In


Reset Password
  • MENU
    State
    Sunday, May 12, 2024

    GE Promises Boston Thousands of Jobs, $50 Million in Donations

    The move by General Electric Co. to Boston will help create 4,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investment, the company said Monday.

    The new jobs will be in temporary construction and permanent GE employment and among vendors, the Fairfield-based conglomerate said. It cited an economic impact study it commissioned.

    GE announced in January it was leaving the Connecticut headquarters it has occupied since 1974. The move will be in stages and be completed by 2018.

    The company also announced it will donate $25 million to the Boston public schools, $10 million for workforce development and $15 million to develop a health care workforce and increased training for specialty care. The donations are from the GE Foundation, the conglomerate's philanthropic unit.

    GE also said its move will lead to $776 million in new real estate demand in the Boston area, $260 million in new income directly for its employees' salaries and indirectly for others and $28 million to local vendors, according to the economic impact study.

    Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt cited Boston's numerous universities and colleges and workforce that will fill high-tech jobs as GE shifts to a stronger digital presence in its industrial businesses. The site at Boston's Seaport District will be home to 800 GE employees, with 200 from the ranks of corporate executives and 600 digital industrial product managers, designers and developers.

    GE makes railroad locomotives, wind power systems, medical equipment, jet engines and a range of other big-ticket items.

    Massachusetts will give GE incentives and grants of up to $120 million and Boston offered $25 million in property tax relief.

    GE executives, Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Gov. Charlie Baker were set to gather Monday at an event celebrating the company's move.

    The Boston Globe reported that a group of protesters was planning to gather at the site of the event to criticize the public assistance to GE.

    ———

    ©2016 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.)

    Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

    Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.