GE Moving Headquarters to Boston From Connecticut, Globe Reports

Immelt in announcing the relocation said the company wants “to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations”.

General Electric will relocate its headquarters from CT to Boston. “Today, GE is a $130 billion high-tech global industrial company, one that is leading the digital transformation of industry”.

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

Gov. Dannel Malloy said he was “disappointed” at press conference in Middletown on Wednesday afternoon.

Boston is getting a new resident.

GE did not estimate the extent of the job losses in CT as a result of the move.

The Globe report notes that “GE’s choice cements Boston as a hub of innovation in technology and life sciences”.

“We are losing everything here”, he said.

“This is a big emotional hit from the standpoint that for 40 years we’ve been home and world headquarters for GE, one of the best known companies in the entire world, and in a few months that won’t be the case”, he said. The company announced Monday it will move its globabl headquarters for GE Healthcare from suburban London, England, to Chicago.

GE said in a statement that it plans to sell its offices in Fairfield, Connecticut, and at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City to offset the cost of the move. On top of that, Boston hosts educational institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Boston College and Boston University. Pegasus makes aircraft engine parts for GE.

General Electric’s announcement that it is relocating its headquarters and bringing 800 jobs to Boston brought a whoop of excitement from City Hall.

GE spokesman Richard Gorham said the corporate move from Fairfield, Conn. to Boston, beginning this summer, won’t overshadow the River Works’ commitment “to focus on serving our customers and overcoming challenges related to volume drop-off and cost”. Even though MA is often called “Taxachusetts”, it ranked 25th in a 2016 Tax Foundation survey of positive business tax climates among US states.

“We’re moving in that direction, but you got there first”, he said.

Only about 800 of GE’s more than 300,000 employees work at the Fairfield campus. A full move is expected to be completed by 2018.

“GE wasn’t looking for a deal”, Rep. John Frey, a Massachusetts Republican, told reporters.

As recently as Monday, Phil Oliva, a senior adviser to Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino, said, “They’ve narrowed down the sites and Westchester is still in play”.

Citing statements made by GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to the Business Council last November, McGee agreed that the move is about much more than finances.

For many insiders, General Electric’s move was just a matter of where not if. “I hope this is a teachable moment”, said Hwang who represents Fairfield and nearby communities.

Mr. Malloy said CT remained a desirable place to do business, particularly for financial services, insurance and bioscience industries. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can.

Boston and runner-up NY are recognized as centers of commerce and innovation.

Fair to say this was a brilliant day for Boston.