GE to Relocate Global Headquarters to Boston

General Electric has snubbed NY in its search for a new location for his corporate headquarters.

The decision move means NY governor Mario Cuomo’s attempts to lure General Electric from shifting corporate headquarters – and 800 jobs – to NY from CT had failed.

GE has offices in 130 countries.

“We want to be at the centre of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations”.

Its new home will be Boston’s fast-growing Seaport District. “We are excited to bring our headquarters to this dynamic and creative city”, the statement added.

Malloy said the state plans to work harder to upgrade transportation infrastructure and the higher education system. If GE sells its campus, with an assessed value of $74.7 million, the new owner would be responsible for the same bill unless it is a charitable entity. Other cities probably proffered similar goodies, meaning the final decision sends a strong signal about both Boston and GE.

“We had enough on the table to be competitive”, said Jay Ash, Baker’s secretary of economic development.

According to media reports in June, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, started planning to find a new headquarters by emailing employees and telling them that company was considering relocating to a state with “a more pro-business environment”. NY officials were still trying to seal a deal with GE in recent days, according to people familiar with the matter, but the state’s pitch faced other hurdles, including higher personal income-tax rates.

The company said it chose Boston after a consideration of factors including the business ecosystem, quality of life for employees and connections with the world.

Immelt said the company is receiving a package of incentives from Boston and MA, but that the move won’t have any material impact on its finances.

GE was given $120 million through grants and other programs and up to $25 million was offered from the city of Boston in property tax relief.

GE has a significant existing presence in MA, with almost 5,000 employees across the state in businesses including Aviation, Oil & Gas and Energy Management.

The Globe said the company informed Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh today.

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

NY officials had hoped to attract GE, but the company said it not only is pulling out of CT but will be selling its offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. The company is moving away from CT due to tax hikes amid a hostile business climate.

“Of course we are disappointed, and we know that many in Connecticut share that frustration”, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said. “The 16 Fortune 500 companies that still proudly call CT home, a number that places CT by far as number one in the nation for most Fortune 500 headquarters on a per capita basis, will continue to prosper here, as will the new businesses that move to our state every single day”, Sen. It is expected to complete by 2018.

Tony Hwang (R) told Bloomberg BNA on Wednesday that the decision by GE to leave the state was “an avoidable scenario” and should convince legislative leaders of the need to address the state’s economic situation.

While he expects the company to blame Connecticut, Godfrey said doing so was “kind of childish, in my opinion”.

“What is hysterical to me is they’re moving to Boston”, LeClair said. Whatever bragging rights would have gone along with bringing GE’s headquarters back to NY – the company left for CT in 1975 – will go unrealized. He said the relocation has “nothing to do with taxes or even business costs and shouldn’t be seen as a referendum on Connecticut’s economy”.