General Electric to move headquarters to Boston

General Electric Co.will move its headquarters to Boston after a dispute with CT over tax increases prompted the industrial giant to leave its home of more than 40 years, the Boston Globe and the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. GE’s press release noted that MA and the city of Boston structured a package of incentives that provides benefits to the state and city, while also helping offset the costs of the relocation to GE. GE, which ultimately reviewed a list of 40 potential locations, announced in June it was considering a move after CT lawmakers passed some business tax increases. In keeping with current corporate trends, and the goal of repositioning itself as a high-tech enterprise, GE will distribute the remainder of back office and administrative staff now housed in Fairfield to divisions throughout the company.

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. Like officials in Boston, Malloy also spoke with the brass at GE about the decision this morning.

Mr. Malloy said CT remained a desirable place to do business, particularly for financial services, insurance and bioscience industries. Another $5 million is designated for an innovation center to “forge connections” between GE and MA.

“Massachusetts may reflect a shift in emphasis by Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE”, said David Cadden, professor emeritus in the School of Business at Quinnipiac University.

GE will move its employees to a temporary location in Boston starting this summer, and the final move will be completed “in several steps” by 2018, the company said.

GE says the new office will be located in the Seaport District and employ about 800 people, with an emphasis on innovation.

GE and a company from Austria announced they had plans to invest more than $2 billion in a facility for nanotechnology in Marcy, which will create more than 2,000 new jobs.

The company is now headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut.

“Where it’s less quantifiable is all the other areas – the volunteer hours from GE employees, the shopping they do in Fairfield, the dining out”, said Tetreau.

Westchester County had been touted as a contender for relocated GE headquarters in NY. “Now is the time to meet our challenges head on, work together, and find new innovative ways to meet them”.

To get a sense of the mood in MA, I took a look at the Boston Globe, where GE’s decision was being greeted with jubilation.

It is not a new problem for GE – in the past year, GE has been absorbed in the spinoff of Norwalk-based GE Capital, finding new roles for key talent in varying units being snapped up by banks. Its leaders expressed anger over, among other issues, a new state law requiring corporations to be more honest in accounting for where they do work-and therefore where they should pay taxes.