GE officials estimate that the move will bring roughly 800 jobs to the Boston area, and the company hopes to draw on the city’s talented pool of technology workers to pursue further innovation in a wide range of fields.
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Fed researchers concluded that while the NY and Kansas City regions were essentially flat, other parts of the country were reporting growth and Boston was particularly healthy. The company will hold a public briefing in Boston on February 18th. “This is going to attract other companies”. We want to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations.
“Governor Malloy even thought it was a good idea”, Fasano said.
Eligible employees will get assistance if they’re interested in buying homes in Boston, an increasingly expensive place to live. “We’re dead in the water”, Arthur Caraballo, of Bridgeport, said.
Immelt said GE has been considering the move for more than three years and began with a list of 40 potential locations. A spokesman said approximately 800 people are employed at the Fairfield headquarters.
GE announced that it will move its global headquarters from Fairfield, Conn., to the Seaport District of Boston, Mass., in a move that could have a significant impact on the surrounding area.
A dispute over taxes in Connecticut-along with 1 million in tax breaks and other incentives from Boston and Massachusetts-aren’t the full story of General Electric’s decision to relocate to the Hub.
GE has been in Fairfield since 1974 where it pays $1.6 million in annual property taxes to the town of roughly 60,000, according to The Courant. “Equally important, GE will continue to work with and support many smaller businesses throughout our state”. It plans to move employees to a temporary location in Boston starting in the summer of 2016.
The move will play out in several stages, culminating in 2018.
GE did not estimate the extent of the job losses in CT as a result of the move.
It was just a day after Connecticut’s legislature approved a budget plan with a $1.9 billion tax increase, in early June, that CEO Jeffrey Immelt said he would form an exploratory committee to consider relocating.
Malloy said he was “disappointed” in GE’s announcement but was assured by the company that it would maintain a sizeable presence in the state.
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”.
The content of GE’s headquarters would also change, “with more emphasis on innovation”.
In some ways, General Electric mirrors Massachusetts’ transition from blue-collar manufacturing to the knowledge economy.
Scott McLean, a political science professor from Quinnipiac University, said at the very least it will give Republicans the opportunity to wag their finger and say “I told you so”.
Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash led a delegation of Baker administration officials to meet with GE.
But the move was seen as a blow to Connecticut’s business reputation by many at the state Capitol, reports wnyc.org via Associated Press. “I know many in CT share the disappointment and frustration”, he said.
GE had a strong year in 2015.
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It also continued a 20 percent surcharge on the corporation tax that was due to expire and tripled the sales tax on computer and data processing services.
