Region's appeal, incentives helped reel in General Electric

Antonio Caban/SHNS Gov. Baker remarks on General Electric moving its headquarters to Boston.

Write a Comment

By State House News Service

General Electric, one of the nation's largest companies, will move about 800 jobs to Massachusetts starting this summer when it begins to relocate its global headquarters from Connecticut to the South Boston waterfront, the company announced on Wednesday.

The successful recruitment of GE to Massachusetts, which was chosen over several other states, marks a major economic development victory for Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who worked behind the scenes to lure the manufacturing and innovation giant.

Both the state and city put up a package worth more than $145 million in financial incentives to entice the company to Boston, including $120 million from the state in grants and other programs and up to $25 million over 20 years in property tax relief from Boston.

In addition, Baker's office said the state offered General Electric $1 million in workforce training grants, up to $5 million for an innovation center to connect the company with Massachusetts research and higher education institutions and a commitment to support local transportation improvements in the Seaport and assist employees with their relocation to Boston.

"GE aspires to be the most competitive company in the world," GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said in a statement. "Today, GE is a $130 billion high-tech global industrial company, one that is leading the digital transformation of industry. We want to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations."

The company cited Boston's "business ecosystem" as well as access to talent, long-term costs, quality of life for employees and easy connections with other company assets and the world as reasons for moving to the state.

"It's great news," House Speaker Robert DeLeo told reporters minutes before he went to the floor of the House to announce the news to lawmakers, thanking them for their work in passing two economic development bills in recent years that he credited with helping to make Massachusetts an attractive landing spot for GE.

General Electric said it began considering a new location for its headquarters more than three years ago and opened a formal review last June with a list of 40 potential locations. The company publicly threatened to leave Connecticut in June after Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a state budget that included corporate tax increases blasted by the business community for creating an inhospitable environment.

Baker said he and Walsh assembled a task force that included Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash, Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore and officials from Massport, his office and City Hall to work with GE beginning at the end of the summer.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts President Richard Lord said Baker and Walsh hosted a dinner on a Monday night in September at Tresca in the North End for GE's site selection team. Lord, Ash and representatives from EMC and State Street Corporation also attended the dinner.

Baker on Wednesday said GE would be a "tremendous part of the growing innovation economy" in Massachusetts and send a signal to other companies that the state is a good place to do business.

"We're talking about a Fortune 10 company, the 8th largest corporation in the United States and a real leader in what I would describe as, sort of, the internet of things and the movement toward creating smart machines," Baker said. "This is a huge win for the city of Boston, a huge win for Massachusetts and the indirect-direct spillover from this will be felt by this economy and this community for years to come."

The governor described the incentives as "pretty much the same sort of thing" made available to other companies periodically looking to expand or grow in Massachusetts, including tax breaks and grants for infrastructure and capital support. He said some of the incentives will depend upon the site GE selects in the Seaport district.

The company plans to sell its offices in Fairfield, Conn. and at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City to help offset the cost of the move, which will begin over the summer.

Though an exact location has yet to be chosen, the company said it will have 800 employees in the Seaport District of Boston, including 200 corporate staff and 600 digital industrial product managers, designers and developers. Employees will move to a temporary location in Boston starting this summer, and the transition will be completed in stages by 2018.

General Electric plans a public briefing with government, business and community leaders on Feb. 18 to discuss the move.

In its announcement, General Electric noted spending in Massachusetts on research and development, the state's "technologically-fluent workforce" and its status as home to 55 colleges and universities.

"'Boston lands new @generalelectric headquarters.' Proof that investments in #HigherEd and innovation pay dividends," Sen. Eileen Donoghue, of Lowell, wrote on Twitter.

Massachusetts High Technology Council President Chris Anderson said General Electric will be an "impact player" in the state's policy, civic, educational and philanthropic life.

"GE's selection of Boston reinforces the limitless opportunities for economic growth that are available to us when business and political leaders work together to reinforce our Commonwealth's strengths and to address our competitive challenges," Anderson said. "

The addition of its global headquarters in Boston will expand General Electric's already growing footprint in Massachusetts, which includes nearly 5,000 employees in its aviation, oil and gas and energy management businesses. The company moved its life sciences headquarters to Marlborough in 2014, and last year announced that its energy services start-up - Current - would be based in Boston.

"GE's move brings a host of benefits to the Massachusetts economy, from top-level jobs to innovation to an unmatched global market presence. AIM and its 4,500 member employers welcome GE headquarters to the commonwealth and congratulate the Baker and Walsh administrations for recognizing that taxes, work force and other elements of the business climate really matter in corporate location decisions," Lord said in a statement.

Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President James Rooney said the development would carry benefits beyond job creation and economic development in the neighborhood.

"Bringing an anchor institution like GE to Boston is fundamental for spurring our innovation ecosystem, as established global companies provide the type of skills training and early development for startup companies that help them thrive in the long run. Additionally, big companies increase our ability to not only generate talented minds, but to keep them in Boston where they belong," Rooney said.