[BPt111]

GE Healthcare HQ to Chicago - Connecticut Post

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

So, I guess what we'll learn from this is the relentless chant of lower taxes is NOT what this is all about. I've been saying for YEARS that the important things are growing an atmosphere conducive to entrepreneurship. The difference in levels of taxation between Connecticut and Mass are negligible.

What Boston offers it atmosphere that is highly innovative, cultivates a young, engaged, educated workforce, etc.

As far of COL goes, the average 1 bedroom in Boston is $2200-- So this is not about dinero... It's not about taxation. There is simply no package the governor could have offered that would have kept GE here.

Let the screaming about taxes begin.

While we don't always see eye to eye Mark--- I agree with most of your post. With the facts in hand, I am perplexed as to why Boston was selected. Cost of living and corporate taxes are comparable (and Massachusetts has a unitary tax which was GE's initial gripe). GE HQ doesn't employ a young, vibrant workforce (or even that many FTEs)--- there are many subsidiaries or other GE offices with larger populations and more demand for young creative sorts. What was the draw of Boston??????

I do dissent with you on the impact to CT--- these high paying CT based jobs were lost and the property was donated to university (so no property tax to Fairfield town, property taxes will spike!). My guess is that many NYC employees will purchase the homes of staff relocating to the Boston area. However this has negative consequences, many in the form of lower income tax receipts to CT (NY/NYC employees do not pay income tax to CT, but pay to NY at CT rates). If my napkin math is correct, that alone is at least a $25mm hit to the state coffers. NYC employees are also in town less and will not match the spending of residents that both live and work locally.

I'm most put off by Malloy's lack of effort and playing chicken with GE which hurts our reputation as a business climate as well as the loss of one of our most proud state institutions.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

$1.9 million annually in lost property taxes, but a coup for SHU.

Not that big a hit to Fairfield residents, if your figure is correct that equates to just a $95 increase to the average property tax bill. ($1.9mm divided by 20,000 households).

[BPt111]

Gov. Malloy will hold a 2 pm press conference on GE news

https://twitter.com/capitolwatch/with_replies

[BPt111]

There is no material financial impact to GE related to the cost of the move. Working with GE, Massachusetts 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 will sell its offices in Fairfield and at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City to further offset the cost of the move.

The content of GE’s headquarters will also change, with more emphasis on innovation. In Boston, GE will have roughly 800 people; 200 from corporate staff and 600 digital industrial product managers, designers and developers split between GE Digital, Current, robotics and Life Sciences. A GE Digital Foundry will be created for co-creation, incubation and product development with customers, startups and partners. The remainder of administration will be placed in shared service operations throughout the Company.

GE has a significant existing presence in Massachusetts, with nearly 5,000 employees across the state in businesses including Aviation, Oil & Gas and Energy Management. In 2014, GE moved its Life Sciences headquarters to Marlborough, and in 2015 GE announced its energy services start-up, Current, would also be headquartered in Boston.

The headquarters will be located in the Seaport District of Boston. Employees will move to a temporary location in Boston starting in the summer of 2016, with a full move completed in several steps by 2018. GE will host a public briefing in Boston with government officials, and business and community leaders, on February 18, 2016.



http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...uarters-Boston

[BPt111]

GE has not yet picked a site for its new offices, but is focused on the Seaport area. The terms of the incentives that the state and city will offer will depend on the location that GE selects.

Two spots on the South Boston waterfront had been the focus in GE’s local site search: one on Summer Street, overlooking the Fort Point Channel, and the other owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority, next to the World Trade Center T station. Officials close to the GE search process say the company is also looking at other sites in the area.

The city is prepared to offer as much as $20 million in property tax relief over 20 years, according to the people close to the process. The state package could be valued as high as $120 million and include a variety of benefits, such as help with real estate acquisition costs, infrastructure improvements, and tax incentives.

Some GE executives are expected to relocate to temporary space in Boston later this year. The full move from Fairfield, Conn., will take place over the next few years, according to people familiar with the process.

At nearly $150 billion a year in revenue, GE ranks eighth on the Fortune 500 and would be far and away the largest publicly traded company based in Massachusetts.

GE’s choice cements Boston as a hub of innovation in technology and life sciences. The city’s concentration of high-powered universities and tech firms proved to be a big draw for the company. Under chief executive Jeffrey Immelt, GE is selling most of its finance businesses to focus on industrial lines such as power and clean energy, oil and gas, aviation, and health sciences, which are all increasingly reliant on advanced technology.

[BPt111]

What does GE’s headquarters bring? There are the jobs, for sure. There’s the potential for more state corporate taxes. There’s also the promise of philanthropy, a new corporate titan to add its muscle to local civic affairs.

“They’re high-paying jobs,” said John Frey, a state representative from Ridgefield, Conn., who was one of the first to sound the alarm about GE’s displeasure. “We’re not talking about an Amazon distribution center. We’re talking about some big salaries.”

The largest benefit to Boston, though, could be the bragging rights. Successfully landing one of the world’s biggest companies unfurls a giant banner, one that essentially says “We’re open for business” to the world.

[beerbeer]

How anti-business is Connecticut? It is so anti-business that Taxachusetts has a better business climate.

The question is not why companies want to leave. We know why they want to leave, liberal tax policies and regulations. The question is when will the voters of Connecticut wake up?

But the real question that Connecticut politicians and voters should be asking is how can we make the state a place where businesses want to be?

Next up United Technologies which already has one foot out of Connecticut.

[BPt111]

Will AT&T, Aetna, Hartford Financial Services Group, and United Technologies follow GE steps

[antinimby]

In about 15 to 20 years, when GE is tired of Boston, they'll be looking to move again. It is a never ending game. Who knows, they might want to move back to CT.

Look at the Rams as the latest example. (Before someone comes in and tells me, yes I know they are a sports team but the idea is the same.)