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U.S. NEWSFriday 15 January 2016
General Electric to move
SUSAN HAIGH
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)
— General Electric an-
nounced this week it will
move its headquarters to
Boston, leaving the sprawl-
Several commercial construction projects take place in Boston’s Seaport District against the
backdrop of the city’s skyline. General Electric said this week it will begin relocating its global
headquarters to the district in the summer from Fairfield, Conn., and complete the move by 2018.
ing suburban Connecticut
campus it has called home
over the past four decades
for a technology-rich city it
says better fits its ambitions mer of 2016. The full move
as an innovation leader.
Chairman and CEO Jeff
Immelt said GE, one of the
best known companies in
corporate America, want-
ed to be “at the center of
an ecosystem that shares
our aspirations.”
The announcement comes
three years after the $130
billion high-tech global in-
dustrial company said it
began considering a new
Monsanto to build $140M processing unit in Texas last Friday showed that
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) —
Monsanto says plans to
build a $140 million cotton
seed processing plant in
West Texas, where nearly
40 percent of the nation’s
fluffy fiber is planted.
The St. Louis-based com-
pany said in a news release
the plant will be its primary
hub for cleaning, treating
and bagging its brand of
cotton seed, Deltapine,
from growers with whom
they contract. The seed will
composition and location
for its headquarters, and
more than seven months
after the firm threatened to
leave Connecticut, com-
plaining about the state’s
tax environment.
GE plans to initially move
headquarters employees
to a temporary location in
Boston, starting in the sum-
is expected to be complet-
ed in several steps by 2018.
The announcement was
mourned in Connecticut,
but Massachusetts officials
rejoiced. “We won Power-
ball today here in Boston
by having GE come here,”
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh
said. “For two decades,
we’ve had companies
move out of our city. Now
we have companies mov-
then be resold.
Monsanto officials said
Wednesday that the
plant should be oper-
ating by mid-2017. The
500,000-square-foot plant
will be built on 150 acres in U.S. was planted in West
Lubbock and create 40 full-
time jobs and as many as
25 part-time positions, the
company said.
“Monsanto is proud to be
part of the Lubbock com-
munity,” Dave Penn of
Monsanto said in the re-
headquarters to Boston US requests for
ing into our city.” being disappointed in
Various states competed GE’s decision and said he
for the company’s head- knows many in Connecti-
quarters in Fairfield. GE, cut share that disappoint-
which ultimately reviewed ment and frustration. While
a list of 40 potential loca- Malloy said he was assured
tions, announced in June by Immelt in a phone call
Wednesday morning that
GE will keep many workers
in Connecticut and con-
tinue working with various
suppliers in the state, the
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) headquarters relocation is
a signal Connecticut must
it was considering a move continue trying to adapt
to a changing business cli-
after Connecticut lawmak- mate and attract and re-
tain more employers.
ers passed some business “You win some and you
lose some, and luckily
tax increases. The General we’ve won more than we
lost. But this hurts,” Malloy
Assembly later scaled back said.
The company employs
some of the increases after about 5,000 people in Con-
necticut, including 800 at
other companies voiced the Fairfield location. It cur- the economy. Consumers
rently employs nearly 5,000
concerns, including Aetna people in Massachusetts. It
was unclear how many of
Inc. and the Travelers Com- GE’s Connecticut workers
would remain in the state.
panies Inc. Seth Martin, a GE spokes-
man, said the Boston loca-
Connecticut Gov. Dannel tion will become home to
200 corporate employees
P. Malloy, a Democrat, also and 600 digital industrial
product managers, design-
met with GE executives ers and developers. He said
an unspecified number of
and offered an incentive corporate employees will
stay in Connecticut and
package in hopes of keep- be moved to GE’s offices in
Norwalk.
ing the iconic headquar- A cheer went up in the Mas-
sachusetts House of Rep-
ters in the state. resentatives Wednesday
afternoon when Speaker
Malloy acknowledged Robert DeLeo announced
GE’s decision. DeLeo ear-
lier told reporters he was
unaware of any legislation
that would be required to
facilitate the move.q
lease. plant will add an estimated
Lubbock County was the $11.2 million annually to
nation’s No. 1 cotton pro- Lubbock County’s gross re-
ducing county in 2014, and gional product.
in 2015, about 37 percent “The impact of cotton on
of the cotton planted in the the Lubbock economy is
vital, and this continues to
Texas. Computers at the establish Lubbock as one
plant will cull enhanced of the major cotton centers
data and allow for auto- of the U.S. and the world,”
mating processes instead Tim Collins, chairman of the
of manual operations, Mon- board for Lubbock Eco-
santo said, adding it hopes nomic Development Alli-
that will improve safety. ance and Market Lubbock
When fully operational, the said in the release.q
jobless aid rose;
remain near low
JOSH BOAK
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — More
Americans applied for un-
employment benefits last
week, but the level remains
near historic lows that point
to a healthy job market.
THE NUMBERS: Applications
for jobless aid rose 4,000
to a seasonally adjusted
284,000, the Labor Depart-
ment said Thursday. The
less volatile 4-week aver-
age rose 3,000 to 278,750.
Over the past 12 months,
the number of people col-
lecting benefits has fallen
6.3 percent to 2.3 million.
THE TAKEAWAY: The stock
market has suffered a tu-
multuous start to 2016, but
U.S. employers largely ap-
pear to be confident in
have stayed resilient de-
spite global challenges as
growth prospects in China
have become increasingly
uncertain and oil prices flirt
with a low $30 a barrel.
Layoffs generally tend to
rise in the early weeks of
January as retailers let go
of holiday workers, but
even on an unadjusted
basis jobless claims are
lower than a year ago.
KEY DRIVERS: Outside of the
manufacturing sector that
has been hit by worldwide
pressures and the stronger
dollar, most U.S. business-
es still see rising levels of
demand. This has led them
to hold onto workers and
look to expand their staff.
Jobless claims have stayed
below 300,000 for the past
10 months, a level consis-
tent with strong hiring.
The government employ-
ment report released
employers added a net
292,000 jobs in December
as the unemployment rate
held at 5 percent.
BIG PICTURE: The more
than six-year recovery from
the Great Recession has
been fueled by a gradual
rebound by consumers.
Auto sales accelerated to
record highs in 2015, just as
home sales and spending
at restaurants and online
retailers advanced. These
sectors have thus far been
insulated from the slow-
down that has sent finan-
cial markets reeling in the
opening weeks of 2016.q