GE to shift from Connecticut to Boston

The largest industrial conglomerate in the US, General Electric, yesterday said it plans to move its headquarters from Connecticut to Boston.

The move to Boston, according to commentators, comes in preparation for the digital era.

''GE aspires to be the most competitive company in the world,'' said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. ''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.

"Greater Boston is home to 55 colleges and universities. Massachusetts spends more on research & development than any other region in the world, and Boston attracts a diverse, technologically-fluent workforce focused on solving challenges for the world. We are excited to bring our headquarters to this dynamic and creative city.''

Though GE is an industrial giant, CEO Jeffrey R Immelt predicted last September that GE would become one of the top 10 software companies by 2020.

Recent years had seen GE steadily build up its software business. Its industrial products pack a lot of digital sensors, all part of an effort to be a leader in the ''industrial internet.''

The relocation by GE, which is considered to the bellwether of the US economy, is an indication of how, old-line companies in nearly every industry had been forced to rethink their businesses for a digital age, which was an opportunity, but also a threat.

Walmart has been making heavy investments in online commerce to meet the challenge from Amazon, and Ford and General Motors were bracing keep up with innovators like Tesla and Google.

City and state officials in Massachusetts , who beat out New York, Providence, and several other cities,  are offering among the most lucrative deals in the state's history to get GE to relocate. The incentives are reported to be valued at nearly $145 million - to lure the company here.

While Boston city officials said they are prepared to offer as much as $25 million in property tax relief, Massachusetts state's package could be valued at around $120 million including a variety of benefits, such as grants, tax incentives, infrastructure improvements, and help with real estate acquisition costs.

According to company officials, GE would help offset the cost of the move by selling off its final corporate presence in New York City: two lavish floors of executive offices and board rooms at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The decision move means New York governor Mario Cuomo's attempts to lure General Electric from shifting corporate headquarters - and 800 jobs - to New York from Connecticut had failed.

Cuomo had tried to lure GE to New York City or Westchester, with a package of tax incentives.

GE had pointed to Connecticut's new corporate-unfriendly budget, including over $1 billion in tax hikes, while announcing last summer that it was considering moving out.