GE Transportation’s planning to relocate their corporate headquarters to Chicago in Illinois by 2014. Of course at first only 50 jobs will be moving to the new headquarters.
To be more clear, the Subject should say "GE Transportation moving corporate headquarters to Chicago.
The owner of GE Transportation is General Electric Company, based in Connecticut, and is not moving its corporate headquarters.
I’m always sorry to see jobs leaving towns such as Erie, Pennsylvania. But I do note this: The jobs are moving to Illinois, a state much criticized in these forums and elsewhere for its supposedly “job-killing” tax environment. Apparently, the tax rate isn’t all that important to GE Transportation. So I have to conclude that the anti-tax crowd’s scare tactics are pure fear-mongering. Chicago must be able to offer something Erie can’t.
O’Hare – the press release was pretty clear about the company need to service customers worldwide.
I don’t think this is a big deal…they’re not moving the plant, only a small number of management positions are going to Chicago.
I fully agree…this essentiall means nothing if production remains in Erie.
GE is incorporated in New York State, so it won’t pay higher Illinois corporate taxes, however, employees who relocate to Chicago will pay the higher income tax rate. Also, Illinois’ governor signed a tax incentives bill in late 2011 to keep companies (like Sears) from moving out of state.
This is something they’ll live to regret.
Why??? Boeing did the same thing and they aren’t making noises about moving their HQ back to Seattle.
The first lick for those employees moving will be the State Income Taxes ( both in Pa and ILL.). Not to mention the Federal Income Taxes.
I’d bet it won’t be pretty! [:'(] I wish them luck. Not to mention the hit taken if selling a home in Pa. I don’t know how devalued home prices in Illinois are currently. That will be a problem as well. [2c]
I gathered from the press release that this was so that most likely their sales and management had better access to transportation to serve their customers world wide i.e access to O’Hare. The big problem with the business climate in Illinois is that if your a big corporation like Sears or Boeing or others the City and State kiss your butt to keep you here, but there are dozens of small and mid-sized companies who are leaving Illinois because they get stuck paying for the give backs to the big corporations. If the politicians in this state were smart (and they’re not) they’d keep taxes low for everyone. Illinois has alot of natural advantages for doing business. But the current occupants of the state house in Springfield seem to think that we’re an endless supply of money. I used to own a business and know many others that still do and to a person they all think the taxing climate in this stare is bad.
Housing exposure is dependent on GE’s relocation policies. Most large companies have policies that prevent their employees from taking a bath on the housing they are leaving behind.
The tax issue may be true in part but it also serves as a cover for the fact that Illinois is not a so-called “right-to-work” (union-busting) state.
GE Relocation? Maybe, after they let you exhaust everything but giving it away - MONTHS!
Let’s face it - it’s a step in their typical progression, ending in the Erie plant closing when the last manufacturing jobs go to Africa. Of course GE will still employ a zillion american people, all servicing their ‘made somewhere else, last decal affixed in USA - better get a service contract right away’ products. This gives the separation needed to start the ‘transfer process’. Appliances, Healthcare, Transportation, next maybe Energy.
[:(!]
A few comments…
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GE Railcar is located in downtown Chicago. GE Transportation might move into the same location. It would make sense.
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O’Hare - already commented on. It makes sense.
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Just a hunch…manufacturing jobs will begin moving back to United States. Why? China’s labor advantage is rapidly evaporating. Transportation costs to and from Asia are always going to be a factor. Drumroll…the big factor will be…energy costs. We are sitting on a massive amount of untapped energy. Natural gas costs are very low and will probably remain there. One comment I heard was that the US could be on the verge of a new industrial revolution. Go figure!
Ed
Nice to think so, MP, but I’ll believe it when I see it. There’s a lot of underdeveloped world for U.S. industry to explore first. And here at home I can see the combination of greenies, over-zealous regulators and NIMBYs giving away such natural advantages, like energy, as we might have.
First we have to get the EPA to realize that JOBS and making things HERE is NOT A BAD THING.
But unbreathable air and undrinkable water are bad things.
I am talking about all the Over Regulation they have rammed down our Throats. Come on here in my town we had a chance for a plant with 500 New Jobs WE LOST IT why the Paperwork needed for the Company to get approval to start Constuction of the plant would have taken them 3 Years. They wanted it done in 1. They went down to AL instead.
No one in government says “I’m bored, lets pass some new regulations”. Every one of those pesky regulations was passed because of a problem. The US government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars cleaning up environmental damage that was caused by businesses trying to maximize their profits.
I agree that the paperwork is bizarre, but the regulations are not. We don’t need to repeal the regulations, we need to streamline the bureaucracy that has formed around the enforcement of the regulations.