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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Business Review  ~ by Richard A. D’Errico

GE Energy to add 500 jobs in Schenectady with $40M investment

GE Energy and the state plan on investing about $40 million in an old building and adding 500 jobs to its Schenectady campus, a Schenectady economic developer said Wednesday.

GE is investing $35 million and the state is investing $5 million in renovating a 203,000-square-foot building that dates back to the early 1900s, said Ray Gillen, chairman of Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority. Gillen said the deal has been in the works for months.

"The new hires come on board fairly quickly," Gillen said, adding that the jobs pay annual salaries of $70,000 and up. The jobs will focus on a number of GE Energy products.

"It's across the energy spectrum," Gillen said. "They've got tremendous growth."

Gillen noted that GE Energy has operations at 19 sites in 11 countries.

"This (investment) could have gone to a number of different places," Gillen said, "but it's coming to Schenectady ."

Steve Bolze, president of power generation at GE Energy and Vic Abate, vice president of renewables, are expected to speak. Other speakers include: Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton, and Daniel Gundersen, co-chair of Empire State Development Corp.

GE (NYSE: GE) could not immediately be reached for comment.