By Bowdeya Tweh
It took months to negotiate the deal and haggle over economic incentives needed to land General Electric Co. and 2,000 potential jobs at The Banks in downtown Cincinnati.
Tuesday, state and local leaders stopped to celebrate Southwest Ohio's major economic development win and praised the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company for expanding job counts and investments in the state.
"It was a tough competition," Gov. John Kasich said. "They could have gone a lot of different places, and I think that the DNA of Cincinnati was a great help."
Kasich praised JobsOhio for "finding creative ways" to land GE's U.S. Global Operations Center here and the work of county and local leaders. The state provided at least $51 million of a more than $100 million incentives package. The governor also hinted the competition isn't over to land more GE jobs, saying the company could exceed its current pledge of 1,400 new positions in Ohio.
Tuesday's press conference came nearly three months after GE and JobsOhio announced the company would bring more jobs to Greater Cincinnati. The event was at the Atrium Two building Downtown, GE's temporary home until construction is complete in 2016 on a nearly 338,000-square-foot, 10-story office building at The Banks.
GE has nearly 16,000 employees in Ohio, which "played no small part" in Cincinnati landing the operations center, said Shane Fitzsimons, a GE senior vice president who leads the company's global shared services operations. More than 7,500 GE workers are in Greater Cincinnati, and GE Aviation is based in Evendale.
Fitzsimons said talent availability was a key factor in GE's locating the center in Cincinnati.
GE's other shared services centers are in China, Hungary, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Workers in the United States will be charged with streamlining back-office operations among GE properties and businesses such as supply chain management, finance, human resources and information technology.
"This is really a big day in terms of bringing a competitive U.S. center into the shared services mix and one that working with our partners we're sure will be competitive and deliver what we need for our company, customers and shareholders alike," Fitzsimons said.
For now, GE will occupy about 78,000 square feet on the second, third, 19th and 20th floors of Atrium Two, said Joe Allen, manager of the Cincinnati-based global operations center. He said the office had the "best second-floor view in the city" overlooking Great American Ball Park, the riverfront and The Banks.
About 25 people work in the office now; that number could grow to 100 by year's end. Allen said among the first group of employees to work Downtown will be finance workers.
Vice Mayor David Mann said Tuesday was a day of celebration because of the employment and economic development impact. Phil Castellini, chief operating officer of the Cincinnati Reds, said GE's office building will inspire future developments including office buildings and potentially two hotels.
"This is more than $1 billion of economic impact," said Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann, referring to a University of Cincinnati Economics Center study on the annual impact of GE's locating at The Banks. "This move to The Banks realizes a dream and a promise to rebuild our central riverfront, and that's happening right here."
Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown said he never predicted the dramatic changes along Cincinnati's riverfront since the 1968 groundbreaking for Riverfront Stadium, former home of the Reds and Bengals. The stadium has now been replaced by Great American Ball Park in a neighborhood that also features Paul Brown Stadium, a dozen restaurants and bars, and Smale Riverfront Park. A parking garage and office building and other developments are planned.
"We're glad that this is happening," Brown said. "This is something everyone in town wanted to see."
The Banks now has 300 apartments and more than 90,000 square feet of retail space. About 91 percent of the retail space has been leased.
Nearly 300 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space are under construction on the same development "pad" as GE's $90 million office building.