GE to launch Web site for jobs in Van Buren Twp
The company said this morning it plans to open a new Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Software Center in Van Buren Township that will employ more than 1,100 employees in the next few years.
A news release available in advance of a 10:30 a.mpress conference at Birmingham's Townsend Hotel said GE would build a new 100,000 square foot building costing $100 million on the site of the existing Visteon Village corporate park in the township.
The center will open later this year in existing office space at the site.
The center will include a GE research and development facility that will house scientists and engineers working on next-generation manufacturing technologies for GE's renewable energy, aircraft engine, gas turbine, and other high-tech products.
The site also will house GE experts in software development, data architecture, networking, business intelligence, and program management, the company said
GovJennifer Granholm
and GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt were to appear at the news conferenceU.SSensDebbie Stabenow and Carl Levin were also scheduled to appear at the news conference.
Immelt said at the news conference that GE will launch a Web site as early as next week so people can apply for jobs at the new facility.
Granholm said the jobs would pay in the range of $100,000 a year.
During the news conference, Immelt said the facility would begin with about 1,200 jobs and grow from there
Granholm quipped, "And the sky's the limit!"
In addition, Immelt said, "Companies like GE never travel alone" but bring suppliers and other spin-off jobs"Plant a seed, make a commitmentUltimately these things grow over time," he said.
Granholm said that the state's Michigan Economic Growth Authority has approved tax credits worth up to $74 million over 12 years to attract GE, and that the state will reap up to $146 million in increased tax collections as a result of that investment.
Although those incentives were important, Immelt said GE was also drawn by the state's large number of skilled engineers and by the quality of the state's universities.
That prompted Granholm to add, "We've got more engineering talent that's hungry and ready to go than anywhere else in the world."
Although the news release indicated that SenLevin would appear at the news conference with Granholm, Immelt and Stabenow, he did not.