General Electric has cut Atlanta from its list of candidates for a possible headquarters relocation.
The Fortune 500 industrial giant told state officials over the weekend that Atlanta had been eliminated. The notice put to an end a months-long courtship that Gov. Nathan Deal had positioned as one of the state’s top economic development priorities.
Though state officials privately had downplayed the chances of luring GE, the official word was a blow to Georgia and Atlanta area recruiters. Georgia this year landed the U.S. division of Mercedes-Benz, but GE joins a Volvo factory among the big targets it couldn’t land.
Officials put a positive face on the development.
“While disappointed, of course, we are proud that GE has such a great presence in Georgia already, and we are confident that after going through this process with them and being able to showcase the great talent, infrastructure and innovation we have in Georgia, that our state will be an attractive option for further projects with GE in the future,” Chris Carr, Georgia’s economic development commissioner, said in a statement Monday.
Fairfield, Conn.-based GE threw open the idea of a headquarters move earlier this year after a tax dispute with Connecticut lawmakers.
A spat between the maker of locomotives, jet engines and advanced medical devices over Connecticut tax policy prompted GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to say the company would scout new locations. GE officials have said the company plans to announce its decision on whether to stay in Connecticut or leave by the end of the year.
GE representatives toured sites in the metro Atlanta area as recently as October.
GE has significant ties in Georgia, including more than 5,000 workers in several divisions. GE Energy Management and GE Power Generation Services are based in Georgia. John Rice, a vice chairman and chief of global operations, has a residence in Buckhead.
But state officials started hinting about four weeks ago that chance of getting GE to move its headquarters to metro Atlanta were dimming.
State officials with knowledge of the process expect GE to remain somewhere in the northeast, with New York and Connecticut being top contenders. Many other states also sought the company’s headquarters.
State and local recruiters said they have courted not only GE but officers from other Connecticut Fortune 500 companies upset about their state’s tax changes.
They hope that might still lead to other prospects, similar to when Georgia competed a few years ago for a Boeing factory that instead went to Washington state. Georgia’s pursuit eventually led to a deal with Boeing to convert a Macon military aircraft parts plant into a facility that will make fuselage panels for the 747-8 airliner. That move will create about 200 jobs.
“I’m very optimistic,” said state Rep. Ron Stephens, who chairs the House economic development committee. “We’ve got the best climate to do business in Georgia, and it’s pretty clear that we’ve done the right things to open us up to more business.”
Some legislative leaders said they are open to a review of Georgia’s incentive package in the wake of the Volvo and GE misses. In recent years, Georgia has stepped up tax breaks aimed at manufacturers, film companies and video game designers. But it’s a delicate balance, said state Sen. Frank Ginn, head of his chamber’s economic development panel.
“You don’t win every game you go to, and you don’t win every recruit you’re trying to get,” he said. “If we’re going to give the store away, you wouldn’t want to be doing business that way.”
Ginn singled out South Carolina, which offered a more lucrative financial aid package for Volvo than Georgia was believed to have put forward.
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