GE's John Rice to leave Atlanta for Hong Kong

Asia’s gain is perhaps the Atlanta region's loss, business leaders say, as Rice carved out quite a civic niche. Rice, 53, who couldn’t be reached for comment, chaired the Metro Atlanta Chamber in 2004. He has also co-chaired the Commission for School Board Excellence, which advocates for school leadership reform.

“Education, of course, has been his real passion and John has shown that a CEO with global responsibilities still has time to get involved in helping lead this region and state,” said Sam Williams, president of the Atlanta Chamber.

GE is one of the nation’s top exporters, earning more than $18 billion in foreign markets last year. In 2001, it earned $7 billion, according to Monday’s press release

Rice is charged with boosting 2009 revenues – 54 percent derived from overseas sales – to 60 percent or better by focusing on China, India, Brazil and other developing countries keen to build energy and transportation systems.

“We are entering a period of great opportunity in global markets and, as a result, our teams must be more decentralized, faster and more local," GE chairman Jeff Immelt said in a statement. “We are raising the stature of everything global in GE.”

Rice’s shift also highlights the poor, near-term growth prospects for recession-wracked Western economies. And his background as a leader of GE’s energy, transportation and technology infrastructure divisions, makes him well-qualified to sell pipelines and turbines worldwide, said Nicholas Heymann, an analyst with Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in New York.

“John will have the ability to re-ignite momentum and growth for industrial products throughout all of the world’s emerging markets,” Heymann said. “The effort here is to really put John in the saddle, put some spurs on him and let him work as hard as he can.”

The two locally based GE divisions, energy and technology infrastructure, employ more than 2,300 people here.