GE to move several hundred jobs to The Banks in Cincinnati
Positions currently at Evendale site; tax credits part of plan.
General Electric CINCINNATI — Co. plans to move several hundred employees from Evendale to The Banks riverfront development this year, but it’s not clear how those relocations will impact the head count at the 10-story office building it opened in 2016.
GE told state officials it had 1,441 employees at The Banks last February. When it opened its Global Services Center, GE announced a goal of 1,800 downtown employees.
“In terms of total employment, we’re working through logistics of movements,” said GE spokesman Perry Bradley. “The number isn’t firm yet.”
Bradley said GE will relocate information technology employees and members of its digital solutions team to The Banks starting in March. He isn’t sure how long it will take to relocate all employees.
GE received one of the biggest tax-incentive deals in Cincinnati’s history when it agreed in 2014 to locate its shared services center at 191 Rosa Parks St. downtown. The $112 million incentive package included up to $90.4 million in Job Creation Tax Credits from the city of Cincinnati and state of Ohio, along with a property tax abatement worth $12.5 million and $4 million in JobsOhio workforce training and investment grants.
Tax credit deals provide a refund to a company for earnings taxes paid by its employees. GE’s credits carried a projected value of up to $90.4 million in 2014, but the actual amount depends on how well the company meets job creation, payroll and investment goals.
To receive the state tax credits, GE promised to create 1,400 full-time equivalent jobs at The Banks and generate at least $111 million in new payroll. Last February, it told Ohio’s Development Services Agency that its head count at the Banks was 1,441 with a total payroll of $155.6 million.