Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley will not confirm media reports General Electric plans to locate its U.S. Global Operations Center and 1,400 new jobs at The Banks development.
Cranley was asked about the issue Thursday during a press conference on another topic. Cranley said reporters should write stories once GE makes its official announcement.
“It seems only fair to allow GE to make its final decision, which I don’t believe has been made yet,” Cranley said. “When they do then I assume we’ll all have a big press conference, if it’s in Cincinnati and give them the respect that they deserve for bringing these kind of jobs to Cincinnati.”
Several media outlets started reporting late Wednesday GE had chosen The Banks over other sites in Oakley and Mason.
The company will consolidate some of its operations at the new center in the region. General Electric said in April the positions will include functions such as finance, Human resources.
Cranley also would still not disclose what incentives Cincinnati is offering to land the project.
“As a general practice we’ve matched the state over many years,” Cranley said. “I remember when I was on Council before we generally would have a companion incentive package to the state’s. So I would expect that when we finalize a deal, if we finalize one in the city, that it will mirror the state package.
In terms of jobs, it's described as the state's largest economic development project in the last decade. Ohio Governor John Kasich said in April JobsOhio worked on this deal for years but wouldn't elaborate on what incentives were offered.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority has approved an 85 percent, 15-year Job Creation Tax Credit for General Electric to locatea new regional headquarters in Southwest Ohio.
The company is planning to setup temporary offices in the Downtown Atrium Two building. The new center is expected to be fully operational by 2017.
A GE spokesman said in April the total number of jobs could be closer to 2,000 once everything is up and running.
Meanwhile, Cranley announced Thursday he will be leading a city delegation on a trip to Munich, celebrating the 25th anniversary of a sister city relationship.
“I want to point out that no tax dollars are being used for my trip,” Cranley said. “I want to than the Sister Cities group that has raised the money for my trip, which was very generous.”
Cranley and others in the group will be meeting business and institutional leaders during the trip from June 30th thru July 3rd.
