After just a week in office, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was out Monday touting Chicago’s ability to land professional-grade jobs with an announcement that GE Capital will hire 1,000 new employees here during the next three years.
The leasing and financing arm of corporate giant GE chose to expand its operations in the city because of a growing economy and its current West Loop presence. The new mayor said a little pre-inauguration personal diplomacy helped, but no city subsidies were offered.
“If this didn’t make economic sense to GE and their bottom line, they wouldn’t have done it,” Emanuel said. “Having a personal relationship obviously didn’t hurt. It pushed it a little, tilted it a little, but we have fundamental strengths in our city.”
As a former congressman and White House chief of staff, Emanuel already had a relationship with GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt. So, when Immelt was in town March 8, Emanuel suggested they meet for a drink.
In a 90-minute talk at Immelt’s hotel, Emanuel outlined his plans for better schools, safer streets, sound city finances and cultural growth, the mayor said.
The upshot is that GE Capital is “doubling down” on Chicago, where it already has more than 1,000 employees, the mayor said.
“Chicago has now become for GE its second city,” Emanuel said after touring GE Capital’s offices at 500 W. Monroe St.
GE Capital was looking to expand, and Chicago was one of the locations under consideration, said Daniel Henson, the American division’s president and CEO.
“My business unit has almost 8,000 employees, and we’re constantly growing, and we already were growing in the city of Chicago, but the conversations with the mayor convinced us now was the right time to announce our future plans,” he said.
“It makes sense to grow here, this is already a large location for us,” Henson added, noting the “wealth of financial services and banking talent in the city at very good value,” along with the mayor’s plans for the city. “Pound for pound, Chicago provides a lot of value for us and is a great place to be.”
The first 500 new hires will be made within a year, Henson said. The jobs will be in sales, marketing, technical, regulatory and recruiting positions, he said.
Twitter @ReporterHal
