Governor Baker Addresses Israeli Tech Industry at GE Forum
GE executives share reasons for choosing Massachusetts as home for global headquarters
TEL AVIV – Governor Charlie Baker today addressed nearly 300 attendees from the Israeli tech industry at an event hosted by GE as part of the Baker-Polito Administration’s Economic Development Mission to Israel. GE employs 500 people in Israel and shared their reasoning for choosing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as home for its new global headquarters. Remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Thank you all for joining us here today and for welcoming us into your country.
“We are all immensely proud of the special economic and cultural relationship that exists between Massachusetts and the State of Israel.
“This trade mission advances that relationship by forging new connections between the Commonwealth's leading minds in digital health and cyber security, and our Israeli counterparts.
“Together, we will accelerate the pace of technological innovation, cement our leadership in these two critical emerging technology sectors, and connect our citizens to greater prosperity.
“I’m especially pleased to be joined here today by colleagues, based in Israel and the US, from GE.
“Over the past year, GE has opened a new headquarters for its Health Care Life Sciences division in Massachusetts; decided to headquarter its energy and lighting division, Current, in Massachusetts; and selected Massachusetts as the new home for its corporate headquarters.
“GE’s decision to leave its suburban headquarters, and relocate 800 jobs to Boston’s Seaport, speaks volumes about where GE’s corporate future lies, and about Massachusetts’ economic competitiveness.
“Today, I’d like to address why we knew the Commonwealth would be such a great fit for GE; why we’re so excited about the work that’s going to happen around GE’s new headquarters; and what it means for innovation in Massachusetts, and our relationship with Israel.
“From the beginning, we were pitching GE on everything that makes Massachusetts special.
“And thanks to the hard work and brains of the folks in our business community, many of whom have traveled to Israel as part of our delegation, we had a lot to pitch GE on.
“This year, Bloomberg and the Milken Institute both named Massachusetts the most innovative state in the US -- and the US Chamber of Commerce has ranked Boston as the region best positioned to lead entrepreneurial growth and innovation in the digital economy.
“We produce the greatest density of science and technology graduates in the U.S., we have the country’s best-educated workforce, and we attract more federal funding for research and development than nearly any other state in the US.
“The companies and institutions that call Massachusetts home do things no one else in the U.S. can do, and make things no one else in the US can make -- we innovate, we incubate new ideas, and we grow them to scale.
“Massachusetts boasts an unrivaled startup culture -- we attract more venture capital investment, as a share of GDP, than anywhere else in the US.
“And just as importantly, we’ve built systems for nurturing and accelerating the growth of young companies:
• “in Greentown Labs, the country’s largest cleantech incubator;
• “in the Cambridge Innovation Center, which has launched $4 billion in new public companies, and helped companies like Google and Facebook scale up in Massachusetts;
• “and in MassChallenge, the world’s largest startup accelerator, and an institution we’re proud to say has successfully expanded to Jerusalem.
• “Our administration has substantially increased Massachusetts’s investment in workforce development – including $45 million over the next three years in workforce training equipment.
“In close partnership with industry, this investment will prepare the next generation of Massachusetts workers to seize jobs in fields like computer science, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and engineering.
“Four in every ten Massachusetts workers, work in innovation -- and because we boast an innovation ecosystem of unparalleled density, there is no better place in the world for you to expand, and grow to scale, than Massachusetts.
“We are home to many of the world’s most significant research and medical institutions, and some of the most innovative employers in the world.
We have a rich community of innovators, an unbeatable startup culture, and the incubators, accelerators, funders, and partners to help them grow to scale.
“We thought we had a compelling pitch about the power and diversity of our innovation ecosystem, the talent of our workforce, the vibrancy of our communities, and the promise of the new technologies our researchers unlock every day -- and we’re thrilled that GE agreed.
“When Jeff Immelt announced Boston as GE’s new headquarters, he said he wanted GE to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares GE’s aspirations.
“That’s as strong an endorsement as any government official could ever receive.
“GE’s new Boston headquarters is still under development.
“The full company operation, with 200 corporate staff, and 600 innovators working in the design and development of digital industrial products across Current, GE Digital, robotics, and Life Sciences, is still many months down the road.
“But even though Jeff and his team have only been working from their temporary space in Boston for a little while now, we’ve already seen the promise of the work that will emanate from GE’s Massachusetts headquarters:
“In collaboration with GE and Massachusetts General Hospital, we have hosted a hackathon that explored new technological solutions to opioid addiction;
• “For the first time, GE has launched a high-school-level internship in science, technology, engineering, and math, in coordination with our Administration’s STEM council;
• “GE is engaging the Boston Public Schools in a $25 million effort to build career pipelines, in computer science and engineering;
• “GE has partnered with Northeastern University to launch a pioneering new bachelor’s degree in Advanced Manufacturing, with the majority of learning happening on the job site;
• “GE is collaborating with Boston Children’s Hospital, to deliver software solutions that will improve the diagnosis of pediatric brain disorders;
• “GE is investing $7.5 million to advance MIT’s research into low-carbon energy solutions;
• “GE has committed to opening a new innovation center, and has signed on as a diamond-level sponsor of MassChallenge;
“And GE is serving on a public-private advisory council that is helping me and my staff cement Massachusetts’s global leadership in digital health.
“GE’s presence in Boston is helping to grow jobs, improve our citizens’ health, and equip residents with the skills they need to secure jobs that unlock the future -- that’s a lot of impact in a few short months.
“It shows what’s possible, when corporate citizenship and economic development align -- and demonstrates why we’re so excited to have a generation of GE leadership living and working in Massachusetts.
“Our administration is harnessing our innovation ecosystem to drive job growth in new technologies, investing in the development and commercialization of advanced materials and communications systems.
“We welcomed GE, because GE is building its future in the same areas where Massachusetts is building our economic future: in life sciences and digital health; in cleantech; in advanced manufacturing; and in smart, connected machines and devices.
“Our strengths, as a state, are GE’s strengths -- that’s why we’re so bullish on our collective futures.
“GE came to Massachusetts on the strengths of our innovation ecosystem, and GE’s work will make our innovation economy exponentially stronger.
“By working in the spaces GE works in, we expect Massachusetts, as a whole, will see greater inflows of talented workers, increased investment in research and development and venture capital, and expanded partnership opportunities for business.
“And we expect that GE’s new headquarters will help strengthen the deep and enduring partnerships that exist between Massachusetts and Israel.
“The work happening here, at GE in Israel, is impressive -- delivering new advances in health care, cybersecurity, clean energy, and the industrial internet.
“GE Ventures, which will have a major Boston presence, has a dozen active investments in Israel.
“The connections that exist between GE and Israel -- in research, and in investment relationships -- are the same types of connections that we are here, in Israel, to advance.
“We are here to advance collaborative efforts on research and business development.
“We are here to increase the flow of investment between our two states, and to invite Israeli companies to grow in Massachusetts.
The deep, multi-layered ties between GE’s American and Israeli operations, and GE’s recent commitment to Massachusetts, make the bilateral innovation agenda we are advancing here even more significant.
“GE makes those ties even more meaningful, forges stronger connection points, and expands the opportunities for collaboration that exist between our two states.”
