Atlanta Making Aggressive Push for GE: Report

Atlanta and Georgia officials are making an aggressive push, including proposing lucrative tax breaks, in an attempt to lure General Electric out of its Fairfield headquarters, according to Bloomberg.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told Bloomberg News reporters that they will be “offering whatever is reasonable to get it done if we have the opportunity. Having one of the top 10 most important companies in the world put their logo over the city of Atlanta skyline is not just about the tax-break number. It is about what it says to the world.”

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Reed also said that if GE chooses to relocate to the south, “I think it is going to be us. That is about as much as I can say. But we have robust competition.”

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said in September that he plans to decide where the company will call home by the end of the year.

GE has been weighing its options about relocating from its Fairfield headquarters ever since Immelt expressed frustration over Connecticut’s new business tax increases in June.

Suitors have lined up for GE ever since Immelt sent an email to the company’s Connecticut employees in June, notifying them that he has “assembled an exploratory team to look into the company’s options to relocate corporate HQ to another state with a more pro-business environment.”

Read more about Atlanta’s push for GE at Bloomberg here.