Malloy Makes Pitch to Keep GE in Fairfield

In an attempt to fend off competition from other states trying to lure General Electric out of its Fairfield headquarters, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he has met with GE officials about staying in Connecticut.

The CT Mirror reports Malloy told a group of reporters Monday in Hartford that his administration proposed specific assistance to keep GE in Fairfield.

While Malloy didn’t divulge details about the discussions, he said, “we certainly had those discussions and stand ready to work with them on issues of concern and being competitive with other states,” as GE decides the location of its headquarters, according to the Mirror.

The Hartford Courant reports that Malloy and his administration have had discussions with GE for a “period of time” and the last face-to-face meeting was “the week before last.’’

• To sign up for Fairfield breaking news alerts and more, click here.

Bloomberg reported last week that GE has had discussions about relocated to Atlanta and that it might meet with a developer in the coming weeks regarding space at Three Alliance Center, a 30-story building being built in Atlanta.

That news came on the heels of a Politico New York report that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, visited the Fairfield headquarters July 30 on a recruiting trip for a possible move to Westchester County and incentives New York might offer.

Upset over Connecticut’s new business tax increases, GE CEO Jeff Immelt sent an email to the company’s Connecticut employees at the beginning of 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.”

Since then, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has taken out radio ads and made a personal visit to Connecticut. Also, Indiana took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal lending its support to GE and Governor Michael R. Pence sent a letter to Immelt.

Read more at the CT Mirror here and the Hartford Courant here.