GE Aviation
What: Manufacturer of military and commercial aircraft jet engines and components
Where: More than 50 locations worldwide. Headquarters at 1 Neumann Way, Evendale. West Chester Twp. locations at North Pointe at Union Center and Centre Pointe Office Park
President and chief executive officer: David Joyce
Website: www.geaviation.com
2010 annual revenues: $17.6 billion
Employees: Total approximately 2,120 in Butler County
WEST CHESTER TWP. - GE Aviation is moving approximately 300 employees to newly leased office space in West Chester Twp.
The employees, mostly engineers, are coming from locations in Hamilton County and from GE Aviation’s existing North Pointe at Union Centre facility in West Chester Twp. beginning this week, said Rick Kennedy, GE spokesman.
The lease of an 80,000-square-foot space in the Centre Pointe Office Park was inked this week, Kennedy said.
The new office will allow different engineers to work together in teams, Kennedy said.
After losing its funding for the military Joint Strike Fighter Program, some engineers were moved to GE Aviation’s growing commercial plane engine business, he said. Also, some leases were up on facilities in Hamilton County.
The jobs moving to the building Centre Pointe III carry an annual payroll valued at $2.5 million to $3 million, he said.
“We haven’t had to lay people off,” Kennedy said. “Fortunately, we were able to absorb some jobs in our commercial business.”
In 2008, GE Aviation moved facilities from Springdale to West Chester Twp. in two buildings at North Pointe at Union Centre, at the corner of Cincinnati Dayton Road and Union Centre Boulevard. The move brought 1,400 jobs to West Chester Twp. The jobs moving down the road from North Pointe to Centre Pointe may create hiring opportunities, he said.
Since 2008, around 300 new jobs have been added in Greater Cincinnati due to the growing commercial engine business, Kennedy said.
The job creation has propelled the company to be the sixth largest employer in Butler County this year, with an estimated 1,600 employees in West Chester Twp., according to Butler County Department of Development.
GE Aviation also has another two locations in Butler County for component work that have about 520 employees on top of the 1,600 jobs.
West Chester Twp. doesn’t collect payroll and income taxes. The township collects an estimated $1 million in income tax revenues annually from the North Pointe facility, which is in a joint economic development district with Fairfield and Springdale, said Barb Wilson, township spokeswoman.
GE Aviation is a $17.6 billion jet engine maker based in Evendale and has various locations in Greater Cincinnati. It’s a division of General Electric Co. that does mostly engine design and support work in the Cincinnati area, Kennedy said.
The lease by GE Aviation joins other recently signed leases for office space on Centre Pointe Drive.
GE Energy, Crossmark and Parker Aerospace also recently signed leases for space at Centre Pointe Office Park, according to West Chester Twp. Other tenants at Centre Pointe include AK Steel’s headquarters, the law firm Frost Brown Todd LLC and Contech Construction Products.
Class A office space in downtown West Chester Twp. now has a 98 percent occupancy rate, Wilson said.
The benefit to West Chester Twp. is that more employees could patronize other businesses and could move to the township to live, said Trustee George Lang.
“For every employee that moves here it’s a multiplier effect,” Lang said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
About the Author