General Electric Co.
Type	Public (NYSE: GE)
Founded	1878 in Menlo Park, New Jersey
Founder	Thomas Edison
Headquarters	Fairfield, Connecticut,[1]
Key people	Jeffrey R. Immelt (Chairman) & (CEO)
Industry	Conglomerate
Products	Aircraft Jet Engines Electricity Entertainment Finance Gas Turbine Generation Industrial Automation Lighting Medical Imaging Equipment Medical Software Motors Railway Locomotives Wind Turbine
Market Cap	US$ 369. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19 1956, Cincinnati OH) is the current Chairman of the board and Chief executive officer A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" A conglomerate is a large Company that consists of seemingly unrelated Business sections In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need specific --->A jet engine is a Reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of Fluid to See also Entertainment (disambiguation and The Entertainer (disambiguation Entertainment is an activity designed to give people The field of finance refers to the concepts of Time, Money and Risk and how they are interrelated A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary Engine that extracts energy from a flow of Combustion gas Generation (from the Greek γενεά) also known as procreation, is the act of producing Offspring. Automation ( Ancient Greek: = self dictated) roboticization or industrial automation or Numerical control is the use of Control systems Lighting includes both artificial Light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from Daylight. Medical imaging refers to the techniques and processes used to create Images of the human body (or parts thereof for clinical purposes ( Medical procedures seeking to Health informatics or medical informatics is the intersection of Information science, Computer science, and Health care. An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy. A locomotive is a railway Vehicle that provides the motive power for a Train. A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the Kinetic energy in Wind into Mechanical energy. Market capitalization/capitalisation (aka market cap, mkt cap or capitalized/capitalised value) is a measurement of Corporate or Economic The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 569 Billion (2008)
Revenue	▲ US$ 172. In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 738 Billion (2007)[2]
Operating income	▲ US$ 26. In financial and business Accounting, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT is a measure of a firm's profitability that excludes interest and income tax expenses The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 598 Billion (2007)
Net income	▲ US$ 22. Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 208 Billion (2007)[2]
Total assets	▲ US$ 795. In Business and Accounting, assets are everything owned by a person or company (all tangible and intangible property that can be converted into cash. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 337 Billion (2007)
Total equity	▲ US$ 115. In accounting terms after all liabilities are paid ownership equity is the remaining interest in Assets If valuations placed on assets do not exceed liabilities The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 559 Billion (2007)
Employees	~319,000 (2007)
Subsidiaries	GE Commercial Finance GE Industrial GE Infrastructure GE Money GE Healthcare NBC Universal (80%)
Website	www.ge.com

The General Electric Company, or GE (NYSE: GE) is a multinational American technology and services conglomerate incorporated in the State of New York. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A subsidiary, in business matters is an entity that is controlled by a bigger and more powerful entity GE Commercial Finance is a unit of GE Capital, (one of four major operating divisions of General Electric) GE Industrial provides a broad range of products and services throughout the world including appliances lighting and industrial products factory automation systems plastics silicones GE Infrastructure is a subsidiary of General Electric, formed in 2005 as part of a company-wide reorganization under CEO Jeff Immelt. GE Money is part of GE Capital operating division of General Electric. GE Healthcare is a unit of GE Technology Infrastructure, which is a unit of General Electric (GE NBC Universal is a media and Entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric 's NBC with Vivendi Universal A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. Multinational corporation ( MNC) or transnational corporation ( TNC) is a Corporation or enterprise that manages Production or delivers The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt A service is the non-material equivalent of a good. A service provision is an economic activity that does not result in Ownership, and this is what differentiates A conglomerate is a large Company that consists of seemingly unrelated Business sections ^[3] In terms of market capitalization as at 31 March 2008, GE is the world's third largest company and also second in the BrandZ ranking. Market capitalization/capitalisation (aka market cap, mkt cap or capitalized/capitalised value) is a measurement of Corporate or Economic The following is a list of public companies having the greatest Market capitalization. BrandZ is a Brand equity Database. It holds data from over 650000 consumers and professionals across 31 countries comparing In the 1960s, aspects of U. S. tax laws and accounting practices led to a rise in the assembly of conglomerates. A conglomerate is a large Company that consists of seemingly unrelated Business sections GE, which was a conglomerate long before the term was coined, is arguably the most successful organization of this type.

History

In 1876, Ohio-born Thomas Edison opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads A laboratory (informally lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific Research, Experiments and Edison Township (usually known as Edison) is a township in Middlesex County New Jersey, United States. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Out of the laboratory came arguably one the most famous inventions of all—a practical incandescent electric lamp. The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is a source of electric Light that works by Incandescence, (a general By 1890, Edison had organized his various businesses into the Edison General Electric Company.

In 1879, Elihu Thomson and Edwin J. Houston formed the rival Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Elihu Thomson ( March 29, 1853  – March 13, 1937) was an engineer and Inventor who was instrumental in the founding Edwin J Houston (Alexandria Virginia 1847&ndash New York 1914 was an American electrical inventor The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was formed in 1883 when a group of Lynn Massachusetts investors led by Charles A It merged with various companies and was later led by Charles A. Coffin, a former shoe manufacturer from Lynn, Massachusetts. Charles Albert Coffin ( Fairfield Maine, 31 December 1844-14 July 1926 was the first President of General Electric corporation Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Mergers with competitors and the patent rights owned by each company made them dominant in the electrical industry. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an As businesses expanded, it became increasingly difficult for either company to produce complete electrical installations relying solely on their own technology.

In 1892, these two major companies combined, in a merger arranged by financier J. P. Morgan, to form the General Electric Company, with its headquarters in Schenectady, New York. Financier (fɨˈnænsiɚ or finãˈsje in French is a term for a person who handles large sums of Money, usually involving money lending, financing John Pierpont Morgan ( April 17, 1837 &ndash March 31, 1913) was an American financier banker and art collector who Schenectady (skəˈnɛktədi Θkahnéhtati in Tuscarora) is a City in Schenectady County, New York, United States

In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly-formed Dow Jones Industrial Average and still remains after 112 years (it is the only one of the original companies remaining on the Dow — though it has not always been in the DOW index). The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( also called the DJIA, Dow 30, INDP, or informally the Dow Jones or The Dow) is one of several The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( also called the DJIA, Dow 30, INDP, or informally the Dow Jones or The Dow) is one of several

In 1911 the National Electric Lamp Company (NELA) was absorbed into General Electric's existing lighting business. GE then established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park is the headquarters of GE Lighting, and is located in East Cleveland, Ohio, United States. East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is the first suburb of Cleveland Ohio. Nela Park was the world's first industrial park, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and is still the headquarters for GE's lighting business.

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was founded by GE in 1919 to further international radio. RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light.

General Electric was one of the eight major computer companies through most of the 1960s - with IBM, the largest, called "Snow White" followed by the "Seven Dwarfs": Burroughs, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA, UNIVAC and GE. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology The Burroughs Corporation began in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company in St NCR Corporation ( is a technology company specializing in products for the retail and financial sectors Control Data Corporation (CDC, was one of the pioneering Supercomputer firms Honeywell ( is a major American multinational conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products engineering services and aerospace systems RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 UNIVAC serves as the catch-all name for the American manufacturers of the lines of mainframe computers by that name which through mergers and acquisitions underwent (There was also Scientific Data Systems, much smaller than the seven dwarfs). Scientific Data Systems, or SDS, was an American Computer company founded in September 1961 by Max Palevsky, a veteran of Packard Bell GE had an extensive line of general purpose and special purpose computers. Among them were the GE 200, GE 400, and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real time process control computers, and the Datanet 30 message switching computer. The GE-200 series was a family of small mainframe Computers of the 1960s built by General Electric. The GE-600 series was a family of 36-bit mainframe Computers originating in the 1960s built by General Electric (GE A Datanet 600 computer was designed, but never sold. It has been said that GE got into computer manufacturing because in the 1950s they were the largest user of computers outside of the United States federal government. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. In 1970 GE sold its computer division to Honeywell.

In 1986 GE reacquired RCA, primarily for the NBC television network. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's The remainder was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann and Thomson SA. Bertelsmann AG is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835 based in Gütersloh, Germany. Thomson SA (,) formerly known as Thomson Multimedia is an international provider of solutions for the creation management delivery and access of video for the

In 2002 Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a division of GE called GE Information Systems (GEIS). The new company, named GXS, is based in Gaithersburg, MD. GXS is a Business-to-Business e-Commerce services company headquartered outside of Washington DC Gaithersburg is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland. As of 2005, the city had an estimated total population of 57698 making it the fourth largest in GXS is a leading provider of B2B e-Commerce solutions. GE maintains a minority ownership position in GXS.

In 2004 GE bought Vivendi's television and movie assets, becoming the third largest media conglomerate in the world. VIVENDI is a software package for care management and staff organisation published by the German software company CONNEXT and introduced in 1995 The new company was named NBC Universal. NBC Universal is a media and Entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric 's NBC with Vivendi Universal Also in 2004 GE completed the spinoff of most of its mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia. A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new Organization or Entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a Television series based on a pre-existing A mortgage loan is a Loan secured by Real property through the use of a Mortgage (a legal instrument Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the Genworth Financial is an international Financial services organization that offers a portfolio of primarily consumer-focused products through its various companies including This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Genpact formerly known as GE Capital International Services ( GECIS ) was established by GE in late 1997 as its captive India based BPO. Genpact ( NYSE G is a Business process outsourcing (BPO company in India Business process outsourcing ( BPO) contains the transmission of processes along with the associated operational activities and responsibilities to a third party with at least GE sold 60% stake in Genpact to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and hived off Genpact into an independent business. GE is still a major client to Genpact getting its services in customer service, finance, information technology and analytics.

In May 2008, GE announced it was exploring options for divesting the bulk of it's consumer appliance business.

For a complete list of acquisitions and divestitures, see General Electric timeline. General Electric has a long history involving many mergers acquisitions and divestitures

Past controversies

GE has faced criminal action regarding its defense related operations. GE was convicted in 1990 of defrauding the U. S. Department of Defense, and again in 1992 on charges of corrupt practices in the sale of jet engines to Israel. ^[4][5]

Corporate affairs

Classic GE neon sign

GE is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. Neon signs are luminous-tube signs that contain neon or other inert gases at a low pressure Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Its New York headquarters are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Rockefeller Center, known as the GE Building for the prominent GE logo on the roof. Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets in New York City. The GE Building is an Art Deco Skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of the Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan. Through its RCA subsidiary, it has been associated with the Center since its construction in the 1930s.

The company describes itself as composed of a number of primary business units or "businesses. " Each "business" is itself a vast enterprise, many of which would, even as a standalone company, rank in the Fortune 500. Please do not add the complete list of fortune 500 companies The list is copyrighted by Fortune which makes money by selling the content The list of GE businesses varies over time as the result of acquisitions, divestitures and reorganizations. In Finance and Economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of Asset for either financial goals or ethical objectives General Electric's tax return is the largest return filed in the United States; the 2005 return was approximately 24,000 pages when printed out, and 237 megabytes when submitted electronically. ^[6]

In 2005 GE launched its "Ecomagination" initiative in an attempt to position itself as a "green" company. GE is currently one of the biggest players in the wind power industry, and it is also developing new environment-friendly products such as hybrid locomotives, desalination and water reuse solutions, and photovoltaic cells. The company has set goals for its subsidiaries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. ^[7]

On 21 May 2007, General Electric announced it would sell its GE Plastics division to petrochemicals manufacturer Saudi Basic Industries Corp. for net proceeds of $11. Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp is a diversified manufacturing company active in chemicals and intermediates industrial polymers fertilizers and metals 6 billion. The transaction took place on August 31, 2007, and the company name changed to SABIC Innovative Plastics, with Brian Gladden as CEO. ^[8]

CEO

Main article: Jeffrey R. Immelt

Jeffrey Immelt is the current chairman of the board and chief executive officer of General Electric. Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19 1956, Cincinnati OH) is the current Chairman of the board and Chief executive officer Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19 1956, Cincinnati OH) is the current Chairman of the board and Chief executive officer He was selected by GE's Board of Directors in 2000 to replace John Francis Welch Jr. (Jack Welch) following his retirement. John Francis "Jack" Welch Jr (born) was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001

Previously, Immelt had headed GE's Medical Systems division (now GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO. He has been with GE since 1982 and is on the board of two non-profit organizations.

His tenure as the Chairman and CEO started at a time of crisis - he took over the role on September 7, 2001^[9], four days before the terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed two employees and cost GE's insurance business $600 million - as well as having a direct effect on the company's Aircraft Engines sector. Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.

Brand

General Electric has the fourth most recognized brand in the world, worth almost $49 billion. ^[10]

CEO Jeffrey Immelt had the new brand commissioned in 2004, after he took the reins as chairman, to unify the diversified businesses of GE. A brand is a collection of Images and ideas representing an economic producer more specifically it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a The brand included a change of the corporate color palette, small modifications to the GE Logo, a new customized font (GE Inspira), and a new slogan, "imagination at work" replacing the longtime slogan "we bring good things to life". GE Inspira is a Typeface developed by Michael Abbink around 2002 for the new visual identity system of the General Electric Company The new brand requires many headlines to be lowercased and adds visual "white space" to documents and advertising to promote an open and approachable company. The new brand was designed by Wolff Olins and is used extensively on GE's marketing, literature and website.

Businesses

Main article: List of assets owned by General Electric

GE's divisions include GE Commercial Finance, GE Industrial, GE Infrastructure (including GE Aviation and the former Smiths Aerospace), GE Consumer Finance,^[11] GE Healthcare, and NBC Universal, an entertainment company. List of assets owned by General Electric: Primary business units GE Capital GE Aviation Financial Services GE Commercial GE Commercial Finance is a unit of GE Capital, (one of four major operating divisions of General Electric) GE Industrial provides a broad range of products and services throughout the world including appliances lighting and industrial products factory automation systems plastics silicones GE Infrastructure is a subsidiary of General Electric, formed in 2005 as part of a company-wide reorganization under CEO Jeff Immelt. GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale Ohio (a Cincinnati suburb GE Aviation Systems (formerly Smiths Aerospace) is the largest European based aerospace equipment company with its businesses and sales revenues split between Europe and North GE Money is part of GE Capital operating division of General Electric. GE Healthcare is a unit of GE Technology Infrastructure, which is a unit of General Electric (GE NBC Universal is a media and Entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric 's NBC with Vivendi Universal

Through these businesses, GE participates in a wide variety of markets including the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (eg. Nuclear,^[12] gas and solar), lighting, industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power. A nuclear reactor is a device in which Nuclear chain reactions are initiated controlled Lighting includes both artificial Light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from Daylight. Automation ( Ancient Greek: = self dictated) roboticization or industrial automation or Numerical control is the use of Control systems Medical imaging refers to the techniques and processes used to create Images of the human body (or parts thereof for clinical purposes ( Medical procedures seeking to An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy. A locomotive is a railway Vehicle that provides the motive power for a Train. specific --->A jet engine is a Reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of Fluid to Aviation refers to activities involving man-made flying devices ( Aircraft) including the people organizations and regulatory bodies involved with them It was co-founder and is 80% owner (with Vivendi) of NBC Universal, the National Broadcasting Company. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Equipment Services, and GE Insurance it offers a range of financial services as well. It has a presence in over 100 countries.

Since over half of GE's revenue is derived from financial services, it is arguably a financial company with a manufacturing arm. Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. It is also one of the largest lenders in countries other than the United States, such as Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Even though the first wave of conglomerates (such as ITT, Ling-Temco-Vought, Tenneco, etc) fell by the wayside by the mid-1980s, in the late 1990s, another wave (consisting of Westinghouse, Tyco, and others) tried and failed to emulate GE's success. Ling-Temco-Vought was a large US conglomerate. History In 1947 entrepreneur James Ling founded his own Dallas electrical contracting business Tenneco (formerly Tenneco Automotive) is a $62 billion Fortune 500 company that has been publicly traded on the NYSE since November 5, Founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. Tyco International Ltd is a highly diversified global manufacturing company incorporated in Bermuda, with United States operational headquarters in Princeton New

In 2007 General Electric auctioned off its plastics business for $12. Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products 6 billion. It was announced in May 2008, that it would auction off its appliances business for an expected sale of $5-8 billion. ^[13]

Corporate achievements

In 2004, GE was named number one company for employers and employees on the Forbes 500 Global Player list. Forbes is an American Publishing and media company Its flagship publication Forbes magazine is published bi-weekly

Over the years GE has received several awards honoring them for their accomplishments, values and reputation:

• In Fortune Magazine's 2005 "Global Most Admired Companies" list, GE ranked first overall. (February 2005)
• In Fortune Magazine's 2006 "America's Most Admired Companies" list, GE ranked first overall. (March 2006)^[14]
• GE was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index as one of the world's leaders in environmental, social and economic programs.
• GE ranked ninth on Fortune Magazine's "50 Most Desirable MBA Employers" list. (April 2004)

Analyst coverage

See Yahoo! analyst coverage

• Germanotta, Jeffrey (William Blair & Company, L. L. C. )
• Cornell, Robert (Lehman Brothers)
• Parent, Nicole (Credit Suisse First Boston)
• Dray, Deane (Goldman Sachs)

Environmental record

Toxic dumping

General Electric has a history of large-scale air and water pollution. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc ( (pronounced ˈliːmən was a global financial-services firm prior to its bankruptcy and sale in 2008 Credit Suisse First Boston was originally the trading name of the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston, a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture formed in 1978 The Goldman Sachs Group Inc, or simply Goldman Sachs ( is a large global Bank holding company that engages in Investment banking securities Based on year 2000 data,^[15] researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute listed the corporation as the fourth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, with more than 4. 4 million pounds per year of toxic chemicals released into the air. ^[16] General Electric has also been implicated in the creation of toxic waste. Toxic waste is waste material often in chemical form that can cause death or injury to living creatures According to EPA documents, only the United States Government and Honeywell are responsible for producing more Superfund toxic waste sites. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. Honeywell ( is a major American multinational conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products engineering services and aerospace systems Superfund is the common name for the United States environmental policy officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act ^[17]

In 1983, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to compel G. The New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. Robert Abrams (b July 4, 1938 The Bronx, New York City) is an American lawyer and politician The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York E. to pay for the cleanup of what was claimed to be more than 100,000 tons of chemicals dumped (legally, at the time) from their plant in Waterford. ^[18] In 1999, the company agreed to pay a $250 million settlement in connection with claims it polluted the Housatonic River and other sites with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances. The Housatonic River is a river approximately 149 mi (240 km long in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. Polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCB s are a class of Organic compounds with 1 to 10 Chlorine atoms attached to Biphenyl which is a molecule composed ^[19]

From approximately 1947 to 1977, GE discharged as much as 1. 3 million pounds of PCBs from its capacitor manufacturing plants at the Hudson Falls and Fort Edward facilities into the Hudson River. A capacitor is a passive electrical component that can store Energy in the Electric field between a pair of conductors Hudson Falls is a Village located in Washington County New York. ^[20] Spending millions over many years, GE fought a media and political battle to avoid cleaning up the river: GE attacked the Superfund law in court, and launching a extensive media campaign to refute the benefits of cleaning up the river, claiming that dredging the river would actually stir up PCBs. Superfund is the common name for the United States environmental policy officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act ^[21] In 2002, GE was ordered to clean up a 40 mile stretch of the Hudson River it had contaminated. The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami ^[22]

In 2003, acting on concerns that the plan proposed by GE did not "provide for adequate protection of public health and the environment," the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a unilateral administrative order for the company to "address cleanup at the GE site" in Rome, Georgia, also contaminated with PCBs. Nestled in the Foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest City and the County seat of Floyd County Georgia, ^[23]

Reforms

In May 2005 GE announced the launch of a program called "Ecomagination," intended, in the words of CEO Jeffrey Immelt "to develop tomorrow’s solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger durable materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology,”^[24] prompting the The New York Times to observe that, "while General Electric's increased emphasis on clean technology will probably result in improved products and benefit its bottom line, Mr. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19 1956, Cincinnati OH) is the current Chairman of the board and Chief executive officer Immelt's credibility as a spokesman on national environmental policy is fatally flawed because of his company's intransigence in cleaning up its own toxic legacy. "^[25]

Media representation

GE was also the focus of a 1991 short subject Academy Award winning documentary, "Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment"^[26] that juxtaposed "GE's rosy 'We Bring Good Things To Life' commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been devastated by the company's involvement in building and testing nuclear bombs. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. "^[27]

See also

• Borazon
• PCBs
• General Electric Theater
• Lexan
• List of assets owned by General Electric
• MOOSE
• Rank and yank
• Ronald Reagan
• JFWTC
• Edison Engineering Development Program
• Jack Welch
• Jeff Immelt
• NBC
• SABIC

References

Further reading

• Carlson, W. Spinwatch is an organisation dedicated to "monitoring PR and spin" which it defines explicitly as referring not only to political but also corporate lobbying activities Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Bernard. Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric, 1870-1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).
• Woodbury, David O. Elihu Thomson, Beloved Scientist (Boston: Museum of Science, 1944)
• Haney, John L. The Elihu Thomson Collection American Philosophical Society Yearbook 1944.
• Hammond, John W. Men and Volts: The Story of General Electric, published 1941, 436 pages.
• Mill, John M. Men and Volts at War: The Story of General Electric in World War II, published 1947.

External links

• Official site.
• Official site for GE Appliances, the corporation's leading consumer product
• SEC filings including 10-k
• Another Hudson River Controversy Site
• Official site for SABIC Innovative Plastics.
• Financial Times article on GE's effort to go green
• Wind energy at GE
• G.E. to Double Investments in Renewables to $4B
• USA Today article about GE's success at creating CEOs at large companies

Business data

• General Electric at Google Finance
• General Electric at Yahoo Finance
• General Electric at Hoover's
• General Electric at Reuters
• General Electric SEC filings at EDGAR Online
• General Electric SEC filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission