GE's Global Operations Center at The Banks, which officially opens Tuesday, is expected to pump $1 billion into the Cincinnati economy by 2018. Cincinnati is one of four such regional centers (The others are in Mexico, Hungary, and China) where GE is attempting to simplify, speed up and become more focused for its customers worldwide by bringing together shared services.
For example new contracts that used to take many months to review and sign are finished in a matter of days or hours with digital contracts.
The legal department shares the 12 story space with Finance and Accounting, Supply Chain employees, Human Resources, IT and Commercial Operations.
By the end of 2017 GE will employee 1,800 people at the Global Operations Center. Even now the workforce is diverse with 21 nationalities, 25 languages. Fifty percent are women.
The building features open and collaborative work spaces, including a mix of huddle spaces and workstations with floor to ceiling windows.
When employees are not working you may find them exercising in the company's fitness facility, playing ping pong or shuffle board in the game room or buying snacks with a biometrics enabled machine.
GE and Cincinnati have a long history. The company opened its first facility in Ohio in 1948. It now has 16 facilities in Ohio, employing nearly 14,500 by the end of this year.
