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As we’ve chronicled in our energy “treasure hunt” stories, GE teams are constantly scouring the company’s offices and factories for measurable ways to save water and energy and reduce emissions as part of our ecomagination initiative. So far, about 200 internal treasure hunts have already contributed to savings of over $130 million and the reduction of over 250,000 metric tons of CO2. That process, which is based on a continuous improvement concept created by Toyota, is now part of a new “ecomagination Treasure Hunt” program that GE has launched in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund to help unearth similar savings at cities, universities, and in private industry. Through Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s “Hospital Challenge” — in which 13 of New York City’s largest hospital systems are working together to lower their overall energy footprint — Roosevelt Hospital became the new program’s first site. The hunt identified opportunities for $2.1 million in energy savings with a payback of 2.6 years — which translates into over 7,500 metric tons of emissions being reduced annually. In the video below, Stephen Monez explains how his hospital’s team began its initial work with GE.

So-called “microloans” — those under $35,000 — can have a giant impact on the success or failure of a small business or an entrepreneur’s idea. And just as critical as the loan itself is the technical assistance, mentoring, and help in developing financial literacy that can often hold the key to making a good idea turn into a profitable one. But all across the globe, small start-ups — especially those launched by women — face an array of hurdles that block them from both the microloans and the training. As part of its Banking on Women program, GE Capital has been tackling that issue, helping over 32,000 women in nine countries get the business expertise and resources they need to create business opportunities for themselves and their families. Now, the program is being launched in the U.S. for the first time in Salt Lake City in partnership with the Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund (UMLF) and the Women’s Business Institute. The video below was taken during the recent Banking on Women conference and launch event held at Salt Lake Community College.

Amidst a flurry of good economic news coming out of Brazil in recent days, GE Healthcare added its own boost — inaugurating its first factory in South America in Contagem, Brazil. News of the plant, which will serve both the local market of Brazil and eventually become an export hub for all of Latin America, comes as a new United Nations report on the region expects the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean to expand “by 5.2 percent in 2010, up exponentially from a previous view of 4.1 percent,” Reuters reports, adding that “the body sees the economy of Brazil, the region’s biggest, soaring 7.6 percent in 2010 and 4.5 percent in 2011.” In the video clip below, Mark Vachon, President and CEO of GE Healthcare Americas, provides an overivew of what the new GE plant will be producing and why Brazil was chosen.

In our recent video with John Lehman – Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987 — he warned that not having an engine competition for the new Joint Strike Fighter risks a repeat of the disastrous outcomes of the initial F-14 and F-15 programs. Now, retired generals with years of direct experience are also making the case for continued engine competition between the GE-Rolls Royce F136 engine and the one being built by Pratt & Whitney. In the first video clip below, General Gregory S. Martin, who has more than 4,600 flying hours in various aircraft, explains how costs are dramatically driven down in head-to-head competitions. General Martin is a retired Commander of the Air Force Material Command and a former Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Allied Air Forces Northern Europe. He now consults for the aerospace industry, including GE Aviation.

With the giant Farnborough Air Show coming to a close outside of London this weekend, the focus continues to be on signs of an airline industry comeback — and the services component of the deals inked this week. On the industry front, Bloomberg News struck an optimistic note in its story today, reporting that “Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. won 237 jetliner orders worth $28 billion at this week’s Farnborough Air Show, more than three times the number announced in Paris a year ago, prompting some executives to say the global slump is over.” As Bloomberg points out, “orders were dominated by the resurgent aircraft-leasing industry,” with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) — with a fleet of over 1,800 owned and managed aircraft in 75 countries — jumping in by ordering 100 planes spread across both manufacturers. Overall, GE and its partners signed more than $17 billion in deals at Farnborough — with $6 billion of that total coming from contracts for critical services such as maintenance, diagnostics and overhauls. Software-driven advances in services also turned heads, with GE announcing that its myEngines digital services technology was being launched with Chilean carrier LAN — one of the largest airlines in Latin America. It’s a maintenance suite of tools that even comes with an iPhone app, as AviationWeek explains in the video below, shot at GE Aviation’s Farnborough booth.