The rising global and domestic demand for GE’s high technology products has been powering the company’s U.S. manufacturing expansion and job creation. GE has announced plans to create 13,000 new jobs in the United States since 2009. Yesterday that number grew by another 150 openings as the company’s GE Transportation unit said that it would hire up to 150 new workers and invest over $70 million to open a new plant and upgrade existing facilities in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
GE Transportation said that it would spend $35 million to build a new remanufacturing plant for its Evolution Series diesel engines for rail, marine and stationary power applications. The new plant will employ about 250 workers, including the 150 new hires. The company will invest another $37 million to upgrade its existing diesel engine manufacturing plant. Hiring for the new jobs will start in mid-2012.
One application of the Evolution Series engines are locomotives. GE spent eight years and $400 million to develop a better rail engine. Today, the locomotives, which are part of GE’s ecomagination portfolio, are the most fuel efficient engines in its class. Their emissions are 40% lower compared to previous GE models, but they still hold onto their titanic power. One 12-cylinder locomotive can pull the equivalent of 170 Boeing 747 jumbo jets. There are 4,700 of the engines operating in 10 countries in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia.
