GE Appliances marked the launch of a new project coming to
Stamford.
It's been more than four years since General Electric moved
its headquarters out of Connecticut, but now its former appliance division is
making a return to the state.
The warehouse in Harbor Point may not look like much now,
but come next year, the 67,000-square-foot facility will be home to CoCREATE
Stamford, a first-of-its-kind co-creation center, featuring small appliance
manufacturing.
GE Appliances President and CEO Kevin Nolan was joined by
Gov. Ned Lamont and education leaders for the big announcement Monday.
“It is difficult to define what this place will be because
we're trying to blur the line between innovation, education, and inspiration,”
Nolan says.
Nolan says along with a micro-factory, the building will
house a community makerspace that will invite the public to collaborate with
engineers on new ideas.
“This is a place where people can come to learn and take
part in our future,” he says.
GE Appliances will also partner with UConn and Connecticut
State Colleges & Universities to provide educational opportunities and
firsthand experience for students and prepare them for the workforce.
“This is a perfect collaboration, it's something that's in
our sweet spot,” says Andrew Agwunobi, the interim president of the University
of Connecticut.
Lamont added, “We're going to introduce the next generation
of Eli Whitneys to what they can create, and that's what the CoCREATE Stamford
is all about.”
Nolan says GE Appliances is investing millions of dollars in
CoCREATE Stamford, which will open next year in phases and will initially
create 25 jobs.
“As the most successful appliance company in America, it's
important for us to come back to a place where manufacturing was really born in
this country,” Nolan says. “If you look at this corridor, this is where
manufacturing started.”
CoCREATE Stamford is set to open next year in phases, with
the micro-factory being the first one. Though Nolan now lives in Louisville, he
was raised in Stamford and graduated from the University of Connecticut.