General Electric pledged Monday to invest $50 million in the City of Boston by donating to public schools, STEM workforce populations, community health centers and by making other charitable donations, according to a Monday press release.
In January, GE announced that the company would be relocating its corporate headquarters to Boston, according to a Jan. 13 press release.
The primary recipient of the donation will be Boston’s public schools, which will receive $25 million in funds going toward career labs, computer science courses and high school design experience.
“I look forward to partnering with the GE Foundation to further support our students and strengthen our schools,” said superintendent of Boston Public Schools Tommy Chang in a Tuesday press release. “I am grateful that this investment aligns with our belief that our students are Boston’s future leaders, workers, and innovators.”
GE also pledged to create “Brilliant Career Labs” with the funds, which will “allow students a unique hands-on experience with advanced manufacturing technology and software to assist them with career planning and internships,” according to the release.
“In a city with a rich history of civic and corporate involvement in the public school system, our nation’s first, we are delighted to welcome the time, talent and generosity of GE and its foundation,” Boston School Committee chairperson Michael O’Neill said in a release.
Twenty-two community health centers around the city will receive $15 million of the funds, which will help expand capacity and training for specialty care, according to the Monday release.
Community health centers serve underserved patients across the country. The first opened in Boston in 1965, and then the centers popped up across the country, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers spokesperson Kerin O’Toole said. O’Toole said the League is “very excited and extremely grateful” for the partnership with GE.
“GE has had a longstanding relationship with community health centers across the country because of our innovative and successful approaches for improving the health of communities,” O’Toole said. “They’re working with health centers in different states, so when they came to Boston, it just seemed logical to reach out to us and find a way to work together.”
O’Toole said she believes the relationship will have a lasting impact on the communities of Boston and the commonwealth as a whole.
“We’re both innovators, and GE thinks that by working together, we can make a real impact on the well-being of communities,” O’Toole said.
Beyond the donations, an economic study showed that the headquarter relocation will also add 4,000 temporary and permanent jobs across the Boston region. The relocation will also create opportunities for 800 GE employees to expand a volunteer network, which will potentially donate an additional $1 million in charitable contributions annually, according to the release.
Boston residents seemed positive about the donation, though some had reservations.
Jason Blakeburn, 25, of Fenway, said he’s not sure whether the donations are for the benefit of the local area or for the benefit of GE.
“I think it’s great when corporations want to give back to the cities which support them,” he said. “I’m not sure who comes out ahead.”
Patrick Puentes, 25, of Kenmore, also held some reservations.
“I think it’s all good for the city, unless they’re saving more money on the tax break than they’re donating,” he said. “I don’t know the answer to that, but I hope to see down the line.”
Katlyn Couleur, 28, of Beacon Hill, said she has a positive outlook despite rumored threats to raise rent prices.
“I had heard a rumor that when General Electric comes to Boston, it’s actually going to increase rent prices, which is scary when you’re a Boston resident and you’re a student,” she said. “But being in the health care sector, I think that General Electric coming to Boston is awesome. I think the amount of jobs that it will bring, I think what it does for the city is great. The fact that they’re actually donating money to Boston is just the cherry on the cake for me.”
