GE Renames Prestigious Crotonville Learning Center In Honor of Outgoing Chairman and CEO John F. Welch

Business Wire, Sept 6, 2001

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OSSINING, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2001

GE's 45-year-old corporate training facility in Crotonville, NY was renamed the John F. Welch Leadership Development Center at Crotonville in a ceremony at the center today. Jeffrey R. Immelt, GE's incoming Chairman and CEO, and William Conaty, Senior Vice President, Corporate Human Resources, presided over the rededication ceremony, which was held to commemorate Mr. Welch's pending retirement after 20 years of service as GE's Chairman and CEO.

"Nowhere is Jack's imprint more obvious than in the spirit of Crotonville," said Immelt. "Jack recognized the value of Crotonville early on -- using it not only as a place to better educate GE employees, but as a medium to spread the changes in culture and thinking that have helped make GE what it is today. Crotonville has always had a special place in Jack's heart, and we are thrilled to be able to show him how much he means to us by renaming the Center in his honor."

A commemorative bronze plaque, which has been placed in the primary residence building, includes this quote from Mr. Welch's 2000 GE Annual Report letter: "The GE of the future will be based on the cherished values that drive us today: mutual trust and the unending, insatiable, boundaryless thirst for the world's best ideas and best people."

The Center opened in 1956, when GE embarked on a campaign to better train and educate it's managers. It began to take its present form in 1982 when Mr. Welch saw that the dramatic changes in culture and thinking he envisioned for GE would require a company-wide initiative. He saw the Center as the tool to implement and spread that change throughout GE. Today, it's mission is to create, identify and transfer organizational learning to enhance GE's growth and competitiveness worldwide. Mr. Welch has taught at the Center for nearly two decades.

The John F. Welch Leadership Development Center at Crotonville offers state-of-the-art classes to GE employees and customer in business management, leadership development, finance, sales and marketing. The Center also offers training for GE initiatives instituted by Mr. Welch such as Six Sigma, Work-Out(tm) and Change Acceleration. The John F. Welch Education Building is equipped with advanced audio, visual and computer technology. The residence building has 188 guest rooms to accommodate participants during their courses, which last from one day to three weeks. Thousands of GE people and customers come together at Crotonville each year to identify opportunities and debate the issues facing business around the world.

GE, with 2000 revenues of $130 billion, is a diversified technology, services and manufacturing company with a commitment to achieving customer success. GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs 313,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com.

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