GE Oil & Gas to open new Florida plant for control valves, regulators

GE Oil & Gas announced Friday plans to invest more than $50 million in a new advanced manufacturing facility located in Jacksonville, Florida.

The new facility will manufacture GE’s Mooney regulators and Becker control valves for the energy industry, among other oil and gas industry products. 

The facility is expected to open in November 2014 and will create at least 500 jobs over the next three years.

“The new GE Oil & Gas facility in Jacksonville will bring at least 500 jobs, giving even more Florida families the opportunity to live the American Dream,” said Florida Gov. Rick Scott. “Last year we eliminated the sales tax on manufacturing equipment in order to build up manufacturing in our state, and now businesses like GE Oil & Gas can save money and be more competitive."

GE chose to open a facility in Jacksonville to help meet the growing demand of its industrial technology solutions worldwide, according to company officials. The new facility will incorporate advanced manufacturing processing technologies to foster the innovation of oil and gas products. 

By optimizing the way products are made, GE Oil & Gas says it will be able to design, test and bring products to market faster for its customers with a focus on quality and safety.

“We see advanced manufacturing as the next chapter in the industrial revolution," said Chuck Nugent, vice president of manufacturing at GE Oil & Gas.  

"The new Jacksonville facility will use advanced manufacturing practices to fuel the future with new technologies that meet our customers’ needs faster, while bringing new job opportunities to Jacksonville," he added.

Local, city, state and federal officials joined Governor Scott, Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown and GE for the announcement on Friday at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.