GE to expand Bangor facility Company quiet on potential for new jobs

BANGOR – General Electric has filed plans with city officials to undertake a major expansion of its manufacturing facilities near the Bangor International Airport.

The city’s planning board on Tuesday approved without objection the planned expansion, which would include a new 73,630-square-foot structure off the Griffin Road between the two existing GE buildings.

General Electric officials declined this week to release information on whether the new buildings could signal an expansion of the Bangor operations or any new jobs.

“We’re planning at this point,” said Andy Cox, the Bangor plant’s manager. “There’s nothing definite.”

Cox said the company’s corporate office could issue an announcement later in the month.

The Bangor plant, part of GE Power Systems, manufactures mechanical drive steam turbine generators used in power plants including the nearby Maine Independence Station natural gas plant in Veazie.

GE Power Systems is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation technology, energy services and management systems with 2000 revenues estimated at $15 billion.

In addition to the proposed Griffin Road building, which will be connected to an existing building with a covered walkway, the company’s application to expand its Bangor site includes a 12,650-square-foot addition to its Maine Avenue site.

In addition, the application includes plans for two cafeteria expansions totaling 9,280 square feet.

The proposal also calls for the addition of about 170 parking spaces to the facility’s 87-space parking lot near Union Street.

City officials reached Tuesday were pleased with the possibility of General Electric, the nation’s largest company, expanding its Bangor facility.

“It’s a good signal,” said Rodney McKay, the city’s director of community and economic development. “I like the direction they’re taking. It’s certainly better to plan bigger than smaller.”

General Electric’s Bangor manufacturing plant employs about 500 people with an annual payroll of more than $15 million. Since its 1968 opening, the Bangor facility has expanded from 80,000 square feet of space to about 345,000 square feet at the former Dow Air Force Base at Bangor International Airport.