ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
RN Vicky Casides, Nurse Practitioner Scott Weissman and Clinical Assistant Jennifer Castellanos, from left, look at and evaluate their work and identify ways to improve it using LEAN methodology.
By THOMAS GRILLO and THOR JOURGENSEN
Boston is not the only city that will benefit from an infusion of cash as General Electric Co. prepares to move its headquarters to the city’s Seaport District.
While Boston will reap $50 million for its schools, to build a diverse workforce and develop the next generation of healthcare workers, GE has also allocated $10 million to provide training, access to the company’s manufacturing labs and work opportunities for underserved populations outside of Greater Boston, including Lynn and Fall River.
It’s unclear how much money Lynn will get. A GE spokesman could not provide any details on Tuesday, noting that the specifics have not been worked out.
“We intend to start discussion soon, but we don’t have a timeline,” said David Lurie, GE’s public relations manager. “The details on how the money is allocated will be made over the coming months. We’ve made the commitment and will figure out how we will specifically do it.”
Generally, he said, the money is earmarked for workforce development and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said she was surprised by GE’s announcement at a Monday news conference in Boston.
“They haven’t talked directly to me about it,” she said. “But any money that GE contributes to Lynn for the betterment of the city is good news.”
Asked if she plans to initiate a call to the company’s headquarters in Connecticut to get more information, the mayor said “GE has been very good about keeping in touch with us. I expect to hear from them in a day or two and if I don’t I will certainly follow up.”
GE has had a storied history in Lynn.
Its workers built mainstay military and commercial jet engines and helicopter engines at the River Works complex, wedged between the commuter rail tracks and Western Avenue.
A landmark for decades on Lynn’s landscape, GE’s presence in Lynn is changing with the former gear plant site off the Lynnway demolished and slated for residential development.
Earlier this year, Charles Patsios broke ground for a Market Basket supermarket to replace the former GE Factory of the Future site on Western Avenue.
Lynn Community Health Center and school officials praised GE’s local support. River Works volunteers help run science, technology, engineering and mathematics study projects and undertake school improvement projects, like painting classrooms.
Lori Abrams Berry, the center’s director, said the Union Street facility’s five-year-old partnership with GE has included $400,000 in financial support and expertise lent by company managers. Some of the money paid to develop a children’s asthma program at the center and a primary care in behavioral health program.
“It’s improved care,” Berry said.
GE volunteers coached center workers in performance management techniques to reduce waiting times and improve the patient referral process at the center.
“In some ways, that is more valuable than the grants,” Berry said.
The company’s human resources workers also consulted with the center on best practices to develop a strategic plan. Berry said the center was one of the first Greater Boston health facilities to forge a partnership with GE and she credited former Lynn Mayor Thomas P. Costin Jr. with linking the health center to GE.