Walk into the Blue Ash Chili or any diner near Evendale, and you'll hear it. People don't really say "the company" or "the plant." They just say "GE." For over seventy years, the General Electric Company in Cincinnati has been more than just a line on a tax return or a massive complex of buildings along I-75. It's an identity.
But honestly, if you haven't been keeping up with the business pages lately, you might be a little confused about who actually owns those buildings today. Is it still General Electric? Kinda. But not really.
In April 2024, the "old" General Electric—the massive conglomerate that made everything from lightbulbs and toasters to MRI machines—officially ceased to exist. It split into three separate pieces. The piece that stayed behind in Cincinnati, the one that’s actually headquartered here now, is GE Aerospace.
The Evendale Powerhouse
Most people don't realize that the Evendale plant wasn't always a jet engine factory. Back in the early 1940s, it was the Wright Aeronautical plant, churning out piston engines for World War II planes. GE didn't even show up until 1948. When they moved in, they didn't just rent a corner; they basically took over the town.
By the 1950s, they were building the J47 engine. It was a beast. They produced over 30,000 of them, making it the most produced jet engine in history. Think about that for a second. The backbone of the early Cold Air Force was essentially "Made in Cincinnati."
You’ve probably seen the massive "1 Neumann Way" address. It’s named after Gerhard Neumann, a legendary GE executive who was a total maverick. He was a German-born engineer who ended up fighting with the Flying Tigers in China before coming to GE and inventing the variable stator vane. That sounds like technical jargon, but it’s the reason modern jet engines don't stall out when a pilot slams the throttle. That tech was perfected right here in the Queen City.
Why the 2024 Split Changed Everything
For decades, the Cincinnati operations were just a division called GE Aviation. The "real" headquarters was in Fairfield, Connecticut, and later Boston. But when the company broke apart, the aviation wing became the crown jewel.
Because GE Aerospace is the legal successor to the original 1892 General Electric Company, they kept the "GE" ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. They also kept the headquarters right here in Evendale. So, for the first time in history, the heart of the General Electric legacy isn't in some New England skyscraper. It’s sitting on the north side of Cincinnati.
It’s Not All History and Nostalgia
The stuff they are doing now is actually pretty wild. You’ve probably heard of the RISE program (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines). If you ever see a picture of a jet engine that looks like it has open propeller blades on the outside—kinda like a weird hybrid between a prop plane and a jet—that’s being developed here.
They are aiming for a 20% reduction in fuel consumption. In the airline world, that's a massive number. It’s the difference between a carrier staying in the black or going bust.
Then there’s the money. Just recently, GE Aerospace landed a deal with Qatar Airways and Boeing worth roughly $96 billion. That is not a typo. $96 billion. When people ask if "General Electric Company Cincinnati" is still a big deal, that's your answer.
The Human Cost and the "GE Family"
It hasn't always been smooth sailing. If you talk to some of the old-timers, they’ll tell you about the 1980s when the workforce was over 20,000 people. Today, it’s closer to 9,000 across Ohio.
In late 2025, there was a lot of tension. The UAW (United Auto Workers) went through some pretty heated contract negotiations. There was talk about job security guarantees through 2029 and concerns about rising healthcare costs. It’s a classic story: the company is making record profits, but the people on the floor are fighting to keep their slice of the pie.
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You also can't talk about GE in Cincinnati without mentioning the "Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion" project from the 50s. Yes, they actually tried to build a nuclear-powered airplane engine in Evendale. It never flew (thankfully, some might say), but the site is still monitored for radioactive legacy materials like uranium and thorium from those experiments. It's a reminder that this place has always been on the weird, bleeding edge of technology.
What Most People Get Wrong
One of the biggest misconceptions is that GE is "leaving" because they sold off the appliances division (which is now GE Appliances, a Haier company based in Louisville) or the lighting division.
People see "GE" on a fridge and think it's the same company. It's not. The General Electric Company in Cincinnati doesn't make dishwashers. They make the GEnx engine for the Boeing 787 and the LEAP engine that powers most of the narrow-body planes you fly on today.
How to Navigate the GE Landscape Today
If you are looking to work there or do business with them, you have to understand the new structure. You aren't dealing with a conglomerate anymore; you are dealing with a pure-play aerospace giant.
- Job Seekers: Look for the "Next Engineers" program if you're a student. The GE Aerospace Foundation just extended this in Cincinnati through 2035. They are desperate for machinists and engineers.
- The Workforce Pipeline: They recently pumped $250,000 into Cincinnati State to hire more Aviation Maintenance Technician instructors. They need 10,000 new workers globally by 2030, and a huge chunk of that training is happening at their Customer Technical Education Center (CTEC) in Springdale.
- Location Matters: Don't just look at Evendale. They have massive operations in West Chester (CFM International), Peebles (where they test the engines by literally shooting birds into them to see if they break), and Springdale.
The General Electric Company in Cincinnati isn't a relic of the Rust Belt. It’s a $100-billion-dollar aerospace firm that happens to have a very long, very complicated history in our backyard. It’s shifted from a division of a giant mess of a company to the literal center of the GE universe.
If you want to understand the local economy, you have to keep your eye on 1 Neumann Way. As they go, so goes the region’s manufacturing soul.
Actionable Insights for 2026
If you’re following the company’s trajectory, keep an eye on these specific moves:
- Monitor the RISE Program Tests: This is the future of the company. If the open-fan architecture passes its next phase of flight testing, GE Aerospace’s dominance in the 2030s is basically guaranteed.
- Watch the "Future of Manufacturing Fund": Through the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, the company is funneling millions into local credentialing. If you're looking for a career change, these grants are specifically designed to pay for your training in advanced manufacturing.
- Check the Headlines for "Peebles": Whenever GE develops a new engine, the real "make or break" moments happen at their test site in Adams County. If it passes there, the jobs stay here.
The "General Electric" name might mean different things to different people, but in Cincinnati, it means flight. Always has, and for the foreseeable future, always will.