GE to Invest $11million in Missouri Industrial and Gas Turbine Air Filtration Plant

Keeping pace with the growing demand for natural gas power generation equipment, GE added more than 115 new jobs this year at its production facilities in Slater, MO, where the business has manufactured filtration technologies since 1975. In addition to these new jobs, over the next five years, GE plans to invest nearly $11 million to improve its facilities in this area.

"The Air Filtration business in Slater is growing. Expanding our workforce and facilities are vital to driving our filtration business to support natural gas power generation in North America," said Keith White, general manager of GE Power & Water's Air Filtration business.

GE's line of industrial air filtration products helps customers achieve air quality and plant performance goals while reducing emissions. In Slater, GE manufactures air filtration media and membranes for industrial products and gas turbine inlet systems. Products include pleated filters that collect dust at industrial sites and gas turbine cartridges that keep particulate from entering and damaging the turbine.

The filtration manufacturing expansion supports GE's growing focus on the use of natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, for power generation. GE recently introduced its newest natural gas technology, the FlexEfficiency* 60 Portfolio, which incorporates advanced combustion technology to deliver operating flexibility while sustaining higher levels of efficiency compared to earlier technology. With its capability to rapidly ramp its power output up and down, this technology can serve as a gateway for greater use of renewable energy on the grid.

In 2012, GE invested more than $3 million in production equipment and renovations at its 226,594-square-foot Slater properties, including the conversion of a 50,000-square-foot warehouse into new production space for gas turbine inlet filtration products. The upgrades include HVAC, phone and computer networks, and power line drops.

GE Power & Water's Air Filtration business, historically BHA Group, employs 750 employees worldwide, including employees at three manufacturing centers in Missouri--one in Lee's Summit and two in Slater. The business has been headquartered in the greater Kansas City area for more than 40 years.