One Company Betting Big on bostons general electric. Personally, the multinatural broke ground and its number of head courses in the city. The event ceo spoke about the collaboration between the company and the city of boston. One of the countrys Oldest Companies in ge has moved its headquarters to a lot of the companies of the cities in boston for the us of creating the future. Whether it is in life sciences, renewable energy, technology, aviation, material science, manufacturing, industrial internet, these are the things we want to bring. These are the things we think we can do together. Caroline it was last year when boston won the bid for ge in the move that cost the city as much as 25 Million Dollars in property taxes on top of 120 million incentive package from the state. I sat down with ge cfo jeff to discuss why they want the topic. Jeff i think boston is very unique. You start with a place where there is more rmb and resource spent per capita in any place in the world. Boston is a bed of ideas and a sea of ideas meaning there is so many startups and a deep Technology Culture here, it is absolutely the right place for us to make this transformation. No question about it. There is no other place on earth where you have 500,000 of the smartest kids on earth going to school and graduating every year in the metro boston area. Boston is really unique in that regard. We are absolutely thrilled to be here and to be a part of this ecosystem. Caroline you are a conglomerate among so many areas, power, aviation, where do you think will make the most positive in didnt and terms of your business transformation . Jeff we think it plays horizontally across all of our verticals. Clearly in health care, there is an enormous market for ai and Machine Learning. We think about images, oil and gas businesses are going full steam ahead. Including productivity and efficiency of wells. Trying to get the break even price of oil. Gas is down for our customers to make our products more competitive. I dont think there is a business in the ge portfolio that will not benefit are dramatically from this Digital Transformation. At the end of the day, we are trying to make our products to analytics and data to perform better for customers and pricked create that are outcomes for our customers economically. There is in enormous amount of productivity in the machines and systems of machines. Caroline we have seen you make quite a bit of acquisition activity, specifically for 3d printing. They have been targeting european companies, but what about the companies in boston and the east coast and building that part of the business . Jeff there is no question that manufacturing is an Anonymous Company and the world. It will be every bit as revolutionary for the Digital Transformation of the industrial world. We believe that. We bought two big laser Printer Companies in europe last year. We did not start there, we started with an acquisition of a Company Called morris technologies in the u. S. About five years ago. That got us going. We have been investing in doing researching around 3d printing. We did not just start with these acquisitions. These acquisitions give us new modalities of technologies, making parts differently and different kinds of parts. We will continue to invest and leverage off that. It will completely remake how people think about designing products, or parts, or finished product and how they build it. The great thing about it is that it is a constructive. You only cues the material you need to make the product or it you can make it in a fidelity that you can never do with todays machine technology. The greatest machines in the world wont let you make things as intricately as 3d printing. It opens up the design space. Caroline you say did not start with those acquisitions, do you finish with them . Are there more to come . Jeff we will always reevaluate how we put the puzzle together and whether there is opportunities to move the ball farther down the field and accelerate. We are wide open. Boston fits that way. We have partnerships with mass robotics and a deep relationship with m. I. T. Labs. A deep relationship with northeastern labs. There is a lot of Research Going on. Both in metals and fibers, there is a real ecosystem here. Caroline youre talking about investment and money spending, i know you are a man that cannot that has to look at crosscutting. How are you able to square that out or achieve that . Jeff this is about the future. We have to invest in the future. This is where the company is going for the next two decades. In the long run, these are the types of investments we have to make. At the same time we will run our own company as efficiently as possible. We can do this. We can walk and chew gum. One does not have to be at the expense of the other. I think running the company more efficiently today gives us the opportunity to invest in these technologies, that will really be the future of the company for the next 1020 years. Caroline as you make these Big Investments at a time of political change, how do you think that the political environment fits into this . There is worries about immigration coming from some of those leading institutions. There is worries about funding going into dietetic, which is the lifeblood of boston. Jeff i do have specific comments around the Trump Administration. At ge, we are a Global Company we serve global customers, we have a Global Workforce and that as a company we are and that we will run. Fortunately we have a wide our supply chain and capability looks like the place is an customers we serve. That is how we have to run that company. We are a Global Company and we will remain a Global Company. Anything we do policy wise in the u. S. That makes the u. S. More attractive for investors, i think it is rate for ge and other u. S. Companies. More than 50 of what we do and sell is outside the u. S. We have to be able to to play. We have to be able to plate wrongfully. Caroline coming up, we bring you a oneonone on one with a top investor in massachusetts. None other than the Boston Celtics owner. His plans on maintaining the states place as a leader in biotech in health care. That is next. And explore how boston emerges as a Global Leader in biotech. This is bloomberg. Caroline welcome back to this special edition of Bloomberg Technology coming from Harvard University. Massachusetts Biotech Sector has been receiving lots of attention. With the state leading the u. S. For the sector. One bigtime investor that is helping to keep the industry from rolling is none other than Boston Celtics coowner and cochairman, steve. Things to a hefty donation from him and his wife, the lab opened its door last november. It is a shared Laboratory Space for biotech startups founded by harvard faculty, alumni students and scholars. I spoke with him about the last significance. Steve the stories really started several years ago when i was running for senate. One of my Campaign Promises was to really protect iowa tech and to protect biotech and lifesciences. I wrote in editorial saying we have to not let that leave. Technology left when he years ago for Silicon Valley. We have an infrastructure here, best universities, best hospitals. That idea started five years ago. For the vision of the deans, they came up with the idea of really building a facility that would allow the startups to stay here and that of leave the costeffective and try to grow companies. Caroline were you worried about a drain . Steve we had seen it already in the tech industry. 25 years ago when i went to business school, many got bought and went to california. We did not want that to happen here. The mayor got involved and to , it reallyvernors promoted the lifesciences. You could see the result of it now. Caroline when you are looking globally or in other areas that you feel you can harness the crown, is the talent pool rich enough, particularly in the United States when there is concern about immigration . Steve the talent full is the the talent pool is the richest in the boston area. Because of the universities, the Ground Breaking research on the technology. We have the lead right now. I think we have the crown. We dont want to lose it. Something like the life lab can promote that. There is easy access to the companys. There are 15 businesses already. We just open in november. One business is very exciting with vaccination. All sorts of projects going on. When he have that vitality that can start here and stay here and move to another facility into a life lab. Caroline you are a man that is doing well, is biotech an area that you would normally be wanting to see for future health, but also as a reward . Steve absolutely. There are many biotech and lifesciences funds that we had interests in. We have a large fund that we are focusing on. There is an ecosystem financially so these companies can move to Venture Capital and look to private equity capital. Caroline what is it like from the public point of view . There has been much concern particularly with the new administration, we would see it turned up slightly for biotechs funding. What about longerterm . Steve hopefully the white house will see it is good for america and the economy. They ran on that platform when they were given the details. Secondly, we have been supported locally by our governor and mayor here. The mayor was at the opening. The mayor and the entire administration of boston helped get this facility up in record time. A lot of times these buildings take 57 years due to the help of the governor, the mayor, the biotechnology council, Harvard Business school and the community. It came together rapidly and you could see 15 businesses up and running. Caroline what about diversity in terms of political. Female leading businesses and minorities, is that something you can prioritize . Steve my wife was heavily involved. She is a biotech investor. My daughter in law is a cofounder of a biotech company. They got together and worked with the university to make it very familyfriendly. We have rooms for women to bring kids, breastfeeding, all of the things that can make it a very friendly and easy environment for everyone to work. Caroline that was capital managing director and cochairman steve. Facebook famously started by Mark Zuckerberg in a harvard dorm room and is considered by harvards tech community, he is the one that got away. Headquartered in california, facebook quietly returned to cambridge in 2013 to open an engineering office. Today, the company is taking advantage of the towns top talent. Kendall square in cambridge is the heart of bostons tech community. West coast giants have taken note, establishing a presence here. Facebook is always looking to hire the best talent. We came here to because boston is a combination of talented engineers and great universities. Caroline he helped Facebook Open their office nine years after Mark Zuckerberg idea. Developed the idea at harvard. The office has grown to 18,500 square feet. It employs about 100 engineers with some of the companys toughest challenges. Most of what we work on them most of what we work on in boston is infrastructure. Two thirds is working on a technology that is the underpinning for the project and other people you see on a regular basis. Caroline he breaks it down into full four pillars. Storage, security, and networking. These are the systems needed to develop the applications that reach its 1. 8 billion users. The Cambridge Team also supports some of the networks most visible projects like facebooks live interact if comments stream. When you post a comment on a video on facebook, anyone who is looking on that video will see it in realtime. Caroline and facebooks live video and marketplace that helps use and buy things locally. It would help to market 425 million, the Worlds Largest is even more ambitious plans. We can give more people a voice. Caroline along with facebooks engineering team, seattle, london, and new york, the Cambridge Team will play its part, particularly in connectivity. Had we get connectivity to the next billion people by building up Foundational Technology that can work a greater ecosystem outside of facebook to make Wifi Technology cheaper. Projects that are trying to deliver cost curve and Fast Networks to part of the world today, that do not have Network Availability at all. Caroline facebook networking on a local and global scale. Caroline we will have more from boston after the break. Coming up, we bring you a discussion on how local Biotech Companies are responding to a range of Trump Administration policy changes from health care to h1b visas. And we will introduce you to mass robotics, aiming to bring robotics to life. This is bloomberg. Caroline this is the best of Bloomberg Technology. We are coming to you from boston. More now on massachusetts Biotech Sector. Which benefits from the local Venture Capitalists and federal Research Centers like the National Institute of health. The Trump Administration has proposed cuts that may not work for future places. The Affordable Health care act and the tightening of h1b visa restrictions. We take a look at how some local companies are responding to bloombergs biotech reporter and partner at crv, which is invested in more than 400 startups, including local Success Stories such as, pillpack. Some of the Central Companies are vertex, some of the Largest Companies in biotech are based here. So many Tiny Companies spring up around them and around the universities. I think that some of the trends we should be looking at our moves towards rare diseases. We talk so much about pricing in this industry and there has been so much pressure on pricing. Some folks who have been resistant to that trend are those that focus on rare diseases. Insurers and payers are a lot less willing to fight back against very high prices. For example, vertex treats Cystic Fibrosis and they charge hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Biogen just came up with a new treatment. And the cost is 750,000 for the first treatment. These are areas that local companies are pushing to and across the country. Caroline when you are helping cure such crucial areas, there is also plenty of money that needs to go into funding. How much of the ecosystem have you been looking at, how much does it continue to grow . The ecosystem is booming. Boston is the absolute epicenter of biotechnology. Every Major Company has pharma centers. It is the education. We have 50 colleges. We convinced them to move from around the world to a place with great weather. And they stay, and they join pharma companies. That makes it incredibly for tile ground for funding of these companies. Caroline maybe not funding from the government at the moment. Talk to us about some of the concerns i have come in. They have seem to kept the money flowing for the short term, and it has kept the coffers going. There is worry about Affordable Care act changing and the Trump Administrations viewpoint on health care. Doni a lot of local companies had concerns about trump immigration policies because attracting people means attracting people from all over the world. If there are problems because of religion or which country you are coming from, that will be an issue for some of the innovation around this area. That certainly is what a lot of the companies have said. When it comes to pricing, some of the concern around the changes to obamacare in this act that just passed the house, still needs to go to the senate, in that case we could get lifetime limits back. That is how much insurers can pay for a patients care. These are drugs that could cost 350,000 a year or more, that adds up very quickly. That is a major concern for companies that are moving into these rare diseases. If those lifetime limits are back, they will be facing major struggles with people hit their caps. Caroline when you have a longterm perspective on not overnight Success Stories, how much can you factor in the daytoday things that come up . Jon they are imported. They are important. No city feels Health Care Funding like boston. The top are in boston. This could be a good thing. When the funding dries up, if it does, it means these people who are entrepreneurs and who do want to Start Companies will think about private funding. We will fill the gap. Caroline how much are we seeing the bc community expanding . Are you s