This week GE joined with economic development, civic and clinical leaders from across the Pee Dee and South Carolina to break ground on a new $17 million GE Healthcare helium liquefaction facility that will mean 50 new jobs right away and 10 permanent positions going forward. Shovels in hand, the company not only turned dirt in Florence; GE also joined an emerging trend in American manufacturing — one in which community-based investments are driving the next generation of technologies to meet healthcare industry needs, help doctors better treat patients, and produce jobs here in the U.S.

Read more at SCNow.

GE is wrapping its 18-month long Focus Forward campaign–which launched at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and has traveled a world of festivals in between–this week at the Tribeca Film Festival. A program dedicated to telling the stories of people who are making the world a better place, and strengthening GE’s positioning as a leader in innovation, the initiative included 30 short films from the world’s leading documentarians, as well as a user-generated competition that yielded over 600 films of innovations and invention.

For more see Fast Co.Create.

Gary Sinise might be best known for playing Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump,” but the iconic role isn’t the only reason the actor is dedicating his time to help veterans get back on track. This week Sinise will attend General Electric’s Veterans Network National Summit in nearby National Harbor, Md., in an effort to highlight ways the private sector can help returning service men and women. On Thursday, he’ll moderate a panel discussion on the challenges veterans face finding employment.

Read more at Politico.

General Electric has begun making front-loading washers and matching dryers with about 200 new production workers on the line at Appliance Park in Louisville, the company said Monday. The addition of two assembly lines for the washers and dryers completes a three-year transformation resulting in six additional products and 3,000 new jobs at the sprawling 60-year-old factory, GE said.

For more see The Courier-Journal.

GE Canada’s Peterborough plant is building large motors for customers in far off destinations in Asia and Africa. A 28-megawatt Synchronous generator was designed at the plant and is being built there to be shipped to an offshore oil platform in Africa.

Read more at The Peterborough Examiner.

A new report commissioned by MIT finds that new forms of collaboration and risk sharing can allow firms at every end of the spectrum to grow. Called “Production in the Innovation Economy”, the report, edited by Richard M. Locke and Rachel Wellhausen, asserts that manufacturing should not be perceived as a shrinking traditional sector and industries, but can rather embrace new technologies and new collaborations to evolve and grow.

Read more at Ideas Lab.

At the event, GE’s CEO, Jeff Immelt, exclaimed the pressing need to change this archaic perception of factory work among young students. Parents, teachers, and guidance councilors alike had to be on-board too. Results from a recent survey showed that only 3 out of 10 parents supported a manufacturing career for their children. Without greater parental support, the hurdle to attract students to a STEM career path (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) would become insurmountable, especially among the emerging, young Latino population who tend to be family centric. Alcoa’s VP of Human Resources, Natalie Shilling, noted that children’s long-term interests in STEM subjects tend to drop off significantly during the 6th grade level. In response Alcoa has partnered with local schools to sponsor science fairs and family factory visits but expressed concern that their ‘grassroots’ efforts may be insufficient. Like GE, they also see the urgent need for a formalized regulatory framework backed by sound government policies.

Read more at Manufacturing.net.

The president of the Jones County economic development authority recounts the collaboration behind establishing a technology park that brought jobs and innovation to the community: ““Build it and they will come” was the mantra when Jones County, Mississippi purchased just over 500 acres of land in Ellisville, MS on which was constructed Howard Technology Park, that eventually led to a momentous July 2011 announcement by GE Aviation CEO David Joyce.”

Read more at Ideas Lab.

Workers at a brand new GE Aviation plant in Auburn, Alabama will be using lasers to drill tiny cooling holes in super-alloy blades for jet engines. “This is one of the most critical and sophisticated components in our jet engines,” says David Joyce, GE Aviation CEO. “We consider them a work of art.”

Read more at GE Reports.

Winds of Change magazine introduced their first annual list of the “Top 50 Best STEM Workplaces” for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The list celebrates companies that support diversity in the workplace and especially for Native American STEM professionals. Companies included in the Winds of Change list of the “Top 50 Best STEM Workplaces” meet certain criteria established solely by the Winds of Change editorial staff. Selected companies completed surveys designed to demonstrate their overall diversity recruitment efforts and/or were included within the past year in at least one published list from two different sources that recognize top firms dedicated to diversity recruiting. In addition, selected companies must also be actively recruiting for occupations within STEM fields and have specifically recruited Native American and Alaska Natives within the past two years. GE came in 18th.

Read more at The Pohly Company.