Palmer new GE corporate officer

A former general manager has been named one of General Electric new corporate officers.

Gardnerville resident Brian C. Palmer is now vice president, Optimization and Control-Energy, at GE business headquarters in Minden.

Palmer, 48, was the leader for a number of energy acquisitions in 2002, including Bently Nevada. In 1998, he led Global Installation Services for Energy and in 1996, he was responsible for America's Projects in Energy.

Palmer received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1981.

"Under Brian's leadership in the last five years, this global optimization and control business is well on its way to becoming a $1 billion energy business," said GE Energy Services President Dan Heintzelman. "He is a superb business operator who delivers consistent results for GE. To be named a corporate officer is a very significant indication of the value of this business to GE and a testimony to the strength of Brian's leadership."

GE Energy's global optimization and control business provides solutions to maximize the economic performance of its industrial customers' operating assets through data collection, information management, decision support and control expertise. Its portfolio includes five product lines focused on enhancing customer operating revenue and providing tangible bottom-line benefits. Headquartered in Minden, Optimization and Control is a global business, with offices in more than 40 countries and more than 2,000 employees worldwide.

GE Energy is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2006 revenue of $19 billion. Based in Atlanta, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas and other alternative fuels.

Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges.