 | The construction for the Computer Department, as we knew it then, got started in the summer of 1958. At that time, the headquarters occupied the entire second floor of the KTAR Building in downtown Phoenix. In it were located the offices of General manager Oldfield, five of the six section managers and other administrative people.
Most the the engineering personnel resided near Palo alto, California, in GE's Menlo Park laboratory. These were the computer engineers that were desiging the ERMA, a computer GE was making for the Bank of America. GE's fully operative Computer Center at Arizona State College, Tempe, gave answers to problems submitted by GE, educational institutions, business and military people. Also at Arizona State many of GE's engineers work on computer development in what was then, the new Technology and Industry building. GE's personnel at the College also help teach computer engineering. The manager of Science Applications section has his office at the College. |
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Somewhere around May or June of 1957 the Peoria Avenue plant was placed in operation. It was a leased installation where GE assembled and tested the Bank of America computers.
There were about 330 people on the payroll. 93 of them were in the KTAR Building, 160 at Tempe, 70 at Menlo Park, 2 in Schenectady and 2 in Syracuse. Plans for increasing the number of employees depended on progress in developing computers to the point of manufacture and acquiring necessary permanent facilities. The future? Mr. Oldfield answered that question this way. "Each department within the General Electric family is, to a great extent, a separate business. Beyond a normal development period it is expected to pay its own way and show a profit. The Computer Department's main objective is to establish itself as an acknowledged leader in the computer field and as a profitable General Electic department." |
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General Electic Computer Department main entrance. The catcus garden once won a landscaping award from Maricopa County. |
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Do you remember when the CMA building was CSO training? This was our Camelback Facility. |
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This is an ariel view of the gound-breaking that initiated construction of the Software Development Facility. |
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This is an ariel view of the 160 acres orginally owned by General Electric. |
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What used to be the North Entrance and the Credit Union is now the Arizona Headquarters for the Democratic Party. |
 | The North receiving dock, at least it used to be. |
 | The Credit Union is now the Offices for the Democratic Party. |
 | The meeting of the "Old" and "New". |
 | Do you remember the Cafeteria? |
 | The road to change?? |