General Electric, “the last original member of the Dow Jones industrial average,” is veering away from its reputation as an established founder of New York industry and reinventing itself on the opposite coast, in famous Silicon Valley.

There, GE is executing its strategy to steer the hot, young talent away from the IPO glamour of start-ups aiming to be the next Facebook (News - Alert), and toward the company founded by the great Thomas Edison.

Shannon Callahan, head of venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, disclosed to The San Francisco Chronicle that GE’s efforts in San Romon, CA (News - Alert) are likely to lead the old company to new success. “The magic about Silicon Valley is when you come out here and you're building something new, you get the opportunity to brand it as something new," she said.

The SanRomon project exercises a “big data” Web site, designed to work like Facebook, but for members involved in the operation of heavy machines. Establishing a network that supplies large amounts of data will make GE the number one go-to service for airlines and train stations, advertisers and carriers of related products. Engineers and other professionals that GE hires will get to work alongside an already growing staff of the best and brightest in the technology field. Recruits have come from Razorfish, Google, Oracle (News - Alert), Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

Other perks for new hires include working in a $1-billion facility and using state-of-the-art equipment. Not to mention the security that comes with belonging to an established company that has withstood the downfalls faced by newer companies.

Still, the IPO persuasion is some strong incentive, and although GE is in the right place to find professionals holding the appropriate degrees with strong technical and engineering skills, the supply of young talent still falls short of the demand for positions. But maybe admiration for Thomas Edison, the forefather of innovation, will suffice for motivation.