PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - General Electric executives say they're already reaching out to Rhode Island universities with plans to recruit 100 people for a new digital technology office in Providence.

GE Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Bornstein visited the State House on Monday with the state's political leaders and college presidents.

Bornstein credits Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo for convincing GE to open a branch office in the state, describing her efforts as relentless.

The company's GE Digital division announced Thursday that it's opening a Providence office to develop advances in supercomputing and internal software applications used by GE workers.

Raimondo had been in talks with GE since the company began looking a year ago to relocate from Connecticut. It eventually settled on Massachusetts, where it will employ about 800 workers at a new Boston headquarters.