PROVIDENCE – Lloyd G. Trotter, who has announced his retirement as vice chairman of General Electric (NYSE: GE) and president and CEO of the $28 billion GE Industries, has been elected to the board of directors of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), effective March 1.

“We are extremely fortunate and honored to welcome Lloyd to our board,” Textron chairman, president and CEO Lewis B. Campbell said in a statement yesterday afternoon.

“As we continue on our journey to become the premier multi-industry company, Lloyd’s experience at GE – a highly successful diversified company – will be vital to Textron. His extensive expertise in building powerful brands worldwide, implementing world-class processes and developing talented people will be invaluable as we advance our vision.”

Trotter also is a managing partner of GenNx360, a private equity firm focusing on buyouts of industrial business-to-business companies, and has recently been named to the PepsiCo board.

He joined GE 38 years ago as a field service engineer and went on to hold production and technology positions in the company’s Lighting, Gas Turbine and Appliances division before being elected vice president and general manager of manufacturing for the Electrical Distribution and Control unit and, two years later, as that unit’s president and CEO. When that unit merged with GE Industrial Controls Systems in 1998, Trotter was named president and CEO of the new Industrial Systems unit, and also became a GE senior vice president.

Trotter, a founding member of GE’s African-American Forum, has served on the boards of the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) and the GE Foundation. He is a business administration graduate of Cleveland State University, which in 2001 awarded him an honorary doctoral degree.

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) is a $13.2 billion company employing about 44,000 people in 34 countries. Its brands include Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others. Additional information is available at www.textron.com.