As General Electric prepares to host an economic summit in Washington, the firm has announced some fixes of its own: It will hire 5,000 US veterans over five years and invest $580 million in its aviation operations this year, Reuters reports. "We should have the confidence to act and to restore American competitiveness," said CEO and Obama adviser Jeffrey Immelt. The company will open new plants in Dayton, Ohio; Ellsville, Mississippi; and Auburn, Alabama. The four-day Washington gathering begins today, and will feature speeches by Boeing boss James McNerney and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris. (More General Electric stories.)