Area Development
GE Appliances will invest $450 million over the next two years to upgrade and expand its production facility at Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. The project is expected to create 1,000 full-time jobs.

According to state officials, the company will invest in upgrades at Appliance Park across its operations to increase production of clothes washers, install a new assembly line for added flexibility to support the company’s kitchen cleaning business, introduce new refrigerator-freezer models and ramp up refrigerator production. It also will provide new equipment to support the company’s Plastics Injection Molding Center of Excellence.

“GE Appliances continues to bring manufacturing back to the United States, creating jobs and economic growth,” said Kevin Nolan, president and CEO for GE Appliances. “We want zero distance between us and the millions of families we serve with our products across America. I want to thank Governor Beshear and the entire economic development team for their understanding of the importance of growing and sustaining existing businesses in the commonwealth.”

To encourage investment and job retention in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) today approved a supplemental project to an existing Kentucky Jobs Retention Act (KJRA) program agreement with the company. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $80 million in cumulative tax incentives based on the company’s total cumulative investment of $727 million across the original and supplemental KJRA projects with an annual job target requirement of up to 8,400 over the term of the agreement.

By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.In addition, GE Appliances can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.

“As GE Appliances grows, Kentucky and our residents stand to benefit. This substantial investment will better position the company for the years ahead and will create quality job opportunities for Kentuckians,” Governor Andy Beshear said. “I want to congratulate the Louisville community on this important investment and thank the leaders at Haier and GE Appliances for their commitment to the commonwealth.”

Appliance Park in Louisville is GE Appliances’ largest manufacturing operation, with more than 6 million square feet for production of washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators. Appliance Park sits on 750 acres in southern Jefferson County, where GE Appliances began production in 1953. The campus serves as the company’s headquarters, and includes marketing, sales and support functions. Appliance Park also houses the company’s technology and engineering center, industrial design, distribution center and warehouse operations. The company employs more than 7,100 people full time at Appliance Park and a nearby call center.

“GE Appliances is a company that you can count on day in and day out. From today’s exciting announcement to its ‘Blue Wave’ of community service, GE Appliances is a national model for its commitment to invest in U.S. advanced manufacturing, for its cutting-edge products and for its impact to the well-being of our community,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. “Thank you to GE Appliances for helping Louisville to be a leader in advanced manufacturing and to Kevin Nolan for his superb leadership!”

Over the past five years, GE Appliances invested over $1.3 billion in its U.S. operations, creating more than 3,000 jobs, with the majority in Kentucky.