Kentucky officials react to GE Appliances $3 billion investment
Reaction from Kentucky officials about the Louisville-based GE Appliances $3 billion investment with 1,000 new jobs planned.
- GE Appliances will invest $3 billion in U.S. facilities and create 1,000 new jobs over five years.
- $490 million of the investment will go to Louisville, Kentucky, creating 800 jobs and moving washer production from China.
- The investment will modernize and expand GE Appliance’s 11 U.S. manufacturing plants.
- Production of various appliances will be reshored from China and Mexico.
This story has been updated to include additional information and comments.
Louisville-based GE Appliances has announced a massive U.S. investment and the reshoring of jobs from abroad, which will expand its footprint and product lines at plants across the country.
The appliance manufacturer, whose parent company is China-based Haier, will invest $3 billion over the next five years in facilities and product lines, creating 1,000 new jobs in the U.S., it announced Aug. 13 at GE Appliances Appliance Park, its global headquarters in Louisville.
The announcement was dubbed “the hottest investment in American manufacturing this year,” by Bill Good, the vice president of supply chain at GE Appliances.
The investment is expected to roll out in phases to modernize and expand capacity at GE Appliances’ 11 U.S. manufacturing plants. The initial phase of the capital project will occur in five states, including Kentucky.
The largest portion will land in Louisville in the form of a $490 million investment and 800 new jobs to bring the production of various washing machines from China to the metro, The Courier Journal first reported in June. Additionally, the company ensured it plans to hire American workers for these newly created jobs.
The multi-billion dollars and multi-state announcement is the second largest investment in company history when adjusted for inflation, trailing only behind the creation of Appliance Park, 4000 Buechel Bank Road, a GE Appliances spokesperson told The Courier Journal.
“Leadership is about doing hard things and setting the pace for the rest,” said Kevin Nolan, president and CEO of GE Appliances. “I believe GE Appliances is a model that the nation needs to look at.”
By the time the five year, $3 billion in projects is completed, GE Appliances will have invested nearly $7 billion in U.S. manufacturing and added upward of 5,000 new jobs since 2016, a spokesperson said.
“We are defining the future of manufacturing at GE Appliances by investing in our plants, people, and communities,” said Nolan. “No other appliance company over the last decade has invested more in U.S. manufacturing than we have, and our $3 billion, five-year plan shows that our commitment to U.S. manufacturing will continue into the future.”
GE Appliances is an economic generator for Kentucky, and according to the manufacturer’s 2024 Economic Impact Report, it contributes $12.8 billion to the state’s GDP annually.
The investment comes as part of a 10 day streak in the commonwealth where more than $6 billion worth of investments have been announced, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
Here’s a look at where GE Appliances will spend the $3 billion and what product lines it is bringing to the U.S.:
How many jobs will the new GE Appliance investment create in Louisville?
Louisville will welcome 800 new jobs to help manufacture a variety of washing machines, which are being moved from China to the metro. The hundreds of newly created jobs will be a mix of skilled and unskilled labor, as the equipment to make the washers is highly automated, featuring robotics, automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots.
This investment will push GE Appliances to employment of nearly 8,000 people in Louisville.
“Bold investments like this one can usher in a new era of U.S. manufacturing,” Nolan said.
What new product lines is GE Appliances bringing to Louisville?
The GE Appliances investment will bring the production of more than 15 models of front load washers and a combo washer and dryer to Building 2, which was previously emptied of production and moved to focus on fabrication, paint and other tasks.
GE Appliances will spend the next 18 months preparing Building 2’s interior, ordering production equipment and training new workers. Production is expected to begin in 2027.
The facility will be vertically integrated, making the necessary parts to produce the laundry machines in-house.
The GE Profile combo washer and dryer, which comes in a variety of colors and capabilities, will be made in Louisville as part of the massive investment. The full-size, all-in-one appliance both washes and dries full loads of laundry in about two hours, eliminating the need for a transfer of laundry.
The GE Profile UltraFresh front load washer varieties will also now be made in Louisville as part of the reshoring effort.
“We’re not talking about reshoring product; we’re actually doing it,” Beshear said Aug. 13. “We’re not talking about increasing manufacturing; we are adding it day after day after day.”
How much is GE Appliances investing in Louisville?
The previously announced $490 million investment into Louisville was supported by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority, which approved $113.5 million in tax incentives under the Kentucky Jobs Retention Act program on June 26. These incentives are performance-based and require specific job target requirements to be met, and other statutory requirements.
In addition to the state tax incentives, the city of Louisville awarded GE Appliances $4 million in cash incentives, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg previously said.
Nolan attributed the decision to place the largest portion of the investment in Louisville in part to the support the company received from state and city governments.
“I know the government, they can’t build factories, but they can make building them easier,” Nolan said.
This investment is expected to make Appliance Park “one of our most advanced manufacturing plants,” a GE Appliances spokesperson previously told The Courier Journal.
What other states are getting investments from GE Appliances?
GE Appliances is also investing in its facilities outside of Kentucky.
All the elected officials who joined Nolan at the public announcement shared a common sentiment that major investments like this aren’t a “red or blue issue” but rather, about the communities and individuals being impacted.
“There ain’t nothing democrat or republican about a good job, it’s just really good for a family,” Beshear said.
Across the southern U.S., GE Appliances has several plants that will also gain major investments as part of this $3 billion effort, bringing expanded production capabilities, and in some cases new products to the market.
- Alabama: At its Decatur, Alabama facility, which makes top-freezer refrigerators, GE Appliances will insource the production of six model types of the 22 cubic foot offerings an external vendor previously manufactured. This production is expected to begin by the end of August.
- Georgia: At the GE Appliances wholly owned subsidiary Roper Corporation plant in LaFayette, Georgia, the capability to produce gas appliances is being added. The plant previously produced electric only products but will soon incorporate the production of gas ranges, wall ovens and cooktops. The gas ranges being moved to this plant were previously made in Mexico.
- South Carolina: The GE Appliances plant in Camden, South Carolina currently produces gas water heaters. With new investment, the plant will add production of demand-response electric water heater and GeoSpring hybrid heat pump water heater. This will double the plants production output and employment once completed. In early 2026, the plant will start to prepare for this additional production, which is being reshored from China.
- Tennessee: At Monogram Refrigeration, a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Appliances in Selmer, Tennessee, two new-to-market air conditioner models will be made as the appliance maker continues to grow its air and water product portfolio. These models will be added to this facility in December.
Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @oliviamevans_.
