FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 26, 2025) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced a major investment from one of the state’s most prominent employers as GE Appliances, a Haier company, will invest $490 million and create an additional 800 full-time jobs at its global corporate headquarters at Appliance Park in Jefferson County.

The expansion represents a collaborative effort with state and local leaders and is one of the largest private-sector economic development projects since the beginning of the administration.

This latest investment by GE Appliances brings laundry production to Louisville as they reshore production of the GE Profile Combo Washer/Dryer and the GE Profile UltraFresh Front Load Washer line from China.

“Today’s announcement brings more appliance manufacturing back to the United States and solidifies Kentucky and Louisville as the global headquarters of GE Appliances,” Gov. Beshear said. “GE Appliances is one of Kentucky’s most important companies and signature brands, and we are excited about this additional commitment.”

The project will move production of more than 15 models of front-load washers to Building 2 at Appliance Park. The building will be redesigned to showcase the latest in automation, robotics and material-handling technologies including Automated Guided Vehicles and Autonomous Mobile Robots. The new product lines are scheduled to begin production in 2027.

“We are bringing laundry production to our global headquarters in Louisville because manufacturing in the U.S. is fundamental to our ‘zero-distance’ business strategy to make appliances as close as possible to our customers and consumers,” said Kevin Nolan, president and CEO, GE Appliances. “This decision is our most recent product reshoring and aligns with the current economic and policy environment.”

“Manufacturing in Louisville puts production closer to our designers, engineers and consumers so that together we can create our most innovative laundry platforms,” added Lee Lagomarcino, vice president, Clothes Care, GE Appliances. “The team has already developed new solutions for American households and can’t wait to get started making them. The new full-size capacity products have features that save time and offer unparalleled convenience. We created the full-size washer/dryer combo laundry category, and we intend to maintain our leadership position with consumers.”

“I am thrilled GE Appliances will continue to build the world’s best appliances at its global headquarters in Louisville,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. “This half-billion-dollar investment is a huge deal that will create 800 good, local jobs and secure GE Appliances’ growth in Louisville for the next generation.”

Today’s announcement builds on GE Appliances’ tremendous growth during the Beshear administration as the company in 2021 announced a $450 million expansion creating more than 1,000 full-time jobs. That investment included the installation of two new dishwasher manufacturing lines, new top-load washer models and four-door refrigerator production. The investment positioned Appliance Park as the largest plant of its kind in the United States.

Since 2016, GE Appliances has invested more than $3.5 billion in its U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations. The company recently released its 2024 economic impact analysis, which reported that GE Appliances’ investments, supplier base, customers and payroll contributed $12.8 billion to Kentucky’s GDP last year. Additionally, GE Appliances spent $318 million with more than 480 Kentucky suppliers.

Louisville’s Appliance Park is GE Appliances’ largest manufacturing operation, with more than 6 million square feet for the production of washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators.

GE Appliances began production at Appliance Park in 1953. The campus sits on 750 acres in southern Jefferson County, serves as the company’s global 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. GE Appliances employs more than 8,000 people full-time at Appliance Park and a nearby call center.

GE Appliances’ investment and job creation build on the best five-year period for economic growth in state history.

Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced nearly 1,200 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling roughly $36 billion in announced investments, creating close to 62,000 jobs. This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth’s history and nearly $15 billion more than the next highest total.

The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. Since 2022, the average incentivized hourly wage has topped $26 in three consecutive years for the first time.

Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, which have solidified Kentucky as the electric vehicle battery production capital of the United States: Ford Motor Co. and SK On’s transformative $5.8 billion, 5,000-job BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County; AESC’s $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory project in Warren County; Toyota’s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County; and Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing’s $712 million investment, creating 1,572 jobs in Shelby County, among others.

The Governor’s administration also secured the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund. In 2023, Kentucky recorded over 2 million jobs filled for the first time ever and has stayed above that number ever since.

Kentucky also secured rating increases from major credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.

Earlier this year, Site Selection magazine ranked Kentucky in the top five nationally and second in the South Central region for economic development projects per capita in its 2024 Governor’s Cup rankings. Last April, Site Selection placed Kentucky second in the South Central region and in the top 10 nationally in its 2024 Prosperity Cup ranking, which recognizes state-level economic development agencies for their success in landing capital investment projects.

Gov. Beshear also announced a new initiative, called New Kentucky Home, to increase economic investment, attain and attract talent, and increase tourism across the state.

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 $113.5 million in cumulative tax incentives based on the company’s total cumulative investment of $1.2 billion-plus across the original and supplemental KJRA projects with an annual job target requirement of up to 8,000 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 new tax revenue it generates by claiming eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.

In addition, the company 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.

For more information on GE Appliances and its impact, visit geappliancesco.com.

A detailed community profile for Jefferson County can be viewed here.

Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at NewKentuckyHome.ky.gov. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion at facebook.com/CEDkygov, on Twitter @CEDkygov, Instagram @CEDkygov and LinkedIn.