GE Appliances Invests $490 Million in Kentucky, Bringing Back Jobs From China

The $490 million investment will move production of laundry appliances from China back to Kentucky and create 800 new full-time jobs, GE Appliances said.

Kelly McBride Ni

Published: 6/26/2025, 11:49:53 PM EDT

GE Appliances Invests $490 Million in Kentucky, Bringing Back Jobs From China — Team members at GE Appliance Laundry Plant work together to assemble washing machines. (Courtesy of GE Appliances)

GE Appliances, a Haier company, will invest $490 million to move production of laundry appliances from China to its Louisville, Kentucky, global headquarters, the company announced on June 26. The investment is expected to bring 800 new full-time jobs to Kentucky.

“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,” Kevin Nolan, president and CEO of GE Appliances, said in the company’s press release. “This decision is our most recent product reshoring and aligns with the current economic and policy environment.”

The company’s Kentucky headquarters, Appliance Park, is where the production is scheduled to take place. Appliance Park is described as a “massive and thriving 750-acre 'city within a city' manufacturing complex,” according to the company. More than 15 models of front-load washers will be reshored, and production will take the space equivalent of 33 football fields in Building 2 of Appliance Park.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that the announcement “further secures Louisville as the global headquarters of GE Appliances, a Haier company, and brings more world-class, unparalleled appliance manufacturing back to the United States,” according to the press release. “This new investment strengthens one of our vital Kentucky assets and underscores our state’s reputation as America’s destination of choice for advanced manufacturing and job creation.”

The upgraded facility will feature advanced automation, robotics, and material-handling technologies, including Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs).

It will also bring key production steps in-house, including making stainless-steel parts, metal stamping, injection molding, and building custom equipment. These improvements aim to deliver “products with the quality, craftsmanship and market-leading features,” stated the release. The new manufacturing lines are expected to open in 2027.

“Manufacturing in Louisville puts production closer to our designers, engineers and consumers so that together we can create our most innovative laundry platforms,” Lee Lagomarcino, vice president of clothes care with GE Appliances, said according to the press release. “The team has already developed new solutions for American households and can’t wait to get started making them.”

The company has had a 10-year plan and $3.5 billion investment in the United States to bring manufacturing back to domestic soil. GE Appliance, founded in 1907, was originally part of General Electric and traces its founding history back to Thomas Edison. In 2016, Haier, a Chinese appliance and electronics company, acquired GE Appliances for $5.6 billion.