In anticipation of sales for its new line of French door bottom-freezer refrigerators, GE will add 380 second-shift-production employees in the summer of 2012 to its Louisville, KY, facility and has also increased the number of new production employees working at that location from 600 to a total of 772 employees.
“Bottom-freezer refrigerators are the fastest growing configuration of refrigerators on the market today, so we had contingency plans for a two-shift operation,” said Paul Surowiec, refrigeration product general manager at GE Appliances.
“This is great news for our community,” said Greg Fisher, mayor of Metro Louisville. “These are good jobs, and the tremendous investment GE is making at Appliance Park has spurred significant revenue and job growth for hundreds of local suppliers who have been involved with the bottom-freezer refrigerator and the GeoSpring Water Heater. The growth of GE’s manufacturing operation at Appliance Park and the ripple effect on our community continue to validate the city and state governments’ decisions to encourage GE to choose Louisville when GE was deciding where to invest. We couldn’t be more thrilled with their progress.”
In addition to the hybrid water heaters and bottom-freezer refrigerators now being produced in Louisville, preparation is underway to open another plant to make frontload washing machines and matching dryers in early 2013. By 2014, GE will also be making upgrades in side-by-side refrigerators made in Bloomington, IN, and cooking products made in Lafayette, GA.
