GE Appliances, ARGI expanding in Louisville, adding 1,400 jobs

Expansions coming during next two years

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – As Kentucky celebrates Manufacturing Month, one of the state’s largest manufacturers is making major plans for the future. Gov. Andy Beshear announced GE Appliances, a Haier company, will add more than 1,000 full-time jobs and invest $450 million over the next two years as the company continues its commitment to the commonwealth with upgrades at Appliance Park in Louisville.

“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,” 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.”

Leaders at GE Appliances plan to 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 Gov. Beshear and the entire economic development team for their understanding of the importance of growing and sustaining existing businesses in the commonwealth.”

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.

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. GE Appliances employs more than 7,100 people full time at Appliance Park and a nearby call center.

Appliance Park is among the nearly 5,000 manufacturing-related facilities in Kentucky, which employ more than 250,000 people across the state. Kentucky excels as a national leader in manufacturing, with about 13% of its workforce holding a job in the sector compared to the U.S. average of 8.5%.

To encourage investment and job retention in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) 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 new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.

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.

In addition, financial services provider ARGI Financial Group LLC will create 245 quality job opportunities in the years ahead with a $2.7 million investment.

With this investment, ARGI will grow its existing 54,000-square-foot location at High Wickham Place by 10,000 square feet. The expanded headquarters will create new management and back office support opportunities in the coming years, in addition to its current staff of 152. Company leaders expect work on the expansion to be completed by 2023. Currently, ARGI operates five locations in Kentucky, including offices in Bardstown, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown and Paducah, which employ 57 people.

“We are honored and grateful the commonwealth supports our efforts in strengthening ARGI’s service to the people of Kentucky,” said Joe Reeves, CEO of ARGI. “Our firm was built on the foundation of serving others, with the primary focus being our clients, our employees and our community. These funds will help us to further live our mission of improving lives with every relationship, and that starts with our people in Kentucky.”

Established in Louisville in 1995, ARGI provides financial and business services for companies and individuals, such as financial planning and accounting, estate planning, retirement planning, tax services and investment management, among others, through the firm’s various affiliates. In addition to its Kentucky locations, ARGI operates in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) today preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $1.8 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $2.7 million and annual targets of:

• Creation and maintenance of 245 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
• Paying an average hourly wage of $46.80 including benefits across those jobs.

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. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.

In addition, ARGI 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.