GE in Louisville - Fact Sheet - GE's Impact on Louisville

GE's Impact on Louisville

GE Appliance Park established in 1953… has manufactured in excess of 185 million appliances and employed more than 40,000 people in the last 55 years.

Home of global headquarters for GE Consumer & Industrial, housing senior management & staff, customer training facilities R&D, sales, marketing, global sourcing, distribution and all administrative functions.

A manufacturing site for dishwashers, top-load washers & top-freezer refrigerators manufacturing.

Annual production volume ~3.2 million units
~$500 million invested over last eight years
$278 million annual payroll*

Total GE in Louisville employment is ~5,000.

* From the end of 2007

Economic Impact

GE in Louisville contributes more than $425 million each year to the Louisville economy through payroll, benefits and purchased goods and services*
GE in Louisville has made ~$500 million of investments in Louisville over the last 8 years.
GE in Louisville invested $120 million into Appliance Park from 2006-2008.
GE in Louisville has manufactured more than 185 million appliances at Appliance Park since it began production in 1953.
GE in Louisville has more than 20,000 retirees and surviving spouses in the Louisville metro area receiving their GE pensions.
GE in Louisville has employed more than 40,000 people in the Louisville area over the last 50 years.
GE in Louisville has hired 745 new employees since 2005, due to the competitive wage agreement.

* From the end of 2007

Charitable Giving/Volunteerism

The GE family, including employees, retirees and the GE Foundation, has given more than $72 million in charitable contributions and appliances to the Louisville community over the last 50 years.
Each year since 1998, more than 1,000 GE volunteers "make over" a different charitable organization's campus.
Integrated community strategy to maximize impact on our community … cash & product donations & volunteerism
Recent GE Foundation grants: $25 million to public schools; Junior Achievement $18,000; Science Center $100,000; Matching gifts $1.4 million; United Way match $523,000
GE leaders on a number of key community boards
GE Volunteers' 120-plus projects in '07 totaled more than 225,000 volunteer hours
Nearly $2 million in business and employee giving in '07 through product and cash contributions and The United Way and GE Employee Community Fund Campaigns
Presenting sponsor of Light Up Louisville since '05
Multiple awards for community involvement

Appliance Park - "A city within a city"

Approx. 900 acres.
Each manufacturing building is large enough to enclose 15 football fields.
Has 24x7 onsite security, EMS coverage, and medical center.
Appliance Park railroad has 25 miles of track, one of the larger "small rail" systems in the U.S.
A dedicated ZIP code… 40225.
Warehouse is 47 acres under one roof or the size of six city blocks in downtown Louisville.

Interesting Trivia

GE shipped its first appliance (a dryer) from Appliance Park on February 6, 1953.
GE installed its first computer at Appliance Park in 1954, a pioneer UNIVAC model. The UNIVAC was larger than the average living room and took eight hours to make calculations. It was the first computer installation outside of the U.S. government.
The first government relations project that GE undertook back in 1953: persuading the Kentucky legislature to move Louisville into the Eastern Time zone.

Product Inventions from Louisville

Self-cleaning oven
Portable dishwasher
Ice and water dispenser through the refrigerator door
Portable air-conditioner (Carry Cool)
"Spacemaker" microwave oven
Advantium speedcook oven
First refrigerator to thaw food in hours, not days and chill food in minutes, not hours
SmartDispense dishwasher technology
Harmony clothes care system
Trivection oven
Double Cavity Single Wall Oven

GE Answer Center

The GE Answer Center, located in Louisville, was among the first "call centers" for a consumer goods company.
It is considered one of the premiere centers in the world and has won numerous awards.
It has taken over 50 million calls in the 20 years it has been in existence.
It has a massive database with more than 1.5 million answers to consumer questions.

Monogram Experience Center

A theatre for the senses, the Monogram Experience Center, located at Appliance Park, is a 9,000-sq.-ft. complex filled with an array of stimulating and appealing spaces - all designed to showcase the latest in Monogram appliance innovation. Among the highlights is a professional culinary studio, where guests have a unique opportunity to prepare meals with a gourmet chef.

Studio U

Located in a specially designed space at Appliance Park with areas for observation and focus groups, Studio U's mission is to improve design elements and operations by obtaining consumer feedback and applying it directly to the product's design - early in the process. Consumers are observed interacting with C&I concepts.