GE Appliances will move gas range production from Mexico to the Roper plant in LaFayette, bringing new work to Walker County’s largest employer as part of a massive $3 billion expansion of the company’s U.S. operations.
The LaFayette facility, already known for producing cooktops, ranges, and wall ovens under the GE, GE Profile, Monogram, and Café brands, is set to play a key role in the company’s push to strengthen domestic manufacturing. While GE Appliances has not announced how many jobs the move will create locally, the investment is expected to add more than 1,000 jobs nationwide over the next five years.
The shift is part of GE Appliances’ broader effort to return production from China and Mexico to its American plants. Along with LaFayette, the company’s facilities in Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee will also benefit.
Highlights of the plan include:
Six refrigerator models currently made in China will move to Decatur, Alabama.
Electric and hybrid water heater production, now in China, will shift to Camden, South Carolina, doubling that plant’s workforce.
Two new air conditioner models will be produced in Selmer, Tennessee.
A $490 million upgrade at GE’s Kentucky complex will bring washer production back from China.
GE Appliances, a subsidiary of China-based Haier, says the investment is the second-largest in its history and brings its total U.S. investment since 2016 to $6.5 billion.
The company says its strategy is to focus production in the U.S. and is working with schools and training programs to develop the skilled workforce needed to support the expansion.
GE Appliances currently contributes more than $30 billion a year to the U.S. economy and supports over 113,000 jobs across its supply and distribution networks.