By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

GE Appliances announced Thursday it is investing more than $150 million into contracts for suppliers in the United States, contributing toward a new laundry manufacturing plant.

The appliance company, whose parent company is China-based Haier, plans to split up investments across suppliers in 10 states and focus on steel, resins, parts and components in order to develop products at a washer and dryer plant which is being built in Louisville, Kentucky.

“We will take the washers and the all-in-one combo units that are currently made in China and we will build them next door here in Louisville,” Lee Lagomarcino, vice president of clothes care at GE Appliances, told The Center Square.

The U.S.-based contracts are going to suppliers in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama and California. In Kentucky, the state with the highest investment amount, more than $40 million is being awarded to four plastics suppliers.

“GE Appliances believes in Kentucky and our workforce, and there are more than $40 million awarded to suppliers in the commonwealth – more than any other state – will have a ripple effect that everyone benefits from,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Four Tennessee manufacturers are receiving more than $35 million in contracts; three suppliers in Indiana are receiving more than $14 million in contracts; and two Ohio companies are receiving more than $13 million in contracts.

The investment in partnerships across the country build on a 5-year, $3 billion investment announced in August.

In June, the appliance company announced it would invest $490 million into its new Kentucky headquarters.

“By doing this collaboration, we’re going to be able to design the product better, easier for manufacturability, hopefully reduce lead times,” said Ashley Eckert, senior director of clothes care and dish sourcing at GE Appliances. “We’ll reduce lead times with getting parts here versus parts from overseas.”

The domestic partnership investment from GE Appliances follows months of President Donald Trump touting company investments into the United States under his trade deal policies. The White House website maintains a running list of more than eight trillion dollars in foreign and private investments nicknamed “The Trump Effect.”

Julie Wood, senior director of corporate communications at GE Appliances, said the domestic investments throughout the company have been going on since 2010.

“We want to manufacture in the United States where we can be competitive,” Wood said. “So you’ve seen, you know, 15 years of consistent investment in U.S. manufacturing.”

“We know that shorter supply chains are more agile and more agile supply chains can really adapt to what people truly want versus internal needs,” Lagomarcino said.

One challenge GE leaders said they continue to face is worker education and skilled trade development.

“We still do face a gap in skill trades,” Wood said. “Figuring out what are other programs that state and local government can do to try to encourage more people to consider. Skill trades is not only important for us but also for many of the suppliers we’re working with.”

Lagomarcino said the announcement of new partnerships has allowed GE Appliances to collaborate with suppliers and increase communication with domestic suppliers.

“We had to be more transparent with our suppliers than ever before, but what it really did is it drives better problem solving,” Lagomarcino said. “This is not a project or strategy that works if just one person wins, its really got to be that collaborative spirit.”