GE puts for sale sign on Appliance Park

Workers, officials express concern over plant's future

By Bruce Schreiner

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOUISVILLE --

They hung on during years of downsizing, but now the few thousand people working at GE's sprawling Appliance Park face even greater uncertainty with the company's plans to sell or spin off its appliance business.

Word that General Electric Co. might shed its appliance division, headquartered in Louisville, sent ripples through the work force and all the way to city hall and the governor's office in Frankfort.

State and local officials met with GE executives Friday then tried to put a positive face on the uncertainty at Appliance Park, an approximately 900-acre operation so big it has its own ZIP code.

"I think we've got a lot to sell, and we just need to take advantage of that opportunity," said Larry Hayes, secretary of Gov. Steve Beshear's executive cabinet.

Some GE workers said they were blindsided by the news and talked about tightening their belts amid the worries of keeping their jobs in a struggling economy.

"We don't have any idea who's coming in, what kind of salaries, how much of our benefits we're going to lose," said Ann Davidson, a production worker with 35 years at GE plants.

GE says it's premature to speculate on the impact on jobs and the plant.

Tim Somheil, editor of Appliance Magazine, said some appliance makers have moved from the United States to cheaper labor markets such as Mexico. But he also said other companies have bucked that trend, opting to make substantial investments in U.S. plants.

Matt Collins, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, said the plant would not necessarily close if sold.

"The weak dollar makes U.S. production look a little more attractive to a foreign buyer," Collins said. "So that could help them, but obviously they have to be competitive on a cost basis over the long term."

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson predicted that GE's appliance business would draw considerable interest from abroad, mentioning Pacific Rim and European companies as possible suitors or partners.

"This is not a fire sale," Abramson said. "This is not a depressed company that has to sell at whatever price is offered. This is a company that has been financially successful."

GE's appliance division had revenues of $7 billion last year and employs about 13,000 people worldwide. The Louisville operation is one of several GE plants that churn out appliances.

For decades, Appliance Park was a major cog in the local and state economy. The massive operation opened in 1953 and 20 years later employment peaked at nearly 23,000 workers. The work force has dwindled through the years and now stands at about 5,000 -- a combination of production line and white-collar jobs. Assembly workers build dishwashers, washing machines and top-freezer refrigerators in Louisville. The white-collar jobs include marketing, finance and research and development.

GE contributes more than $425 million a year to the Louisville economy through payroll, benefits and purchased goods and services. The company is Louisville's sixth largest private employer, city officials said.