GE Appliances awards $40M in KY contracts that support its washing machine line
A $3 billion investment GE Appliances is making to expand its manufacturing footprint in the U.S. and create 1,000 jobs will benefit Kentucky in more ways than one.
The appliance company is set to award $150-million-worth of contracts to U.S.-based suppliers, including to three businesses in Kentucky, Thursday to support its previously announced plan to commit to technology development and advanced manufacturing.
The appliance maker is awarding contracts to suppliers across 10 states, including awards totaling $40 million in Kentucky:
- Engineered Plastic Components, a plastic injection molding manufacturer based in Lebanon;
- Jones Plastic and Engineering Corp., a custom injection molder in Williamsburg;
- Plastic Products Co. Inc., a custom plastic injection molding manufacturer based in Greenville and Lebanon.
Attending Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s weekly press conference Nov. 20 are leadership from GE and Ryan Jones, the chief operating officer and co-owner of Jones Plastic and Engineering, according to an email from the appliance maker.
According to its website, Jones Plastic and Engineering is primarily based just outside Louisville in Jeffersontown. The company is a supplier of engineering services, product design and integration and manufactures a variety of injection molded components on a contract basis.
It has seven locations in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mexico, and 1.3 million square feet of manufacturing space where some 2,400 employees work.
More contract details are anticipated to be revealed during the governor’s press conference at 1:30 p.m. EST followed by a similar press conference at GE’s global headquarters in Louisville.
Engineered Plastic Components and Plastic Products Co. Inc. do the same kind of manufacturing as Jones Plastic and Engineering and have their main offices outside of Kentucky, according to their websites. Neither have employee counts broken down for their Kentucky locations publicly available.
Part of the $3 billion investment from the appliance manufacturing company is nearly $500 million GE is planning to spend on outfitting an existing building at its Appliance Park in Louisville for its washing machine production lines.
The return of the production of washers back to the state will create 800 new, full-time jobs in Louisville.
In a June meeting, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved more than $113 million in performance-based tax credits from the state’s job retention and business investment programs. Once manufacturing lines open in 2027 and employment targets are met, those credits will kick in.
GE’s economic impact report for 2024 estimated the company contributed $12.8 billion to the state’s gross domestic product. The company already supports 8,000 direct jobs in the commonwealth and an additional 30,500 through its economic activity.
Last year, GE generated approximately $655 million in state and local taxes and spent $318 million with more than 480 Kentucky-based suppliers, according to the report.
Once the $3 billion investment rolls out over the next year, GE will have put $6.5 billion in 11 manufacturing plants across the country, its distribution network and will have added more than 5,000 jobs since 2016, according to company officials.
GE’s appliance unit is a subsidiary of China-based Haier.
The company’s move to relocate its production and manufacturing operations to the U.S. came as President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade and tariff agenda started to hit markets. Global firms Apple Inc. and Ford Motor Co. are also picking Kentucky as a place to produce goods within the country and potentially generate jobs.
During a summer the Beshear administration spent attending near weekly announcements of manufacturing investments across the state, the governor made clear his economic development strategy.
Beshear told the Herald-Leader he makes it a crucial step in the process of attracting business to understand the supply chain needs of international companies, “because if we can supply them from a Kentucky company, we’ll grow jobs on both ends.
“They (people wary of foreign investment) may see a foreign company, but that foreign company is a Kentucky employer,” Beshear said following an October trip to Europe with stops in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland. “I’m able to sit across the table from an international CEO and give them assurances that the commonwealth is going to work with them, that they are going to be able to get their project done on schedule and that the state is a partner.”
This story was updated at noon EST on Nov. 20, 2025, to include additional information about the contract awardees, where they are located, the total dollar amount of contracts to Kentucky businesses and in nine other states.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 8:08 AM.
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