LOUISVILLE, Ky. — GE Appliances recently announced it’s bringing air conditioning production back to the U.S. as part of a $250 million investment the company is making over a three-year period at its Appliance Park manufacturing location in Louisville, Kentucky. GE Appliances is adding a new product category to the current lineup of refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, clothes dryers, and hybrid water heaters manufactured at the location. GE Zoneline^®, a through-the-wall heating and air conditioning unit mainly used in the hotel/motel industry, will start full production in the first quarter of 2016.

GE Zoneline packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) models were made at Appliance Park from 1961 until 1987, when manufacturing of the product was outsourced overseas. The new Zoneline units will be manufactured at Appliance Park in the same building as the GeoSpring™ hybrid water heaters, becoming the second new product platform brought to Appliance Park in nearly 50 years. The first was GeoSpring, introduced in 2012 as part of a $1 billion investment GE made in its U.S. appliance manufacturing facilities.

Of the $250 million being invested in Appliance Park, $40 million has been used to build the new Zoneline production line. One hundred operators will man the line, 75 of whom will occupy new jobs.

“The existing Zoneline products have served our customers well, but as the hotel/motel industry becomes increasingly more competitive, customers are looking for every advantage to ensure their guests have the best experience possible,” said Liz VerSchure, product general manager for consumer comfort. “We’ve taken the most important aspects of heating and cooling the traveler’s room into account with our new design, so both the guests and our customers can rest easy at night. Plus, with new design and appearance improvements, it looks great.”

Publication date: 10/26/2015

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