GE Appliances celebrating 70 years in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - GE Appliances broke ground on its headquarters in Louisville in 1951. Two years later in 1953, they shipped their first appliances.

The first shipment of appliances were a group of 90 automatic dryers delivered by rail car.

Since then, GE said the headquarters has produced more than 240 million appliances, employing thousands of people in the Louisville area.

They estimate more than half of the homes in the United States is equipped with a GE appliance.

The ideas and principles of each one are created and implemented by the employees in Louisville.

”At this site is where all our innovation starts,” Peter Pepe, VP of GE’s laundry division said. “We designed the first self-cleaning oven, dishwashers that sense how dirty your dishes are, a refrigerator that brews coffee, a washer with an Alexa onboard. All that innovation starts here with the employees we have.”

GE first introduced the self-cleaning oven in 1963. They’re responsible for contributing more than $7 billion to Kentucky’s GDP.

Learn more from GE here.

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