A year after completing its purchase of GE Appliances, the Chinese-based Haier Co., announced today it is expanding its appliance plant in Selmer, Tenn., with a $9.3 million investment expected to double the company's staff.
GE Appliances said it expects to add 210 jobs as it expands its production of the Monogram model of upscale refrigerators, freezers and other refrigeration products in Selmer, about 200 miles west of Chattanooga. The company's manufacturing facility has been located in Selmer since 1986 and is an affiliate company of GE Roper Corp., which makes ovens and stoves for Haier's GE Appliance division in Lafayette, Ga., just south of Chattanooga.
"The state of Tennessee and McNairy County have been terrific partners," Raymond Deming, vice president, Monogram Refrigeration Operation, LLC, said in a statement today. "They've worked with Monogram over the years as we've grown our refrigeration bus iness in Selmer. Now, their continued support will help us bring to Selmer an entirely new product line and create approximately 210 jobs ranging from production associates, skilled trades and professional employees that will take our employment close to 400."
Monogram will be adding 120,000 square feet to its existing building in Selmer. In addition to a new line of column-style refrigerators and freezers, Monogram will begin manufacturing packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs), a line of commercial heating and cooling products sold under the Zoneline brand. Production of the new refrigeration products will begin later this year and production of the new Zoneline air conditioning units will begin in early 2018.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said today he is trying "to make our state the perfect location not only for companies to locate new operations, but for existing companies to expand.
"With our ready-to-work workforce and business-friendly climate, existing companies are able to excel in Tennessee. I thank Monogram, one of our most well-known brands, for reinvesting and expanding in Tennessee and for helping us get one step closer to our goal of making Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs," Haslam said in a statement.