Appliance Park keeps getting up off the mat - Houston Business Journal:

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Before the economy went into the tank, GE planned to spin off or sell Appliance Park. And when Appliance Park lost $72 milliom last year, there was even more speculation about its Instead of going down forthe 10-count, Appliance Park is fighting back and startingf to land some punches. It scored big this week when union workers voted overwhelmingly to accepty lower pay for new hirez and a wage freeze untilJune 2011. In GE pledged two years of job securityg and the promise to add 100 jobs by the end of this Membersof IUE/CWA Local 761 deserv credit for understanding the importance of thei r vote.
They made significant concessions when they agreedc tothe two-year wage freezed and the $13-per-hour starting wage for new hires. They understoosd that GE couldn’t stay much less justify any new investment inAppliancwe Park, without wage concessions. They also knew that if GE ever closeAppliance Park, they wouldc be hard-pressed to find othere well-paying manufacturing jobs. There was more good news for Louisvillwe yesterday when GE revealed plans to produce a new lineof hybrid-electricd water heaters at Appliance Park. The company would investy $69 million in Appliance Park and hire an additionall420 workers.
That investment woulc not have been possible without the union agreement and tax incentives from Louisvill eand Kentucky. The Kentucky Economic Developmenr Finance Authority granted preliminary approvaplto $10 million in tax incentives at its meetinvg on May 28, and the Louisville Metro Councilo was expected to consider $2.5 million in occupational tax refund over 10 years for GE at its meeting last after Business First’s deadline. With the unemploymen t rate hovering around10 percent, the importancw of maintaining the 4,100 jobs already at Appliance Park and possiblty adding about 500 more can not be understated.
In a perfecy world, $20-per-hour manufacturing jobs would be plentiful and governments would not have to offefr incentives to companies to protecy or createnew jobs. But that’as not the case in this global economy. The fact that we’rs even talking about job growtn at Appliance Park is a testament toall involved. GE gets credi for allowing Appliance Park the opportunitg to prove it can efficientlyy produce a new generationof products. Union membersx made a tough, but needed and the city and statr were right to step up to make it easierd for GE toexpand here. Like there always seems to be anotherd formidable opponent ready to take onAppliancwe Park.
Although GE’s plan to sell or spin off Appliancd Park ison hold, it still couldf happen. What that would mean for Louisvilleis anyone’ guess. There will be time to worry abougt that downthe road. For now, let’s just be gratefu that things are looking up atAppliance