Haier America Selects Evansville for World-Class Tech Center

From the office of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke

Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville and the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana are pleased to announce Evansville will soon be home to the world’s largest manufacturer of appliances, initially creating 50 high-paying STEM jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

As part of their strategic objective to grow U.S. sales, Haier America, the North American division of Haier Group, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance manufacturing giant, will open its first U.S. Product Tech Center here in Evansville.

“As the world’s number one appliance manufacturer, Haier’s strategy has been to establish localized R&D and manufacturing bases that allow the company to support each regions’ specifics needs,” said Adrian Micu, president and chief executive officer of Haier America. “Evansville has an established infrastructure and workforce that we believe will allow us to quickly and successfully build out a tech center focused on designing products tailored for the unique experiences of the U.S. consumer.”

Initially, the Tech Center will focus on commercialization of Haier products for the U.S. Market, followed by new product development. Success of the new Tech Center and the company’s U.S. strategy would set the stage for additional growth, as Haier could add more jobs based on an annual increase in sales.

“The decision by Haier to locate a new research and development center in Evansville and initially hire 50 workers is another boost to our local economy,” said Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. “Today’s announcement is also a symbolic victory for our region and signifies a re-emergence in the appliance industry in a city with a strong manufacturing history of producing refrigerators and large appliances. It

is our combined goal that Haier is successful and continues to create more jobs through creation of a world-class tech center in Evansville and the expansion of product delivery in North America.”

Haier America is a division of the multinational Haier Group, the number one appliance brand in the world. Euromonitor International, the most respected provider of strategy research for consumer markets, has named Haier the number one major home appliances brand globally in terms of market share every year for the last five years. Haier employs more than 70,000 people around the world and distributes products in more than 100 countries and regions with global revenues reaching $29.5 billion in 2013.

Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville, President, Deborah Dewey, expressed her excitement by stating, “The Haier America project checks all the boxes – high-paying STEM jobs for a multi-national corporation’s new U.S. Tech Center, with plans to renovate and occupy old, vacant, buildings in our city’s core.”

“Talent is the key driver of today’s economy,” said Greg Wathen, President & CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana. “Though we always recognized our region’s level of skill, having the world’s largest appliance manufacturer validate it confirms our belief.”

Pending required approvals, the economic development incentives will include Tax Increment Financing of capital investment in lab equipment and eligible grants towards building renovations. The economic impact received by the Evansville community, as a result of the new jobs and investment, will total in excess of $10 million a year.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Haier America up to $1.4 million in conditional tax credits and up to $450,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.

Haier America will begin hiring engineers, designers, lab techs, model makers and other professionals this fall. Interested applicants can apply at http://www.haieramerica.com/careers.