Manufacturing has long been a traditional strength for Greater Louisville. The region’s growth as a manufacturing center boomed during the late 19th century making chewing tobacco, steam engines, farm equipment and furniture, as well as whiskey and plumbing products. Today, our region’s 26-county labor market now supports 129,000 manufacturing jobs.

General Electric’s Appliance Park  is one of the largest appliance manufacturing complexes in the world.  Built in the early 1950s, it began undergoing major renovations in the early 1980s. Using the latest design and automation techniques, the company is now making better appliances for less money, using fewer labor-hours per appliance and now focused on a new line of environmentally-friendly products and in-sourcing new production back to the United States from overseas.

Ford Motor Company , which began by piecing together about twelve model T’s a day in a small shop at Third and Breckinridge in 1914, now has two large, modern plants in Louisville, employing nearly 10,000 people. These plants boast the fastest automotive assembly line in the U.S.

Greater Louisville is the home of many other world-class manufacturers including Shingo Prize Winning, Raytheon Company . Raytheon is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business aviation and special mission aircraft. Raytheon's Phalanx Close-In Weapon System is the most widely used ship self-defense system in the world. Used by the navies of 22 allied nations, Phalanx combines radars, computers and a 20 millimeter Gatling gun to protect sailors, marines and ships against cruise missiles, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and floating threats in blue water and the littorals. Phalanx is on every combatant ship in the United States Navy. And it is manufactured, overhauled and upgraded only in Louisville, Kentucky.

Did you know…

Kentucky is the world’s largest manufacturer of peanut butter and peanut butter products between Jif  in Lexington and Algood Foods  here in Louisville’s Riverport?

That 70% of all pro baseball players use Louisville Slugger  wood bats, which are manufactured only in Louisville. Among the more notable names currently using the bats are Major League Baseball All-Stars: Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, Derek Jeter, Jim Thome and Jason Giambi.

All radios on Harley Davidson motorcycles are manufactured by Radio Sound in Bluegrass Industrial Park here in Louisville?

That the first Stretch Wrap Machine was developed and manufactured by LanTech  here in Louisville?

That the filtration systems designed to filter anthrax at postal sorting facilities is manufactured by Kelly Fabricators  here in South Louisville?

One of Louisville’s major industrial strengths is the number of small companies devoted to producing products of fine quality – Louisville Stoneware , Steiner-Reck Inc. (one of the few pipe-organ builders in the U.S.), Balfour Co. Inc.  (class rings) and Steepleton Co.  (billiard tables) – to merely name a few.