Whirlpool to keep R&D jobs in Evansville; no deal for Fort Smith

Whirlpool Corp. announced Wednesday (Sept. 30) that its product development center and the 296 associated jobs will remain in Evansville, Ind.

Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool announced Aug. 28 it would close its Evansville plant, eliminating about 1,100 full-time jobs by mid-2010. The Evansville plant primarily makes top freezer refrigerators, with that production being moved to the company’s plant in Mexico. However, the company said its icemaker production and Refrigeration Product Development Center (PDC) in Evansville will “be relocated to a company-owned site yet to be determined.”

After the August announcement, Fort Smith chamber and city officials were quick to note they would pursue those jobs. Ray Gosack, deputy Fort Smith city administrator said in August that the attempt to recruit the Whirlpool R&D jobs to Fort Smith would be a “prime opportunity for us to showcase that the Fort Smith region is a desirable place for a research and development operation.”

Whirlpool’s large refrigerator and ice-maker production plant in Fort Smith has seen employment fall from 4,500 in early 2006 to about 1,000 at present. The recession-induced slowdown in appliance sales has been cited by Whirlpool officials as the primary reason for the job cuts.

However, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Airport Authority plans to acquire the Whirlpool site and the authority and city of Evansville will help Whirlpool design and build a new, state-of-the-art PDC.

A press release from Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said the new 66,000-square-foot building will anchor the “Midwest Center for Innovation & Design.” The new innovation park will focus on attracting other research and development and design centers to Evansville and southwest Indiana.

“Job retention is a critical element of our economic success, so the fact that we were able to craft a deal that keeps these high-tech, high-paying jobs in Evansville is extremely important. With the involvement of the Airport Authority, we will also be able to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire this valuable property for future economic development,” Weinzapfel said in his statement.

The city said its incentive package, which included a forgiveness of previous state incentives to Whirlpool to expand the Evansville plant, “enabled Evansville to win out over sites in Arkansas, Iowa and Michigan in their attempts to land the PDC.”

Whirlpool has yet to announce a decision on the relocation of its ice-maker production.