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Whirlpool plans $300M expansion in northwest Ohio, hundreds of new jobs

Posted By: Toledo Blade on October 15, 2025.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

The largest washing machine manufacturing plant in the world is about to get even bigger.

Whirlpool Corp. plans to invest $300 million in the company’s manufacturing facilities in Clyde and Marion, Ohio. The investment is expected to create between 400 and 600 new jobs in those cities, positioning Whirlpool for increased production of its next generation of washers and dryers.

“Whirlpool Corporation’s unwavering commitment to American manufacturing is a cornerstone of our identity,” said Marc Bitzer, the company’s chairman and CEO. “This $300 million investment in our Clyde and Marion facilities underscores our dedication to creating jobs, fostering innovation, and delivering high-quality, American-made appliances to U.S. consumers.”

The Clyde and Marion plants produce washers and dryers under the Whirlpool, Maytag, and Amana brand names. The Clyde facility has been in operation since 1952 and is the largest washing machine plant in the world. It currently employs more than 3,000 workers.

The Marion dryer factory marked its 70th anniversary in September and employs nearly 2,000.

Approximately two-thirds of the promised new jobs will be in Clyde, with one-third in Marion.

“We’re elated that Whirlpool is expanding here,” said Clyde Mayor Douglas McCauley. “That gives us the security that Whirlpool is going to be here for a long time. We have an established work force. Generations and generations of families have worked at Whirlpool. We have our own municipal power system that provides the company with rate-friendly electricity.”

Mr. McCauley said he hopes the company will add another production line in Clyde because second-shift production has been down for a year or more.

“We hope production will ramp back up,” he said. “Adding employees is always good for small communities.”

There’s a good chance that the new employees at the Clyde and Marion factories may be related to people who already work there. A show of hands among the dozens of workers who attended Wednesday’s formal announcement of the expansion revealed that all but a handful were related to or friends with people who also worked there.

Or as Mr. McCauley put it, “We don’t just have family trees here. We have family forests.”

Whirlpool employees have an average tenure of 15 years. There are 252 employees at the Clyde plant and 197 in Marion with more than 30 years of service.

“When you join Whirlpool, it’s not a temporary job or a gig,” Mr. Bitzer said.

Bill Collins, the mayor of Marion, said he has friends who have worked in the Marion plant for 30 to 35 years.

“It’s been scary in the past couple of years because we hear rumors from time to time that Whirlpool has been bought out, that Whirlpool is moving somewhere else,” he said. “This lays those rumors to rest. This is a clear sign for us that Marion’s brightest days are still ahead.”

Representatives of the company who spoke at the announcement event lost no opportunity to tout their commitment to American manufacturing. The various dignitaries who spoke at the Clyde plant were backed by banners reading “Started in America. Stayed in America.”

Literature distributed by the company noted that GE’s appliance division is now owned by Haier, a Chinese company, and that Korean companies Samsung and LG produce most of their appliances overseas.

“All our major American competitors have either gone out of business or make their products overseas,” Mr. Bitzer said. “The $300 million is a capital investment, one that will make us stronger. It’s a bet on the future. And we are confident of our ability to compete on a level playing field.”

The plan to increase production at the Clyde and Marion plants is expected to be financially supported by JobsOhio and by tax credits from the state. JobsOhio is a private, nonprofit corporation funded by the profits from its lease of the state’s liquor franchise.

In the past decade, Whirlpool has spent $6 billion on capital expenditures, research, and new product development. The company has 20,000 employees in the United States.

In addition to its Clyde and Marion plants, the company manufactures dishwashers in Findlay, and freezers and other refrigeration appliances in Ottawa, Ohio.

As a cheeky sign outside Whirlpool’s Clyde plant proudly proclaims, “Laundry won’t get done without us.”