Roper Corporation celebrates 50-year anniversary with $118 million investment

LAFAYETTE, Ga. (WDEF) – Roper Corporation is celebrating their 50-year anniversary of producing cooking products.

GE Appliances recently invested $118 million toward the plant’s newest manufacturing technology. 

“We have invested more in the last six years than any other appliance company,” said Luther Ingram, President and Executive Director of Roper. “More than $2 billion in new products, technology, manufacturing and distribution.”

This investment is allowing Roper to manufacture new range models, which will become available early next year. That is through the addition of new employees and robotics. 

“Millennials and Gen-Zs are not expecting the same thing the baby boomers expected,” said Ingram. “So, we had to become a little more flexible, a little more nimble in how we operate. We had to bring in automation to be able to support and make jobs a little bit easier.” 

It has even tripled the amount of robotics used at the company and this investment added 600 new jobs. 

“We employ about 2,500. At some point you tap out on the resources that you have,” Ingram said. “Now we partner with surrounding communities, but at some point, we still need automation to be able to help us continue to grow within the factory. And so, we use automation to help support us in that space.”

Lafayette’s mayor says Roper’s latest technology is positively impacting Walker County’s economic growth. 

“The tax base that Roper brings to our county, the tax base they bring by employing people to our city, helps with all the infrastructure,” said Lafayette Mayor Andy Arnold. 

Other than GE’s headquarters in Kentucky, Roper is their largest manufacturing operation.