news for Western Michigan -- Lithium Battery production - manufacturing
The Michigan factory that Obama toured on Thursday August 11, 2011 will be the first in the country to produce complete lithium-ion battery cells and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles, producing battery systems for automakers such as Ford’s Transit Connect plug-in electric delivery vans.
Johnson Controls and U.S. stimulus package each invested $299.2 million in the Michigan factory, while the state of Michigan provided $168 million in incentives
The Michigan plant will employ 320 people at full capacity, the company said.
“These projects are great examples of public-private partnerships that use innovation and technology to produce products that reduce fuel consumption and create jobs,” said Steve Roell, company chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
Across the Midwest, Johnson Controls Inc. is adding 700 jobs and retaining another 400 through its investment in advanced lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, Roell said.
"Through innovation and investment in technology and people, Johnson Controls is a leader in the energy storage industry,” he said. “We are investing more than $460 million in our advanced battery business for manufacturing and technical facilities here in Michigan and the U.S. These investments will lead to over 700 new jobs, retention of another 400 and approximately 1,000 construction jobs," Roell said.
In addition to the new factory and the one now opening, the company also recently opened its expanded battery technology and test center in Glendale, which created 60 jobs.
Plans for a new factory were announced as company executives welcomed President Barack Obama to its Meadowbrook factory in Holland, Mich.
Obama said administration policies aimed at reducing oil imports are part of an effort to invest both in research and new technology.
“That’s why we’re investing in clean energy,” he said, according to a transcript provided by the White House. “That’s why I brought together the world’s largest auto companies who agreed, for the first time, to nearly double the distance their cars can go on a gallon of gas. That’s going to save consumers thousands of dollars at the pump.”
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/127547468.html
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