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Week’s events signal Holland’s place in new economy
7/18/2010
By BEN BEVERSLUIS
The Holland Sentinel
Posted Jul 18, 2010 @ 05:30 AM
Holland, MI — The tent is struck and full-scale site preparation back under way at the LG Chem battery site on 48th Street.
What next?
The ceremonial groundbreaking that brought the significant meeting of the president of the United States and the chair of LG Corp. was the beginning of, President Obama said, “building a better future for this city, for this state and for this country.”
Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra Thursday assured the high-level executives attending from Korea that placing their “great trust and high expectations” on Holland was not a mistake.
Much of the excitement behind the event was that of establishing the LG name in West Michigan.
LG Chem Ltd. has some 70,000 employees worldwide and is itself a division of one of the largest companies in the world, Korea-based LG Corp., an $82 billion, 177,000-employee company known for its technological and manufacturing innovation.
“We have a new, major international company in West Michigan, in LG Chem, which is significant. Add to that the investment under way with JC-Saft,” said Randy Thelen, president of economic development agency Lakeshore Advantage. “And add a whole other layer with the prestige of a presidential visit, and that just validates we are the capital for advanced energy storage manufacturing in North America.”
The $303 million LG Chem plant in Holland, built with a $151.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant and a $151.5 million investment from LG Chem, is scheduled to be completed by 2012 and have the capacity to produce lithium-ion battery cells for 50,000 to 250,000 vehicles. (Depending on the needs of a vehicle, varying numbers of cells, from scores up to more than 100, are built into battery packs that also include electronic controls, cooling and mechanical systems.)
LG Chem estimates more than 400 people could be working at its plant by 2013.
Meanwhile, just two miles west, assembly lines are being installed at the Johnson Controls-Saft joint venture’s new Meadowbrook Lithium-ion Manufacturing Center.
That plant is to begin assembling battery packs this fall using cells made in France, with full production of cells in Holland set for a year from now. The plant will employ at least 300, producing 10 million to 15 million cells a year, the company has said, with related work at other JCI facilities pushing new employment to 550.
Local government and economic development officials like to suggest the two new plants and related supply chain growth puts the Holland area at the “epicenter” of the new energy technology on this continent.
Pointing to government investments in those two plants as well as in the likes of Energetx and Innotec, Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra said Holland’s “green economy” is expected to create 10,000 new jobs here, many outside the traditional auto manufacturing sphere.
“Our high schools, community college and our colleges and universities are all launching programs to develop the talent to feed this fast growing industry.” Thelen noted. “By developing the workforce and attracting additional suppliers, our region is committed to leading the country in this technology.”
Copyright 2010 The Holland Sentinel. Some rights reserved
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