CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Hundreds of millions of federal dollars will be funneled into battery manufacturing nationwide, and Microvast in Clarksville is among the select group receiving funding.
The Biden-Harris administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy, announced this week the first set of projects to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and the electrical grid, along with materials and components currently imported from other countries.
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A total of 20 companies will receive a combined $2.8 billion to build and expand commercial-scale facilities in 12 states to extract and process lithium, graphite and other battery materials. According to the news release, the grants will also help manufacture components and demonstrate new approaches, such as using recycled materials in the production process.
Microvast in Clarksville
Wenjuan Mattis, chief of technology at Microvast Holdings, told Clarksville Now the company is excited to continue development here.
“We are very proud and excited that our thermally stable polyaramid separator manufacturing plant proposal was selected to participate in a USD $200 million grant funding opportunity by the US Department of Energy. This is a great recognition of our innovative and outstanding technology on the separator,” she said.
“We will be working hard to leverage this funding to grow the battery industry in the United States and create additional jobs. For Microvast, this is a great opportunity to grow our market reach and strengthen our role as key supplier across the battery value chain in the US.”
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The federal investment will be matched by recipients to leverage a total of more than $9 billion to boost American production of clean energy technology, create high-paying jobs and support national goals.
The new plant will bring an additional 700 to 800 jobs, according to Buck Dellinger, CEO and president of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council.
Microvast plans to build a separator facility intended to supply 19GWh EV batteries, in addition to the 2GWh battery plant already in the works in Clarksville.
The company plans to partner with local governments, universities and community groups to develop a pipeline for hiring and training workers and will engage these stakeholders to ensure the broader Clarksville community is enhanced, the release said.
“It’s not just an expansion. It’s a whole new facility,” Dellinger said. “The good news for our community, besides the initial job investment, is that with the federal dollars there is the requirement to really go after disadvantaged communities to get more high-paying, high-technical jobs for those folks that need the training.”
Local work force
Microvast hopes to hire fresh graduates from the region and support continuing education, particularly for historically disadvantaged communities in the area, to ensure the facility positively impacts the entire region.
Dellinger explained that the federal government has challenged Microvast to work directly with disadvantaged communities who may not have access to training needed for manufacturing positions.
“Every time we have an expansion, it’s exciting for our community. When we get into these electric vehicle type jobs or technical (jobs), they’re generally higher-paying opportunities for our community,” he told Clarksville Now, noting that these factories are setting hourly wages in the mid-20s and 30s. He also said that those with advanced training, like engineers, have the potential to make close to six figures a year.
Dellinger highlighted the need to keep the Clarksville work force local, as more and more jobs become available in Montgomery County because of projects like Microvast.
“We project, conservatively, that by 2030, we’re going to add another 3,700 industrial manufacturing jobs to the industrial park. That is a conservative number, so over the next 7.5 years, we’ve got to make new employees out of either our military, our graduates from APSU, transfers to our community, and people coming out of high school,” Dellinger said during an IDB meeting this week.
“We lose folks to Nashville, or Rutherford County, or Williamson County that are in different types of work, some of them in manufacturing or distribution. And you’ve got to scratch your head and go, ‘Why are you doing that?’ when you got the same jobs and same economic opportunities, meaning equal wages, here in Montgomery County. And you’re 10 minutes to work and not an hour and 10 minutes to work,” he told Clarksville Now.
As work on the first Microvast project continues, company leaders are looking ahead to hiring even more workers residing in and around Montgomery County. Dellinger noted this project will be great for all those involved.
“I think that’s great for our community. It’s been a strategic goal of ours that everybody in our community see the advantage of growth and expansion of manufacturing and all of our business opportunities.”