Waiting for the U.S government grants to drop. Small Plant In...

Waiting for the U.S government grants to drop.
Small Plant In Lookout Valley Could Grow Into Something Really Big For Chattanooga

https://www.chattanoogan.com/2021/6/30/430720/Small-Plant-In-Lookout-Valley-Could.aspx

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

A small plant in Lookout Valley with 35 workers could grow into something very big for Chattanooga.
Officials of the PUREgraphite division of Novonix have already announced plans to put 300 more jobs in at the "Big Blue" Alstom facility on Riverfront Parkway.

Plant manager Daniel Deas, a Chattanoogan, said that number could grow with 1,000 workers at a third plant if company aspirations to compete with Asian firms in the rapidly growing long-life battery movement pan out.

He said the Chattanooga facility is the first to try to break the 100 percent Asian stranglehold on the promising market. The product comes from petroleum pumped on the Gulf Coast - much closer to the U.S. than Asia.

The process here will convert that top-quality petroleum into the synthetic graphite that is needed for batteries such as will power a growing number of electric vehicles.

Mr. Deas said Asia is fast adding to its synthetic graphite output. His firm plans to start with making 10,000 tons per year in the Alstom facility. It would go to 30,000 tons a year by 2025 in a new modular facility located in Chattanooga.

He told the City Council, "We are not stopping at 'Big Blue'."
Mr. Deas also said the facility will be a large consumer of electricity and eventually could be the largest user of electricity in the state.

He said the firm was attracted to Chattanooga by the fact it already has a facility here, by the high ceilings at Big Blue, and by the local manpower.

Other competitors for the expansion included White, Ga., and Huntsville, Ala., he said.

Starting workers will make about $40,000 a year.

The firm is asking for a 10-year PILOT tax break. According to the formula it would pay no taxes the first year (except for the school tax), 25 percent the second year, 40 percent the third year and 50 percent through the end of the tax abatement.

Charles Wood of the Chamber of Commerce said the firm is expected to have a $400 million economic impact over 12 years.

The tax abatement would amount to $2.7 million.