Maureen Carpenter serves at the president and CEO of Barren Inc. and the Barren County Economic Authority. She said CATL, a Chinese-based battery company, plans to still locate and develop 350 jobs in Glasgow despite a stall in their development over the last several months.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
Story by Angela Briggs, special to WCLU News
GLASGOW — A Chinese-based automotive battery company still plans to locate and invest about 350 jobs in Glasgow and Barren County, economic authority officials say.
Electric vehicles are expected to make up a quarter of global vehicle sales by 2025. And one of the leading companies in the electric vehicle industry aside from Tesla is CATL or Contemporary Amperex Technology Company, Limited.
CATL supplies batteries for electric vehicles worldwide to companies like G.M., Volkswagen, BMW and Tesla. The company is estimated to be worth $200 billion dollars, and has been touted “as a crucial link in a green-technology supply chain.”
The company in December 2020 purchased the former LSC Communications building along Donnelley Drive for $8.5 million. But the project has stalled, leading the community to question whether the company’s plans still involved investment in the area.
Maureen Carpenter, President and CEO of the Barren County Economic Authority and Barren Inc., said the purchase of the building was the first step for the company to begin its startup here. The project has been slow and seemingly non-existent for about a year and a half due to factors in the international scene.
“Their scope has changed a little bit. Obviously, COVID has been a factor,” Carpenter said. “If you watch what has been going on in China, they are on a shutdown again. That’s delayed some things.
Company officials were unable to travel to Glasgow at times due to travel restrictions, she said. And the demand continues to grow for the type of batteries CATL produces. Some market values have increased by 60%. And though the pandemic slowed a lot of the development, the company continued to stockpile raw materials needed for battery development like lithium and cobalt.
The company continues to shift its business model as changes happen, Carpenter said.
“Some different opportunities within the EV market have come out. They are evaluating their business plan,” she said. “But I can tell that they are coming.”
The Glasgow City Council voted last June to allow CATL to use the city as a pass-through agent so they could apply for a bond grant from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority. The grant could be no more than $8.5 million.
The Tennessee Valley Authority promised incentives to the company as well, which totaled about $3 million. CATL has not cashed in on any of those incentives yet.
Carpenter said Glasgow is an ideal location for suppliers like CATL, which is a reason they chose to locate here. The company plans to offer 350 full-time positions, and the average hourly pay is about $20 per hour.
“As soon as we can, we will announce what their project is going to look like and when they’re going to be able to start hiring,” Carpenter said. “We just hope that people will be patient as they develop their business plan and decide what they’re going to do here in Glasgow.”
A team of about 15 people is now stationed inside the walls of the Glasgow location.
