By Josh Weinhold, Truth Staff
jweinhold@etruth.com
WAKARUSA -- The start-up Electric Motors Corp. wasn't part of a major federal grant announcement Wednesday, but that doesn't mean they won't receive funds in the future.
The company, which plans to produce hybrid truck and recreational vehicle engines in Elkhart County, has applied for about $300 million in grants and loans. A decision on its primary application could come soon, a company official said.
The request is a $72 million loan through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program.
Ralph King, EMC's chief communications officer, said Tuesday the company expects an update from the DOE on the application's status within the next two weeks.
Matt Rogers, a senior adviser to energy secretary Steven Chu, said the ATVM awards are judged independently from the grants announced by President Barack Obama Wednesday.
While the two programs are similar in their goals, he said, companies receiving grants and loans from both programs would have to use them for separate projects.
"These are complementary applications," Rogers said Tuesday. "In the sense that, if an award recipient is building one factory with proceeds from this grant, they may build another factory with proceeds from the loan program."
Like the battery and electric vehicle grants announced in Wakarusa, Rogers said the ATVM money will not go for research and development purposes, but to entities that can manufacture products in the near future.
King said the day of Obama's Elkhart County visit would be like any other for EMC. Company officials were not invited to attend the event at Monaco RV, so business would continue as usual.
"We were never told we were going to be a part of this," he said. "We were never told we were not going to be a part of this."