Pendleton's Remy awarded $60.2 million stimulus grant

PENDLETON - Remy International Inc. will receive $60.2 million in federal stimulus funds to continue its development of hybrid electric motors and controls, one of seven Indiana recipients of a round of grants announced by President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

Remy, headquartered in Pendleton, will establish a standardized platform of hybrid electric motors and controls, according to information released from the U.S. Department of Energy.

A Remy press release announced that the company and its Fargo, N.D.-based co-applicant Phoenix International would use the funds for capital and human resource investments to continue producing its line of standard electric motors and power electronics.

Remy's motors include the patented High Voltage Hairpin and Integrated Starter Generator Propulsion platforms, some of which have been produced since 2006 and now power passenger vehicles.

The Remy release said the stimulus funding would create or protect nearly 1,000 highly skilled jobs in the United States and help establish a strong domestic manufacturing base for electric and hybrid motors.

"This is outstanding news as it accelerates our growth strategy," Remy President and CEO John Weber said in the release. "This reconfirms Remy's technology in hybrid electric motors and will accelerate our leadership position in the market."

Remy has about 350 employees in the Pendleton and Anderson area. Anderson is home to the company's product launch center, where engineering, testing and launching new products is completed.

The Department of Energy awards list showed Remy's potential locations as Anderson, Morristown, Greenfield, Indianapolis and Fargo, N.D. But Chuck Staley, CEO of Anderson's Flagship Enterprise Center business incubator, said he didn't know of any Remy plans to build in Anderson.

Remy spokesman Guy Westermeyer said Anderson was listed because of Remy's current operations there, and Fargo was listed as Phoenix's location. Morristown, Greenfield and Indianapolis were listed as candidate sites for a potential stage 2, on which Westermeyer would not elaborate.

The grants, which Obama announced while visiting Elkhart, one of the hardest hit areas for unemployment in the country, were designed to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of electric vehicles, batteries and components in America and create tens of thousands of new jobs, according to a White House release.

Obama announced Wednesday 48 projects nationwide that would receive the $2.4 billion in total funding. Indiana had the second highest number of grant recipients, trailing only Michigan.

The awards cover $1.5 billion in grants to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity, $500 million to produce electric drive components and $400 million to purchase plug-in and electric hybrid vehicles for testing, evaluation, building infrastructure and training a work force to support the transition to electric vehicles.

Indiana's Ivy Tech Community College system was part of a $6.1 million grant to Purdue University to establish training programs for those who will work on hybrid and electric vehicles and their infrastructure.

Tom Snyder, president of Ivy Tech, said the grant would allow the college to develop a curriculum for certificate and two-year programs in fields related to the new vehicles that would be transferable to four-year programs.

Anderson's Ivy Tech campuses could benefit from the new programs, as they likely will be implemented in areas that have ties to the electric and hybrid vehicle industry, Snyder said.

Anderson start-up electric vehicle company Bright Automotive was not among grant recipients Wednesday. The company has applied for a $450 million low-interest guaranteed loan from the federal government.

The announcement of loan awards will be at an unannounced later date, but Anderson city officials are hopeful Bright will get the money it needs to continue its plans for manufacturing and distribution of its energy-efficient utility van.

Mayor Kris Ockomon and Bright CEO John Waters were invited by the White House to attend Obama's Wednesday announcement and a special VIP meeting beforehand.

"We didn't hear exactly what we wanted to hear as far as Bright goes, but we're encouraged," Ockomon said.