SOUTH BEND ? St. Joseph County Council has approved a resolution that allows economic development officials to work out tax abatement and other details of a proposal to land a $2.4 billion factory to produce batteries for electric vehicles.
But officials are on an extraordinarily tight deadline to reel in the plant that Ultium Cells plans to begin building late this year or early next year as it's competing with other locations for the facility, which would create some 2,000 construction jobs and 1,600 permanent positions.
"We’re hoping that they make the business case shortly after this process and come here,” Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday night. “We know it’s not a certainty. We know they’re considering other sites across the country, but we’re excited to be in the mix here.”
Bill Schalliol, the county’s executive director of economic development, said they hope to have the details of the agreement with Ultium Cells completed within three weeks with final approval by county commissioners and council by Sept. 13.
The speed of the process caught the attention of several council members and a handful of residents, who testified during a public hearing on the proposal, but Schalliol pointed out that this is a rare case where the county is being asked to act at the speed of business rather than the speed of government.