New Flint battery manufacturer to spur more clean energy jobs in Mid-Michigan

Federal investments from the Biden-Harris administration are enticing big-name manufacturers to bring more jobs into Michigan—and local officials expect the momentum to continue in Genesee County.

MICHIGAN—Thousands of new manufacturing jobs are en route to Mid-Michigan as state and federal funds continue to help support an array of new clean energy projects statewide, including a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility on the northeastern edge of Flint.

NanoGraf, which produces materials for EV batteries, was picked last month to receive a $60 million grant from the US Department of Energy (as well $15 million in state incentives) to expand into a new facility at the long shuttered Buick City automotive manufacturing complex.

The massive new factory is still mostly empty—but company officials joined elected leaders and other local economic development leaders at the site last week to celebrate the recent federal and state investments, the hundreds of jobs the project is expected to create, and the other manufacturing facilities that the new development could help lure into Genesee County.

“It’s more than just one development, but it’s part of an ecosystem that’s going to make our nation better,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said. “Flint is inspiring the nation today.”

‘A Big Step Forward’

NanoGraf, which specializes in producing silicon anode materials that are used in EV batteries, was among four Michigan-based companies that were selected late last month to receive a cumulative total of $355 million in federal grant funding, among other state incentives. 

The federal funds marked the largest one-time investment the state of Michigan has received through the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to date. Early estimates show the four projects will create or retain at least 1,000 manufacturing jobs—as well as another 1,000 temporary construction jobs that are needed to build out the new factories. 

(Kyle Kaminski/The ‘Gander Newsroom)

In Flint, NanoGraf is set to hire up to 150 Michiganders—including at least 120 workers who live in the Genesee County area. The project will also create about 200 temporary construction jobs for Michigan workers through an agreement with the North American Building Trades Union.

In addition to a $60 million grant from the US Department of Energy, the company is also slated to receive up to $15 million through the state’s Make it in Michigan Competitiveness Fund—a pool of state money that’s designed to help spur on new clean energy manufacturing projects.

“We see this plant in Flint as one of those really important assets within the US battery supply chain,” NanoGraf CEO Francis Wang said at last week’s press conference. “We hope [to] usher in the next generation of electric vehicles that have longer range, lower costs, and are a product that all Americans want to drive. And I hope that those products are all American-made.”

NanoGraf is chipping in $100 million of its own funds to make the project possible. And once it’s finished next year, it’ll serve as one of the world’s largest silicon anode facilities and significantly advance nationwide efforts to onshore the EV battery supply chain in the United States.

Company officials expect to produce about 2,500 tons of battery materials at the facility each year to supply the production of about 1.5 million EVs annually—which would be more than the total number of EVs sold nationwide in 2023, as well as the total expected to be sold in 2024.

“As a US-based and US-founded company, we’re committed to strengthening the domestic battery supply chain—and this factory is a big step forward,” Wang said in a statement. “Our expansion into Michigan allows us to leap to larger scale production to meet national demands.”

The new Flint factory marks NanoGraf’s third production facility in the US. The company also operates two other manufacturing sites, as well as a research and development division, in Chicago that specialize largely on military-focused applications of battery technology. 

Company officials said employees hired in Michigan will earn competitive salaries, as well as be entitled to a broad “community benefits package” with a focus on workforce development, education, apprenticeships, and other employee perks that “reflect the needs of the community.”

Wang added: “This next stage of our growth further propels our position as a global leader in the race to electrification while also supporting communities at the local level by strengthening union relationships and building a skilled battery manufacturing workforce in the Midwest.”

Flint Rising 

US Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Michigan) said the hundreds of Michiganders who are hired to work at (or build) the new NanoGraf facility will see the most obvious benefits of the state and federal investments. But he also expects the project will pay broader dividends for Genesee County.

That includes the obvious economic effects of hundreds of new manufacturing workers living, shopping, and raising their families in the Flint area. Big investments also tend to attract more big investments—and Kildee doesn’t expect the momentum to settle down anytime soon.

“This particular investment is really important for our own future because not only is it new jobs [and] new construction done by union workers, but it’s also investing in new technology and the next generation of manufacturing,” Kildee (D-Michigan) said. “It will bring huge economic benefits and contribute to an overall ecosystem that will attract other investments, for sure.”

Among the other Flint-area projects that could advance following the NanoGraf project: Plans to develop a 1,200-acre tract of land in Mundy Township near the Bishop International Airport into a $55 billion advanced manufacturing facility that will employ more than 10,000 Michiganders. 

In recent years, officials at the Flint and Genesee Economic Alliance have contemplated a range of development plans for the rural stretch of mostly vacant farmland—including a semiconductor microchip manufacturing operation to help support automotive manufacturing in Michigan. 

Those plans in Mundy Township aren’t final, as developers haven’t publicly disclosed any manufacturers that might be interested in the property. But Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director of the Alliance, said the new NanoGraf project should help move things along. 

“These types of things make a splash and they remind the world and the nation that Michigan and Flint is a great place to do business,” Rossmaessler told The ‘Gander. “Because [we have] a tenacious workforce and people who want to put their time into products that matter.”

Rossmaessler also told The ‘Gander that a specific company has not been identified for the property, despite recent reports that San Jose-based chipmaker Western Digital Technologies has been in talks with state officials to bring a microchip production facility to the site.

“We’re working really hard to market the Mundy site—another great opportunity for this community, an opportunity to create jobs, bring supply chains back, and provide opportunities for young people to grow here,” Rossmaessler said after this week’s press conference. 

‘Legacy of Manufacturing’

The project in Mundy Township—known as the Advanced Manufacturing District—has been in the works for several months, and involves buying up a large chunk of land near Flint, preparing it for redevelopment, and then enticing a major manufacturer (with tax incentives) who would invest billions of their own dollars, set up shop on the land, and create thousands of new jobs.

Many union workers and community leaders have voiced support for the plan, and state lawmakers approved $250 million in grant funding to support the project this summer. Sources with knowledge of the project have said they expect the site to involve microchip manufacturing.

Kildee said that he hasn’t signed a non-disclosure agreement, so he isn’t kept in the loop on the finer details of the project. But the latest expansion at NanoGraf, given its close proximity to the Mundy Township site, could help bring that project to the finish line in the near future, he said. 

“In some ways, the biggest impact [of the NanoGraf project] is the psychological impact,” Kildee told The ‘Gander. “We’re seeing new investment in new manufacturing and it gives a psychological boost to the community that we can compete in a very competitive economy.”

He added: “Everything we do to prove [Flint] is a good place to make that kind of investment gives confidence to other future investors that this might also be a good place for them to put their business. But also, a lot of this stuff connects. If somebody’s a chip maker, they want to be close to polysilicon production. Just up the road, we have high-grade polysilicon being produced at Hemlock Semiconductor. We see this ecosystem being developed and that [Mundy Township] facility, which we hope comes through, is just another piece of the puzzle—a really big piece.”

The Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan, which includes legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, has fueled billions of dollars in clean energy investments across the United States, including in electric vehicle manufacturing.

All told, that legislation has led to the announcement of at least 84,000 new manufacturing jobs nationwide—including $27 billion in funding in Michigan to support 22,000 new jobs statewide. The funds awarded to the four Michigan-based projects last month will only add to that total. 

The project in Mundy Township could also mark the largest economic development in recent history, perhaps ever, should it materialize, according to reports from Crain’s Detroit Business.

The would-be project now reportedly hinges on locking down a company for the site, as well as luring in billions of dollars in federal CHIPS and Science Act funding and state incentives.

The Biden-Harris administration could reportedly make a decision about that federal funding at any time—which could then trigger a final decision from a manufacturing company, followed by legislative action for state incentives, and finally, a sign-off from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“This is the community that put the world on wheels and therefore this is the natural place for investment to continue that legacy of manufacturing, ensuring the world moves forward,” Matt McCauley, senior vice president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said last week.

READ MORE: Job projections multiply for new manufacturing project in Genesee County

For the latest Michigan news, follow The ‘Gander on Twitter.

Follow Political Correspondent Kyle Kaminski here.