SPARKZ Announces Plans for Manufacturing Plant in West Virginia
June 1, 2022
SPARKZ will begin construction in 2022 of a Gigafactory in West Virginia, which will initially employ 350 workers, to commercialize its zero-cobalt battery.
"SPARKZ is re-engineering the battery supply chain by eliminating cobalt and setting our sights on making other battery components in America to end China's dominance. The Biden Administration's efforts to support economic revitalization in energy communities is extremely important for workers and job creators like us as we scale to full commercial production," said founder and CEO Sanjiv Malhotra. "America's clean energy future will reach its potential when we innovate and manufacture the next generation of energy storage domestically. We will invest significant resources in workforce development and training for West Virginians, partnering with the United Mine Workers of America to train those West Virginians transitioning into the new energy economy."
SPARKZ and the United Mine Workers of America will partner to recruit and train dislocated miners to be the first group of production workers to be hired into the facility. SPARKZ will be focused on creating a strong and diverse workforce capable of competing against foreign batteries made in China and securing the supply chain.
"Both the UMWA and SPARKZ recognized that it would be mutually beneficial to develop a partnership to bring manufacturing of lithium batteries to the U.S.-specifically to the coalfields-using technology developed here, materials sourced here and done with the kind of highly skilled workforce that can be found here. This is a key component of the UMWA's Energy Transition Principles we announced last spring. We need good union jobs in the coalfields no matter what industry they are in," said Brian Sanson, the UMWA's International Secretary-Treasurer. "This is a start toward putting the tens of thousands of already-dislocated coal miners to work in decent jobs in the communities where they live. We look forward to working with Sparkz to create a world-class lithium battery plant here in West Virginia, powered by former coal miners-the best and most dedicated workers in the world."
For more information contact:
SPARKZ
5625 Brisa Street, Ste. B
Livermore, CA 94550
925-533-5903
sparkz.energy
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