Lessons learned: effort to attract big-fish development began years ago in St. Joe County
The possibility that St. Joseph County could land a $2 billion-plus EV battery plant is the culmination of a multi-year effort to better organize its economic development efforts.
That effort got underway in 2015 when the county hired former Mishawaka and South Bend planner Bill Schalliol as its first-ever director of economic development and then moved into high gear a couple of years later after an unsuccessful pitch to a business in Charlotte, N.C., that was interested in expanding.
“We learned from the experience that we weren’t near ready to compete for highly sought-after projects,” Commissioner Andy Kostielney said. “But when we came back, we started doing our homework and did a comprehensive analysis of the way other places went about building a plan.”
Millions of dollars were spent producing and acting on reports by consultants on the water, habitats, roads, zoning, waste water, natural gas, electricity, roads, zoning and other issues that could impact development in a nearly 3,000-acre chunk of land on the western side of the county.
Indiana:St. Joseph County in the running for massive $2.5B plant, 1,000+ new jobs
Some of the land already had been developed but those pushing for economic development felt even more could be accomplished if some of the uncertainties were removed that stopped the county from landing big deals in the past.
“We lost a good prospect because of zoning and another because we didn’t have land options,” Schalliol said. “But we learned from each of our failures.”
As a result, the county negotiated purchase options with farmers owning about 680 acres in the targeted development area that is now being considered by Ultium Cells, a joint venture of LG Energy Solution and General Motors.
The zoning was changed in advance on the farmland that sits at the northwest corner of Indiana 2 and Larrison Boulevard in Olive Township, just east of New Carlisle, to accommodate the manufacturers the county was hoping to attract.
Though the county has had some economic development wins, it was lacking the type of high-profile win the EV battery plant would give to the area ― a win that would generate some attention.
Kostielney and Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Schalliol that there have been lessons learned from each pitch ― successful and unsuccessful ― that has been made to businesses here and across the country.
“Developers don’t like uncertainty,” Rea said. “When they’re ready to act, they want a site that's shovel-ready. They don’t like surprises and they don’t like delays.”
So far, Ultium has announced EV battery plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Lansing, Mich. Each of those plants is 2.8 million square feet, costs more than $2 billion and will create 1,100 to 1,700 jobs, according to the company.
Though Ultium Cells didn’t want to provide additional details on the project at this time, the company did confirm it is looking at a site near New Carlisle.
“As part of developing a competitive business case, Ultium Cells LLC has submitted a tax abatement application with St. Joseph County,” Brooke Waid, a spokewoman for the company, said in a prepared statement.
“Ultium Cells with the support of GM officials are in discussions with the appropriate local officials on the abatement application,” Waid said. “We look forward to the application being reviewed and hopefully approved later this month.”
Waid added that the “tax abatement is a critical step of the project moving forward.”
County Council will be able to take the first step on getting the abatement process underway at its meeting on Tuesday, but exact details on the proposal will be worked out in the coming weeks, Schalliol said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but this project would be transformational and generational,” he said. “We believe the project could also attract suppliers, vendors and other businesses to the area.”
Kostielney and Rea agreed with that assessment, as did the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which also has been involved in the project.
Erin Sweitzer, vice president of communications for the IEDC, said the organization is thrilled that Ultium Cells is considering the New Carlisle area for its new plant. “We look forward to continuing to work with them through this process and sharing more details as we are able,” she said via text message.
Beyond local tax abatement, the IEDC also could offer state incentives such as tax credits and training grants for prospective employees.
Kostielney said the possibility of the new battery plant proves the value of the multi-year effort to assemble shovel-ready sites on the western side of the county for future development.
Not too far away is the proposed 1,100-acre Honeysuckle solar project, the natural-gas fired St. Joseph Energy Center and an expanding Unifrax plant that is piloting a new technology for use in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.
That chunk of land on the western end of the county has become a generator of jobs and investment now and into the future.
“This is exactly the type of project we envisioned when we began the process about five years ago,” Kostielney said. “Businesses want land that already is assembled, properly zoned and with utilities nearby.”
GM previously said it would announce the location of a fourth battery plant this year. The batteries are needed to support the automaker’s ambitious plans to release 30 new EVs globally by 2025.
If Ultium Cells selects the St. Joseph County site, construction could still get underway this year with completion slated for two years.
What could Ultium Cells bring?
They could bring:
2.8 million-square-foot plant
More than permanent 1,000 jobs
Over $2 billion in investment
Estimated 2-year construction timetable
Possibility of attracting additional businesses
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: How St. Joseph County's past failures helped land GM/LG battery plant
