Dearborn, MI – Today, Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) participated in the grand opening of A123 Systems, Inc.’s Livonia, Michigan, facility. Along with A123 CEO David Vieau, Senator Carl Levin (D), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D), Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI12), Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), and U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Dingell hailed the 290,000 square-foot facility as a giant leap forward for domestic battery production and hopeful signal of positive things to come for Michigan’s economy.
President Barack Obama made a surprise call into the event to hail the opening and talk about the new advanced battery industry that is taking life in Michigan in part due to federal investment. The plant opening was made possible by a $249 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act advanced battery grant A123 Systems received last August, an award the company matched dollar-for-dollar with private capital. The Michigan Congressional Delegation, led by Congressman Dingell, fought hard and successfully for the grant to be awarded to A123, which has production facilities in Michigan. As a result, A123 Systems has already hired 250 workers for the Livonia plant since receiving the award and has signed multiple contracts to supply advanced batteries for electric vehicles. Overall, A123 expects to employ 3,000 workers at the Livonia plant and a second Michigan plant that will open next year in Romulus.
“I extend my most heartfelt congratulations and thanks to A123 for opening this beautiful facility,” said Dingell. “It will become the backbone of American advanced battery production and put thousands of people in Michigan back to work. Because of federal and state investment, we are today opening of the largest lithium-ion battery plant in the country creating good manufacturing jobs in our community. I commend A123 for its decision to make batteries right here in Michigan and I know that the company will benefit from the ingenuity and industriousness of some of the best workers in the United States.”
