By Collin Huguley, Staff Writer for the Charlotte Business Journal

North Carolina has landed a $140 million project from a company in the lithium battery industry.

Green New Energy Materials Inc. expects to create 545 jobs at a new manufacturing facility in the Lincoln County town of Denver. The company plans to operate an approximately 500,000-square-foot facility there, its first U.S. manufacturing operation.

The parent company for GNEM is China-based Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co. Ltd., which makes lithium ion battery separators. The N.C. economic investment committee approved incentives for the project Thursday.

The new jobs will be created from 2025 to 2029 and include an average annual wage of $57,934. That is above the county average of $51,886. The $140 million investment is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. The exact location of the operation was not immediately disclosed.

Shenzhen Senior Technology’s products are widely used in the electric vehicles industry, state officials said at today’s meeting to consider the incentives. GNEM has strategic partnerships with LG Corp., Samsung Group, Automotive Energy Supply Corp. and Northvolt.

“The United States has always been a key component of GNEM’s strategic plan of establishing clean energy supply-chains worldwide,” Jay Zhu, GNEM general manager, said.

State incentives for the project are expected to total $5.7 million. Local incentives for the project are expected to be worth $4.4 million, according to the state.

Shenzhen Senior Technology looked primarily at Southeastern sites before settling on Lincoln County. The company also considered a site in Davie County, state documents show. Other states considered included Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee.

“North Carolina’s momentum in clean energy economy grows stronger every day, bringing great manufacturing jobs that will put money in the pockets of families in Lincoln County and all across the state,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a news release. “This investment is yet another example of the economic prosperity that clean energy can bring to our communities.”

Lincoln County last month approved incentives for GNEM under the code name Project Component. However, the total job and investment numbers are far greater than disclosed in county documents. Documents showed Project Component called for an $80 million investment and a minimum of 125 new jobs.

“Being close to their major customer base is a strategic move that facilitates entry into the U.S. market, making Lincoln County an ideal location for this endeavor,” Kara Brown, business development manager for the Lincoln Economic Development Association, told the Charlotte Business Journal last month.

Image above courtesy of Getty. The preceding article originally appeared on May 3, 2024 at the Triad Business Journal’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law.