Another megaproject is coming to Central Ohio that will create at least 100 jobs for members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 24.
On Oct. 11, after weeks of speculation, Honda and LG Energy Solution announced that they will partner together to form a new joint venture battery company, and the plant will be built about 40 miles southwest of Columbus in Fayette County.
The companies expect to invest about $4.4 billion into the total project, which will create 4,000 construction jobs for building trades members and 2,200 full-time permanent jobs within the battery plant pending final government approvals, according to an official announcement released Oct. 11.
The $4.4 billion project includes $700 million to re-tool three Honda auto plants in Ohio.
Once Honda and LG receive regulatory approval, it will be a race to build the facility by the end of 2024, as the plant will aim to have approximately 40 GWh of annual production capacity when it starts mass production by the end of 2025.
Work on this facility likely will take place at the same time as other major Central Ohio construction projects, including the $100 billion Intel project, multiple datacenter campuses, the AMGEN biopharmaceutical facility and the $1 billion Ohio State University Wexner Medical Tower.
This new joint venture battery plant secures the Central Ohio region as one of the nation’s top construction markets for the near future.
Honda has used Project Labor Agreements in the past to build, upgrade and maintain their Ohio facilities and has agreed to use a PLA on this project as well.
Honda is proud of its history in Ohio, where its U.S. manufacturing operations began more than four decades ago, said Bob Nelson, Executive Vice President of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., in a prepared statement.
“Now, as we expand Honda’s partnership with Ohio, we are investing in a workforce that will create the power source for our future Honda and Acura electric vehicles,” he said. “We want to thank the leaders of the state of Ohio, as well as in Fayette County, Jefferson Township, Jeffersonville, and Washington Court House for welcoming this new joint venture between Honda and LG Energy Solution and giving us another Ohio community to call home.”
Honda made the project announcement 45 years to the day after it announced its first production facility in Ohio on Oct. 11, 1977. Besides the battery plant, Honda also announced it will update its Marysville Auto Plant (MAP), East Liberty Auto Plant (ELP) and Anna Engine Plant (AEP) for the electrified future and create over 300 new full-time jobs.
Ohio has the potential to become the nation’s leading producer of EV batteries as a result of Honda’s investment. The new Honda joint venture battery plant will be Ohio’s second battery plant, joining the $2.3 billion Ultium Battery plant in Lordstown, where production began in August.