The second-largest construction project in Ohio’s history will break ground in late February.
As previously reported on the Sheet Metal Workers Local 24 website, Honda and LG signed a Project Labor Agreement with the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council to construct their joint venture electrical vehicle (EV) battery plant on 454 acres in Jeffersonville, a small town in Fayette County, Ohio.
The project will create at least 5,300 jobs for members of the building trades, including about 200 jobs for members of SMW 24, and roughly 2,200 full-time permanent jobs.
Site preparation began on Nov. 14 at the Mid-West Mega Commerce Center, and the groundbreaking, which will ceremonially kick off the $3.7 billion project, is scheduled for Feb. 28.
Construction on the battery plant is expected to soon follow, once Honda and LG are granted regulatory approval to form the joint venture company.
Once work begins, it will be performed under an aggressive schedule, as initial timelines have the work wrapping up in late 2024, with the start of mass production in 2025.
Late in 2022, TYK, a joint venture between Turner Construction Co., Yates Construction and Kokosing Industrial, was announced as the project’s general contractor.
The battery plant is part of Honda’s plan to create its U.S. Electrical Vehicle hub in Ohio.
Besides investing in the EV battery plant, Honda will spend an additional $700 million to retool its Anna Engine Plant, Marysville Auto Plant and East Liberty Plant and for the electrified future.
This pushes the total cost of Honda’s EV Hub to about $4.4 billion.
The hub will play a key role as the automaker transitions away from fossil-fuel engines. By 2040, Honda plans to produce only battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles in North America.
No stranger to PLAs, Honda has relied on the Ohio building trades to construct, maintain, retool and expand its operations since it announced it would build assembly plants in Ohio 45 years ago.