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Grading on the SK Battery America site in Commerce will be through in a few months, John Scott, economic developer for Jackson County, said this week, and concrete footers for the large plant that is planned will begin in the next several weeks.
Scott said the grading will be for 120 acres once it is completed. The county bought 283 acres and gave it to SK as part of the incentive package to attract the company.
Scott said his understanding is that the plant to be constructed will provide electric batteries to the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga for its electric vehicles.
SK Group CEO Jun Kim and Pat Wilson, commissioner of economic development for Georgia, referred to an additional $5 billion investment the company plans to make. Scott said no commitments have been made about further investments.
Local officials, however, have said they expect such announcements.
“Each building (at the site) will essentially be for” a different automaker. SK and Commerce officials have said separately that the company expects to have a contract with Ford to make electric F-150 pickup trucks.
The company projects it will hire most of its employees for the plant between 2022 and 2024. It projects hiring more than 1,000 machine operators each of those three years.

For the full story, see the June 26th issue of The Jackson Herald.