Battery Plant may bring 3,000 Jobs to Buckeye. City Leaders Expect Big Benefit for the Downtown Area

Battery Plant may bring 3,000 Jobs to Buckeye. City Leaders Expect Big Benefit for the Downtown Area

by Alexandra Hardle

A new battery facility is coming to Buckeye that is expected to eventually bring with it about 3,000 jobs.  

Idaho-based KORE Power has begun construction on the 1 million-square-foot "KOREPlex" facility 40 miles west of Phoenix in Buckeye. It’s about a mile from Buckeye’s downtown near State Route 85 and Baseline Road and will help with the city’s revitalization effort, said Buckeye Mayor Eric Orsborn. It will be the first lithium-ion battery plant in the country owned by a U.S. company.

The company first broke ground late last year, and the facility is expected to be fully operational by late 2024 or early 2025, said KORE Power President Jay Bellows. Although the facility will eventually expand to have about 3,000 jobs, it will start out with 1,250 employees. 

The facility fits with Buckeye’s larger plan to revitalize its downtown area, Orsborn said. Currently, 90% of the city’s working population travels east, and the city is working to reverse the commute and make more jobs available closer to home. The city also has new housing projects on the way, including several multifamily developments.

In combination with other companies coming to the area, Orsborn said Buckeye’s downtown area will eventually have 4,000-6,000 more jobs. And with more jobs comes additional retail and housing opportunities for residents, starting a sort of chain reaction for development. 

“Soon you’re going to have the complete live, work and play that we’re really striving for in the city of Buckeye,” Orsborn said. 

The facility fits with Buckeye’s larger plan to revitalize its downtown area, Orsborn said. Currently, 90% of the city’s working population travels east, and the city is working to reverse the commute and make more jobs available closer to home. The city also has new housing projects on the way, including several multifamily developments.

In combination with other companies coming to the area, Orsborn said Buckeye’s downtown area will eventually have 4,000-6,000 more jobs. And with more jobs comes additional retail and housing opportunities for residents, starting a sort of chain reaction for development. 

“Soon you’re going to have the complete live, work and play that we’re really striving for in the city of Buckeye,” Orsborn said. 

Bellows said the hope is that as many employees as possible will live in Buckeye. But with the number of workers needed at the facility, it’s expected that employees might come from as far as an hour away. 

And Bellows said that one of the things that was initially appealing about Buckeye is the available workforce within the Valley. Many tech companies are already coming to the area, he said, and KORE aims to help make the Valley a new technology hub. 

 KORE Power is working with local colleges and universities to create a pipeline into the company as well. Of the facility’s 1,250 initial jobs, Bellows said there will be a variety of positions available. Some might be engineering jobs, but Bellows said the majority will only require a GED, creating opportunities for many.id the hope is that as many employees as possible will live in Buckeye. But with the number of workers needed at the facility, it’s expected that employees might come from as far as an hour away. 

What will get made at the KOREPlex?

The facility will manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage batteries, which support the electrical grid and prevents blackouts. Electricity is taken for granted, Bellows said, and the facility will help ensure that the power stays on.

"Without grid support, none of our goals can be achieved," he said.

While the company sells some products to the European market, most of its customer base is within the United States.

"We realized that it was important to bring that here. So that was our goal right out of the gate," Bellows said.

The company also recently secured an $850 million loan from the Department of Energy under the Biden administration after a two-year process. The loan focuses on companies that are manufacturing energy domestically. The loan will cover about 80% of the total cost to build the facility, with KORE responsible for raising money for the other 20%.

KORE has another facility in Vermont, although the one in Buckeye will be the company's largest. KORE hopes to continue to expand across the United States.

Bellows said job applications are expected to post in the middle to the end of 2024, with a wide salary range. At the GED level, salaries will start at around $46,000. 

"Our real focus is growing our employees and we want them to feel like it's a career and a place that they want to stay forever," said Bellows.