MICHIGAN: LG Energy Solution won an incentive package for a US$1.7bil (RM7.16bil) expansion of its battery-manufacturing facility in Holland, Michigan, according to public disclosures.

       The project will create as many as 1,200 new jobs, paying an average of US$1,257 (RM5,295) a week, plus benefits, according to a memo published Tuesday by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

       The Seoul-based company, which was spun out of parent LG Chem in January, has been approved to receive US$56.5mil (RM238mil) in incentives, and a 20-year tax break worth US$132.6mil (RM558mil), according to the memo.

       LG is planning construction of “several new facilities” that will quintuple the plant’s capacity to build battery components.

       The project includes construction of a cell manufacturing facility to supply electric vehicles, and areas for safety tests and hazardous waste storage, the memo says.

       LG also considered facilities in the southeastern United States, Poland and China.

       “It is vital that the company get the incentive support it needs to remain competitive with other locations while being enabled to continue to improve the employee culture in Holland,” the state memo requesting the incentives said.

       LG has had a presence in Holland since 2009 and employs 1,495 people in Michigan.

       The facility currently has five gigawatt-hours of capacity, according to LG.

       A spokesperson for LG didn’t have an immediate comment. — Bloomberg