Obama gets into an electric Ford Focus as he attends the groundbreaking of a factory for Compact Power Inc. in Holland, Mich, July 2010.
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Workers at the Compact Power manufacturing facilities in Holland, Mich., run by LG Chem, have been placed on rotating furloughs, working only three weeks per month based on lack of demand for lithium-ion cells. The facility, which was opened in July 2010 with a groundbreaking attended by Obama, has yet to produce a single battery for the Chevrolet Volt, the troubled electric car from General Motors. The plant's batteries also were intended to be used in Ford's electric Focus.
The 650,000-square-foot, $300 million facility was slated to produce 15,000 batteries per year, while creating hundreds of new jobs. But to date, only 200 workers are employed at the plant by by the South Korean company. Batteries for the Chevy Volts that have been produced have been made by an LG plant in South Korea.
The factory was partly funded by a $150 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. LG also received sizeable tax breaks from the local government, saving nearly $50 million in property taxes over 15 years and another $2.5 million annually in business taxes.
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Morning links:
'The Lagarde List' Leads To Second Greek Millionaire Suicide
Goldman Busted By SEC For 'Pay To Play' Violations - Reuters
JPMorgan Must Pay $18 Million to Heiress Over Derivatives Fraud - Bloomberg
HORRIBLE INVESTOR: Al Gore's Green-Energy Investment Failure
Mega-Rich CEO Tells Workers: You'll Be Fired If Obama Is Re-Elected (must read)
Democrat insiders WORRIED by Obama's "Big Bird" campaign turn - Reuters
S&P downgrades Spain's credit rating, again
Can Global Riots Be Predicted? Experts Watch Food Prices - NPR
Abby Martin: Why Isn't The Media Giving The NDAA More Attention?
U.S. Downgrade Seen As Upgrade As U.S. Debt Is Dissolved - Bloomberg
Fla Governor Accidentally Gives Out Phone Sex Number Instead Of Meningitis Hotline
Pro-life Tennessee congressman persuaded mistress to get an abortion
Passenger says vindictive TSA agent 'flicked me in the testicles' during pat-down