batteries

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March 8, 2012 | 9:08 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

Midwest Memo: Battery Questions, College Cost Cutting And A Fairly Filthy Ferry

Charging up, or powering down? Crain’s Detroit Business looks at hiccups in the market for electric vehicles, and wonders whether Michigan’s many new battery plants will survive. Changing Gears has looked at this question before.

Re-reconsidering housing Partner station WBEZ says the city of Chicago spent 13 years revamping its public housing program. Now the new plan is being reconsidered because of tough economic times in the city.

Peoria pandering? Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel promoted partnerships with Peoria during a visit yesterday. Emanuel says the frequent friction between his city and the rest of the state represent “the politics of the past,” according to the Peoria Journal Star.

Less college = less cost Looking for a solution to cut the cost of college? Indiana has an idea: Prohibit colleges from requiring more than 120 credit hours to get a degree. Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to sign the restriction into law soon.

Minor detail A historic and beloved ferry based out of Ludington, Mich. may be forced to cancel its service, all because of a little arsenic, mercury and other chemicals it’s been dumping in Lake Michigan.

A Hail Mary pays off Partner station WCPN Ideastream reports that Catholics in NE Ohio appear to have won a rare victory. The Vatican has reversed its decision to close 13 churches in the area.

FILED UNDER: Midwest Memo, batteries, electric vehicle, ferry, Indiana, lithium-ion, Ludington, Mitch Daniels, peoria, public housing, vatican
October 18, 2011 | 10:48 AM | By Changing Gears

Magic Bullets: Can Battery Plants Charge Up Midwest Jobs?

From Changing Gears contributor Dustin Dwyer.

GRAND RAPIDS — Three years ago, the advanced battery industry in the United States existed only in the imagination. Plenty of people believed electric cars would be the next big thing. and they would be powered by lithium ion batteries – the same kind of batteries that are in cell phones and laptops. But in 2008, almost all of the lithium ion batteries in the world were made in Asia.

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Randy Thelan, who heads the economic development office in Holland, Mich., a small town on the shores of Lake Michigan, thought that could change. Thelan had heard one his local companies, Johnson Controls might be getting into the battery business.

“It wasn’t like we were making a direct pitch that we knew they were building a factory,” he said. “It was just sort of planting the seed, and suggesting to their leadership, keep Holland in mind as you guys are looking to invest and add to their capacity.”

While Thelan was working his angle for Holland, the state of Michigan was about to make a big commitment to the new future in batteries.

In December 2008, former Mich. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a new law to offer up to $335 million in tax incentives for battery companies in Michigan. Within a year, Holland landed that Johnson Controls battery plant.

The next year it landed another one for LG Chem. And now, just down the road in Muskegon, Michigan, another lithium ion battery plant is going up. Thelan estimates these companies and their suppliers will have created about 750 jobs by the end of the year.

“But ultimately, by 2020, we believe this is a 10,000 job, $2 billion opportunity for West Michigan and we’re well on our way,” he said.

Not everyone is on board with those job projections. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Innovation, Jobs, batteries, Magic Bullets
October 14, 2011 | 11:00 AM | By Micki Maynard

Coming Next Week: Magic Bullets in the Midwest

Next week, Changing Gears reporters will tackle a subject that’s long been a part of the Midwest mind frame: magic bullets.

By magic bullets, we mean the big ideas and big projects that politicians and government officials say their cities and states must embrace, in order to boost the economy. But what is their track record? Should we really be shooting for the stars, or trying to create jobs one at a time?

Kate Davidson kicks things off Monday with a look at the history of magic bullets (remember AutoWorld in Flint? How about the Chicago Olympic bid?)

Later in the week, Niala Boodhoo tackles small business, and whether big programs actually help companies grow. Dan Bobkoff looks at a subject dear to Cleveland’s heart: health care.

Contributor Dustin Dwyer will examine the race to build battery plants and whether that fledgling industry is actually creating the jobs that mayors and governors hope.

Find our reports on Michigan Radio, WBEZ Chicago and ideastream Cleveland. And check back here for special features related to our Magic Bullets series.

Contribute to our coverage: What are past magic bullet ideas that fell flat?

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Jobs, batteries, health care, history, Magic Bullets, small business
September 26, 2011 | 8:52 PM | By Pete Bigelow

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Courts Asian Investment in Energy, Battery Development

Throughout his economic development trip to Asia, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has had an unlikely ally.

Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

The sure-fire Cy Young award winner isn’t actually traveling with the governor – he’s busy helping the Tigers contend for the American League pennant. But Snyder has been chatting about Verlander and his team’s success with his Japanese counterparts before meetings turn to the subject of bringing business investment to Michigan. He’s been giving gifts of Detroit Tigers hats.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder

“I presented several of them to different people today,” he tells MLive.com. “I gave one to the Japanese commissioner of baseball. And they love the Tigers. They know all about Verlander and how the season’s going.”

Will Snyder and his entourage find similar success on his overseas visit? The Detroit Free Press reports Wayne County officials are pitching a 1,000-acre site that straddles Plymouth and Northville ownships to battery suppliers in hopes of creating a “cluster of high-tech battery makers and suppliers” in western Wayne County.

“There’s a lot of emphasis this trip on battery development and energy,” Robert Ficano, the county’s CEO, told the newspaper.

Snyder sold the virtues of a revamped tax structure to his Japanese hosts on Sunday and Monday, saying it has made Michigan’s business climate friendlier to outside investment, and that a two-year balanced budget has increased the state’s fiscal stability.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Government, Industry, batteries, Chinese investment, Japan, Michigan, Rick Snyder