Battery manufacturer to employ thousands in Arizona expansion

Queen Creek will soon be home to a large new battery manufacturing facility.

LG Energy Solution (LGES) announced last month that it is investing $1.4 billion to build its first-ever cylindrical-type battery facility in North America.

The company expects that this new facility will employ a few thousand people. Construction of the facility will begin this summer, and production is expected to commence in 2024.

"The historic investment from LG Energy Solution is a generational one that will support thousands of good-paying jobs in Pinal County and throughout the state," Gov. Doug Ducey said in a press release. "Global technology leaders like LG are choosing Arizona because of our world-class business environment, advanced workforce, unbeatable quality of life, and culture of innovation – one that's delivering unparalleled opportunity for current and future generations."

Cylindrical batteries offer "high-density, compact energy storage," according to the press release, making them appropriate for use in electric vehicles.

Greater Phoenix Economic Council President and CEO Chris Camacho welcomed the company's decision, saying it will create many well-paying jobs in the community.

"The addition of LG Energy Solution's high-tech battery manufacturing facility to Queen Creek is a massive investment that solidifies the market's position as a hub for battery technology and energy storage and is significant for Greater Phoenix as it continues to attract global leaders in emerging industries," he said. "With ASU and the region's universities leading the way in workforce development, Greater Phoenix has the infrastructure and graduate pipeline to feed directly into this facility and the ecosystem surrounding it, which is creating thousands of quality high-paying jobs."

This announcement follows a trend of high-tech manufacturing jobs coming to Arizona in recent years in fields like semiconductors, electric vehicles, and batteries. The state has received multi-billion dollar investments from companies like Intel and TSMC and received production operations from companies like Nikola, Lucid, and ElectraMeccanica.