Battery maker plans more than 1,000 jobs and $1.4 billion plant in Edgecombe County

Edgecombe County is facing an economic shock.

Industrial battery maker Natron Energy is planning a high-tech factory that could bring as many as 1,062 jobs to the Rocky Mount region. The proposed $1.4 billion facility would be one of the largest economic development projects in eastern North Carolina in recent years and the latest to add to the state's roster of clean energy companies.

Officials with the state Department of Commerce made the first public presentation of the project Thursday during a special meeting of the department's Economic Investment Committee. The committee approved an incentive package worth up to $56.3 million to be paid out through 2032 if the company meets its hiring goals. That's in addition to the $129.6 million Edgecombe is offering, according to Commerce officials.

The project is another trophy for economic developers who have strived to attract modern manufacturing companies, particularly those focused on renewable energy.

“North Carolina is becoming the heart of the booming battery belt,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday at an event at Edgecombe Community College. “And this emerging clean energy economy means more good-paying jobs in our state and more money in the pockets of Eastern North Carolina families.”

WRAL first reported details of the project late Wednesday.

Natron plans to build the plant on a 400-acre site between Tarboro and Rocky Mount, redemption after a severe economic disappointment at a site that was poised for industrial expansion.

Seven years ago, Chinese tire manufacturer Triangle Tire announced it would build a $580 million manufacturing facility at its Kingsboro site that would create around 800 jobs. At the time, state authorities described it as the largest planned manufacturing investment in rural North Carolina. But the company canceled the project in 2022, citing a change in strategy to focus on its activities in China. The withdrawal came in the wake of a trade dispute between China and the United States.

The Natron deal could restore the expected jobs at the Kingsboro site and more.

“Game changing”

The Rocky Mount region has seen its economic ups and downs in recent years. In 2021, 1,900 jobs were lost in Edgecombe County after a warehouse owned by home shopping company QVC burned down. In January, engine maker Cummins Inc. announced it would invest $580 million and hire 80 workers at a manufacturing facility in Nash County. And last month, Pfizer Inc. announced it would lay off 60 employees in Nash County.

The unemployment rate in Edgecombe has been slowly declining from a high of 17.1% in February 2010 to 6.1% in June. It is still above the state's rate of 3.6%. The expected jobs in Natron could push the county's rate down.

“This will set a new standard for the region,” said state Rep. Shelly Willingham (D-Edcombe).

Although the plant will be located in Edgecombe County, the project is expected to provide jobs to people outside the county line and support local businesses and community colleges that will help train workers. “We believe that there are many things that will come from bringing this company here — things that we know will happen,” Willingham said.

The company plans to create the jobs by 2032. They are expected to pay an average minimum wage of $64,071, state trade officials said. That's nearly 50% above the average in Edgecombe County. The company expects to invest the $1.4 billion by the end of 2028, state officials said. The company hopes to have the factory up and running in 2027.

As part of the state's incentive package, the agency approved a job development grant worth up to $21.7 million, to be paid out in installments as hiring and investment goals are met. The incentives also include more than $4 million in community college training and state programs, officials said.

If fully implemented, the proposal is expected to increase the state's gross domestic product by $3.4 billion over the next 12 years, Commerce Department officials said.

“This is just the beginning,” Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson said Thursday. “We are on the verge of an economic renaissance and our region is not just growing – it is thriving.”

Bessie Tillman, who lives near the Natron site, has witnessed much of the region's economic transformation over the years. Her family was affected by the massive layoffs following the QVC fire. She knows the new project will create opportunities for the underemployed.

“People need jobs,” she said. “It's a great investment for this county and this area.”

Innovative technology

The project is likely to be revolutionary for the battery industry.

Most electric cars and plug-in hybrids use lithium-ion batteries, which are expensive to manufacture, are prone to fire, and are extracted using expensive materials, some of which involve child labor.

Natron makes sodium-ion batteries based on naturally occurring materials such as salt water. The company, which is backed by major corporations such as Chevron, United Airlines and ABB, says it can produce high-performance, long-lasting batteries that are less likely to catch fire.

In addition to batteries for electric vehicles, the company also makes products that help oil and gas companies reduce their dependence on diesel generators. The company says its products also serve as backup generators for data centers and help reduce the strain on power grids. The company also has the defense industry in its sights.

The North Carolina plant is expected to be the company's newest facility, after it opened a plant in Holland, Michigan earlier this year. This factory – one of the few of its kind, if not the only one in North America – will allow the company to develop and manufacture batteries entirely in the U.S. The company expects to employ 100 people there by the end of 2025. The Michigan plant will serve as a blueprint for future plans, the company previously said.

According to Colin Wessells, founder and co-CEO of Natron, the North Carolina site is expected to be 40 times more productive than the Michigan plant.

“At the local level, that means more advanced manufacturing jobs,” he said Thursday. “And at the national level, that means a domestic supply of energy storage, reducing our dependence on global supply chains for critical technologies.”

The company also seriously considered sites in Tennessee and South Carolina. Wendell Brooks, Neutron's other co-CEO, said the company chose the Edgecombe site because of access to a strong workforce and a business-friendly climate, among other reasons. The company also preferred the state's access to a strong supply chain.

“There is a thriving business community here for all kinds of high technologies, including energy technologies,” Wessells said Thursday. “And on top of that, we see a huge, well-educated population of highly skilled workers.”

The Kingsboro site is particularly attractive, Natron executives said. Large tracts of land are harder to find in this fast-growing state and across the country, so state and local authorities across North Carolina have been working hard to develop land and prepare turnkey megasites that can handle large industrial projects. The efforts at the Kingsboro site have paid off.

“This site is absolutely unique – 437 hectares of land ready for development,” said Wessells. “We searched all over the country. We couldn't find anything like this anywhere else.”

Clean Energy Cluster

Natron would be at least the second major clean energy company to expand in eastern North Carolina in recent months.

In April, Boviet Solar, a manufacturer of solar modules and photovoltaic cells for residential and commercial customers, announced that it plans to build its first North American factory in Greenville. The project is expected to create 908 jobs in the Pitt County city as part of a $294 million expansion.

Efforts by state economic development agencies to attract such businesses have helped parts of the state recover from years of decline following the exodus of furniture makers and the decline in tobacco production. Cooper noted the change Thursday. “We are walking through a door that will positively transform this amazing place I call home,” he said.

Since 2017, the state has created at least 17,500 new jobs focused on energy efficiency or manufacturing products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those jobs are tied to projects that have brought more than $22.1 billion in capital investment to the state, according to trade officials.

The boom in clean energy is largely due to a major investment by Toyota, which has helped make North Carolina a major player among the southeastern states that have become known as the “battery belt.”

Last year, Toyota announced it would more than double the size of its $14 billion electric vehicle battery factory in Randolph County. The factory is expected to employ more than 5,000 people – an investment that spurred further growth for construction and service companies in the area.

Fujihatsu & Toyotsu Battery Components, a partnership between Fujihatsu Tech America and Toyota Tsusho America, announced in February that it would create 133 new jobs at a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Liberty. FTBC is investing $60 million in the project, which will support Toyota's battery manufacturing unit.

More clean energy jobs could be moving to North Carolina. An unnamed international solar component manufacturer is considering building a plant in Cumberland County. The plant would create 815 jobs as part of a $159 million investment south of Fayetteville, WRAL previously reported.

Tillman, an Edgecombe County woman who lives near the future power plant, sees the Natron deal as offering a better future for her family and the community she and her late husband made their home.

“Once they bring this here,” she said, “who knows what will happen next?”

WRAL reporter Heidi Kirk and WRAL photojournalist Josie Zimmer contributed to this report.