“I don’t know if I would call it scaling back,” James Shih, Semcorp vice president, told the Dayton Daily News in a new interview. “We’re still looking at the bigger investment that we announced back in 2022. It’s just right now that we’re focused on a portion of it, that we’re calling ‘phase one.’”
There will be future expansions, Shih said, and hiring has begun
The facility will make separator film for lithium-ion batteries. Semcorp, the trade name of Yunnan Energy New Material Co., said it is the world’s largest maker of such film, a key component in those batteries. (The plant is not going to make batteries.)
Sidney City Manager Andrew Bowsher acknowledged a “slow rollout” in the project.
The factory will be 90,000 square feet, (smaller than a large Walmart) and it has been built at Millcreek and Kuther roads, with a $100 million investment, $15 million in construction and $85 million in machinery. City and Shelby County leaders said they expect an initial 300 full-time jobs in the first year, at an annual payroll of $18 million.
“One silver lining to the temporary setbacks that Semcorp has faced is the city’s ability to focus on housing for the job growth we are experiencing,” Bowsher said. “Housing remains the top priority for Sidney, as it continues to be where jobs go to sleep at night.”
Sidney has a population of 22,000 people, with a daytime population of 35,000 people, making the city the opposite of what is sometimes called a “bedroom community.”
Another question has been the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which offers (among many provisions) a tax credit of up to $7,500 to anyone who buys an EV (electric vehicle).
The 2023 law requires that at least half the materials in batteries for EVs be sourced from American companies. Semcor is a China-based manufacturer.
As matters stand now, however, Shih believes the question is resolved. Semcorp’s U.S.-made product will be eligible for the tax credit.
“We’re going to be making it right here in Sidney,” he said. “Based on what we’re seeing right now and our view of the regulations, we’re going to be very much part of the supply chain,” he said.
What Semcorp will build in Sidney with phase one is, relatively speaking, “a drop in the bucket” in terms of what the company sees as long-term demand, he also said.
“We’re going to needing a lot more of this separator,” Shih said.
In an interview, Bowsher said the community remains appreciative of Semcorp’s investment. “We have hopes that 10 years from now, maybe that’s a realization,” he said of the company’s original jobs estimate for the site.
There’s plenty of room at the site to grow.
“That land is being utilized, and we’re bringing more jobs into the community,” he added.
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