Pritzker: Joliet Gets Lion Electric Auto Manufacturing Plant

JOLIET, IL — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker came to Joliet at 7:30 a.m. Friday to reveal positive economic development news: Lion Electric, a Canadian company in Quebec, will open its first United States automobile manufacturing plant in Joliet.

Long-term, Lion Electric plans to hire around 1,400 people to make electric automobiles at the Youngs Road facility in Joliet, several sources told Joliet Patch. Officials said the plant will be the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the United States for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

"It's another exciting opportunity here in Joliet and Will County," remarked Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant during an interview with Joliet Patch on Friday morning.

Joliet's history included "an old generation of manufacturing" and Friday's news of Lion Electric opening a large vehicle factory on Youngs Road "welcomes a new generation of manufacturing.

"It's a great comeback after the pandemic," Bertino-Tarrant added.

A news release issued Friday morning by Lion Electric stated that as part of its agreement with the state of Illinois, Lion has committed to an initial investment of at least $70 million over a 3-year period.

The 900,000 square-foot facility, for which building ramp up is anticipated in the second half of 2021, is expected to add a minimum of 745 clean energy direct jobs to the region over the next three years, with an annual production capacity of up to 20,000 all-electric buses and trucks, the company announced.

Several Joliet officials including Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, city manager Jim Capparelli, economic development director Derek Conley as well as Joliet City Councilmen Larry Hug, Pat Mudron, Cesar Guerrero and Councilwomen Jan Quillman, Sherri Reardon and Betty Gavin were on hand for Friday's blockbuster announcement for Joliet, which prides itself for having the motto "City of Champions."

At Friday's news conference, Mayor O'Dekirk stood next to Congressman Bill Foster in front of the 100 percent made electric school bus and told everyone: "This is a big day in Joliet. We've known for sometime that we were a finalist, and it's just great to see our city compete and win at the national level. The jobs that are going to come here, the high-paying jobs are going to continue to come to Joliet and Will County. It's a real economic engine for Illinois. I'm happy to have this partnership with Lion Electric so thank you."

On Friday morning, Joliet and Will County officials attending the governor's announcement felt like champions. The expansion of Lion Electric into Joliet is expected to generate a ton of highly skilled union labor jobs for the city.

"So many people have worked together to bring Lion Electric to Illinois and to Joliet and to Will County," Pritzker told everyone. "This is one of the best places in the entire world to be if you're a manufacturer, if you're somebody that wants to be in the crossroads of America, making sure that you're in the distribution hub of the world. Being right here in Will County is the place to be."

Since 2016, Lion Electric has manufactured medium and heavy-duty vehicles including public transportation buses and school buses at its primary vehicle assembly plant in St. Jerome, Quebec. Vehicles assembled by Lion are 100 percent electric, and that will be true once vehicle production gets underway in Joliet.

The Joliet facility will house manufacturing, research and development and engineering.

Lion Electric will be opening its first electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the United States at the 906,517-square-foot spec building currently under construction in the 3800 block of Youngs Road. The building within the city limits of Joliet has a targeted completion date of August, according to Clarius Park Joliet.

Why would a company in Canada with no current vehicle assembly plants in the United States choose to locate at this particular property in Joliet, Illinois?

Location, location, location.

According to the Clarius Park Joliet marketing brochure, the future Lion Electric vehicle manufacturing plant located at 3835 Youngs Road is:

• 1.5 miles from the U.S. Highway 6 interchange
• 2 miles from the Bluff Road interchange
• 4 miles from the Houbolt Road interchange
• 3 miles from the Interstate 80/Interstate 55 interchange
• 13.4 miles from the Union Pacific intermodal
• 10.3 miles from the BNSF intermodal
• 42 miles from Midway International Airport
• 48 miles from downtown Chicago
• 51 miles from OHare International Airport

Lion Electric calls itself an innovative manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles. The company says it creates, designs and manufactures all-electric class 5 to class 8 commercial urban trucks and all-electric buses and minibuses for the school, paratransit and mass transit segments.

"Lion is a North American leader in electric transportation and designs, builds and assembles all its vehicles’ components, including chassis, battery packs, truck cabins and bus bodies. Lion believes that transitioning to all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our society, environment and overall quality of life," the company website proclaims.

On Thursday, Lion Electric posted a news release on its website announcing it has closed a business combination with Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. and is debuting as a publicly traded company.

To celebrate the completion of the transaction, Lion’s team will ring the closing bell at the NYSE at 3 p.m. Central Time on Friday. A similar event will be held on May 10 when the Lion’s team will ring the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange at 8:30 a.m. Central Time.

"Lion Electric, a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, and Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, announced today the completion of their previously announced business combination. The Business Combination was approved by NGA stockholders at a special meeting held on April 23, 2021. Beginning on May 7, 2021, Lion’s common shares are scheduled to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the new symbol 'LEV'"

The transaction resulted in proceeds of approximately U.S. $490 million to Lion, after payment of transaction expenses.

“Today marks a big step forward in the evolution of Lion, as we accelerate our growth strategy to continue selling all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles on the cutting edge of technology, while developing new ones," said Marc Bédard, CEO –Founder of Lion. "We thank NGA, our investors and our Board of Directors for sharing and supporting our mission of being the leader in our industry as well as our vision which aims at improving our society, our environment and, above all, the quality of life of all around us.”