This week Gov. Laura Kelly announced that the Japanese company Panasonic will be building a $4 billion factory in De Soto, Kansas. This factory will focus on building batteries for electric vehicles and will bring over 4,000 jobs to De Soto. Here’s what you need to know about De Soto, Kansas, and the new Panasonic factory on the way. De Soto is a small city in Johnson and Leavenworth counties. The city is northwest of Olathe and is about a 30 minute drive from Kansas City proper. It also sits along the south bank of the Kansas River. The town has a population of just over 6,300 people, according to 2021 estimates from the Census Bureau. The Panasonic factory will be taking over the old 9,000 acre Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, which closed in 1992. In January, De Soto annexed 6,000 acres of land from the site, in preparation for the development of the Panasonic plant, The Star reported.
Source: KC Star Local News
