A global company has once again decided against building an electric vehicle battery plant near Tulsa despite lawmakers offering a $698 million incentive package and funding millions of dollars in site improvements at the company’s request. A Panasonic spokesperson said Friday that the company will not build a multibillion-dollar battery plant at Pryor’s MidAmerica Industrial Park. “In April 2023, we entered into an agreement with the state of Oklahoma to explore building a factory in the state, with the understanding that we would make a decision about whether or not to move forward at the end of that exploratory process,” Panasonic spokesperson Alison Klooster said in an email. “After careful deliberations, we have made the decision not to move forward with developing the site.” Klooster did not say why the company is no longer considering Pryor. Decisions about where to build new facilities are complex and based on a wide range of factors, she said. Oklahoma officials have been trying to lure Panasonic to the state since at least 2022. Panasonic announced plans last year to locate a new, $4 billion-dollar electric vehicle plant in Kansas, but the company then explored the possibility of building a second plant in Pryor that could have resulted in 3,500 new jobs. State lawmakers put together a $698 million incentive package for the company in an attempt to close the deal. After Panasonic requested $245 million in site work at the MidAmerica Industrial Park, lawmakers appropriated $145 million this year for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to fund facility upgrades and infrastructure and safety improvements at the park. “The Legislature provided that which was requested by the executive branch to win the commitment of Project Ocean,” House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said in a statement, referencing the codename given to the proposed Panasonic project.
Source: KCUR News
