Edgecombe County is poised for an economic jolt.
Industrial battery manufacturer Natron Energy is planning a high-tech plant that could bring up to 1,062 jobs to the Rocky Mount area. The company's proposed $1.4 billion facility would be one of the biggest eastern North Carolina economic development deals in recent years, and the latest to bolster the state’s roster of clean-energy companies.
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Officials with the state Department of Commerce publicly described the project for the first time Thursday during a special meeting of the department’s Economic Investment Committee. The committee approved an incentives package worth up to $56.3 million, which would be paid out through 2032 if the company hits hiring targets. That's in addition to $129.6 million being offered by Edgecombe, according to commerce officials.
The project is another trophy for economic developers, who have worked to lure advanced manufacturing companies, particularly those focused on renewable energy.
"North Carolina is becoming the heart of the booming Battery Belt," Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday during 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 families across eastern North Carolina,"
WRAL first reported details of the project late Wednesday.
Natron plans to build the facility on a 400-acre site between Tarboro and Rocky Mount in what amounts to redemption following a major economic letdown at a site that has primed for industrial expansion.
Seven years ago, Chinese tire maker Triangle Tyre said it would build a $580 million manufacturing facility at the Kingsboro site, where it planned to create about 800 jobs. At the time, state officials heralded it at the time as the biggest planned manufacturing investment in rural North Carolina. But the company ended up canceling the project in 2022, citing a change in strategy to focus on its operations in China. The withdrawal came amid a trade dispute between China and the U.S.
The Natron deal could restore the expected jobs at the Kingsboro site, and then some.
'Game-changer'
The Rocky Mount area has had its economic ups and downs in recent years. In 2021, Edgecombe County lost 1,900 jobs in 2021 after a warehouse for home-shopping company QVC burned down. In January, engine-maker Cummins Inc. said it would invest $580 million and hire 80 people at a manufacturing facility in Nash County. And last month, Pfizer Inc. said it would lay off 60 people in Nash County.
Edgecombe’s unemployment rate has slowly declined from a peak of 17.1% in February 2010 to 6.1% in June. It’s still above the state’s rate of 3.6%. The expected Natron jobs could push the county's rate down.
“This is a game-changer for the region,” said state Rep. Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe.
Even though the plant will be in Edgecombe County, the project is expected to offer employment opportunities to people beyond the county lines, boosting local businesses and community colleges, which will be involved in training workers. “There will be a lot of things that we think will come as a result of this company being located here — that we know will come,” Willingham said.
The company plans to create the jobs through 2032. They are expected to pay an average minimum wage of $64,071, state commerce officials said. That’s almost 50% above the Edgecombe County average. It expects to invest the $1.4 billion by the end of 2028, state officials said. The company says it hopes to have the factory online in 2027.
As part of the state’s incentives package, the state approved a jobs development grant worth up to $21.7 million. It would be paid out in installments if it meets hiring and investment benchmarks. Incentives also include training through community colleges and state programs worth more than $4 million, officials said.
The proposal, if fully realized, is projected to grow the state’s gross domestic product by $3.4 billion over 12 years, commerce officials said.
"This is just the beginning," Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson said Thursday. "We're standing on the brink of an economic renaissance, and our region is more than just growing — it's thriving."
Bessie Tillman, who lives near the Natron site, has witnessed much of the region’s economic change over the years. Her family was affected by the deep job cuts after the QVC fire. She knows the new project will provide opportunities to the underemployed.
"People need jobs," she said. "It is a great investment for this county and for this area."
Innovative technology
The project is expected to be revolutionary for the battery industry.
Most all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids use lithium-ion batteries, which are expensive to produce, prone to fires and rely on expensive-to-extract materials, including some linked to child labor.
Natron makes sodium-ion batteries, which relies on naturally abundant material, such as saltwater. The company — which is backed by major corporations such as Chevron, United Airlines and ABB — says it is able to produce high-powered batteries with a long life that are less prone to fires.
In addition to batteries for electric vehicles, the company makes products that help oil-and-gas companies reduce reliance on diesel generators. The company says its products also provide power backup for data centers and help reduce strain on power grids. It is also targeting the defense industry.
The North Carolina plant is expected to be the company’s latest after opening a manufacturing plant in Holland, Michigan, this year. That factory — one of the few of its kind, if not the only one, in North America — allows the company to design and make batteries entirely in the U.S. The company is expected to employ 100 people there by the end of 2025. The Michigan plant was intended to serve as a blueprint for future plans, the company previously said.
The North Carolina site is expected to be 40 times more productive than the Michigan plant, according to Colin Wessells, Natron's founder and co-chief executive.
"At the local level, this means more jobs for advanced manufacturing," he said Thursday. "And at the national level, this means a domestic supply of energy storage that reduces our dependence on global supply chains for critical technology."
The company also strongly considered sites in Tennessee and South Carolina. Wendell Brooks, Neutron’s other co-CEO, said the company chose the Edgecombe site in part because of its access to a strong workforce and a business-friendly climate. The company also favored the state’s access to a strong supply chain.
"There's a thriving business community here for all sorts of advanced technologies, energy technologies among them, Wessells said Thursday. "And on top of that, we see a huge, well-educated population of highly skilled workers."
The Kingsboro site was particularly attractive, Natron executives said. Large swaths of land are harder to find in this fast-growing state, and across the country. So state and local officials across North Carolina have worked hard to assemble property and prepare turn-key megasites capable of handling major industrial projects. The efforts on the Kingsboro site paid off.
"This site is completely unique — 437 acres of shovel ready lands," Wessells said. "We looked all over the country. We couldn't find that 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, which makes solar panels and photovoltaic cells for residential and commercial customers, said it plans to build its first North American plant in Greenville. The project is expected to create 908 jobs in the Pitt County city as part of a $294 million expansion.
The effort by state economic developers to lure such companies has helped areas of the state rebound from years of decline following an exodus of furniture manufacturers and the decline of tobacco production. Cooper noted the shift on Thursday. "We're walking through a door that will transform this amazing place that I call home in a positive way," he said.
Since 2017, the state has announced at least 17,500 jobs focused on energy efficiency or producing products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those jobs have been tied to projects that have brought more than $22.1 billion in capital investment to the state, according to commerce officials.
The clean-energy cluster has exploded due in large part to a major investment by Toyota, which has helped make North Carolina a key 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, which is expected to employ more than 5,000 people — an investment that has spurred residual growth of contractors and services in the area.
Fujihatsu & Toyotsu Battery Components, a partnership between Fujihatsu Tech America and Toyota Tsusho America, said in February it would create 133 new jobs in 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.
Other clean-energy jobs could be headed to North Carolina. An unidentified international maker of solar components is considering a site in Cumberland County for a facility that would create 815 jobs as part of a $159 million investment south of Fayetteville, WRAL previously reported.
With the Natron deal, Tillman, the Edgecombe County woman who lives near the future plant, sees a brighter future for her family, and the community she and her late husband chose to make home.
"Once they bring this here," she said, "who knows what is going to happen next?"
WRAL reporter Heidi Kirk and WRAL photojournalist Josie Zimmer contributed to this report.