Panasonic plant breaks ground

Gov. Laura Kelly and other state leaders joined Panasonic officials for a groundbreaking for a $4 billion manufacturing facility in De Soto.

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State News

November 3, 2022 - 2:08 PM

Gov. Laura Kelly is flanked by De Soto Mayor Rick Walker, left, and Kazuo Tadanobu, CEO of Panasonic Energy Co., at its groundbreaking for a manufacturing facility in De Soto in November 2022. The $4 billion battery factory should have been a first-of-a-kind project for Kansas and the Midwest. Instead, the Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy could cut the Midwest out of the future. Courtesy photo

DE SOTO — Area leaders joined Panasonic Energy CEOs in the official groundbreaking of its new manufacturing facility Wednesday.

The facility will manufacture lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and is one the largest of its kind in the United States. 

The project is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs and is a $4 billion investment in the local economy, according to a press release from the office of Gov. Laura Kelly.

It’s the largest singular economic development project in the state’s history.

Gov. Kelly predicted the Panasonic…

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