Panasonic is hiring for new De Soto plant, hopes to be ready for production this spring

A little over two years ago, local, state and federal officials gathered in a dirt lot on a windy day to celebrate construction beginning on Panasonic’s new electric vehicle battery facility in western Johnson County.

Officials gathered again earlier this month to celebrate the plant — only this time inside the 4.7 million-square-foot facility.

“This factory will not only produce EV [electric vehicle] battery storage, it will foster economic growth and it will create stability within this region,” Allan Swan, president of Panasonic Energy of North America and Leader of Project Kansas, said during the Jan. 17 event Panasonic hosted.

But there’s still a ways to go before the facility is fully operational. As of this month, Panasonic is just slightly behind its previously stated hiring goals, and it’s still unclear if it will meet its anticipated timeline for opening.

“We’re not yet able to provide a specific start of production date, but we’re actively pursuing our goal of launching operations by the end of March,” a Panasonic spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The company has said that it is on track to hire as many employees as it will need to open part of the plant to launch production later this spring, while it finishes the remaining construction.

The agreement that the state of Kansas made with Panasonic does not guarantee or require that the company provides a certain number of jobs or pays certain wages, but the company said that it intends to hire upwards of 4,000 employees with starting wages between $20 and $30 an hour.

In June, Panasonic officials said the company planned to hire about 500 employees by the end of 2024. This month, officials said they’ve hired 400.

“The vast majority of our employees have been hired from within a 50-mile radius of the facility, which is our targeted recruiting area,” officials told The Star in an email.

In the emailed statement, a Panasonic spokesperson said the plant will open in a phased approach, with the goal of still starting production in one section — or wing — by the end of March.

While the lines in Wing 1 are operating, Wing 2’s construction will continue through next year, officials said.

As of Jan. 24, 64 jobs are posted to Panasonic’s North American job opportunities website. At a recent site visit, Panasonic representatives said the company expects to add 1,000 jobs by this summer and 2,000 by early next year — about half of its end-goal of adding 4,000 jobs to the region.

When the plant is at full operation levels, Panasonic expects to produce 66 lithium-ion batteries per second, which will help fuel about 500,000 electric vehicles annually.

Ripple effects of Panasonic plant

During the recent event hosted by Panasonic officials, Gov. Laura Kelly spoke about the $4 billion investment coming to Kansas and its anticipated impacts to the region.

“Panasonic Energy’s decision to build this factory in De Soto marks a transformative chapter in Kansas history,” Kelly said during the event. “This is the largest economic development initiative our state has ever seen.”

On the local level, Panasonic invested in several De Soto capital improvement projects like state and local roadway improvements, a new water tower and a new fire truck that will not only serve the plant, but the greater community, De Soto Mayor Rick Walker said during the event.

He later told The Star in an interview that the city will be expanding its water treatment facility from 2 million to 8 million gallons and bring upgrades to some 50-year-old technology on-site. While folks won’t see it every day, “hopefully you’re going to notice a little difference in the quality of your water.”

“It’s going to be higher quality and there’s going to be enough to sustain or to support expansion out here, so that it’s more than just for Panasonic,” Walker said. “It’s going to allow us to take advantage of some of these other acres out here and take advantage of other economic development opportunities.”

Historic incentives

But it took a lot of investment to make this plant happen, and Kansas lawmakers couldn’t publicly discuss any details on the state’s largest economic development deal until last year due to nondisclosure agreements.

Incentives from state, county and local governments to lure the project to De Soto totaled more than $1 billion. They included a new state program designed specially for the firm.

The project has yielded a mixed-bag of reactions from De Soto residents, Walker said. The folks who remember the days of the Sunflower Ordnance Works — once the largest smokeless powder and propellant plant in the world — are excited to see the economic benefit and the area have a large operation again, he said. Those who came to town when the plant closed, “then maybe you’re less excited.”

“Largely, [it’s] cautious optimism,” he said.