Electric Truck Plant Near Athens Could Create 7,500 Jobs

Shane Short doesn’t own an electric vehicle. Yet.

“I’m probably going to be driving an electric truck in about two years,” said Short, an official with the local joint development authority that just helped land one of the biggest economic development projects in Georgia history.

Two years is about how long it’s expected to take for the electric vehicle start-up Rivian to fire up a new factory at a nearly 2,000-acre site in a rural area east of Atlanta, which are plans that were publicly announced Thursday outside the state Capitol. It will be the company’s second U.S. manufacturing site.

“Electric vehicles are going to be the new future for us, and we’re going to reduce that carbon footprint worldwide,” said Short, who is the economic developer for Walton County and who said his dad worked for General Motors. “And I think the more people can see these types of vehicles, ride in these vehicles and understand what they really mean and their impact, they’re going to want those vehicles as well. This kind of technology really is just so much cleaner for our world.”

The state officials who heralded the project Thursday discussed it in sweeping terms, not just for the economic impact to the state of the $5 billion investment but also the project’s role in bolstering the state’s clean energy credentials.

Read more: https://flagpole.com/featured/2021/12/17/electric-truck-plant-near-athens-could-create-7500-jobs/