Honda eyes 2024 for hiring in Ohio

Training to be priority for EV battery plant

The first batch of workers for the electric vehicle battery plant that Honda and LG Energy Solution are building in Fayette County will be hired in January 2024, says the CEO in charge of the plant.

Initially, about 80 workers will be hired, Robert Lee, president and CEO of the joint venture, told The Dispatch in an interview last month in Marysville at Honda’s Heritage Center. Lee also runs LG Energy Solution’s operations in North America.

Those workers are going to spend a year rotating through LG’S existing plants to be trained, he said. This group will then become the core group of employees who will train the 2,200 workers the plant will have.

“That’s going to be our initial seed group of people,” he said. “We’re going to invest a tremendous amount of time and effort to make sure these folks get trained. They’ll be in a position to train the folks that are coming in when it comes time for our commercial production.”

The South Korean company has struck partnerships with other automakers, including General Motors and Stellantis. One of the plants it has developed with GM is in Warren in northeast Ohio.

Construction on the plant about 40 miles southwest of Columbus near Jeffersonville is on track to wrap up by the end of 2024. The plant is expected to begin production of pouch-type, lithium-ion batteries by the end of 2025.

LG owns 51% of the plant and Honda 49%. The plant will produce batteries exclusively for Honda’s EVS.

Lee said that initial group of worker will rotate through LG Energy Solution’s existing plants, an investment that the company believes is critical to begin to get familiar with the company’s operations.

Beyond that, the company is targeting high schools, community colleges and four-year colleges for operators, technicians and engineers that the plant will need, he said.

“We need different skill sets coming out of these different institutions,” he said.

Lee remains confident the plant will be able to get the workers it needs, helped by Honda’s success in Ohio.

“Honda has deep roots and very strong relationships in central Ohio,” Lee said. “That has worked well for us just in terms of getting support.” mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams