Nestled in the heart of the Pee Dee region, AESC is fueling a bright future for South Carolina with the help of readySC.

Since AESC announced in 2022 that it would build a high-tech battery cell gigafactory in Florence, South Carolina, the company has gone on to announce 2 additional expansions that will bring its total investment to $3.12 billion and result in the creation of 2700 new jobs.

While AESC is busy constructing its new manufacturing facilities, readySC is on track to power up its potential workforce in Florence County and the surrounding area. Brad Neese, Vice President of Economic Development and head of the readySC program, and Cam Shepard, readySC Project Director for the AESC project, discuss what will be necessary to recruit and train the employees needed to produce the company’s state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

A Big Deal

EDGE: Why do you think the initial announcement that AESC would be establishing operations in Florence County is so important to South Carolina?

Brad Neese: This is our first electric vehicle battery plant and is by far the biggest announcement ever for this part of the state. It’s a massive project.

Cam Shepard: AESC will be providing all the electric vehicle batteries for BMW's EV production line in Spartanburg and now in Mexico too. This is going to be a great employment opportunity for everyone in the Florence area and we’re very excited to be working on this project.

“This is our first electric vehicle battery plant and is by far the biggest announcement ever for this part of the state.”
— Brad Neese, Vice President of Economic Development and head of the readySC program

Ready to Go

EDGE: AESC just made a second announcement that will bring the total new jobs to nearly 3000. How many of those positions will receive readySC training?

Shepard: Of the total number to be hired, readySC will serve about 2600 of them. These are hourly employees, and that will include anyone from a frontline operator to a maintenance technician. The ones not included in this group are the engineers, managers, HR staff and other salary positions.

EDGE: How are you preparing for the upcoming training while the AESC manufacturing site is under construction?

Shepard: We are starting to create customized training for AESC and we’re hiring the instructors who will deliver it. We are also about to construct a brand-new building near the manufacturing site that will serve as a training center for the company. It will be right off Highway 327.

Discovering the Way Forward

EDGE: You have traveled to other AESC facilities in Tennessee and England over the past few months. What are some of the things you’ve learned on these discovery trips?

Neese: The process at the Smyrna facility was fascinating. We were given full access to their manufacturing area. I've never seen how to make a battery before, and being able to see and understand that technology was so interesting.

Shepard: Although the battery they make in Smyrna is not the same one that will be made in South Carolina, we were able get a sense of how intricate the entire process is and how many different steps are involved. It’s a very clean, climate-controlled environment.

Neese: Some of us also took a trip to the Sunderland plant in England to assess their training processes. We were able to see what technologies they use to train their folks at their equivalent of our local technical college.

Key Takeaways

EDGE: What were some of the key takeaways from your discovery trips?

Shepard: A lot of the focus was on understanding the culture of the plant in Smyrna to help us recreate the best parts here in Florence. That was an important takeaway. We are now working with a global team that is helping us stay on track as far as culture and training development by sharing what they offer in other parts of the world. Our goal is to take what we learn and customize it for Florence.

Neese: One big takeaway is that the maintenance technician's role is key for these jobs. A maintenance tech is usually someone that you only call to the floor when you have an issue. But their maintenance techs are on the floor all the time.

The other thing that was surprising is that it’s a clean room environment. There are head-to-toe PPE requirements, so you have to gown up before you can go into the process area.

Shepard: The whole process is very clean. I think one of the stereotypes that can be hard to get past for some high school students trying to decide on a career is the assumption that manufacturing plants are dirty places. This facility won’t be like that at all. It will be proof that manufacturing has changed for the better and can offer a great future.  

“The whole process is very clean. I think one of the stereotypes that can be hard to get past for some high school students trying to decide on a career is the assumption that manufacturing plants are dirty places. This facility won’t be like that all.”
— Cam Shepard, readySC Project Director for the AESC project

Attaining Goals

EDGE: What are the project goals for this year?

Shepard: One of the biggest goals for the year is to build and equip the training center for AESC. It’s in the planning and design phase, and that is really the priority right now. We are also in the process of designing the training that will go on inside that building and purchasing the necessary equipment.

Neese: Our goal is to make sure we have contingency plans for all variables since there are so many moving parts. For instance, we are in the process of renovating the readySC building on the Florence-Darlington Technical College campus. This will give us a temporary place to train people before the actual training center is up and running in June 2025. That way we will already have the space to properly train the first group of folks, which is going to be key to making sure that this project is successful.

A Transformative Project

EDGE: Any additional thoughts on AESC and the training program that readySC will be developing?

Neese: This is a major project that really puts us on the map with electric vehicles and EV battery manufacturing. To me, this is one of the most important projects that we're working on with the state right now. With our state's emphasis on electric vehicles, this is just such a unique, massive project for us.

I really do see this as being a transformative project for the PeeDee. It is located right across the street from a high school, so the opportunity that is going to come out of this project is going to be constantly visible to the next generation of workers.

Shepard: I'm very excited about the AESC project. This will hopefully give people who already live in the community the opportunity to stay in the area and not have to drive a long way for work, because a great job will be right here, just down the road.

The main focus of what we do is to help South Carolinians get a better way of life. To help them move forward, to succeed and raise the wealth of all the communities in the area – that’s what it’s all about.

 

 

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