Michigan loses Stellantis project to Indiana. The state must “raise the level of our game.”

FILE - The Stellantis sign is seen outside the Chrysler Technology Center, in Auburn Hills, Mich. Stellantis announced a joint venture with Samsung to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Indiana that will employ up to 1,400 workers and become the company’s second such factory in North America. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) AP
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Chrysler parent company Stellantis is building its next electric vehicle project outside of Michigan.

A joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung for an electric vehicle battery factory will be built in Kokomo, Indiana. Michigan offered the automaker several sites in state but ultimately lost the bid — a tough loss after the state funneled $1 billion in state funds to attract large business projects.

“I’m a very competitive person. Our governor is a very competitive person. Our legislative leadership is very competitive. We want everything,” said Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The $2.5 billion battery plant is slated to open in 2025 with construction starting this year. It’s estimated to create 1,400 new jobs.

Indiana Economic Development Corporation is offering an incentive package of up to about $186.5 million in conditional tax credits, training grants and investments, including funding that would offset the costs of the plant’s infrastructure.

Additional financial support came from the city, the county and utility company Duke Energy Corp.

Indiana’s incentive package is a sign of the competitiveness among states to stake claim to these large projects, Messer said.

“We understand that we have to continue to raise the level of our game and we’ll continue to do so,” he said.

The Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund was created after Michigan lost out on an $11.4 billion electric vehicle investment from Ford Motor Company.

General Motors was the first to dip into the state economic incentive fund and in turn made company history when it invested $7 billion into four Michigan manufacturing sites.

There’s roughly $330 million dollars still left in the SOAR fund. Messer said the state has already identified opportunities that would exhaust that remaining balance. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed adding $500 million to the fund to continue it.

Messer named talent availability and ease of doing business among strategies to put Michigan in position to compete. Having sites shovel ready has topped the list as well. The state is “aggressively playing catch up” to identify sites and have them outfitted with infrastructure like power, roads and water.

The MEDC has been prepping a 1,600 acre megasite in Calhoun County’s Marshall, picking a location positioned between major highways and airports. That site, along with Monroe County’s Dundee where Stellantis has a 1.3-million-square-foot engine plant, were both passed over by Stellantis.

Stellantis has had ties in Kokomo, Ind. for more than 85 years with five components in the area. The company has been expanding its North American development with a $2.8 billion EV overhaul in Ontario and a $4.5 billion investment in Detroit’s Mack assembly.

The automaker’s Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan outlined plans for two North American EV battery plants. Indiana has now filled that spot, but Messer is optimistic about Michigan still being part of the automaker’s goals to sell five million EVs by 2030.

“It’s going to be incredibly hard, it’s incredibly competitive,” he said. “People want what we have but we are prepared to defend and not only defend but expand and grow what we have here in Michigan.”

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