Storey County prepares for Tesla expansion
“We’ve done a Gigafactory before and we can do it again.”
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Earlier this week, Tesla announced plans for two new facilities in Storey County. The $3.6 billion dollar investment calls for 3,000 new employees and 4 million square feet.
“We’ve done a Gigafactory before and we can do it again,” Storey County Manager Austin Osborne said.
Osborne says our region will continue to support Tesla’s cutting edge technology.
“You go to one half of Storey County and you step back in time to the 1800′s... and on the other end of the county you’re in the middle of the 21st century with the most cutting edge technology,” he said.
Tesla will offer 3,000 new jobs as part of the expansion and half will be offered to Nevada residents, which means 1,500 people could be moving to Nevada from out-of-state.
“There will be an influx of employees and we are looking at ways to address the influx,” Osborne said.
One of the region’s biggest concerns is Interstate 80. Storey County is sponsoring Senate Bill 63 in the next legislative session which is focused on alleviating highway congestion.
“Simple things, even speed limits and increased signage and better lighting and enforcement of existing laws,” he said.
“Also long term solutions such as highway widening and alternative traffic routes.”
While many Tesla employees live in Washoe County and commute to work, Storey County is hoping to change that. Osborne says they’ve approved residential development near the industrial park.
“3,600 homes to be located there as a mixed-use, high-density type of community. This is the type of place people who work in the Gigafactory want to live in,” Obsborne said.
Storey County has not yet found a developer to build these homes and Tesla has not announced when they will break ground on the new factories.
Copyright 2023 KOLO. All rights reserved.