This story is part of an ongoing series, Powering Change: Panasonic and De Soto. If you'd like to share your excitement or concerns about the electric vehicle battery plant, you can do so here.
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Panasonic celebrated the grand opening of its new electric vehicle battery plant Monday in De Soto.
The facility is now operational.
Monday, the company shared production began last week. However, the plant is not running at full production capacity.
“Every time we have an event like this, it's a celebration of a milestone. It sounds like ... it might be a finish line, but it's just a starting point,” said De Soto City Administrator Mike Brungardt.
Once complete, the plant will hold six to eight production lines, making 70 batteries a minute. That will take another 18 months to build.
KSHB 41 has covered the history of this land in our Powering Change series.
Johnson County and De Soto leaders commented on what it’s like to have thousands of jobs back in this area.
“When the Army was producing this, there were 10,000 jobs. Those were advanced manufacturing jobs,” Brungardt said. “Now, to see that brought back, it's quite a story.”
Johnson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Kelly agreed.
“It's just really heartening to see how even just a piece of ground can be so rich in storytelling for our community,” Kelly said. "Storytelling is how we connect between generations. So to be able to have our story for this site is very exciting.”
RELATED | De Soto residents react to Panasonic grand opening
Panasonic expects to employ 4,000 at the De Soto plant when it’s fully complete. Thus far, 1,100 employees have been hired.
“This multi-generational relationship that we know happened with Panasonic and their investment in our community and our people, it's just quite an exciting time to just be a small part of it,” Brungardt said.
Since its announcement in 2022, the plant has already had a massive impact in De Soto. Mayor Rick Walker shared a few highlights.
“The property tax relief we've been able to provide, the enhanced amenities… creating community that we wouldn't be able to do without that assistance from Panasonic,” Walker said.
The Panasonic North America CEO said yesterday he was drawn to Kansas because of the Midwest people and their excitement to build a new industry.
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KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.