By ZOË HAGGARD - zhaggard@t-g.com
The first groundbreaking for Duksan Electera of America, Inc. plant was held Wednesday at its future location on Frank Martin Road at the 231 North Industrial Park.
It was a clear, windy, day for dozens of Shelbyville City, Bedford County, and Tennessee State representatives to show their support for the new electrolyte manufacturer. This has been a highly anticipation development for Shelbyville and Bedford County for about a year.
Duksan Electera was formerly coined “Project Cardinal” by the Shelbyville-Bedford Partnership. Duksan Electera was founded in 2021 as a subsidiary of Duksan Technopia Co., Ltd., and is part of the Duksan Group, a Republic of Korea-based advanced material manufacturer.
“We are confident that Duksan Electera will be a company that the state of Tennessee will be proud of,” said president Suwan Lee. “You all know the demand for electronic vehicles is skyrocketing due to climate change and increasing environmental concerns. And its market is expected to grow significantly... Duksan Electera will work diligently to meet this demand.”
Gov. Bill Lee commented, “You have created an environment in this community that is attractive to companies like Duksan. And the government is not what creates opportunities in a community. It’s the people. And you have done this.”
The governor continued, “Tennessee is America at its finest. And this spot right here, what’s happening in this community as represented by this announcement, is an example of America at its finest.” The company is investing $95 million in the plant and will offer 100 jobs. But according to Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, this is just the beginning.
“The idea is they’ll be recruiting locally, which is why it’s so important that we’re partnering with TCAT [Tennessee College of Applied Technology] or the community colleges or MTSU to make sure that we continue to work closely with the schools and develop the workforce because there will be more opportunities than just the 100 jobs that were announced. Our hope is that it will grow,” McWhorter told the Times-Gazette.
McWhorter said a lot of these companies pick location based on criteria—and workforce is one of those.“That is one of the primary reasons why they are here is because of the workforce readiness,” he said.
But one of the key reasons why a South Korean company is coming to a place like Shelbyville is for supply chain reasons. McWhorter explains, “The trend right now is all these manufacturers are trying to shorten the supply chain and what that means to me is they want to grow domestically in the United States, or at least in North America. Duksan is one of those companies.”
He added that there are a lot of companies in South Korea that are looking to expand overseas because they’re already a supplier to the major auto-manufacturers. “The fact that we have almost four in Tennessee makes it an attractive state,” McWhorter said.
For example, there’s the Ford Blue Oval plant in Stanton and Nissan in Smyrna. And there will also be an EV charging plant built in Lebanon over the next 5 years. He said he thinks more and more American companies will also be expanding as well.
“But right now, because of where the electric vehicle industry is, so much of it started overseas...but it’s starting to migrate to the United States,” he said. As for the supply chain for building the multi-million-dollar plant, McWhorter said they won’t know how it will all go until the start building.
“There are some areas that tend to be a challenge around material, labor . . . .We’re hearing it’s getting better,” he said.
Tennessee is one of the fastest growing states in Southeastern United States. Shelbyville-Bedford Partnership CEO Shane Hooper said, “I think Bedford County is ready. And I think not only is Bedford County ready, but Bedford County is past due. It’s time for us to move forward and really participate in job growth in Tennessee....Yes, there will be some challenges moving forward on some things. It’s nothing we can’t work together and overcome.”
The plant is expected to open in a year or year and a half.And it’s safe to say, Bedford County is making history with serving as an international company’s first American location.
Jason Boyette, a Thomas Magnet School third grade science and social studies teacher and county commissioner, said he hopes to show his students how important this event is. They took a field trip to the groundbreaking event Wednesday.
Boyette said they talked with the students about the economy and how this industry will bring a lot of high-paying jobs here. “We thought it would be kind of cool to have the future of Bedford County here. You guys may be working here in 20 years, you never know,” Boyette stated to his students.
