Oklahoma has reportedly signed a contract with Panasonic to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Pryor.
But there may be some complications with the agreement.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says the state has inked a contract to open a battery plant at the MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor. It’s been widely reported to be with Japanese manufacturer Panasonic.
The company would employ thousands. Stitt said the project would bring a $5 billion investment to the state.
“When you have a manufacturing facility with 2,500 employees, it leads to like 20,000 indirect jobs that are around supporting that,” Stitt said. “So it’s just an amazing opportunity for us.”
But it’s unclear who will pay for the hundreds of millions in infrastructure improvements at the park.
Lawmakers have shown some hesitation to do so. House Speaker Charles McCalltold theTulsa World the deal does not meet all the qualifications for Panasonic to receive almost $700 millionallocated for economic development by the legislature last year.
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