Growth for McMinn County
Our planned Tennessee Lithium project is expected to be the single largest industrial investment in McMinn County history.¹ We look forward to serving as a key economic contributor, creating jobs and tax revenue, for local people and businesses in the City of Etowah, McMinn County, and throughout the East Tennessee region.
Our more than $800 million² investment to build Tennessee Lithium is expected to create roughly 120 jobs² for local hiring, wherever possible. We also expect the project to require products and services from local vendors and suppliers, potentially attracting new businesses and industries to the region and growing the need for residential and commercial development, restaurants, hotels, and other retail establishments.
These investments translate to additional tax revenues – funds that could help support the county’s priorities for schools, public safety, libraries, senior citizen programs, parks and recreation, emergency services, and more. And we believe McMinn County is poised to benefit from the well-paying, local jobs and economic opportunity our proposed operation is expected to bring.
Industrial Investment
in McMinn County¹
Capital Investment²
Direct Jobs²
1 McMinn County Economic Development Authority
² Piedmont Lithium Definitive Feasibility Study of Tennessee Lithium project
Helping Develop Our Local Workforce
We are committed to hiring locally whenever possible and have started identifying various roles needed to support the operations of our Tennessee Lithium project, including, but not limited to:
- Administrative Assistance
- Chemical Plant Operators and Technicians
- Construction Safety Manager
- Electrical Technicians
- Human Resources Manager
- Logistics
- Maintenance Reliability Manager
- Maintenance Utilities Supervisor
- Plant Manager
- Production Manager
- Quality Manager
- Safety, Environment, and Health Technician
- Warehouse and Machine Operators
We have partnered with the McMinn County Economic Development Authority, the Southeast Tennessee Development District, Tennessee College of Applied Technology – Athens, and the Advanced Technologies Institute of Cleveland State Community College to develop technical training programs. Plans are currently underway to establish curricula with the goal of enrolling participants before operations begin at Tennessee Lithium.
Supporting Tennessee’s Electrification Economy
Tennessee is emerging as a critical hub for the U.S. electrification industry and a central player in America’s Battery Belt, offering the resources, business climate, and infrastructure to attract a number of manufacturers to the region. Piedmont Lithium is proudly developing its lithium hydroxide conversion facility in McMinn County. Ford, LG Chem, Volkswagen, and many others in the electrification business also have selected Tennessee for the sites of their operations.
Tennessee is the number one producing state for electric vehicles in the Southeast U.S.¹ – and when Ford begins full production over the next couple of years, the Volunteer State could potentially become the number one EV producer in the nation. Since 2017, Tennesseans have benefited from the electrification industry bringing more than $16 billion in capital investments and 12,000+ new job commitments, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development.
EV-Related Capital Investments Since 2017¹
EV Manufacturing Employment and Investments in Southeast U.S.¹
New Job Commitments Since 2017¹
Tennesseans Employed by EV Operations¹
¹ Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development. 2023. Electric Vehicle Manufacturing