It’s just after 2 p.m., and Justin Brown is waving down the bartender at Ross’ Eatery & Pub, a dimly lit dive in the shadow of the old General Motors Co. assembly plant. It isn’t hard to get her attention. The crowds have thinned since GM closed the factory two years ago, cutting about 3,300 workers and striking another blow to Lordstown and other cities in northeastern Ohio still reeling from the loss of highly paid steel jobs in the 1980s.
When the plant closed, Brown was transferred to a GM facility in Missouri, though he frequently makes the nine-hour drive in his Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze to help his aging parents and look after his house. Furloughed because of a semiconductor chip shortage, he’s back in Lordstown on a balmy afternoon with plenty of time to ponder whether to stay at GM or return home for a shot at a job that would require months of training and a pay cut of 30% or more.
Less than a mile from Brown’s barstool, construction crews are building a $2.3 billion battery plant in an empty field just behind the old GM site. The blindingly white expanse of concrete, the size of 30 football fields, stands at the center of U.S. efforts to compete in the global race for electric vehicles. A joint venture between GM and South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd., it will be just the second such facility in the U.S., after Tesla Inc.’s battery factory in Nevada. The company, Ultium Cells LLC, is a separate entity from the Detroit automaker, so Brown’s 13 years at GM are worth less than the can of beer in his hand. If Ultium were to hire him at all.
この記事は Bloomberg Businessweek の November 15, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Bloomberg Businessweek の November 15, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App
The rise of AI and the fall of Twitter could create opportunities for upstarts
Running in Circles
A subscription running shoe program aims to fight footwear waste
What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort
Nine wild secrets from the staff at Turtle Bay, who have to manage everyone from haughty honeymooners to go-go-dancing golfers.
How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto
The best restaurant in the world just began its second pop-up in Japan. Here's what's cooking
The Last-Mover Problem
A startup called Sennder is trying to bring an extremely tech-resistant industry into the age of apps
Tick Tock, TikTok
The US thinks the Chinese-owned social media app is a major national security risk. TikTok is running out of ways to avoid a ban
Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria
A UK company produces colors with less water than conventional methods and no toxic chemicals
Pumping Heat in Hamburg
The German port city plans to store hot water underground and bring it up to heat homes in the winter
Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge
Squid's ability to flourish in warmer waters makes it fitting for a diet for the changing environment
New Money, New Problems
In Naples, an influx of wealthy is displacing out-of-towners lower-income workers