BATTLE CREEK – The building trades are building Toda America’s first U.S. manufacturing facility to produce lithium ion cathode materials for battery cells, another hopeful sign that the state’s economy is expanding into new technologies that will create new jobs and job descriptions.

“This is an important manufacturing investment in our quest to maintain our global leadership as the premier supplier of battery materials around the world, and now as a key local supply chain partner to the rapidly growing U.S. battery industry,” said Tadashi Kubota, Managing Director of Toda Kogyo Group, during the project’s groundbreaking on April 20.

The new $70 million, 60,000 square-foot facility is being built on an 18-acre brownfield redevelopment site in the city’s Fort Custer Industrial Park.  Hazama Corp. is acting as construction manager of the project.

“We’re doing well,” said Hazama Senior Project Manager Norio Miyakawa. “We have a very skillful group of tradespeople and subcontractors and we’re very happy to have them on our site.” There are about 52 Hardhats currently on the project, which will double at peak employment. The fast-track construction project is expected to be complete in November , with Phase 1 manufacturing slated to begin some time next year.

The building will have “unique and complicated” systems and fixtures, Miyakawa said, among them a complex ventilation system that’s expected to create a highly clean environment to remove any potential airborne contaminants in the manufacturing process. He said the building’s design will be based on that of the company’s “mother plant” in Japan.

Information released by Toda America said the project’s Phase 2 expansion is expected to be completed in 2013, reaching its full manufacturing capacity of 4,000 tons of finished product per year. The total sales volume based on the full capacity operation at the facility will be around $130 million.

Mlive reported the Toda plant will provide materials to LG Chem in Holland that are to be installed in General Motors Co.’s new Chevrolet Volt hybrid vehicle. President Obama visited the LG Chem plant on July 15 to celebrate its groundbreaking. Toda is among the 16 advanced automotive battery and battery technology companies that have committed to projects in Michigan and will create an estimated 62,000 new jobs by 2020, according to Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The Toda project is expected to add 50-60 direct new high-tech manufacturing jobs, and up to a total 148 new jobs including 91 indirect jobs according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

THE TODA BATTERY PLANT under construction in Battle Creek. The owner would not allow us to take photos inside the building.

PULLING WIRE at the Toda Battery Plant site in Battle Creek are Eddie O’Brien and John Kemperman of IBEW Local 445, working for Motor Shop Electric.