LEE'S SUMMIT — Gov. Jay Nixon says Missouri is poised to be a force in the high-tech battery industry, and an economic development bill he's pushing is the "jump start" the state needs.
Nixon toured battery maker Kokam America on Thursday and talked to reporters afterward about how the bill would benefit the Lee's Summit company and others in Missouri's battery industry.
With barely a week left before the May 15 end of the legislative session, the economic development bill remains stalled in the state Senate.
Kokam, which produces lithium polymer batteries for the U.S. Department of Defense and has a contract with a Kansas City electric vehicle company, wants to expand its existing Lee's Summit plant. It also is considering building another plant with the incentives it receives from the state.
"The jobs bill will help us secure that competitive advantage we need over other states as we fight to get Missourians back to work," Nixon said in a room filled with Kokam workers, Lee's Summit officials and others with a stake in the state's battery industry.
He called on state senators to pass the bill so he can sign it into law as soon as possible.
"As I've said before, we don't have much time to lose," Nixon said. "The legislative session ends next Friday."
Missouri's economic development legislation would expand the Quality Jobs program, which allows employers to earn a tax credit and keep a portion of the withholding taxes for newly hired workers who make average wages. The program's tax credits currently are capped at $60 million, and the bill would expand that to $100 million.
The legislation also would expand the state's Business Use Incentives for Large-Scale Development program, which awards tax credits to manufacturing companies to pay off bonds used to build their plants. The bill would increase the state's annual tax credit cap for the BUILD program to $25 million from the current $15 million.
Nixon has said previously that both programs are part of the state's package of proposed incentives for Kokam.
During his tour of Kokam, Nixon stopped at a few work stations where he was shown examples of advanced batteries the company makes, including ones for military combat equipment and emergency medical devices.
The governor also watched through glass as plant workers in white safety suits, head covers and safety goggles operated robotic machines that seal and test battery cells.
Kokam officials said they have initial plans to build a $650 million, 800,000-square-foot plant in Lee's Summit to supply batteries to what they describe as "next-generation" electric vehicles. Last month, the company agreed to build a similar plant in Michigan after being offered $144.6 million in tax credits.
"The future is here for us in terms of the battery technology," said Don Nissanka, president and chief executive officer of Kokam America. "We can actually recharge faster. We can fuel electric cars using an electric power supply faster than we can actually fill gas in a gasoline tank. That's doable with our technology today."
He said the U.S. can regain the industrial "edge" it has lost to overseas competitors if Missouri and other states "start using automation and technology as the driving force for the next generation of industry."
"It is critical that we get the message across to all our legislators that this is a change in the industry as opposed to just helping a company," Nissanka added.