Project Josie

Oklahoma is getting another shot at a major manufacturer placing a mega-factory here, reportedly to build lithium car batteries.

It could mean that nearly 700 million dollars in Lead Act incentive funds could be accessed if the company hits certain triggers.

"The legislature knows that we have a signed agreement with Project Josie that encumbers that 698. So now we're just working on the development agreements,” says Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

Gov. Stitt is confident Oklahoma will land this deal.

"It's the largest economic development in state history, but it's gone through their board. They've officially signed off on that lead fund to encumber that to say we're coming to the state of Oklahoma. So, that's exciting,” says Gov. Stitt

House Speaker Charles McCall backs the Governor's contention that Oklahoma will be a future site for this manufacturer.

"I’ve seen an agreement in a draft, and by all accounts, it looks like we have a very serious and imminent that they will, that they are going to be announcing Oklahoma, which would be great,” says McCall.

While things sound promising, Governor Stitt noted that this manufacturer wants more infrastructure development around the MidAmerica Industrial Park.

“There's a 245 million economic development site that the legislature will be part of appropriating, or finding the way, to get that,” says Gov. Stitt

Stitt says that money won't go to the company itself, but it will have to come from lawmakers.

“There's a few little T’s to cross and I’s to dot to get the correct, you know, ingress into those facilities. A few maybe daycare centers, a few more fire stations. There are some community investments that the legislature would probably make to put that over the finish line,” says Gov. Stitt.

Some of those proposed investments caught the eye of House Minority Leader Representative Cyndi Munson.

"Governor Stitt talked a little bit about site upgrades around infrastructure. He, I think mentioned something about fire stations and daycare centers, and these are all things that House Democrats have been talking about in terms of workforce development, that without these critical pieces of infrastructure, we can't grow our workforce,” says Rep. Munson.

While generally, House Democrats are on board with the Lead Act and attracting business to the state. Munson notes what exactly is being asked of the legislature hasn't been brought into focus quite yet.

“There hasn't been a clear plan on what the legislature would even be looking at or what bill or what we would be voting on. All we know is the amount of money that would be needed, to place investment in this part of the state. Of course, we're always going to be supportive of investment in Oklahoma,” says Rep. Munson.

Munson feels that infrastructure and workforce development investments should not be isolated to one part of the state.

“What we're asking for is that we see that investment across the state of Oklahoma and we should be doing that. Whether or not a big company is asking us to do that, and for future workforce growth, we really need to be talking about, you know, how are we investing in the state now? How are we taking care of Oklahomans and their families to attract businesses to even think about coming to Oklahoma?" says Munson.

The Lead Act incentives were created to attract Panasonic and, were later adjusted to attract Volkswagen.  Panasonic chose De Soto, Kansas, while Volkswagen will be building a mega factory in Canada. McCall says Project Josie will only get those incentives in the Lead Act by investing at least three point six billion dollars in Oklahoma and creating 35 hundred jobs or more within four to five years.

"You produce the jobs and the investment tax credit, which is you get the credit, if you make the investment in the state of Oklahoma, it does have a sweetener for, a 2% sweetener for this company that could produce north of 3,500 jobs for the state of Oklahoma,” says McCall.

McCall and Stitt believe both the Lead Act incentives and developing infrastructure in that area of the state are worth the investment.

"There are a significant amount of incentive dollars being deployed to bring these in. When you look at the sheer number of jobs that they're producing and the average salary paid, the state of Oklahoma is going to get the benefit of those jobs. That company paying taxes here, employing people, and the state and the people will get their investment back over time,” says McCall.

"It's about a 5 billion investment, and when they're doing those kinds of things, there are development agreements, there's site work, there's infrastructure, there are sayings that, commitments that they have to have from the state. So yes, there's going to be a commitment. The legislature will have to figure out a way to spend this 245 either through ODOT or through the MidAmerica site to get that site ready,” says Gov. Stitt.

McCall feels if the state does indeed land Project Josie, it will lead to bigger things.

"If we accomplish those things, there's an expectation that if we land, a mega manufacturer producing 3,500 jobs or more, that there's a lot of many other companies that will follow coming to Oklahoma,” says McCall.

The governor agrees.

"It's a positive thing for Oklahoma. These types of investments don't come around all the time. We need to take advantage of this for the state of Oklahoma. The diversification play here is unbelievable,” says Gov. Stitt.