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Big Rapids approves tax breaks for new battery plant

An employee looks at a vanadium flow battery in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Battery Reliability Laboratory in 2021.
Andrea Starr

The top administrator in Mecosta County called it a once in a century opportunity.

Gotion Inc, the North American division of a Chinese battery company, wants to build a more than 2 million square feet factory in the county. If it goes through, company leaders said it could bring more than two thousand jobs.

Tuesday night, local officials approved a Renaissance Zone designation for the land around the plant, which would make it virtually tax free for Gotion for 30 years.

Even more incentives could come from the state, though official details on that have not yet been made public.

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Dustin Dwyer reports enterprise and long-form stories from Michigan Public's West Michigan bureau.