NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As Hutchinson and Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel looks ahead, she sees a chance for Hutchinson to get into new areas of the economy, if the right companies come along, thanks to government groundwork laid in 2022. The bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 was signed by President Biden in August.
"In our pipeline of projects, we have seen more things related to semiconductors," Teufel said. "They also are kind of waiting on what that CHIPS Act means for them. It also means they may be waiting on a contract with an automotive company, it may be that there's another joint venture partner that they are waiting on. All of those things remain to be seen, but if I were to make predictions for the future for us, I think we do have a space in that semiconductor and that chips industry here."
Also, the state government's passage of the APEX bill and the subsequent announcement of Panasonic's plant in DeSoto may have some downstream development opportunities.
"The state has really been working hand in hand with Panasonic to make that an easy transition," Teufel said. "This is going to be a multi-year ramp-up in getting that site ready, but they are telling us, the bill, the APEX bill that was written to incentivize Panasonic, was written in a way to incentivize them to also bring suppliers to Kansas. I think all of us are just waiting to see, what will that mean for us? Many times, we get these projects in under a code name that's very nondescript and you can't tell what it is. We could be submitting sites on a supplier to Panasonic and we just don't know yet."
Panasonic hopes to begin production in Kansas in the spring of 2025. Once complete, the facility is likely to produce lithium-ion batteries to supply to Tesla.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.