Lebanon, Ore., USA, November 2, 2022 – ENTEK, a U.S.-owned manufacturing company headquartered in Lebanon, Oregon that makes state of the art battery separators and manufacturing equipment, continues to showcase their commitment to working with the Biden Administration and Congress to build a robust, U.S. electric vehicle and energy storage battery supply chain.
Today, Kimberly Medford, President of ENTEK Manufacturing, participated in an event at the White House honoring the Talent Pipeline Challenge. The Talent Pipeline Challenge supports employer investments in equitable workforce development for domestic infrastructure jobs. ENTEK recognizes the importance of growing quality, well-paying American jobs and having the development mechanisms in place to create a skilled workforce. Developing a local pipeline of skilled workers is crucial to ENTEK’s continued growth and success. ENTEK is thankful for the Administration’s continued commitment to workforce development and specifically these joint efforts with employers, training providers, and local governments to make sure the American workforce is prepared to meet the demands of infrastructure electrification and battery manufacturing.
Last month in Washington, D.C., Kimberly Medford and Larry Keith, CEO of ENTEK, had a productive conversation with U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, (D-OR), regarding the importance of creating opportunities for skilled workers and a robust domestic workforce. Medford and Keith applauded Rep. Bonamici’s continued championing of workforce development for Oregonians. ENTEK has partnered with organizations such as the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC), MECOP Inc., Mid-Valley STEM-CTE Hub, Mid-Willamette Valley Industrial TATC, and Linn-Benton Community College Apprenticeship workforce development programs, to create training pathways for skilled workers to get quality, well-paying jobs in the transition to a clean energy economy.
A skilled workforce is crucial as ENTEK expands their operations, aided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant they were awarded two weeks ago. On October 19th, 2022, ENTEK was awarded a $200 million DOE grant, part of the $7 billion in funding from the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law targeted at the battery supply chain. This grant will aid in the construction of a new lithium separator plant in the U.S with equipment built at current ENTEK manufacturing facilities in Oregon and Nevada, giving ENTEK a “fighting chance to compete globally right here from the United States with American operations,” Medford said at an event hosted by President Joe Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Support for ENTEK’s application from the Oregon Congressional delegation was crucial in securing this grant and will continue to be essential in their efforts to keep up with demand for domestic electric vehicle production.
“I’m pleased that Oregon-based ENTEK will receive this $200 million award from the Department of Energy for the construction of a new U.S. lithium separator plant, thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) said. “This grant will enhance ENTEK’s current capacity and allow them to scale up production, enough to supply material to 1.4 million electric vehicles annually. As Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I led the effort in the House to secure these investments in electrifying our transportation system and I look forward to seeing this grant at work creating new American jobs and delivering domestically manufactured electric vehicle battery components.”
ENTEK looks forward to continuing to work with the Administration and Congress to make sure the domestic electric vehicle supply chain is one that the American consumer can trust. “We want to create more American jobs producing battery parts using the most advanced technologies and meeting the cleanest environmental standards in the world,” Medford said.
About:
ENTEK has over 35 years of experience producing battery separators for batteries to support electric, advanced start-stop and standard vehicles, trucks, emergency vehicles, emergency backup power, utility scale energy storage, and industrial batteries. ENTEK has more than two decades of experience as the only US owned and US based producer of ‘wet-process’ separator for lithium batteries and continues to invest in the future of the domestic lithium battery industry. ENTEK is also a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of extruders and material handling equipment for the production of battery separators.