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Last updated on Thursday, May 24, 2012
(WESTGATE) - A $12 million battery testing center is coming to Greene County, located in the WestGate at Crane Technology Park.
Greene County officials approved a financing plan late Wednesday afternoon that will bring The Battery Innovation Center (BIC) to a southern Greene County site near the under-construction Interstate 69.
Nick Schneider, of the Greene County Daily World, report the project is the brainchild of Energy Systems Network (ESN), an Indianapolis-based not-for-profit economic initiative, focused on the development of Indiana's "clean tech" sector.
ESN launched the joint venture with Battery Innovation Center, Inc., and the Battery Innovation Center Institute, Inc. as newly-created not-for-profit entities.
The Greene County Council unanimously approved a resolution that authorizes the issuance of $15.8 million in economic development bonds to finance the establishment of the BIC in a public-private partnership.
ESN officials say the new facility will link battery manufacturers, government agencies and research labs, academia, and Fortune 500 companies together to accelerate the nation-wide battery market.
The BIC project will involve construction of a 40,000 square foot facility, located on an 8-acre tract of the old Waggoner property, near the intersection of U.S. 231 and County Line Road (CR 800S).
The land, located northwest of Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane), was recently purchased by the Greene County Redevelopment Commission and is part of the package offered to entice ESN to locate at the selected site.
Ground-breaking and construction is slated to begin in July and the facility is expected to be completed by 2013, according to BIC president Charles LaSota, a retired commander at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane).
Initially, the facility is expected to bring in 30 jobs.
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