Battery cell plant groundbreaking brings jobs, investment to area

June 28 – Groundbreaking was held Friday afternoon for the new battery cell manufacturing plant near Byhalia that is a joint venture between three major concerns: Accelera™ by Cummins, Daimler Truck and PACCAR. The plant is being known as Amplify Cell Technologies.

Officials representing the three companies building the large facility were joined by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Marshall County Supervisors Vice-President Charles Terry, and Tennessee Valley Authority board member Bill Renick. CEOs of the three companies were there along with Kel Kearns, named earlier this month as CEO of Amplify Cell Technologies.  

The joint venture will localize battery cell production for commercial vehicles, invest $1.9 billion into a Marshall County facility, and create more than 2,000 new jobs with an average annual salary of approximately $66,000. In addition, it was estimated another 3,000 jobs were injected into the project in its construction.  

The economic development project represents the largest payroll commitment of any major project in Mississippi history. Additionally, at $1.9 billion, this is the third largest economic development project ever in Mississippi.

In remarks Friday, Cummins Inc. CEO Jennifer Rumsey said the strategy of zero emissions, called Destination Zero, is a bold commitment for clean energy solutions.  

“We’re leaning on our history of innovation to support our customers and the world today and tomorrow,” Rumsey said. “We’re proud of the collaboration with Daimler and PACCAR which builds on our existing partnerships with them.” 

Reeves said the day was a “special day to have a great day in Marshall County.”  

“A lot of you have heard me say that economic development is a team sport,” Reeves said. “Our team has worked tirelessly to get to this point. Your commitment to Marshall County, Mississippi speaks volumes to what is happening in the great state of Mississippi.”  

Hyde-Smith said it is exciting to see the development becoming a reality.  

“There are so many areas that would love to have this trio come to them,” Hyde-Smith said. “Marshall County has done a great job of getting it together.” 

Amplify Cell Technologies will localize battery cell production for commercial electric vehicles. It is the first commercial battery cell manufacturing plant for heavy-duty and medium-duty vehicles in the country.  Marshall County was selected as the manufacturing plant site in January. 

The 21-gigawatt hour factory is expected to begin production in 2027.