It was recently announced that Blue Whale Materials, a lithium-ion battery upcycling operation with a facility in the Bartlesville Industrial Park, will receive approximately $55 million in federal funding for its Bartlesville facility. Bartlesville Development Authority Vice President of Business Development Chris Batchelder tells us what that means for Bartlesville in this week’s VP Report.
CITY BEAT: First, what is Blue Whale Materials, and what is the BDA’s role in bringing the company to Bartlesville?
BATCHELDER: Blue Whale Materials website says: “BWM provides complete recycling solutions for spent Li-ion batteries and production scrap. Our process produces Blacksand™, a high-concentration, low-impurity, dry, mixed-metal precursor material containing cobalt, nickel, and lithium.”
So what does that mean to you and I? Blue Whale is getting out in front of the end of life cycle for the battery revolution and asking what we are going to do with the mountains of expired batteries that will be collecting once they come to the end of their useful lives. They are one step ahead of what everyone is thinking about today. They take the insides out of the batteries, separate the minerals and repurpose them for new batteries or other uses.
The BDA actively recruited BWM to the industrial park and Bartlesville community and part of that recruitment was utilization of the taxpayer supported Economic Development Fund for incentives that allowed us to compete against several other communities.
Can you tell us more about the grant from the Department of Energy and the matching funding, and what it means for the community?
The DOE grant will significantly increase the size of the project, hopefully by as much as 3x. This means more employees, a larger footprint at the industrial park and hopefully more residents and tax revenue for the City of Bartlesville.
The grant is set up as a matching funds challenge so Blue Whale will invest $55 million to go along with the DOE grant for a total project investment up to $110 million. A significant increase from the original plan.
The company initially planned to create 50-90 high paying jobs in Bartlesville. Will this funding increase that number?
For sure. We have our fingers crossed that it could be double that.
When does the company plan to start hiring for the Bartlesville facility?
Those conversations are ongoing, but from what we understand they hope to start ramping up that process by year end 2024 and have a big jump in 2025. They have slowly been adding people to the Bartlesville facility and several key personnel are already in place.
What incentives did the company receive from the BDA/economic development funding?
We utilized our standard primary industry incentive offering of $15,000 per new employee on an estimated 50 initial employees for $750,000 and they are eligible for another $600,000 for 40 additional employees should their hiring pan out as estimated.
Are more incentives planned for the company?
Not at this time. It is important to remember that the economic development fund is utilized to INCENT events, not reward events that have already occurred.
How is BDA working with community partners to provide training for potential employees?
Blue Whale has already established a relationship with Tri-County Technology Center to assist with training and onboarding programs for the company and the BDA continues to facilitate connections for BWM with other local educational institutions and training resources as they get closer to full scale operations.
Will the BDA offer housing assistance to employees of the company to incentivize them to reside in Bartlesville?
Absolutely. Blue Whale Materials falls squarely within the NAICS codes established by the State of Oklahoma Quality Jobs program for a “primary industry,” making them eligible for the Resident Recruitment Program established several years ago by the BDA. As a reminder, that program is $10,000 upon purchase of a home within the Bartlesville city limits, $20,000 for construction of a new home and $10,000 for purchase or construction of a new home within the Bartlesville Public School District but outside the city limits. The program also includes a $2,500 rent credit up to four years should a new resident choose to lease instead of purchase. All resident recruitment funding is contingent upon someone moving from outside the community to Bartlesville.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We are thrilled to see the taxpayer supported Economic Development Fund put to work helping to grow Bartlesville. We have had several recent success stories and will have more to come. I can’t tell you and everyone reading this how much the Bartlesville Development Authority appreciates the support of the citizens in helping us make Bartlesville and even better place to live. Our best days are ahead.
I also want to say thank you to you, Kelli, and to your team and the entire team at the City of Bartlesville for all you do every day. It often goes unrecognized so it’s important to say thank you when we can.
Thank you, Chris!
For more information, contact the BDA at 918.338.336.8708.
Note: This report was originally published in the Sept. 24, 2024 edition of City Beat. Sign up here.