Big things have happened in Manteno since the former Kmart warehouse property was purchased by the Chinese-based company Gotion High-Tech.

Even bigger things are set to happen within the next calendar year.

Plans are in place for a sharp increase in energy-storage system manufacturing at Gotion Illinois’s Manteno plant, meaning its workforce would more than triple in 2026.

The planned increased production for these commercial-scale energy-storage units would drive employment at the South Spruce Street plant to upward of 1,400, making it Kankakee County’s largest manufacturer, likely surpassing CSL Behring.

Wages at the site would cover a wide range – based on the job, experience and education – ranging from a low of $24 an hour to as much as $42, plus benefits.

The 100,000-pound power units, which can range from $500,000 to upward of $700,000, are being constructed for large companies of the stature of ComEd. The units are powering the workforce growth at the 153-acre complex on the village’s western edge, immediately west of Interstate 57’s 322 interchange.

Gotion believes it is only scratching the surface of what can ultimately take place in Manteno.

The company has since purchased additional property near the plant, including the Kmart property. Gotion has bought almost 700 acres in the Manteno area.

Mark Kreusel, Gotion Illinois’ vice president of manufacturing and general manager in Manteno, recently said that the company is only getting started inside the 1.5 million square feet of usable, under-roof manufacturing space.

Even though the company had come into Illinois and Manteno, touting the production of batteries to propel the anticipated, rapidly growing battery-powered vehicle industry, the site is currently focused on commercial and residential energy storage units.

“We have car batteries [production] here, but we are not doing that now,” Kreusel said. “We will make what the market demands.”

Simply put, he said, demand for energy storage units in the U.S. is what is driving production at the complex, which currently employs 300 workers on an eight-hour, five-day-a-week production schedule.

While a growing workforce teams up with robotic technologies, not all are pleased with what is happening at the former Kmart distribution warehouse, which closed in 2017 and had remained vacant until Gotion acquired the site for $137.4 million in late 2023.

The company received a state incentive package of $536 million to aid the development.

In all, the total investment for Gotion in Manteno is expected to be $2 billion. The Manteno site is being targeted as the company’s U.S. hub.

‘Gotion go away’

Even though the company remains committed to a workforce expected to reach 2,600 within five years – which would make it Kankakee County’s largest manufacturing company dating back to the 1970s, when Roper Manufacturing and other companies were helping fuel the region’s economy – all are still not pleased.

One of Gotion’s chief voices of opposition to the growing development is Manteno Mayor Annette LaMore, elected in April.

LaMore remains adamant that Gotion is a major environmental concern. She also remains strongly opposed to foreign investors – and those from a communist country – buying U.S. property.

The Gotion plant, LaMore said this week, “puts the town in a precarious position.”

“I don’t think dangerous chemicals this close to a town is a good idea,” she said.

Any spill or accident, LaMore said, could have harmful or serious consequences for Manteno and its almost 10,000 residents.

LaMore was part of the Concerned Citizens of Manteno, the group that filed a lawsuit against Gotion and the village of Manteno regarding environmental and zoning concerns related to the Manteno site.

A motion by Gotion and Manteno to dismiss the lawsuit was largely rejected by Kankakee County Circuit Court Judge Lindsay Parkhurst. The next court hearing for the case is set for Feb. 4.

“People are concerned with safety,” LaMore said. “They will win in court. This [development] was brought here by [Gov.] JB Pritzker. I would like to see an American company come in here. China is an adversary of the U.S.”

LaMore said she would like to see Gotion go away.

She said that she toured the plant this summer along with some Village Board members. The location has gone through a major transformation, she acknowledged.

“I know they have put a lot into this plant, but it is taxpayer money,” LaMore said. “I did not come away [from the tour] thinking this is a good thing.”

Hiring local

Gotion’s officials have said that more than 90% of the Manteno location hires are local, and that trend is expected to continue. In short, Kreusel said the plant will employ workers from this area, not imports from China, as some people have speculated.

Another chief issue that is simply unfounded, Kreusel said, is concern regarding a plant hazard involving chemicals. He described the plant as being overbuilt in terms of potential issues, such as a fire or a spill of some kind.

He noted that the site’s battery production involves lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are considered more noncombustible than other lithium-ion chemistries.

These batteries are growing in popularity for vehicle use, stationary utility-scale applications and backup power sources.

“These are much safer and much harder to ignite,” Kreusel said. “These batteries have an ignition point of 500 degrees Celsius, or 932 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the likelihood of igniting is remote at best.”

He noted that the natural resources for LFP production – lithium, iron and phosphate – are plentiful.

“This location is safer than it was under the previous ownership,” Kreusel said. “The fire standards are much safer.”

He noted that plant leadership has worked hand in hand with the Manteno Community Fire Protection District, and “they have checked up on us.

“This site is up and beyond [2024 safety codes],” Kreusel added. “I want this to be a gold star manufacturing plant, not just for this industry but all industries. We are prepared to react to anything.”

Of course, this is the hope of many, including Angela Morrey, interim president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County, the organization that worked to bring Gotion and its jobs here.

Jobs are needed

Morrey has certainly heard the criticisms related to Gotion, but she also knows Kankakee County needs primary jobs, especially in light of recent job losses in Momence.

“They are looking long-term. This is advanced, high-tech manufacturing. We are very fortunate to have them here,” Morrey said this week. “This comes at a time when our community needs jobs. We have people suddenly out of work.”

Morrey visited China, along with several other Kankakee County leaders, to tour Gotion sites. She said nothing has changed from what the company said then about what they have done thus far.

“This company offers such great potential. At the end of the day, we’ve had employers leaving, and we now have one investing and hiring,” Morrey said.

Communities can die waiting for the perfect fit, she said.

“We could have just left [the Kmart site] sit there. But we have to look at things in different ways. We need to be open to possibilities,” she said.

Morrey concluded: “Can we turn jobs away? If we want our community to thrive, we have to give people the opportunity to work.”