Canadian EV bus company coming to Illinois, but not to Joliet

Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced that a Canadian company is bringing an electric bus assembly plant to Illinois just as the remains of the failed Lion Electric venture in Joliet are about to be taken away.

Pritzker in May 2021 came to Joliet to announce The Lion Electric Company, also out of Canada, would bring its first assembly plant in the United States to Joliet.

Lion Electric has since come and gone.

Crane systems, paint booths and other assembly equipment that was installed in Joliet for the assembly of buses and trucks goes on auction on May 21, a change from the original auction date that was scheduled this week.

Lion is now in bankruptcy.

It appears to be Damera Corp.’s turn to show a Canada-based electric vehicle company can establish a manufacturing foothold in Illinois.

But it won’t be in Joliet or anywhere else in Will County.

The first Damera Bus USA LLC plant in the United States will be built somewhere in the Peoria area, according to the announcement from Pritzker.

“Through our competitive incentive programs, workforce development, and other business attraction efforts, the state is bringing in companies like Damera that not only create jobs and opportunity for our people, but commit themselves to our communities,” Pritzker said in the news release announcing the project.

The release did not specify what state incentives were offered to Damera.

Lion was promised $7.9 million in state tax credits but never collected because it did not meet job projections, according to state officials.

The Lion incentives were based on the creation of 750 jobs.

Lion projected up to 1,400 jobs in Joliet but appeared to hit its peak at 250, although the company never confirmed the exact number of workers in Joliet.

Job projections for the Damera plant are more modest.

The Damera plant will create 90 full-time jobs, according to the release.

Lion manufactured school buses and small trucks, some of which were sold locally.

Damera makes mini-buses with a capacity for up to 19 passengers, according to the announcement from Pritzker’s office.

Like Lion Electric’s parent company, Damera is leasing and not buying the space it will use to assemble vehicles in Illinois.