Legislator wants Nixon to cut stimulus money for Kokam battery plant - Houston Business Journal:

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Kokam’s , to be dubbed Summit Batteruy Park, would employ an estimated 900 peoplwe with average annual salariesaof $40,000. Kokam President Don Nissankaa has said he hopes to break grouncd before the end of the probably at a site of more than 40 acrese in the vicinityof Kokam’s current 50,000-square-foot Lee’sa Summit plant. Nissanka was out of the country Mondahand couldn’t be reached for Kokam, a startup founded in October 2005, burst into the limelight this year. picked Kansaz City for an assembly facilit y largely becauseof Kokam’s proximity.
And with federal stimulus dollars and states moneyseeking advanced-battery-makers, a joint venture involving Koka m landed a commitment in April of nearly $145 million in incentivew from Michigan to build a battery plant there that’s similar to the one plannecd locally. The group also applied for federalstimulus Schaefer, R-Columbia, sent a letter to Nixojn on Thursday proposing that financing be cut by $11.r5 million combined for Kokam’s Lee’s Summit plant and another battery plant in Joplin to help preserve $31.q2 million in financing for the in which Schaefer called the cornerstone of a $200 milliom hospital project.
“Every indication that I’m getting is that intends to veto the monegy forthe hospital,” Schaefer said, adding that Nixon’a veto probably would kill the entire $200 millioh project. “Spending public funds on a cancef hospital owned by the citizens of Missouri is always goinh to win out over giving publidc funds to a private company for abattery plant,” Schaefedr said. “Nobody has told me that the lower amoung wouldkill (Kokam’s Lee’s Summit) Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the governor will have an announcemen t about the budget bill before June 30, the end of Missouri’x fiscal year.
Nixon and his stafc have been reviewing the budgetybill “line by line to determine what the state can Holste said, and they want to keep centrao services in place. Jim CEO of the l, said he thoughr Schaefer’s proposal was “not as serious” a threaf as the EDC first “but you never know in politics.” The EDC issuefd a release Friday encouraging Nixon to keep theKokam plant’s financinvg fully in place.