Source: Carolina Public Press
With the third-highest unemployment rate in the state and a declining population, Edgecombe County leaders hope a new investor will finally fulfill the promise of an economic revival.
Natron Energy plans to bring more than 1,000 jobs and $1.4 billion to Edgecombe County by building a battery plant at Kingsboro Business Park. The factory will manufacture sodium-ion batteries, a clean energy technology that can be used to power AI data centers and electric vehicle charging stations.
Sodium-ion batteries store energy created by wind and solar power and can be used as a backup source for power when grids are down. What’s more, their reliance on sodium rather than toxic minerals reduces environmental pollution.
Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2025 and last for about a year. In the meantime, Natron will start training programs at Edgecombe Community College to get the workforce in the county up to speed. The average wage for jobs at the factory is expected to be $64,071—roughly $17,000 above the county’s current average wage.
Natron’s investment was largely spurned by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides significant tax credits to battery manufacturers and renewable energy producers. In the two years since the passage of the IRA, North Carolina has seen nearly $20 billion in clean energy investments and the creation of over 10,000 jobs.
The investments are sorely needed in communities like Edgecombe. In recent years, the county has been damaged by flooding on the Tar River and devastated by broken promises from potential investors. The railroad company CSX downsized its promised investment in the county in 2017, and Triangle Tire, the last company to lay claim to Kingsboro Business Park, pulled out of its plans completely in 2022.
But local officials have hope.
“We have great people here,” Princeville Mayor Bobbie Jones said. “We have great facilities. We just need the support that the (Triangle area) gets so our children want to grow up and stay right here. This is a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.”
