Sheet Metal Stamping Simulation

Electric bus maker Proterra Inc. could create as many as 2,600 jobs in Greenville over the next seven years -- double the 1,300 it has promised state officials -- if overseas business materializes as expected, the company's chief executive officer said. And that doesn't include thousands of other jobs that Chief Executive Officer Jeff Granato expects will be generated in South Carolina by companies supplying parts for the plant Proterra formally announced last Thursday.

The company, which currently employs about 40 in Golden, Colo., said it would begin operating the $30 million, 250,000-square-foot plant at Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research early next year.

About 1,200 of the promised 1,300 jobs would be production positions paying an average of $15 an hour, Granato said.

Dale Hill, Proterra's founder and chairman, said the company's vehicle systems are modules that can be incorporated into various kinds of vehicles -- trucks and delivery vans, as well as buses -- that might be made by Proterra or other companies.

"Our game plan is to have a whole family of vehicles over the next five or six years using our technology, and I can't even begin to tell you where that's going to go," Hill said.

Hill said it doesn't make sense for Proterra to make a truck, "but on a delivery van, if we can design something that is unique, then we'll do that."

Now the company plans to make its all-electric, battery-powered transit bus at the Greenville plant, as well as energy storage systems, drive systems, control systems and charging stations.

Proterra also plans a research office at ICAR, but its headquarters and some of its research will remain in Colorado, Granato said.

Gov. Mark Sanford and other dignitaries were at ICAR for the official announcement, while U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis joined through prerecorded video messages.

Greenville Mayor Knox White said from the podium that Greenville has always re-invented itself.

"And that is what Proterra and this day are all about -- reinvention," White said.

Also present were Clemson President Jim Barker, Greenville County Council Chairman Butch Kirven and former governor and U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley of Greenville.

Granato said Proterra's promise of 1,300 jobs over seven years is based solely on projections for its U.S. business, which so far consists of orders for about 30 of its transit buses.

The company also is negotiating deals to sell its vehicle systems in China, India and Chile, and the overseas business could lead to a doubling of the announced employment in Greenville, he said.

"We have a significantly greater optimistic forecast internally that we believe will be achievable," Granato said.

He said Proterra is scheduled to close in March on $30 million in financing from a Chinese investment company. He declined to name the company but said it plans to buy systems Proterra will make in Greenville and incorporate them into electric vehicles to be assembled and sold in China.

Proterra said it would begin manufacturing at an undetermined temporary location in Greenville while the plant at ICAR is under construction and expects to hire about 50 people this year.

"We're going to need to begin hiring people sometime in May, at the very latest June time frame, to accomplish those transitional objectives," Granato said. He said people interested in the jobs may e-mail inquiries to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Granato said Proterra has committed to spend $68 million on South Carolina facilities over seven years and has room to double the size of its ICAR plant to 500,000 square feet.

The Commerce Department said it provided an incentives package to Proterra that includes $3 million for plant infrastructure and site preparation.

Christian Przirembel, Clemson's vice president for research and economic development, said the announcement was "absolute confirmation of what the (ICAR) campus was intended to be." Przirembel was instrumental in developing the research park along Interstate 85 over the past decade.

Inglis predicted that Proterra's presence would drive more energy-related jobs to the Upstate, and that suppliers and other manufacturers have already begun to investigate the area and can be expected to come.

"As Proterra becomes successful, we can expect a job-generating effect like BMW has spurred," Inglis said.

Bill Mahoney, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Research Authority, said he expects Proterra's arrival to make South Carolina more attractive to seven smaller technology companies he is helping to recruit.

The companies, which make advanced materials and battery and fuel cell technologies, are potential Proterra suppliers and together would employ about 100 people, Mahoney said.

Proterra also considered sites in Ohio and Indiana for the plant.

Granato said the company picked Greenville in part because of the city's "livability" and support from Graham, DeMint and Inglis. The politicians helped Proterra establish contacts at the U.S. departments of transportation and energy and the Federal Transit Administration, he said.

But the prospect of collaborating with researchers at ICAR was the biggest reason Proterra chose Greenville, Granato said.

Clemson gave Proterra a seat on the ICAR board, which means the company will have influence on the research agenda at the graduate school of automotive engineering there.

As a technology company, Proterra must focus on advancing its technology and believes "ICAR will actually give us that edge to remain in front and continue to innovate," Granato said.

He said Ohio had offered Proterra the services of the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State University and the company "had difficulty walking away from that."

"We're still very interested in finding out how there might be collaboration opportunities (at Ohio State), but our initial commitment is to ICAR and making sure we have everything exhausted here before looking for outside support."