LIBERTY, N.C. — Toyota keeps giving the Triad a jolt. When the company announced it would build its first North American battery plant at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite in late 2021, the investment would be $1.3 billion with 1,750 workers. Now, that number is $8 billion with 5,000 workers.
WFMY News 2's Julie Luck met some of the Toyota workers who jumped at the chance to live and work in the Triad.
April Mason is getting settled in as a new Triad resident.
"So far, I absolutely love it", said Mason." She, along with her husband, moved to the Triad from Alabama just a few months ago to help the new Toyota battery plant get off the ground. With nearly 30 years with Toyota working in several plants in different states, the General Manager of Plant Services admits she likes change and challenge.
"I love to learn new things and this is all new. There's never a dull moment. My life has never gone faster but it's all good," Mason said.
Amanda Waugh moved to North Carolina at about the same time as Mason. The accounting manager is another Toyota worker who asked to be transferred to the Toyota Battery Manufacturing facility.
Waugh said, "I raised my hand, volunteered, made some phone calls. How can I get in the door?"
She worked at a Toyota plant in West Virginia, where she was born and raised. She relocated to North Carolina to move up in the company and live in a new and exciting place.
"You get seasons, you have trees, you have mountains so I feel like I'm still in West Virginia because of the environment but there's so many more opportunities and so many more things to do here," Waugh said.
Mason and Waugh are among Toyota Battery Manufacturing's first 200 workers. Half of those employees are from out of state, itching to be part of the growing electric battery industry.
"We've had people lined up as soon as they heard North Carolina. Hands started to go up. We started getting emails. Pick me. I'm interested," Mason explained.
Those 200 employees are working at a temporary site in Greensboro while construction continues at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite in Liberty. Toyota will manufacture batteries for its hybrid vehicles and future battery electric vehicles on the Triad campus. Toyota's first electric vehicle is an unnamed, 3-row SUV which will be manufactured in Kentucky.
Crews are making progress on three of the eventual five buildings on the Toyota campus. The first two buildings are 500,000 square feet and the third will be 1 million square feet. Equipment is being installed in the first, the second is getting walls and the roof and steel are going up in the third.
The massive plot of land spans nearly 1,850 acres, which is the size of 1,400 football fields. Also transforming is the town of Liberty with a population of 2,600 residents. Some new restaurants and businesses have set up shop and more are on the way. Dozens of homes have been built in Liberty since Toyota first announced the Triad would be home to its first North American battery manufacturing plant in late 2021.
"Between 30 and 50 (homes) in the last two years. Before that besides renovating old ones, new homes were not being built in Liberty," town manager Scott Kidd said.
Kidd says his phone is ringing off the hook with people interested in opening new shops, buying land, and building new homes. There's so much interest that the town recently hired a new staffer.
"When you get that many developmental questions, it's too much for one person to do," Kidd said.
Liberty's Mayor, Filmore York, gave us a tour of one of the future developments on about 300 acres of land. The site is about two miles from Toyota Battery Manufacturing. Developers are interested in transforming the land into a neighborhood with at least 150 homes. Housing is needed for the 2,100 people who will work at the plant.
Some of the Toyota workers already live in Liberty.
"We see a lot of strange faces, which is good, which is very good," York said.
Others are scattered across the Triad. Waugh lives in High Point. Mason bought a house in Summerfield, the same Guilford County town where Michael McField moved in July 2022.
"I felt like if I would've missed this opportunity, I would've missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because this is the biggest change in the automotive industry in 100 years," McField said.
Change is what Safety Manager Michael, his wife Sharonda, and their three children needed. A new beginning after his oldest son died in a car crash at the age of 18.
"I think moving here helped us through the healing process. We're still healing, and I think moving here helped us with a fresh start. Toyota and the state of North Carolina put their arms around us and helped us heal and grow through that moment as well," McField said.
McField, Mason, and Waugh all continue to grow within the company. Altogether, they have nearly 50 years under their belts with Toyota. These workers are bringing experience, new energy, and staying power.
"It was just like putting on a comfortable pair of tennis shoes. This is where I belong and I'll stay here until I retire," said Mason.
Toyota is hiring maintenance, production, logistics, and facilities right now. It plans to add 100 workers by the end of 2023 and another 450 employees by April 2024. Company leaders say they're on track to start producing batteries in early 2025.