GREENSBORO, N.C. — Equipment is on the ground and construction is moving along at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite. Crews are busy prepping the site ready for the $1.2 billion Toyota battery plant. It will be the car maker's first battery plant in North America.
The main focus is still clearing land and blasting rock to get the site cleared to build. The plant is going to be built on a 1,800-acre piece of land known as the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, located right on the Guilford-Randolph county line. As the work continues, Toyota said it's ready to be in this community.
"Somebody described it recently kind of like looking like a dirt bike track, lots of dirt, lots of heavy equipment, they are grading, smoothing things out, just getting it ready," President of Randolph County Economic Development Corporation Kevin Franklin said.
Since January crews worked nearly around the clock at the Megasite. Between two shifts, they put in 22 hours a day, seven days a week. "Things are progressing nicely," Corporate Communications Manager for Toyota Emily Wilemon-Holland said. "The expectation is to announce an expansion at some point to be able to continue growing those component parts and grow that business, so we can have long-term sustainability."
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It still looks like a big piece of land, but it will soon offer more than 1,700 jobs to the area. Holland said the company plans to open the plant in 2025. The goal is to start hiring production team members in 2023.