Volume 123 ¢ Issue 7 * Wednesday, February 16, 2011
50¢
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Kings Mountain’s Chemetall Foote Corp. is on the map
in a big way, being a part of the driving force behind Amer-
ica’s - and the globe’s - transportation revolution. With
modern technology and lithium-ion batteries, electric ve-
hicles are charging into high gear as the country tries. to
break its addiction to oil.
Hybrid electric cars like the Chevrolet Volt use less gas
and leave less of a carbon footprint, but as of now there
are not thatsmany Volts on the road.
Chemetall Foote is on the map again.
On Thursday, Feb. 3, the company became the new
proud owner of one of the state’s very first Chevrolet Volts.
The battery that charges it includes an important chemical
that Chemetall will soon be producing in a new plant on
site, «
Initial construction is atvosdy underway for the new fa-
cility. A groundbreaking has been set for March 25th.
The project is funded in part by a $28.4 million Amer-
ican Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant through the
U.S. Department of Energy.
“As of July 2010, 35 new jobs have been created either
at Chemetall Foote or contractors directly working on proj-
ects for the site,” according to information released by
Rockwood Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Chemet-
all Foote.
“During the peak of construction in 2011, the project
will employ 68 additional people by the company and its
contractors. At the conclusion of the project in 2012 the
expansion will have created 22 permanent jobs bringing
the total site headcount to approximately 130.”
iit 2008; as gasoiine prices sioshed over $4 a gallon;
then-presidential candidate Barack Obama announced he
would “push to have one million plug-in hybrid and elec-
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An LCD screen inside the Chem-mobile.
tric vehicles on America’s roads by 2015.”
The goal was echoed again in his recent State of the
Union address. And with nearly $4.4 billion in grants to
electric vehicle manufacturers and to factories producing
batteries, motors and other EV components, the goal be-
came a closer target.
Recharging battery technology
Employees at Chemetall Foote were excited to see their
new company car roll into the parking lot. Four wheels,
four doors, XM radio, leather seats, a metallic charcoal
gray, sleek and stylish. It seemed to sparkle in the sunlight
like glittering flecks of spodumene in granite.
From Spodumene comes lithium and of lithium hy-
droxide is born a charge that powers this new beauty.
“Battery technology today is greatly different from that
of the 1990s,” read a recent U.S. Department of Energy’
report. “The General Motors EV-1 had a range of 80 to
140 miles, but initially used lead-acid batteries having lim-
ited energy density, which resulted in a two-passenger ve-
hicle, relatively short battery life, and a long recharging
time.”
But today’s lithium-ion battery technology allows elec-
tric cars like the new Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt to be
4- or 5-passenger vehicles; with an extended warranty on
battery life, and much faster recharging times, according to
the DOE. Not to mention the DOE’s report that says
lithium-ion batteries are 70 percent lighter than their lead-
See CHEMETALL, 7A
Steakhouse to open late March
Pre-hire classes
not mandatory
Opening of the new Battleground
Steakhouse & Bar is slated for late
March, owner Nick LaVecchia said this
week, and the opening will mean 25-30
new jobs.
LaVecchia said that pre-hire classes
will be held in Kings Mountain begin-
ning Feb. 28 and continuing through
March 8 at three in-town locations for
those interested in the hospitality part
of the business but classes are strictly
voluntary and not required for all ap-
plicants.
The business will be hiring for host-
esses, servers, bartenders, chefs and as-
sistant manager positions.
LaVecchia is partnering with Cleve-
land Community College to offer the
pre-employment classes. There is a $75
registration fee for the classes with ma-
terials included, according to a press re-
lease from CCC. Interested people
should visit the Continuing Education
department in the Jack Hunt Campus
Center at the college to register or call
704-484-4015 or Chad Chastain at 704-
484-5339. Students who take the class
will receive a certificate of completion
they can use when applying for jobs.
“It is definitely not mandatory to -
take the classes to apply, strictly volun-
tary and that’s very important for this
type of business,“ said LaVecchia.
Battleground Steakhouse & Bar is
gearing up to be a unique restaurant;
the decor focusing on the Kings Moun-
tain historical theme. Jax Backstreet
Tavern is also in the planning stages by
Gaston Country entrepreneur LaVec-
chia for a portion of the old Plonk De-
partment Store building.
See CLASSES, 3A
3
879852500200"
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
SCOUTS SHADOW CITY EMPLOYEES - Mayor Rick Murphrey shares the stories behind the
walls of pictures in his office withBoy Scout Jordan Bullins, right, on Friday during the an-
nual Scout Shadow Day.
704.739.3611
106 East Mountain Street
Kings Mountain, NC
www. KMinsure.com
We can save youl money |
KM man faces
murder charge
in brutal slaying
HICKORY - Michael Joseph Anderson, 19, of Kings
Mountain, was charged Monday with murder after Catawba
County deputies found the body of his roommate, 38-year-
old Stephen
Starr, inside the Mountain View Community home owned
by Starr.
Investigators say that the person who killed Starr shot
him, then slashed him with a hatchet and used a pen to write
on his body.
Anderson's first court date is today (Wednesday) in New-
ton.
Battlecry of
the Budget
Bringing jobs, saving jobs
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
City and county. officials
are in a “wait and see” mode
as they keep their fingers
crossed that Gov. Beverly
Perdue and the N.C. General
Assembly won’t balance the
hefty state budget deficit
with dollars planned to bring
jobs in a struggling econ-
\ omy.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
expressed the current
dilemma this way. “We must
be competitive in the market
to recruit business and in-
dustry and offer incentive
packages which both the
city, county and state are
doing to bring new manufac-
turing jobs,” he said.
Murphrey added, ‘an
cuts by the state will seri-
ously impact the recruitment
effort in the county and
Kings Mountain.”
Currently a. nearly
150,000 square foot shell
building is planned for con-
struction at the Kings Moun-
tain Data Center Park and
officials are hopeful to lure .
another data center to Cleve-
land County with the facility.
Right now, Cleveland
County is reportedly a final-
ist for eight new economic
development projects.
Currently the N.C. legis-
lature is debating the Bal-
anced Budget Act, (Senate
Bill 13) which, if passed,
could slow the availability of
incentive money should
funds like the Golden LEAF,
One North Carolina and oth-
ers be used to close the $3.7
billion state deficit rather
than for job growth. -
“We get calls at City Hall
every week from job-seek-
ers, people who haven’t
worked for two years,” said
the mayor. “The list is long,
y we need to be able to put
people to work.”
But keeping people
working is one of the rea-
sons, Rep. Kelly Hastings
(R-Cleveland, Gaston) gave
for voting in favor of the
Balanced’ Budget Act of
2011. The bill, now passed in
See JOBS, 3A
Martin earns
bronze star
The fourth highest award in the US: Military, the Bronze
Star, was presented to Kings Mountain National Guard S/Sgt.
Donald Olin Martin recently for “exceptional meritorious
achievement” in Operation Enduring Freedom.
“I was very surprised and humbled,” said Martin, a mem-
ber ‘of the Kings Mountain 878th Engineer Battalion de-
ployed by the 105th Engineer Battalion at Raeford to
Afghanistan from November 2009-November 2010. He is
employed as a mechanic by the National Guard Field Main-
tenance Shop in Charlotte.
See MARTIN, 7A
Building Confidence
Building Trust. Building Smiles.
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain * 704.739.5411
www.alliancebanknc.com « mevper ric
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