New jobs coming to Wytheville, Va

In jobs-starved southwest Virginia, some good news came from Gov. Bob McDonnell's office on Tuesday. Evatran LLC, a subsidiary of MTC Transformers, will invest $3.5 million in new manufacturing in Wytheville that will create 84 jobs to an area that has seen its fair share of job losses.

According to the Governor's press release, the new manufacturing facility was described as "the world's first "hands-free" electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), will invest $3.5 million in a new facility in Wytheville in Wythe County that will manufacture Plugless Power™ charging technology for electric vehicles." Virginia was in competition with North Carolina and Ohio for the plant.

Governor McDonnell commented about the news:

“The state-of-the-art technology that will be used at Evatran’s new manufacturing facility in Wytheville is vital to the electric vehicle industry. In light of today’s need to ever increase energy conservation, I commend the company’s key involvement in alternative energy solutions such as Plugless Power™. In addition, 84 job opportunities with salaries higher than the region’s average per capita personal income make this project a great win for Wytheville and the Commonwealth overall.”

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, who was on hand with company officials and local leaders to make the announcement on behalf of the Governor who was in Ireland with his family, noted, "This project is the first step that will eventually lead to the hiring of hundreds of production staff and management personnel over the next five years."

A $150,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund helped win the project for Virginia as well as $235,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. Training assistance will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Customers utilizing Plugless Power™ include manufacturers, dealers, and drivers of electric or extended-range hybrid behicles as well as corporations, municiple governments, utilities, residential developers, homebuilders, retails and small business.

MTC Transformers, founded in Wytheville in 1985, manufactures electrical transformers. It started Evatran in April 2009 and, in July 2010, Evatran will separate from the parent company.

Wythe "Bucky" Sharitz, Chairman of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, commented, "Wythe County is especially pleased to see the continued success of a local company, especially in this challenging time in the economy."

Cross-posted at The Washington Examiner