Sen. Tammy Duckworth | U.S. Senate
Sen. Tammy Duckworth | U.S. Senate
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (R-Ill) tweeted on July 21 about the grand opening of Lion Electric, which is an innovative manufacturer of electric school buses.
"The grand opening of @LionElectric in Illinois has arrived!" Duckworth tweeted. "Right here in Will Country, this green manufacturing facility will help create jobs, save money and develop a more sustainable world for our kids. Can't wait to see their electric school buses on our roads.
The new facility will be opening in Joliet, off Youngs Road near Route 6, according to patch.com. Lion Electric said that its goal is to produce 20,000 electric vehicles a year once assembly line production begins.
Duckworth was at the opening day event with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Gov. J.B. Pritzker, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Aurora), U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Joliet), and Joliet Mayor Terry D'Arcy.
"This will bring roughly 1,400 jobs in the future to Joliet and Will County," D'Arcy said. "At a time when our country is faced with historic flooding, damaging tornadoes and dangerous heat waves, one can’t help but think about our climate and what the future holds for our children and grandchildren."
Gov. J.B. Pritzker was at the opening of the facility on Friday, July 21.
"The state of Illinois is putting itself on the map internationally and the world is taking notice," Pritzker said. "So it's altogether fitting and prideworthy to celebrate today with this fantastic milestone from one of the most innovative and zero emission vehicle manufacturers in the world, Lion Electric. This new facility delivers a tremendous boost for Illinois' clean energy economy and our environmental leadership, too. The number of jobs being created by Lion Electric has nearly doubled to 1,400 just since the announcement of its investment two years ago. And this is now the first new dedicated vehicle assembly plant to be built in the metropolitan Chicago area in over 50 years."
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