The U.S. arm of Alevo, the cash-strapped Swiss battery maker with a high-profile Russian investor, said Friday it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and laying off its 290 workers in Concord, in a blow to efforts to redevelop a former Philip Morris cigarette factory.
The company arrived in Cabarrus County in 2014 with great fanfare, vowing to create hundreds of jobs through its revolutionary energy-storage technology. But production and hiring lagged those projections. The company gained attention this spring when a Russian billionaire with a connection to President Donald Trump emerged as a new investor and installed former associates at the company.
In a statement, Alevo said it had made progress with its “groundbreaking battery technology,” but production challenges left it short on financing. It had been actively seeking new funding, but it wasn’t realized in time.
“This decision was driven by the formidable challenges of bringing a new technology into commercial production and lacking the financial wherewithal to continue on through repeated manufacturing delays,” Alevo Chief Financial Officer Peter Heintzelman said in a statement. “It is a sad day for our dedicated employees and partners, as well as for the promise of Alevo’s technology.”
The company planned to lay off 245 employees on Friday, followed by the remaining 45 by Sept. 30, according to a notice filed with the state. The company plans to immediately sell off assets, the filing said.
The news in 2014 that a startup technology company was taking over the former Philip Morris campus in Concord was a major boost for the city northeast of Charlotte, promising new jobs and tax dollars at the long-vacant 2,100-acre site. And in February, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper praised Alevo’s plan to add more than 200 jobs in Concord in return for $2.6 million in tax incentives over 12 years.
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