Dalton, Georgia, is a town where the economy long relied on factory jobs from the carpet-manufacturing business. In the 1980s, those jobs dried up as companies began moving their factory operations overseas. But now, factory jobs have returned to Dalton in the form of solar panel manufacturing, Canary Media reported.
Largely due to tariffs on Chinese-made panels established by the Trump administration and later due to rules carved out in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, energy companies seeking to enter the American market have been incentivized to manufacture their solar cells domestically.
That led Korean conglomerate Hanwha to establish its QCells solar cell factory in Dalton in 2019. A second QCells factory was opened in 2023. Together, the two factories employ more than 2,000 people.
"There is a palpable and intense sense of excitement across the state about how these manufacturing and infrastructure policies are supercharging Georgia's economic development," U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said. "And I would add, it's not just the primary industrial facilities; it's all of the secondary and tertiary suppliers and vendors and service companies and the financial services firms needed to support them."
Georgia has also been taking advantage of incentives offered in the Inflation Reduction Act for electric vehicle manufacturing. Hyundai is spending $5.3 billion on two plants in the state, and Kia has also built a manufacturing plant.
There is, however, concern among state residents and lawmakers that the newfound return of manufacturing jobs to Georgia could be in jeopardy depending on the results of the upcoming presidential election. Republicans have tried, unsuccessfully so far, to repeal the domestic manufacturing incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, promising to prioritize the dirty energy industry over new technologies like wind and solar.
"Donald Trump and his Republican allies promised to gut the Inflation Reduction Act if he's reelected, so there's a lot at stake here," U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams told Canary Media.
Regardless, hopefully at least some portion of the new manufacturing jobs in Georgia are there to stay for a while. If you would like to make your next car an environmentally friendly electric vehicle — maybe even one manufactured in Georgia — you can check out our EV buying guide here.
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