Belvidere Stellantis plant gets $334 million from feds to reopen, manufacture EVs

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Biden administration on Thursday announced $334 million in federal funding to help reopen the shuttered Stellantis plant in Belvidere, and convert it to build electric vehicles and parts.

The funding is part of a $1.7 billion investment from the U.S. Department of Energy to convert 11 shuttered or "at-risk" auto plants in eight states to manufacture EVs.

"For nearly two years we have been intensely focused on creating an environment in the state for the successful return of the Stellantis plant in Belvidere," Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement. "Because of this funding and the work we've done to make Illinois an EV manufacturing hub, this facility will make our state's clean energy economy stronger than ever before."

The video above is from a previous report.

The parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, and several other vehicle brands, Stellantis indefinitely idled the Belvidere plant at the end of February 2023 , putting more than 1,300 employees out of work.

In late October, Stellantis announced plans to reopen the plant after reaching an agreement on a new labor contract with the United Auto Workers.

The plant is expected to reopen sometime next year. There are also plans for a new Mopar distribution site and battery facility in Belvidere. Together, the facilities are expected to employ 4,000 to 5,000 union workers.

Belvidere is located about an hour and a half northwest of Chicago. Chrysler opened the Belvidere Assembly Plant there in 1965, and at its peak employed about 5,000 people, but it had fallen on hard times in recent years as sales started to decline. When the plant was shut down in 2023, it had about 1,350 workers.

In his State of the Union address in February, President Biden praised auto workers' efforts to get the plant reopened.

'"The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get these jobs back – and together, we succeeded," Mr. Biden said.

The story of auto manufacturing in Belvidere was an example of what Mr. Biden characterized in his speech as a "comeback story." He emphasized a broader American "comeback story" in his speech, emphasizing that the country was hit by the worst pandemic and economic crisis in a century four years ago, but, "Together, we achieved 15 million new jobs, the lowest inflation in the world, and 50-year low unemployment."