General contractor named for EV battery plant project

The Honda and LG joint venture selected TYK as the general contractor for its $3.5 billion electrical vehicle (EV) plant in Jeffersonville.

Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, estimates the project will create about 4,000 union construction jobs. The work to build the EV battery plant, along with upgrades to Honda’s three existing manufacturing plants, will be performed under a Project Labor Agreement.

Hager said the joint venture signed the PLA in order to secure a highly skilled and trained workforce in the midst of Central Ohio’s building boom

According to multiple media reports, TYK is a joint venture between Turner Construction Co., Yates Construction and Kokosing Industrial.

Turner, one of the largest construction firms in the U.S., has a long history with Honda, as they were the general contractor who built the Marysville Auto Plant (MAP) and East Liberty Auto Plant (ELP).

On Nov. 14, site work began in Fayette County. Excavation work will begin in early December, with construction set to take place later in winter. The plant is scheduled to begin production in 2025.

“We are extremely excited to be part of the team that will deliver this plant, which will support Honda’s goals to electrify its entire fleet of cars sold in North America,” said Tom Manahan, senior vice president of Turner and principal in charge of the project, in comments emailed to The Broadsheet.

“Everyone involved in the construction of this plant is contributing to something extraordinary,” he said. “The results of their hard work will be a plant that will employ so many members of the community in new green economy jobs.”

Manahan told The Columbus Dispatch he recognizes the EV project will face stiff competition for construction workers. 

“We certainly want to make the site an attractive site, not only to the subcontractors, but to the individual tradespeople as well,” he added.