EV startup says power, zoning have delayed Fort Valley plant, jobs. What we know.

Representatives seeking to bring an electric vehicle plant to Fort Valley addressed concerns with delays Tuesday in a news conference, as organizers of the project had gone quiet in recent months.

Imola Automative USA’s representatives said Tuesday that the group is behind schedule after running into issues with power supply and local bureaucracy.

The press conference came on the heels of an investigation by Floodlight — a nonprofit news outlet that covers issues related to climate change — that found the company hadn’t broken ground on any of its three proposed EV plants around the country more than a year after announcing plans, leaving those communities to wonder what the progress was after being assured that large numbers of jobs were coming to their region.

According to Floodlight, Imola promised to build manufacturing plants and bring needed jobs and revenue to Fort Valley as well as Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Langston, Oklahoma. However, about 18 months after the developments were announced, the company has yet to break ground.

Representatives from Imola — which is based in Boca Raton, Florida — held a press conference in Fort Valley Tuesday and told reporters they still plan to build a plant, which is slated for semiconductor manufacturing, battery production and aluminum frame fabrication.

“I’m always saying, ‘Imola is coming,’” Fort Valley Mayor Jeffery Lundy said during the press conference. “Imola is coming, Imola is coming, Imola is coming.”

Fort Valley first learned it had been selected as a site for a plant in October 2023, when Imola sent a letter to the local government, Lundy said. The plans were publicly announced in January 2024, and promised to employ around 7,500 workers.

Imola CEO Rodney Henry said at the time the company planned to break ground on the Fort Valley plant by the third quarter of 2024. The plant would open about 20 months afterward, he estimated.

Since then, there has been little movement on the project and Imola has been quiet on the topic.

Officials representing Imola said Tuesday they have run into unexpected problems while preparing to break ground, which delayed construction.

For example, Henry said Imola realized that the area did not have enough power available for the plant, so the company must first construct a solar farm to supply electricity.

The city has already approved the solar farm, and Henry said Imola is prepared to cover the additional costs. In order to speed up the project’s timeline, the solar farm will be built concurrently with the plant in phases.

It also took time for Imola’s plans to be approved by the city, Henry said. The plant is set to be constructed on a 195-acre plot of land adjacent to Fort Valley State University that Imola will lease for 99 years.

While the city has already approved the land for industrial use, Henry said the company is waiting for the Fort Valley Planning and Zoning Commission to give final approval to the plant’s designs.

The company is still in the process of designing the building, but Henry and Lundy declined to say when that design is expected to be completed and approved.

Henry made a tentative estimate that Imola will break ground on the new plant in nine to 12 months, but added that tariffs may impact that timeline and not to take that estimate as a promise.

“We don’t want to be heard to be saying that we are guaranteeing that we’re going to proceed in nine to 12 months,” Henry said. “We just want to make it clear that there are things outside of our control.”

Despite the delays, Henry insisted the project was not stalled and that Imola was working to move forward.

“We’ve been going through that process and we’ve been working with our partners,” Henry said. “We just don’t put it in the media and so forth.”

Lundy also affirmed his commitment to the project, and the benefits he says it will bring to Fort Valley.

“Who wouldn’t want to invite better opportunities, for people to get better paying jobs, for citizens to be able to take care of their families,” Lundy said. “I’m excited from start to right now, I’ve never wavered with Imola.”