photo by: Mike Yoder

Panasonic’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in De Soto, is a 4.7-million-square-foot plant, roughly the size of 225 football fields and marks a major expansion of Panasonic’s U.S. manufacturing footprint.

Currently, the Panasonic plant on Kansas Highway 10 in De Soto has less than half of its previously promised target of 4,000 employees, but company officials will be holding a hiring fair this week and hope to hire “several hundred” more skilled machine technicians over the next three months.

As the Journal-World reported, the nearly 5 million-square-foot electric vehicle battery factory opened in De Soto, about 20 minutes east of Lawrence, last July. Leaders with the company told the Journal-World at the time that they expected it would reach its full capacity of 4,000 employees within 18 months.

On Monday, Kristen Walters, the vice president of human resources for Panasonic Energy, told the Journal-World that the plant has about 1,400 employees so far. But the company hopes that number will grow after a hiring fair at the plant, 10301 Astra Parkway in De Soto, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday. Walters said the company is hoping to give out 100 offers at the fair.

The main roles that the company is looking to fill are those of skilled machine technicians, which Walters called the “most important role in (the) organization,” since they drive production on the lines. Over the next few months, the company hopes to hire an additional 300 people in that role and to get all four production lines operating on its first wing.

Walters said the average salary for skilled machine technicians in an entry-level position is about $52,000 a year. Those technicians work 12-hour shifts, and technicians who work the night shift get a slight increase in base pay. Walters said the shift rotation for workers happens on Wednesdays, so they work either Sunday through Tuesday and every other Wednesday or Thursday through Saturday and every other Wednesday.

The plant — which has been called the largest private economic development project in Kansas’ history — received millions in financial incentives from the state of Kansas to entice it to locate here. A bipartisan coalition of state legislators and Gov. Laura Kelly were supportive of the incentives in large part because Panasonic promised $4 billion in private investment and 4,000 jobs at the De Soto plant.

Walters estimated that about 80% of the employees at the plant live within a 50-mile radius, mostly from the Kansas City area as well as Leavenworth, Douglas and Shawnee counties.

Even those who are not interested in machine technician jobs can still apply for work at the plant. Walters said the company on its website is seeking applicants for over 80 different positions, with roles varying from material handlers to director-level roles for engineering and operation.

As the company looks to keep adding more workers to increase the plant to full capacity, Walters said the growth is happening at the rate they expected.

“We’re keeping pace with our customer needs,” Walters said.