A multi-year export contract will bring more than 300 new high-tech and manufacturing jobs to Midland, according to XALT Energy, a Midland-based developer and manufacturer of lithium batteries.
XALT announced this week that it has agreed to supply its lithium titanate batteries to HK Group, a Chinese manufacturer of all-electric buses.
Hiring is already underway, and the Midland company expects to fill 80 positions in April, said Subhash Dhar, CEO of XALT. "And I'm hoping that we will have all 300 people on board by the August, September time frame."
These new jobs will be "a combination of engineers, skilled technicians, and operators," said Dhar, who expects to make about 150 more hires by 2017.
Dhar said the contract also will result in indirect job creation "whether it is making parts, or engineering services, or logistics."
The contract is worth more than $1 billion, according to Dhar.