Company eyeing Lordstown plant wants tie with YSU

YOUNGSTOWN

The head of Lordstown Motors Corp., which wants to purchase the idled General Motors plant in Lordstown, is seeking a relationship between the company and Youngstown State University.

Steve Burns, CEO of Lordstown Motors Corp. [LMC], and about five company officials met Friday on the campus of YSU with university leaders, including President Jim Tressel, as well as state Sens. Sean O’Brien and Michael Rulli and representatives from the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, M7 Technologies, America Makes – National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center in Warren and others.

“It was very informative and they have a great passion to make this happen,” Tressel said. “We want to be involved in training, workforce development and research. We gave them an opportunity to make it known with us and engage with them in training. We want the university involved in being engaged with a major car manufacturer.”

O’Brien of Bazetta, D-32nd, said Burns wants to establish the company’s headquarters in the Mahoning Valley.

Burns wants to start production of all-electric vehicles at the idled GM plant by the end of 2020, O’Brien said.

Read more about the matter in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.