People hold up "Go for Gotion" signs while attending a Manteno Village Board meeting on Dec. 4, 2023, in Manteno. - Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS
After several years chasing electric-vehicle companies with state incentives that he had to sweeten for lack of interest, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker finally got his big ribbon-cutting.
In September, the governor arrived in Kankakee County to welcome a new $2 billion lithium battery “gigafactory” in Manteno.
Gotion, a manufacturer headquartered in China, is slated to begin production later this year, marking what Pritzker described in Chinese-esque lingo as a “leap forward” for economic development in Illinois.
Then the pushback began.
