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UltraCell puts production plant near Dayton airport
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
DAYTON — UltraCell Corp., a California-based, fuel-cell technology company, expects in June to initially occupy 20,000 square feet of the 100,000-square-foot building at 3250 Old Springfield Road near Dayton International Airport where it plans to establish a production plant for fuel cells, a company executive said Monday.
UltraCell will take more space there in upcoming years if business develops as the company hopes, said Frank J. Beafore, UltraCell's vice president for manufacturing. Last October, the company first announced its plans to operate in Dayton.
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The company is focusing on production of a 25-watt fuel cell, not much bigger than a book, which it wants to sell for Army and Air Force uses as a portable electric power source, Beafore said. Soldiers could carry the unit on their belts or in a backpack.
UltraCell hopes to later market the unit to emergency responders, such as fire and police departments, and then for general use as a power source for laptops and two-way radios, Beafore said.
Last week, the State Controlling Board approved a grant of nearly $500,000 to allow the University of Dayton to assess the XX25 fuel cell that UltraCell has developed. The state board also approved $1 million for the university and UltraCell to develop the manufacturing plant, and a $1 million technology development grant for UltraCell. The state has also approved tax credits for the company.
In turn, UltraCell has promised the state it will employ 235 people at the Dayton plant by January 2011 and 360 by January 2012, said Melissa Ament, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development. The Job Center in Dayton is working with the company to post the positions to be filled.
The Dayton plant is to produce fuel processors — the reactors which will change methanol and water into hydrogen — and the fuel stack assembly which is part of the unit.
UltraCell's startup is part of Ohio's emergence in recent years as a producer of technology and components for fuel cells, the hydrogen-fueled units that can power industrial units, cars and laptop computers.
Beafore is one of three current UltraCell employees in Dayton. The company will start up in phases this year and has an employment target of 16 by the end of this year and 120 by early 2009, he said. Beafore said he hopes to soon begin hiring manufacturing technicians at $9 to $12 an hour, plus management professionals at salaries to be negotiated.
UltraCell will do design, assembly and testing work in-house, but is contracting support work including production of precision metal components and laser welding.
Beafore said the company has done about $250,000 of these transactions since Jan. 1.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About UltraCell
The company, founded in 2002, is based in Livermore, Calif. It was launched with technology licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories for micro fuel cell systems for portable devices.
The Dayton plant will send the fuel cell components it produces to the company's headquarters.
UltraCell plans to invest $74M in the Dayton operation. The state has promised $15.2M in loans, grants and tax credits.
