Battery in South Carolina
Plans for Oconee County, South Carolina battery plant announced
October 10, 1983 (PD: 201610)
South Carolina Governor Dick Riley (right) presents a plaque to Milt Zilis, vice president and general manager of the Johnson Controls Battery Division, at the company’s Oconee County plant groundbreaking
The Johnson Controls Briefing newsletter of October 10, 1983 stated that Oconee County, South Carolina had been chosen as the site for a new $9 million battery container plant. Groundbreaking took place the following January with top company executives and South Carolina Governor Dick Riley in attendance. Construction was completed in June 1985.
The 74,000 square-foot building housed highly automated injection molding equipment to produce polypropylene battery containers and covers to supply several of the company’s battery assembly plants in the South and the Atlantic Seaboard. Initial production began with 38 trained product technicians in July 1985, with a total of 68 technicians to be employed by the following October.
Today, the Oconee County plant is still in operation with about 300 employees.
