Exodus Global business unit adds Caleb Summers as a field service technician.

Connect Work Tools, part of Superior, Wisconsin-based Exodus Global, has announce that Caleb Summers has joined the company as a field service technician.

“I’ve worked with Caleb in the past and knew with his breaker experience and work ethic he would be a great fit for our Connect team,” says Brian Hawn, Connect Work Tools vice president of service. “I am excited to see him in the field working with and training our customers.”

Summers most recently was a breaker specialist at St. Louis Bobcat/Doosan and brings with him a breaker knowledge and equipment repair knowledge, and is certified in automotive technology.

“I am honored to be part of Connect Work Tools and Exodus Global companies as a team member,” Summers says. “Everybody has been super nice and welcoming me into the family.”

Summers will support Connect Work Tools’ customers with installation and repair of the company's hydraulic attachments throughout the United States.

Connect Work Tools product support and breaker specialist Johnnie Gibbons says, “Caleb is knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. We’ve worked together in the past on various projects. I believe he will bring a lot to our team.”

Connect Work Tools, based in Cleburne, Texas, was founded in 2015 and offers attachments including hydraulic breakers, compactors, rotating grapples and pulverizers for the construction, demolition, recycling and mining industries. Connect Work Tools also offers rebuild services and reconditioned equipment.

Exodus Global’s other divisions include ShearCore, BladeCore and OilQuick Americas.

The upgrade and expansion of the New Philadelphia, Ohio, plant positions the company to meet demand as the truck industry transitions to CNG and electric vehicles.

Proving that large-scale manufacturing and innovation are alive and well in America’s heartland, Battle Motors, New Philadelphia, Ohio, has announced the company’s expanded production facility is open and fully operational.

A game-changer for the company, the factory’s size has increased significantly—from 125,000 square feet to 325,000 square feet—or more than five football fields. Located in New Philadelphia, the facility is where Battle Motors manufactures diesel, clean natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (EVs) for vocational vehicles, including waste collection trucks.

Founder and CEO of Battle Motors, Michael Patterson, says the plant’s expansion is the “most ambitious” project the company has undertaken.

“We have made the investment in the expansion of the physical plant, acquired the right technology, and most importantly, have made a commitment to the people of Central Ohio by already adding 200 employees to our workforce and creating high-tech jobs at a truly momentous time,” he says. “It’s game on.” 

The modernized facility will maximize the throughput of the company’s multiple production lines and transform operations as Battle Motors scales up to meet the demands of the evolving transportation landscape. From additional production lines, shipping bays and receiving docks to the latest technologies used for fabrication, paint application and vehicle assembly, Battle Motors hopes to lead the heavy-duty truck industry in the nationwide deployment of EVs. 

The company invested $32 million in the facility to jumpstart fabrication, production capacity and vehicle delivery. The investment enables the team at Battle Motors to manufacture its full line of trucks with innovative feature sets including a best-in-class powertrain paired with the Battle Motors “Smart Cab,” featuring a digital instrument cluster and proprietary software, RevolutionOS. 

“Reaching this milestone is definitely an achievement we’re very proud of,” Battle Motors Chief Operating Officer Cody Boggs says. “Our team of local labor and contractors minimized the disruption that can be expected with an expansion of this size, and our production numbers throughout have been really impressive. Working within the limitations of our original factory, we still hit record numbers month-over-month, reaching our 2021 [production goal] by July of this year.” 

Battle Motors executives are more optimistic than ever about future production, which will be driven by the new facility’s continuous assembly flow and automation upgrades and powered by vertical integration capabilities including 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC machining.  

The company owns additional acreage adjacent to the new facility where the build-out of new assets is planned, including research and development and prototype fabrication spaces, as well as a test track.  

The university approved takedown of a former hospital building.

The University of Missouri is advancing plans to demolish a former hospital it owns, with a university board intending to keep the property for an as yet undetermined redevelopment purpose.

According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, the University of Missouri System Board of Curators has approved a $10 million demolition plan for a building currently known as the Mizzou North building. The structure was built in 1940 as the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital.

In its more than 80 years in existence, the building also has operated as the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and then became the Mizzou North Building when the university acquired it. It has housed university Museum of Art & Archaeology and Museum of Anthropology collections in recent years.

The eight-story building has 223,000 square feet of space, according to the newspaper. Redevelopment plans for the land beneath the building have not been announced, although funding is tied to the university’s Strategic Space Reduction Plan.

The timing of the demolition process is not yet clear, with the Tribune reporting the plan calls for the building to be taken down by January 2024.

Bids sought by the University of Missouri System Procurement Services are posted here.

State agency endorses metals recycler’s emissions control system in Chicago.

The Sims Metal business unit of Australia-based Sims Ltd. says the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted its approval to issue a construction permit to the company for a proposed advanced emission control system at its auto shredding plant in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.

“We are pleased that after a very thorough due diligence process that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has now endorsed Sims Metal’s plan to enclose our metal shredder at all emission points and add state-of-the-art advanced emission controls by approving our request for a construction permit,” says John Glyde, Sims Metal global chief operating officer.

“Sims Metal continues to invest in upgrades at, and improvements to, the Chicago facility in Pilsen as we lead by example with best practices for other industrial employers. These significant upgrades to our environmental control systems will allow us to continue being a good neighbor. This $15 million investment in advanced controls has only been made by a handful of facilities nationwide – and none to a mid-sized metal shredder like ours. This investment in Pilsen is a win for all local stakeholders and the City of Chicago.”

About 15 miles south of the Sims Pilsen facility, the owners of a shredding plant have been engaged in a lengthy legal process to open an auto shredding facility. This February, the city of Chicago denied Southside Recycling its final permit, preventing the plant from operating.

The company and its Ohio-based ownership group, Reserve Management Group (RMG), said at the time it will challenge that decision “using all available channels.” RMG has been planning and investing some $80 million in its site since 2018.

Solarcycle says its recycling process recovers 95 percent of solar panel materials for reuse.

Silicon Ranch Corp., Nashville, Tennessee, a large independent power producer, and Solarcycle, a tech-driven solar recycling platform, have announced a partnership to process end-of-life solar modules from Silicon Ranch projects through Solarcycle’s recycling platform. Solarcycle's approach to recycling recovers approximately 95 percent of solar panel value, which can be returned to the supply chain and used to manufacture new panels, the company says. With an operating portfolio of more than 145 solar power facilities across 15 states, Silicon Ranch is Solarcycle’s first utility-scale partner.

“As the long-term owner of every project in our portfolio, we at Silicon Ranch are deeply committed to our relationships and responsibilities in the communities we serve. These responsibilities include end-of-life equipment management,” Silicon Ranch President and CEO Reagan Farr says. “Embracing this opportunity to pioneer recycling and re-use processes at scale with Solarcycle is a significant step in meeting these responsibilities.” The alliance comes at a critical time as the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is expected to accelerate demand for solar energy and a domestic solar supply chain. The partnership will help fuel the growing U.S. solar manufacturing industry with a domestic supply of recycled materials essential to the production of new solar panels, including glass, silicon and valuable metals such as silver, copper and aluminum. Recent research by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that by 2040, for certain materials, recycling can meet 25 percent to 30 percent of domestic solar manufacturing needs in the United States.

“Solarcycle’s team is taking what we learned in the solar, sustainability and recycling industries and applying it to our tech-driven recycling solutions. We know that scale matters in order to be able to drive costs down and bring the quality up,” Solarcycle CEO Suvi Sharma says. “We are thrilled that our partnership with Silicon Ranch—an innovative leader in bringing solar to scale sustainably and responsibly—will help us make solar across America fully sustainable.”

Launched earlier this year, Solarcycle is establishing a state-of-the-art solar panel recycling center, which will open in the fourth quarter.

Silicon Ranch pioneered utility-scale solar in the Southeast with the first large-scale solar projects in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky. Solarcycle is the latest partnership supporting domestic infrastructure secured by Silicon Ranch. In the last six months, Silicon Ranch has announced agreements with FirstSolar, Tempe, Arizona, and Nextracker, Fremont, California, to improve the carbon footprint while supporting additional investment in U.S. manufacturing capabilities. Earlier this year, Silicon Ranch completed a $775 million equity raise led by Manulife Investment Management.