Novonix, an Australian battery technology company indirectly connected to Tesla, is on track to receive more than $750 million in federal funds if a local tax deal securing the company land at Enterprise South is approved by the Chattanooga Industrial Development Board on Monday.
The company, which laid off about a fifth of its 100 local employees in January, is asking for its second payment in lieu of tax, or PILOT, agreement.
The one now up for a vote would give Novonix a 15-year tax break worth $54 million in exchange for 500 jobs at a proposed second production facility near Volkswagen, making it the second largest jobs incentive in local history, after VW.
The first tax break, approved by local leaders in 2021, was worth $2.7 million over 10 years, in exchange for 300 jobs at the riverside facility in The Bend development on Chattanooga’s Westside.
Still, Novonix told its shareholders in a recently published report that the company was “facing significant challenges” in attempting to produce its battery material under development “at volumes with acceptable performance, yields and cost.”