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Panasonic Deal Could Pave the Way for More Major Economic Investment in Kansas

By Jim McLean
Published July 18, 2022 at 3:25 PM CDT
Kansas Lieutenant Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland led the effort to bring a $4 billion Panasonic plant to Johnson County. (Photo: Jim McLean / Kansas News Service)
Kansas Lieutenant Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland led the effort to bring a $4 billion Panasonic plant to Johnson County. (Photo: Jim McLean / Kansas News Service)

It's billed as the largest manufacturing plant in the world for electric car batteries. And it will soon be built near De Soto, in western Johnson County. Kansas beat out several other states competing for the $4 billion Panasonic facility. Kansas Lieutenant Governor David Toland, who doubles as the state’s commerce secretary, led the effort. Kansas Public Radio's Jim McLean spoke to Toland about what it took the close the deal and about what might be coming next. 

Jim McLean is the Statehouse Bureau Chief for Kansas Public Radio and the senior political correspondent for the Kansas News Service. Find him on Twitter @jmcleanks.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of Kansas Public Radio, KCUR, KMUW, and High Plains Public Radio. It reports on health, the many factors that influence it and their connection to public policy. Discover more stories at ksnewsservice.org.
Local News
Jim McLean
Jim McLean, Executive Editor of KHI News Service, oversees the KHI News Service. From 2005 until 2013, McLean coordinated all communications activities at KHI as Vice President for Public Affairs. The position he now occupies was created as part of a strategic initiative to solidify the editorial and operational independence of the KHI News Service. Prior to coming to KHI, McLean had a distinguished career as a journalist, serving as the news director and Statehouse bureau chief for Kansas Public Radio and a managing editor for the Topeka Capital-Journal. During his more than 20 years in Kansas journalism, McLean won numerous awards for journalistic excellence from the Kansas Press Association, regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. In 1997, McLean and two Capital-Journal colleagues received the Burton W. Marvin News Enterprise Award from the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism for a series of stories on the state’s business climate. McLean holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Washburn University.
See stories by Jim McLean