EnerBlü’s December announcement that it would be bringing its battery manufacturing facility to the commonwealth created a boom of interest for Kentuckians — current and former — who are looking for a chance to put their skills to work. According to EnerBlü President and CEO Daniel Elliott, his company has received more than 1,200 applications since the City of Pikeville hosted its economic development announcement at the East Kentucky Expo Center. Elliott said the company has identified two potential buildings for its Lexington location, which will begin operating while the Pikeville structure is under construction and will serve as a corporate office...

Moving Mountains EnerBlü's two-pronged investment in Kentucky gets its power from a university town and a company town, both of which seek to diversify their economies. "We used to pray for a Saturday off. Now we just pray that we will get to work at all."  — one of 500 former eastern Kentucky coal workers interviewed by Boyette Strategic Advisors in 2016 Can a power systems company recharge a region? The past decade is littered with allegedly innovative US battery-making ventures that went belly up despite government support. It's also littered with workers from the gradually declining coal industry who are tired of government support...