Dalton, Georgia
CNN
—
The face of a new era in American manufacturing is tucked away in the northwest corner of Georgia, just off Interstate 75.
It is home to the Qcells factory, which produces 32,000 solar panels per day and has a total panel production capacity of 5.1 gigawatts. Officials note that Hoover Dam’s maximum capacity is approximately 2 gigawatts.
“When we came here, there was dirt. There were no buildings,” said Lisa Nash, the plant manager here, while giving CNN a tour of the high-tech factory site in August. “I was hired first.”
When asked if she could have imagined the current situation, she answered without hesitation, “No.”
In Nash’s view, this dramatic growth is not only a success story for the company and industry, but also a huge victory for the community here in Dalton.
“The population is growing. They’re buying homes, they’re renting, they’re shopping, they’re eating out. They’re paying taxes and contributing to the community,” Nash said. .
This is a cutting-edge operation made possible by the Biden administration’s Comprehensive Climate Investment Act of 2022.
“We’ve received a lot of support at the state and federal level,” said Scott Moskowitz, director of market strategy and communications for Qcells. “But it wasn’t until the Anti-Inflation Act was passed that it really triggered the need for this industry to make these kinds of investments.”
That’s why Vice President Kamala Harris visited the factory last year to highlight its growth and speak with some employees.
“To meet her and have a conversation, I was shocked because I thought she would be here, but she’s actually down to earth and a very straightforward person,” management introduced Kimberly Richardson, a Qcells employee who was selected as Mr. Harris is visiting.
Richardson embodies a new generation of manufacturing workers. Although he had no prior experience in solar panels or green technology before joining Qcells, he quickly adapted to the company, rose through the ranks, and is now responsible for the factory’s recycling operations.
For Richardson, a Black woman, Harris’ presidential campaign has deep meaning.
“She represents all women, all women in America,” Richardson said. “She created an atmosphere for every woman and every girl in America to say, ‘I can do this,’ and that’s a good thing.”
But while Georgia may be a battleground state with deep support for former President Donald Trump, Richardson’s views are not necessarily widely held.
“She didn’t have a good reputation in northern Georgia,” said Casey Carpenter, a Republican state representative from the area, about Harris’ visit.
Qcells’ factories are a window into the integration of local, state, and federal governments working together to accelerate the manufacturing transition that will revitalize local economies. In these polarized times, it is highly unusual for efforts to be bipartisan.
But what happened in a community supporting a presidential candidate who attacked the very law at the heart of its rapid expansion underscores the complex, and in this case contradictory, overlapping of politics and local economics. are.
Dalton, located in the Congressional district represented by embattled Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, is Trump country.
“The independence that we have here, that independence and that outsiderness is what really resonates with him,” Carpenter said of Trump’s solid support in the region. “And my family appreciates that, and frankly, I appreciate that, too.”
Carpenter is not an ardent Trump supporter.
“In our world, there are two candidates and there are 27 boxes of cereal on the shelf. That’s the world I live in,” he said. “It’s really frustrating that there are two candidates.”
But for voters here, the political debate over the economy boils down to one thing.
“Inflation is such a big issue in our community right now that it’s going to take precedence over what I’m thinking about,” Carpenter said.
It’s a contradiction that comes amid a dramatic resurgence in this part of the state.
Qcells’ factory is the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and is located in what has long been known as the carpet capital of the world.
This nickname can be seen on the signage welcoming visitors to Dalton, which has held a dominant market share in the carpet and flooring industry for decades.
But at the same time, the region remained particularly vulnerable to a housing market crash, which until 2008 was considered almost impossible.
“It was a bloody affair for us here,” Carpenter said. “It was a ghost town. And it took years to get out of there.”
In the wake of the market collapse, local leaders contemplated diversifying the town’s economy and began building the infrastructure to do so.
This coincided with efforts at the state level, most recently by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, to create incentives for major companies to relocate or build in Georgia.
The Biden administration’s federal incentives have accelerated green energy efforts.
Asked who’s support is most important: federal, state or local, Nash said, “They’re all equally important.” “It’s like a recipe; without one ingredient, you can’t make this project work.”
As a result, a model that was thought to be a thing of the past has been revived.
“If you walk around the factory, you’ll see people of all ages,” Nash said. “We have a 65-year-old father. His son and daughter work here. We also have high school kids interviewing for games.”
What was once a dream is now a reality and is growing.
Just about 80 miles down Interstate 75 is Cartersville. On a recent Saturday, the town center was packed with residents stopping by booths packed with local vendors selling locally grown food and produce.
For the second year in a row, it has ranked as Georgia’s top farmers market, which may be unexpected in a county that voted 75% for Trump in 2020.
But in some ways, it’s an approach that helped the town lure Qcells to build its next factory here, just a few miles from where CNN partnered with Mayor Matt Santini. This is an important element.
This is a distinctly Republican town, with strong support for the former president. But in Santini’s mind, the essence of this place is the community itself.
“Since I moved here in the early ’90s, the square footage has doubled, but it’s still walkable to the farmers market,” Santini said. “I see people talking to each other and getting along. We have a hometown feel.”
Back in Dalton, that hometown vibe is exactly what visitors feel when they walk into Oakwood Cafe.
The restaurant is technically Mr. Carpenter’s day job as a state representative, keeping him connected to the community he represents while he’s in Atlanta during legislative sessions.
“We’re really connected,” Carpenter said with a laugh. “I fry chicken on Monday and wash the dishes on Saturday.”
Carpenter speaks with pride about his community and its residents.
“It’s blue collar, dude. We’re all workers,” he said.
But he acknowledges that the economic engine that has taken root in the region over the past few years is laden with considerable ideological cynicism.
“We’re growing green energy that they don’t necessarily care about as much,” he said. “But I think they’re coming back because they realize the economic impact.”
He points out that the impact was significant.
“Whether it’s janitors, whether it’s restaurants, whether it’s catering, whether it’s plastics, whether it’s garbage bags, whether it’s anything else, whether it’s transporting goods, all that stuff flows downstream from those things,” Carpenter said. spoke.
Its downstream effects are perhaps most evident in the form of a new boutique hotel across from Oakwood Cafe in downtown Dalton. The Oakwood Café is the first in the area in 50 years and is evidence of the city’s many resurgences.
Still, President Trump’s campaign threat to repeal the pillars of climate change legislation that sparked economic growth didn’t move or really resonate with voters.
“I don’t think they understand that if everything gets repealed, it’s going to impact 2,500 jobs in the south end of the county, and that’s real,” Carpenter said. “It will have consequences.”
Qcells representatives are quick to point out that they first broke ground in Dalton in 2018 after President Trump’s solar panel tariffs encouraged production in the state.
Still, even though there is bipartisan support for the project at the federal, state and local level, and some protections if Trump wins, the former president’s threats cannot be ignored.
“Do you want to hear that after November?” said Qcells factory manager Nash when asked about the future of the industry.
But she emphasized the scale of the transformation already underway and what it means for the future.
“No, I’m optimistic because we’ve only scratched the surface,” she said.
It’s a future that Nash’s parents thought didn’t exist.
“We both said, ‘Don’t go into manufacturing,'” she recalls. “I’d like to think they’re proud of me today because of this. I look at my kids and grandkids and think, ‘I don’t care if they do that.’ ”
This is a window to change that involves the entire community and is no longer a mono-industry town.
Asked if there were any plans to add “Sunshine Capital of the World” to the current Dalton sign in town, Carpenter thought for a moment.
“No, but you should,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens. For now, that story remains.”
