Vicinity Motor Corp (CVE:VMC) (OTCQX:BUSXF) (FRA:6LG), formerly Grande West Transportation Group Inc, has announced a $300,000 economic development strategic reserve fund grant to assist the company in building its new Vicinity Lightning EV bus assembly facility in Whatcom County, Washington State.
The company said the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded the grant to the Regional Economic Partnership at the Port of Bellingham.
Vicinity said the funding is part of a larger group of state grants focused on high-impact investments in the areas of innovation, sustainability, and resilience.
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"We are honored to receive this grant in support of our mission to enable the transition to low-emission and zero-emission options at public transit agencies in the State of Washington and across North America," said Vicinity CEO William Trainer in a statement.
"This grant will help support the build-out of production capacity for our EV assembly line at our planned Buy-America compliant assembly line in Washington State."
Trainer added: "Along with our recent contract win giving transit agencies in Washington the right to purchase from our robust portfolio of buses, we are building a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with local and state agencies in support of the deployment of next-generation public transit systems. Our partnership with the community continues to expand as we expect to invest over $20 million in land, construction, capital expenditures and the creation of living-wage EV jobs at our assembly plant."
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu noted that electric-powered transit will be a critical driver of modernization in the transportation sector.
“I'm very pleased to see VMC choose Whatcom County as the place to grow its business and create new jobs," Sidhu said.
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