A Tennessee manufacturing town could be in for a revitalization after a shuttered iron foundry is poised to be replaced with a lithium mine, thanks to thanks to the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that is rebuilding American highways, bridges, and manufacturing.

The large Waupaca Foundry closed its doors in the historic TN rail town of Etowah nearly two years ago, and many of the 500 or so workers that were laid off had built lives and families in the town of 3,600 people.

Worried that Etowah would soon become just another of the many rural communities devastated by the loss of America's traditional manufacturing sector, fears have been stymied somewhat by the arrival of Tennessee Lithium, a subsidiary of Piedmont Lithium, one of the largest lithium hydroxide mining firms in the country.

Reporting on the fortune swings of Etowah and McMinn County where it's located, Capital & Main say that, by chance, the former environment, health, and safety manager at Waupaca met his opposite number, Monique Parker, at Piedmont Lithium. Hitting it off, the two organized a meet and greet in Etowah to recruit workers for the arrival of Tennessee Lithium, one of a number of government-funded start-ups looking to try and turn coal country into the "Battery Belt."

"It came down to multiple factors, the first being the quality of the site," Etowah City Manager Russ Blair told Capital & Main, pointing out that since Etowah was constructed by railway companies in 1906, the industrial site where Waupaca was located has great proximity to rail lines. Etowah itself is positioned near other Battery Belt sites of importance.

Spokesmen from Piedmont Lithium say their subsidiary is looking to hire around 120 people from the local community at between $50,000 and $60,000 per annum, while investing tens of millions in the area.

"We want businesses to invest not only in our community but also in the people. That's very important to us," said Ferguson, the McMinn County economic development chief. "Since Piedmont's announcement, they've shown that they are going to be a huge community partner."

Paying for it all is an $800 million loan from the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program, which has about $40 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to loan out at current treasury yield rates to companies looking to build light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing, as well as locomotive and light rail, aircraft, maritime vessels, and offshore wind support vessels.

According to Piedmont, the plan to launch Tennessee Lithium is to combine this funding with support from a strategic partner or partners.

Tennessee Lithium uses a pressure leaching process that uses steam, natural soda ash, and lime to mine lithium, which the company says gives it a more favorable environmental and safety profile than traditional methods.

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