- 2 days ago
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) announced the opening of a new manufacturing plant for Verne, a hydrogen storage company, in Pennsylvania.
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00:00David, you're up. You're the boss.
00:02I don't want to get in the way.
00:03No, no, you're the boss.
00:07Welcome, everyone. Welcome, Mayor Slaughter, and everyone that made it out here today.
00:13Very excited to be here. I'm David Jaramillo, co-founder and chief technology officer at Verne.
00:20And today marks the start of a new chapter for Verne, one that focuses on scaling up our energy innovation.
00:28We intend to do this as fast as possible.
00:32Our country faces an unprecedented energy mismatch between supply and demand.
00:37This mismatch will continue to grow due to data centers, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, and other sources.
00:47And our electricity grid can't handle all this load.
00:51So Verne's mission is to solve this exact problem.
00:53And we're doing this through the creation of a decentralized energy network based on natural gas and hydrogen
01:02to complement our aging electrical grid and power the industrial base.
01:09So to do this, Verne leverages our unique technology stack.
01:13We developed the process to increase the density of hydrogen by cooling and compressing the gas.
01:20And this type of hydrogen is known as cryo-compressed hydrogen.
01:27It's the most efficient and lowest cost way to move that hydrogen around on a truck, for example, as you see behind us,
01:32and large trailers to bring it to where it's needed.
01:36And so to make this possible, to make this really high-density hydrogen and lower the cost,
01:41we have to develop new heat exchangers, and importantly, a first-of-kind cryogenic high-pressure storage units,
01:49which is what we're going to build here.
01:52And an example is right behind me, covered in white, powering this truck.
01:57And this technology solution greatly lowers the cost of delivering hydrogen,
02:00making it cost-competitive head-on with diesel for on-site power generation.
02:06We leveraged this cost advantage to offer energy-as-a-service,
02:12and we can provide industrial-scale power within weeks,
02:16bringing hydrogen fuel, providing the generator, to the customer site.
02:22And some of those customers and markets include data centers, construction sites,
02:27ports, airports, and energy production sites.
02:31So we started this mission in San Francisco, quite far from here,
02:37working with U.S. National Labs.
02:39So Lawrence Livermore National Lab led a lot of the early science in this work,
02:43and we leveraged that government-funded work.
02:45We received strong financial support from companies like Amazon, Caterpillar, United Airlines,
02:52NextEra Energy, and other innovators seeking solutions to their growing power needs.
02:59And we're now at a major inflection point where we need to go scale up production and deploy the technology.
03:07And so in order to do this, we need to learn and collaborate with best-in-class manufacturing ecosystem.
03:16And to have fast impact, we have to combine our innovation with the manufacturing know-how.
03:22And there's no better place to do this than right here in Pennsylvania and in the Muncie-Williamsport area,
03:30and that's why we're here.
03:34Our manufacturing site selection started over 18 months ago.
03:38So we were considering, we not necessarily did not want to move from California,
03:42so we're considering California, Nevada, Ohio, West Virginia.
03:45And Pennsylvania and Lycoming County really stood out.
03:50And the main reason, there's a lot of reasons, but the main reason boils down to the world-class manufacturing ecosystem.
03:57So not just the company, but the whole ecosystem around it.
04:00So it's companies like PMF, who are leaders in their market.
04:05It's Chamber of Commerce, and their strong support for business and manufacturing business.
04:09Skilled local talent, supported by Penn College Technology, is one example.
04:15All that serves as the foundation and the supply base for next-generation energy technologies.
04:21And a lot of those companies, the supply base is already here.
04:24Companies like Lifeguard Technologies, HIPP, Cryostar,
04:28are all developing essential things for next-generation energy.
04:32So since day one, we found great local support from Jason, Chamber of Commerce.
04:38Aaron and Bruce, a business PA.
04:40Ken and John at PMF.
04:43And the last factor that really solidified us coming here, of course,
04:46was the generous Department of Community and Economic Development package.
04:51And so that will enable us, and already has enabled us,
04:54to accelerate opening up this site, ordering that first equipment,
04:58and start to engage apprenticeship programs for our first hiring.
05:03So where we're gathered here, it's empty right now besides a truck.
05:07So we've got the keys July 1st, but we're going to be opening up our manufacturing line,
05:12being led by Kevin Haynes, who's got extensive experience.
05:16And in less than nine months, we'll have the space filled.
05:20And so we'll want to invite you back in about nine months
05:23to really show you all the progress we've made in that time.
05:26We'll manufacture the cryo-compressed hydrogen storage systems,
05:31as well as best-in-class systems for natural gas storage,
05:35leveraging all the great supply base and talent around here.
05:38And we want to start to manufacture about 500 units per year by the end of 2026,
05:44and then ramp up to about 4,000 tanks per year towards the end of 2027.
05:48And then our plan is to stay here.
05:52We can either expand within this facility or go to neighboring sites.
05:57And so from developing the first long-distance oil pipeline,
06:02which happened to be to Williamsport,
06:05to the first steel mills in the U.S.,
06:07Pennsylvania has always been a state of many first
06:09and has always been leading our country's critical infrastructure.
06:14And so Vern is very excited to come here,
06:17build on this rich history,
06:19work with great local companies and support networks,
06:22and develop the next generation of decentralized energy,
06:26accelerating the hydrogen economy,
06:28and then power in most important industries.
06:31And so we're really grateful for all of you showing up.
06:35I think with all the local support,
06:36we're really energized by it with last-minute invites and everything,
06:38so thank you all.
06:40And of course, we're really grateful for Governor Shapiro.
06:43And so with that, please welcome me in joining,
06:46and join me in welcoming Governor Shapiro.
06:50Thank you so much.
06:54Thanks, David.
06:55It is really good to be back.
06:58You know, on my way over here,
06:59I was stopped by one of your local residents who said,
07:04you know, hey, Gov, didn't I just see you here
07:06a few weeks ago, months ago?
07:09Bringing jobs to the community?
07:10I said, yeah.
07:11He goes, that was about gnocchi, right?
07:13And I said, yeah, that was over in Union County.
07:16He goes, what are you doing here today?
07:17I said, well, we're back talking about more jobs.
07:19Very different than gnocchi, though.
07:21We're talking hydrogen today.
07:22But I do think it speaks to the real resurgence of this region that we can be a home to the first American gnocchi manufacturing site for that particular company.
07:35And now we can be home to this extraordinary technology on hydrogen.
07:41And I think that, you know, Pennsylvania is on the rise.
07:44This region is on the rise.
07:46Lycoming County is on the rise.
07:48And I'm excited about where we're heading, excited about all of the local support that we have here for this important announcement today.
07:57And hopefully I'll be back in a month or so to watch some great baseball, too.
08:00So it's really good to be back and to see so many familiar faces.
08:05And I think this is a big day, of course, for Muncie and a big day for the region.
08:10You know, you heard David speaking about this earlier.
08:13And I must say he's a really extraordinary CEO, who, by the way, dresses great, too.
08:19I don't know if you see any similarities here.
08:22He got the memo.
08:23I wear this every day, so I don't know what you do.
08:26But he spoke about one of the reasons why they picked Pennsylvania was because of our rich history, our rich tradition when it comes to energy dominance.
08:37You know, from Ben Franklin's kite to the coal mines and oil fields of Pennsylvania, that fueled the Industrial Revolution in this nation.
08:47Knowing that northeastern Pennsylvania could be such a powerhouse in that, I know, is something that attracted him to this site.
08:56Because Pennsylvania's energy economy has created great jobs.
09:00It's lifted people out of poverty and allowed families to have food on the table.
09:05It's powered our middle class.
09:07It helped give rise to the American labor movement.
09:10And it's kept the lights on for families all across this great nation.
09:15Of course, when fascism threatened freedom overseas, it was our commonwealth that produced and made the arsenal of democracy the most powerful manufacturing base in the entire world.
09:29You can trace those roots to right here in this community.
09:34Today, I'm proud to be the governor of the commonwealth that's the second largest energy exporter in the entire country.
09:42One of the most important energy producers in the world.
09:45And I think you know this about me.
09:47I'm competitive as hell.
09:48I'm happy being second.
09:49I'd love to be first.
09:51And we're going to continue our energy dominance and continue to grow energy and produce more energy in this commonwealth.
09:58Because that's what gives us more freedom, more independence, and more economic opportunity.
10:03I want our children to not only read about that rich legacy of energy production in the history books.
10:12I want them to see energy as part of their future in this region.
10:16I want them to know that they can get a great job in the energy sector and at companies like Vern that are doing this really cutting-edge work in the energy sector.
10:27And so that is what brings us to today.
10:29I'm here today with David to help announce that Vern, this energy company that you just heard about, has developed this new, incredible technology when it comes to hydrogen.
10:41And they've chosen to invest their manufacturing right here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
10:49They intend to invest millions of dollars on top of the nearly 1.3 million that the commonwealth is investing to turn this warehouse where we are today in a very short period of time, as you said, into a state-of-the-art facility to produce its advanced hydrogen tanks and generators, creating 61, at least 61 new jobs right here in Lycoming County.
11:15I know that's great news for all of you, for Mayor Slaughter and to everyone here who cares deeply about the vitality of this community.
11:25You know, you heard before that for the past five years or so, Vern has been developing these innovative methods, somewhere else, to help deliver clean hydrogen energy for new projects that are looking for sustainable power sources.
11:40And now that they've proven their concept, they've done that hard work, they're looking to scale up and commercialize their operations, grow and bring this new technology to companies across the country.
11:53As you heard, they were looking at about a half a dozen states.
11:58I'm really proud that they chose Pennsylvania.
12:00And I wanted to be here today to make clear just how grateful we are to you for choosing Pennsylvania.
12:07We obviously, through our DCED team, led by Secretary Seiger, made an aggressive pitch for their business.
12:14And because we have unique strengths here in our commonwealth, I think that makes us a natural choice as they build their first manufacturing facility in the United States.
12:24David and his team here at Vern told us that one of the biggest selling points, you heard him talk about this a moment ago, was that rich legacy that we have in the welding and metalworking industries here in this region.
12:38They recognize that Pennsylvania workers are the best in the country, and they have what it takes to do this work and to help them build a successful company and leverage the know-how that they have as a real asset for Vern.
12:53Another reason why Vern chose Pennsylvania was because of our strategic location.
12:59See, there's a whole lot of suppliers and companies they partner with who also build and manufacture their parts right here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
13:07And so once this plant is open and running in the next nine months or so, they'll be a whole lot closer to those suppliers, with just a few even right down the road.
13:16That is the Pennsylvania pipeline at its very best and something we are very, very proud of.
13:23I'm proud that Pennsylvania workers and Pennsylvania businesses are going to have a stake here in Vern's success.
13:30So right now, if you look at energy and innovation in the landscape here across our commonwealth, you'll see that there is a ton of excitement and forward momentum when it comes to this space.
13:42You can see it in South Central Pennsylvania, where I stood just about a week or so ago with the CEO of Constellation Energy, where we announced that we were turning back on Three Mile Island to help generate more power to help power Microsoft and the future of AI in the commonwealth.
14:01That's also evident in Buck's County, in the southeastern part of our commonwealth, and also in Berwick, just about an hour or so from here, where I was last month, to announce, standing together with Amazon, the largest private sector investment in the history of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
14:19where Amazon announced an initial, and I want to stress the word initial, $20 billion investment in building out data centers here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
14:32We're uniquely positioned because of our workforce.
14:35We're uniquely positioned because we generate energy, and we're uniquely positioned because of our know-how.
14:43I think Pennsylvania is poised for great success, not just in the AI space, but in so many other manufacturing spaces that rely on having an abundance of energy and cleaner energy in order to be able to do this important work.
14:58More businesses that want to innovate and lead on energy and cutting-edge technologies like Vern, they're coming to Pennsylvania, and it's because what we're doing here, what we've been building together over the last two and a half years, it's working, and we should celebrate that.
15:15For the first time in two decades, we actually have a statewide economic development plan that focuses on energy in large part and is leading to us getting these big deals.
15:28The year before I took over as governor, we generated several hundred million dollars that year in private sector investment.
15:37Over the last two years, thanks to our work and the great work at DCED, we're poised to do $30 billion in private sector investment.
15:46So Pennsylvania is on the rise, Lycoming County is on the rise, this entire region is on the rise, because we are focused on smart economic development.
15:57We have cut taxes, and we've cut red tape.
16:01We went from being in the bottom of the pack in the country when it comes to permitting and permitting times to now being a national leader.
16:09I actually chair one of the groups of the National Governors Association, helping show my fellow governors how you can permit more quickly in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and how they can scale that up.
16:20We've got important policies in place, like my lightning plan, named in honor of Ben Franklin, of course, so we can increase energy generation, bring down energy costs, create more jobs in the energy sector, and grow our economy around an energy focus.
16:37And all of that combines with our GSD attitude, our get stuff done attitude.
16:43See, we understand that time is money, and we understand the government has to move at the speed of business.
16:48And our job is to put points on the board every day, working together with the private sector and great leaders like David to do that.
16:56We feel like Pennsylvania is on the rise and moving in the right direction, with the right attitude, with the right policies, and with the right resources, we are getting it done.
17:06And so we're going to continue to focus on energy, from clean hydrogen to natural gas and nuclear and renewables.
17:13Pennsylvania will again power the United States economy and power our future, a future powered on Pennsylvania energy, built by Pennsylvania trained workers.
17:24Whether they train at Penn Tech, whether they train in a union hall, whether they learn these skills in the 10th grade, where their eyes open up, thanks to a VoTech class, where they learn how to be a welder.
17:35All of these investments are now working together, and Pennsylvanians are better off for it.
17:40So David, I want to thank you for betting on Pennsylvania.
17:43Verne has a bright future, and I'm excited about its future here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
17:49And I know that, you know, I'm a big sports guy.
17:53I know that every day I focus on getting stuff done.
17:56It's a team game.
17:57It's a team effort, whether working with my team or whether working with regional partners who help grow our economy.
18:04Jason Fink is one of those great regional partners who understands the power of working together with the Commonwealth, the power of this region,
18:14and the power of being able to use our energy to attract great minds and great companies like Verne to this area.
18:22And so it's my pleasure to bring up one of those partners now, Jason Fink, the head of the Lycoming County Chamber of Commerce for a few remarks.
18:29Thank you all very much.
18:36Good morning.
18:37And thank you to the governor for being with us this morning and helping to bring more attention to Verne's opening here in Muncie.
18:43We have many great assets in Lycoming County.
18:46And a key one is our partnership with the team that he has put together at Business PA and working with us to grow economic development in Lycoming County.
18:55They literally answer the phone or will call you in the evening hours and over the weekend and working with us on projects.
19:02I had the opportunity to work with Erin Trone here this morning and need to call her out because she has looked at every avenue to be able to take and help us bring Verne to this community.
19:15So, Erin, thank you.
19:19We knew, I will tell you, we knew with Verne being in California that they weren't just looking to establish their operation here in our community.
19:29While we had a key supplier here with PMF Industries, they also had other states wanting them.
19:35When the governor states that PA gets things done, it is not a slogan.
19:39He and the business PA team, they back it up.
19:43They've been a great partner with us for not only bringing new industry to the county, but also helping others expand like the recent expansions at local manufacturers like West Pharmaceuticals,
19:54both in Jersey Shore and Williamsport, Prismian Group, and also Lycoming Engines, just to name a couple.
20:00These industries, including Verne, all provide good family-sustaining wages for their residents here and further support the tax base of our schools and our municipalities.
20:11When we were speaking to David and the team at Verne, I will say I knew after that first meeting that we were going to be the best fit for them.
20:20They were coming from the San Francisco area and had access to colleges like Berkeley and Stanford that they've worked with, and they're all good institutions.
20:28They're not Penn Tech.
20:30Well, that's exactly.
20:32You know, they are all nice colleges, but nothing like what we've got here in Pennsylvania.
20:37Locally, they've got access to Pennsylvania College of Technology and Lycoming College.
20:42Regionally and in the state, they've got Penn State, Bucknell, Lehigh, Carnegie Mellon, and Pitt, just to name a few.
20:50Access to quality talent is important to them, and we are the right fit for them as they grow into manufacturing.
20:57They're hydrogen containment vessels.
21:00You see, we not only have that youth that comes from these institutions, but as important, the seasoned manufacturing culture that has a labor pool which thrives on helping companies like Verne grow and innovate.
21:14Pennsylvania and Lycoming County are well-positioned to welcome even more industries and help those already here expand.
21:20Companies like Verne are seeing this, and we look forward to welcoming them to the community.
21:25And we look forward to partnering with the governor and the team at Business PA to make this all happen.
21:33Thank you very much.
21:34Thanks so much.
21:35See you later.
21:36It's fine.
21:37So with that, we're happy to take a few questions from the media, and then I want to spend some time with the folks here.
21:43Any questions?
21:44Man, you guys are good.
21:45They usually they got a million questions.
21:51All right.
21:52Thank you all very much.
21:53Good job.
21:55Good job.